News
Science says happiness is contagious
A new study in Royal Society Open Science found that moods spread across friend groups like a “social contagion.” Researchers surveyed more than 2,000 middle and high school students in the USA over a period of six months to a year. As part of the check-ins, depression screenings were administered to identify any common thread among the moods, feelings, and levels of…
Why Finnish babies sleep in cardboard boxes
For expectant parents in Finland, their “bundle of joy” isn’t just the baby. Since 1938, new mothers and fathers have received a cardboard box, often used as the baby’s first crib filled with a small mattress, blankets, infant clothes, outerwear, toiletries, and more. The Finnish government supplies the boxes, saying the gift encourages good parenting…
Having a baby later in life can boost your brainpower
New research, published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, found women who have a child after the age of 35 have better memories in middle age than those who complete their family earlier. The reason is believed to be the surge of hormones which flood the body in pregnancy, which affect the brain’s…
Umbilical cord blood could hold clue to preventing type 1 diabetes
Freezing a specific type of white blood cell from an umbilical cord could hold the answer to preventing type 1 diabetes, researchers have said. A team from the University of Florida Health wanted to explore the process of freezing the cord and how it could help find future treatments for type 1 diabetes. This process is already used for parents to preserve cells which could potentially…
Does nagging your teenager daughter work?
The answer is a resounding yes, according to a study from the University of Essex. It showed that girls who have mothers who “nag” them were more likely to go to university, get better jobs and avoid teen pregnancy than those with mothers who were more relaxed. The study, led by researcher Ericka Rascon-Ramirez, followed…
Major Lupus Stem Cell Study Receives Funding
The Lupus Foundation of America recently announced it will provide $3.8 million in funding over the next five years to support the first-of-its-kind clinical trial in the United States to evaluate Mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) as a treatment for lupus. The innovative study is led by Gary Gilkeson, M.D., and Diane Kamen, M.D., of the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) and marks…
Fresh hope cord blood can ace liver disease
Umbilical cord blood stem cells are to be used in a new treatment for the liver disease that claimed the life of a top British tennis star. Elena Baltacha, a former British number one was just 30 when she lost a decade-long battle with liver disease called primary sclerosing cholangitis (PCS). It’s a disease of…
‘Baby brain’ really does exist, say scientists.
Baby brain, the pregnancy-induced fog which many women experience, may have a very real purpose. Researchers at the University of London found that pregnant women show increased activity in the area of the brain related to emotional skills. During pregnancy, women use the right side of their brain more than new mothers do,…
First ever cord blood recipient makes the delivery of a lifetime.
ORLANDO, Fla. – Twenty-nine years ago Matthew Farrow’s life was saved by his sister’s cord blood. Now he’s the one saving lives with cord blood. At 5 years old, his parents took him to Paris – the only place where they could find a doctor to reinfuse him with cord blood. Farrow, who suffered from a rare…
Grandparents Who Babysit Live Longer
A new study published in Evolution and Human Behaviour, reported that grandparents who babysit their grandchildren live significantly longer lives. The study used data from the Berlin Aging Study and analysed 20 years worth of data from 500 seniors aged 70 and older. Grandparents who provided some form of care to their grandchildren had a 37…