Medi Watch
Grown-ups mellowing with age
Becoming more cantankerous with age may be a myth. People can become more 'mellow' in response to negative emotions over their lifetime, BBC Online reports. An Australian brain imaging study from the University of Sydney studied people aged 12 to 79. It found that emotional stability continues to improve, even into the seventh decade. And older people were found to be less neurotic than teenagers, the site continues. The results were published in the Journal of Neuroscience, and combat negative beliefs that brain function declines with age. A total of 242 healthy men and women were assessed for the study using 'emotional well-being questionnaires'. The report concludes that neurotic traits were found to decrease with advancing age - with the 12 to 19 year age group being the most neurotic and the 50 to 79 year age group being the least neurotic.
Laugh your way into labour
Psychotherapy - including a good laugh - may help restore fertility in so-called superwomen who become so stressed that they stop ovulating. The condition typically occurs among seemingly healthy, young women who over-exercise, eat sparely and are stressed. Four out of every five women in a small trial at Emory University in Atlanta, who received therapy designed to help put their problems in perspective, began ovulating again, after not menstruating for more than six months, AFP and Nature report.
Cashews reduce blood pressure
Unsalted cashews are good for your blood pressure - but you might want to give the walnuts a miss, according to research at North-West University in South Africa. On the other hand, too many cashews can boost blood sugar, Reuters reports. The researchers say the nuts' different effects on the so-called baroflex, which helps maintain healthy blood pressure, are probably because cashews contain monounsaturated fatty acids, whereas walnuts contain polyunsaturated fatty acids. Both types of nuts contain ingredients that help blood flow, such as fibre and folic acid.
Kids' treatment grows on trees
An extract from the bark of a French tree turns hyperactive horrors into little angels, according to Slovakian research reported in European Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. The reports says that, after being given a supplement derived from French maritime pine tree bark, children suffering from attention deficit hyperactivity disorder showed 'a significant reduction in hyperactivity [and] an improvement in attention, motor co-ordination and concentration'. The benefits disappeared when the test ended.
Sex on the brain
Migraine sufferers are the least likely to say, 'Not tonight, dear', according to US research that suggests they typically have a higher-than-normal sex drive. Migraine is associated with reduced levels of serotonin, the so-called happiness hormone released during orgasm, according to the study, published in the journal Headache. Earlier studies have shown that intercourse can alleviate migraine pain. The researchers from Wake Forest University School of Medicine in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, will now focus on mathematical modelling to predict the onset of migraines, Reuters reports.
Down side of clean living
Crohn's and other inflammatory bowel diseases may be caused by too much clean living. And research at Michigan State University suggests that a dose of worm eggs may be the answer. Professor of microbiology Linda Mansfield says threadlike whipworm intestinal parasites can reduce inflammation and 'reset the immune system'. The diseases are virtually unknown in the developing world and Mansfield's research suggests that exposure to some dirt and bacteria may be healthy.
