Dr. Howard Smith Reports

Vidcast:  https://youtu.be/OHxcJZNPSx8

Children reading digital books that provide animated feedback recall more of what they read.  Educational psychologists at Pittsburgh’s Carnegie Mellon University studied ninety 3 to 5 year olds comparing their comprehension of material read from board books, static digital books and animated digital books.

When a book’s illustrations move in response to a child‘s vocal delight, that child enjoys enhanced memory of the story.  The researchers developed the animated books to model responses of enthusiastic parents guiding their children’s early reading experiences.

Ok parents!  Skip the expense and batteries by releasing your own inner child actor as you read with your kids.  Truly make the material come alive with animated faces and sounds.

Cassondra M. Eng, Anthony S. Tomasic, Erik D. Thiessen. Contingent responsivity in E-books modeled from quality adult-child interactions: Effects on children’s learning and attention.. Developmental Psychology, 2019; DOI: 10.1037/dev0000869

#Reading #digital book #animation #recall

Vidcast:  https://youtu.be/wPMaVIrDLvM

Pink artificial sweetener, once wrongfully accused of triggering bladder cancer, may ironically help create new cancer chemotherapy drugs.  Data just published in the Journal of Medicinal Chemistry shows that saccharin prevents cancer cells from surviving in tumors’ typical low oxygen conditions.

Saccharin blocks the activity of tumor-specific carbonic anhydrase 9 while leaving unaffected the carbonic anhydrases 1 and 2 used by normal cells.  The researchers developed compounds with similar chemical structures to saccharin and found that many could kill lung, prostate, and colon cancer cells grown in tissue culture.

These new findings should make you more comfortable using the pink sweetener.  As with most foods and additives, moderation is the by-word.

Silvia Bua, Carrie Lomelino, Akilah B. Murray, Sameh M. Osman, Zeid A. ALOthman, Murat Bozdag, Hatem A. Abdel-Aziz, Wagdy M. Eldehna, Robert McKenna, Alessio Nocentini, Claudiu T. Supuran. “A Sweet Combination”: Developing Saccharin and Acesulfame K Structures for Selectively Targeting the Tumor-Associated Carbonic Anhydrases IX and XII. Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, 2019; DOI: 10.1021/acs.jmedchem.9b01669

#Saccharin #sweetnlow #cancer

Vidcast:  https://youtu.be/LKuMWAYkpEc

If you hope that a 23andMe test will predict health, don’t waste your money.  The largest meta-analysis of genetic testing, completed by the University of Alberta, shows that garden-variety mutations make only a 5 to 10% contribution to most disease.

These mutations, so called single nucleotide polymorphisms or SNPs, have a negligible impact on cancer, diabetes, dementia, and most other illnesses.  They do significantly affect a few including inflammatory bowel disease and macular degeneration.

This information empowers you to prolong your life and improve its quality by what you eat and how your exercise your body and brain.  These factors, not genes in your 23 pairs of chromosomes, control 90% of your health.

Jonas Patron, Arnau Serra-Cayuela, Beomsoo Han, Carin Li, David Scott Wishart. Assessing the performance of genome-wide association studies for predicting disease risk. PLOS ONE, 2019; 14 (12): e0220215 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0220215

#Genetics #23andMe #disease #celiacdisease

Vidcast:  https://youtu.be/wPMaVIrDLvM

Pink artificial sweetener, once wrongfully accused of triggering bladder cancer, may ironically help create new cancer chemotherapy drugs.  Data just published in the Journal of Medicinal Chemistry shows that saccharin prevents cancer cells from surviving in tumors’ typical low oxygen conditions.

Saccharin blocks the activity of tumor-specific carbonic anhydrase 9 while leaving unaffected the carbonic anhydrases 1 and 2 used by normal cells.  The researchers developed compounds with similar chemical structures to saccharin and found that many could kill lung, prostate, and colon cancer cells grown in tissue culture.

These new findings should make you more comfortable using the pink sweetener.  As with most foods and additives, moderation is the by-word.

Silvia Bua, Carrie Lomelino, Akilah B. Murray, Sameh M. Osman, Zeid A. ALOthman, Murat Bozdag, Hatem A. Abdel-Aziz, Wagdy M. Eldehna, Robert McKenna, Alessio Nocentini, Claudiu T. Supuran. “A Sweet Combination”: Developing Saccharin and Acesulfame K Structures for Selectively Targeting the Tumor-Associated Carbonic Anhydrases IX and XII. Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, 2019; DOI: 10.1021/acs.jmedchem.9b01669

#Saccharin #sweetnlow #cancer

Vidcast:  https://youtu.be/OHxcJZNPSx8

Children reading digital books that provide animated feedback recall more of what they read.  Educational psychologists at Pittsburgh’s Carnegie Mellon University studied ninety 3 to 5 year olds comparing their comprehension of material read from board books, static digital books and animated digital books.

When a book’s illustrations move in response to a child‘s vocal delight, that child enjoys enhanced memory of the story.  The researchers developed the animated books to model responses of enthusiastic parents guiding their children’s early reading experiences.

Ok parents!  Skip the expense and batteries by releasing your own inner child actor as you read with your kids.  Truly make the material come alive with animated faces and sounds.

Cassondra M. Eng, Anthony S. Tomasic, Erik D. Thiessen. Contingent responsivity in E-books modeled from quality adult-child interactions: Effects on children’s learning and attention.. Developmental Psychology, 2019; DOI: 10.1037/dev0000869

#Reading #digital book #animation #recall

Vidcast:  https://youtu.be/LKuMWAYkpEc

If you hope that a 23andMe test will predict health, don’t waste your money.  The largest meta-analysis of genetic testing, completed by the University of Alberta, shows that garden-variety mutations make only a 5 to 10% contribution to most disease.

These mutations, so called single nucleotide polymorphisms or SNPs, have a negligible impact on cancer, diabetes, dementia, and most other illnesses.  They do significantly affect a few including inflammatory bowel disease and macular degeneration.

This information empowers you to prolong your life and improve its quality by what you eat and how your exercise your body and brain.  These factors, not genes in your 23 pairs of chromosomes, control 90% of your health.

Jonas Patron, Arnau Serra-Cayuela, Beomsoo Han, Carin Li, David Scott Wishart. Assessing the performance of genome-wide association studies for predicting disease risk. PLOS ONE, 2019; 14 (12): e0220215 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0220215

#Genetics #23andMe #disease #celiacdisease

Vidcast:  https://youtu.be/bXBHj2hjj-M

Do you cringe at the thought of looking down from bridge or tall building, going up in a balloon, or parasailing?  Are you afraid of falling even if you are only up on a chair?  Some caution makes sense, but if you have a pathologic fear that limits your life choices then you probably suffer from acrophobia or the extreme, irrational phobia about height.   

From 2 to 5% of us have acrophobia, and twice as many women as men suffer from it.  It can be extremely dangerous if an affected person develops a panic attack and becomes so agitated that she or he cannot safely get down.

Dutch researchers developed a VR app to help acrophobics control their fears using cognitive behavioral therapy without the use of formal psychotherapy.  The app called ZeroPhobia, available on the iOS and Google Play app stores for $14, works with your smartphone and cardboard goggles.

The neuroscientists studied this app in a trial involving nearly 200 subjects.  Half were treated with 6 animated modules over 3 weeks and half were not.  The treated group experienced a significant reduction in their fears.

The app provides individual self-help at home for a reasonable price.  The theory behind this type of exposure therapy is that it triggers hippocampal extinction neurons which suppress undesirable memories.

If you have fear of heights, you may want to try the VR app.  If you want save a few bucks, check out the wonderful high altitude 2D YouTube videos that will also help you fight your fears!

Tara Donker, Ilja Cornelisz, Chris van Klaveren, Annemieke van Straten, Per Carl-bring, Pim Cuijpers, Jean-Louis van Gelder. Effectiveness of Self-guided App-Based Virtual Reality Cognitive Behavior Therapy for Acrophobia. JAMA Psychiatry, 2019; DOI: 10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2019.0219

Anthony F. Lacagnina, Emma T. Brockway, Chelsea R. Crovetti, Francis Shue, Meredith J. McCarty, Kevin P. Sattler, Sean C. Lim, Sofia Leal Santos, Christine A. Denny, Michael R. Drew. Distinct hippocampal engrams control extinction and relapse of fear memory. Nature Neuroscience, 2019; DOI: 10.1038/s41593-019-0361-z

#Acrophobia #heights #VR #selfhelp

Vidcast:  https://youtu.be/MvRPC47OMgE

If you’re pregnant and work two night shifts in any given week, you significantly increase your chances of suffering a miscarriage.  Danish occupational medicine specialists reviewed the data from nearly 23,000 pregnant women a for a study recently published online.

The data revealed that, after the 8th week of pregnancy, women who worked two or more night shifts in any given week had a 32% higher risk of miscarriage by the following week.  The risk of miscarriage escalated as the number of night shifts and the number of consecutive night shifts increased.

Again, this study only unearths an association, and the cause of this phenomenon is unproven.  The investigators do add that night work disrupts the body’s circadian rhythms and diminishes melatonin release.   Melatonin is known to be a factor in normal placental function.

If you are on the night shift and considering becoming pregnant, ask your managers if you can join the day crew.  This is crucial if you have a history of miscarriages or high-risk pregnancies.

Luise Moelenberg Begtrup, Ina Olmer Specht, Paula Edeusa Cristina Hammer, Esben Meulengracht Flachs, Anne Helene Garde, Johnni Hansen, Åse Marie Hansen, Henrik Albert Kolstad, Ann Dyreborg Larsen, Jens Peter Bonde. Night work and miscarriage: a Danish nationwide register-based cohort study. Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 2019 DOI: 10.1136/oemed-2018-105592

#Nightshift #miscarriage #highriskpregnancy #pregnancy #obstetrics #circadianrhythm #melatonin

Vidcast:  https://youtu.be/MvRPC47OMgE

If you’re pregnant and work two night shifts in any given week, you significantly increase your chances of suffering a miscarriage.  Danish occupational medicine specialists reviewed the data from nearly 23,000 pregnant women a for a study recently published online.

The data revealed that, after the 8th week of pregnancy, women who worked two or more night shifts in any given week had a 32% higher risk of miscarriage by the following week.  The risk of miscarriage escalated as the number of night shifts and the number of consecutive night shifts increased.

Again, this study only unearths an association, and the cause of this phenomenon is unproven.  The investigators do add that night work disrupts the body’s circadian rhythms and diminishes melatonin release.   Melatonin is known to be a factor in normal placental function.

If you are on the night shift and considering becoming pregnant, ask your managers if you can join the day crew.  This is crucial if you have a history of miscarriages or high-risk pregnancies.

Luise Moelenberg Begtrup, Ina Olmer Specht, Paula Edeusa Cristina Hammer, Esben Meulengracht Flachs, Anne Helene Garde, Johnni Hansen, Åse Marie Hansen, Henrik Albert Kolstad, Ann Dyreborg Larsen, Jens Peter Bonde. Night work and miscarriage: a Danish nationwide register-based cohort study. Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 2019 DOI: 10.1136/oemed-2018-105592

#Nightshift #miscarriage #highriskpregnancy #pregnancy #obstetrics #circadianrhythm #melatonin

Vidcast:  https://youtu.be/bXBHj2hjj-M

Do you cringe at the thought of looking down from bridge or tall building, going up in a balloon, or parasailing?  Are you afraid of falling even if you are only up on a chair?  Some caution makes sense, but if you have a pathologic fear that limits your life choices then you probably suffer from acrophobia or the extreme, irrational phobia about height.   

From 2 to 5% of us have acrophobia, and twice as many women as men suffer from it.  It can be extremely dangerous if an affected person develops a panic attack and becomes so agitated that she or he cannot safely get down.

Dutch researchers developed a VR app to help acrophobics control their fears using cognitive behavioral therapy without the use of formal psychotherapy.  The app called ZeroPhobia, available on the iOS and Google Play app stores for $14, works with your smartphone and cardboard goggles.

The neuroscientists studied this app in a trial involving nearly 200 subjects.  Half were treated with 6 animated modules over 3 weeks and half were not.  The treated group experienced a significant reduction in their fears.

The app provides individual self-help at home for a reasonable price.  The theory behind this type of exposure therapy is that it triggers hippocampal extinction neurons which suppress undesirable memories.

If you have fear of heights, you may want to try the VR app.  If you want save a few bucks, check out the wonderful high altitude 2D YouTube videos that will also help you fight your fears!

Tara Donker, Ilja Cornelisz, Chris van Klaveren, Annemieke van Straten, Per Carl-bring, Pim Cuijpers, Jean-Louis van Gelder. Effectiveness of Self-guided App-Based Virtual Reality Cognitive Behavior Therapy for Acrophobia. JAMA Psychiatry, 2019; DOI: 10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2019.0219

Anthony F. Lacagnina, Emma T. Brockway, Chelsea R. Crovetti, Francis Shue, Meredith J. McCarty, Kevin P. Sattler, Sean C. Lim, Sofia Leal Santos, Christine A. Denny, Michael R. Drew. Distinct hippocampal engrams control extinction and relapse of fear memory. Nature Neuroscience, 2019; DOI: 10.1038/s41593-019-0361-z

#Acrophobia #heights #VR #selfhelp