• Appetite hormones still elevated ONE year after diet ends

    Dr. T

    This study is getting a ton of press. Researchers in Australia put people on a diet, and came back one year later to see what happened. Their metabolism was still low, their leptin levels were also low, their ghrelin levels were high, and their peptide YY levels were low. Even if you don’t know what…

  • Describing why a cupcake is delicious makes us like it less

    Dr. T

    In this cool series of studies, University of Alberta researchers say, “Explaining why a chocolate cupcake tasted so divine makes us love the cupcake a little less, while explaining why a movie was so horrible makes us hate the movie a little less.” Useful, applicable stuff!  

  • Doctors are incredibly knowledgable about…bread clips?

    Dr. T

    In a you gotta see it to believe it kind of post, Geekologie reports on the insanely detailed and well-characterized world of bread clips. Apparently people eat them a lot, so this is an attempt to classify and create a better, less harmful if swallowed bread clip.

  • Why “Working Out” May Not Be Working Out..

    johanna

    When you hear about losing weight, two main factors come to mind: eating less and exercising more.  However, new studies have been investigating how exercising at a certain time can make you less energetic for the remainder of your day, leading to even less physical activity. A new study in England has shown results that…

  • Blood Pressure Illusion

    Cassie

    Almost a whole quarter of patients that visit the doctor and are told they may have chronic high blood pressure may be being misled. Studies show that for this 23%  of patients, blood pressure goes up significantly in clinical settings, a phenomenon called “white coat hypertension,” and may contribute to some misdiagnoses. What is the…

  • Parents may now get turned off by what they turn on

    zack

    Everyone knows children absorb information like a sponge, but now parents have to be careful about having their children absorb information FROM a sponge…SpongeBob that is!

  • Destined for happiness?

    Jessi

    A new study by DiSH Lab collaborator Shelley Taylor has found the link between the oxytocin receptor gene and three psychological factors  for coping well with stress and depression. However, our biology is not the sole influence of our behavior, this study explains.

  • A neat science riddle – can you solve it?

    Dr. T

    From the Endeavour by way of Marginal Revolution, who says: During WWII, statistician Abraham Wald was asked to help the British decide where to add armor to their bombers. After analyzing the records, he recommended adding more armor to the places where there was no damage! The RAF was initially confused. Can you explain? Click here…

  • Rice lives on in your blood to affect your genes?

    Dr. T

    After guacamole, rice is the DiSH Lab’s favorite food. So, this study about rice micro RNAs (which are capable of altering gene expression, though we haven’t seen this in humans) floating around in people’s blood stream is crazy/cool/scary.

  • Stress is a magic wand.

    Dr. T

    Despite the obvious “correlation is not causation!” criticism of the title, this piece talks about an interesting study where children of alcoholics are more likely to drink more – but ONLY if they encounter stressful situations. This is yet another example of what I call the “magic wand” property of stress. There are so many cases…

May 2024
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