Stress during pregnancy can lead to early maturation of first-born daughters
Key takeawaysA UCLA-led research team found a correlation between certain aspects of early puberty in first-born daughters and high levels of prenatal stress in their mothers.The researchers did not find the same result in boys or in daughters who were not first-born.This early maturation may enable a first-born daughter to help her mother rear her other children successfully, according to UCLA anthropologist Molly Fox.A UCLA-led team of researchers has found a correlation between early signs of adrenal puberty in first-born daughters and their mothers ’ having experienced high levels of prenatal stress. They did not fin...
Source: UCLA Newsroom: Health Sciences - February 20, 2024 Category: Universities & Medical Training Source Type: news
WATCH: Great ape children poke and run from adults, like humans
In a study recently published in theProceedings of the Royal Society B, a UCLA-led team of scientists observed that much like human children, all species of great apes — orangutans, chimpanzees, bonobos and gorillas — engage in playful teasing and mildly harassing behavior to provoke a response in adults or attract their attention.“It was common for teasers to repeatedly wave or swing a body part or object in the middle of the target’s field of vision, hit or poke them, stare closely at their face, disrupt their movements, pull on their hair or perform other behaviors that were extremely difficult for the target to...
Source: UCLA Newsroom: Health Sciences - February 16, 2024 Category: Universities & Medical Training Source Type: news
Super Bowl gambling: Does America have a problem?
In addition to very likely being one of the most-viewed sporting events in the world, Super Bowl LVIII is expected to be one of the largest sports betting events in U.S. history, with tens of millions of Americans expected to wager billions of dollars on Sunday ’s matchup.But experts say the advent and rapid expansion of legalized, online sports betting has led to an unprecedented accessibility to gambling and the problems that can arise from it.The American Gaming Association, a gambling industry organization, estimated this week that a record 67.8 million American adults will bet on the matchup between the Kansas Ci...
Source: UCLA Newsroom: Health Sciences - February 9, 2024 Category: Universities & Medical Training Source Type: news
3 strategies to break down barriers to breastfeeding and lower women ’s risk of breast cancer
Key takeawaysEven though the Affordable Care Act requires coverage of “comprehensive lactation support” families are often unclear about what their insurance offers.Parental leave should be longer and paid for both parents, study participants said.Workplace owners, managers and employees should be better informed about family leave rights.When it comes to encouraging women in California to breastfeed, health care providers, insurance companies and employers need to be doing more, according to recommendations in anew report from theUCLA Center for Health Policy Research.Breastfeeding has been shown in studies tolower th...
Source: UCLA Newsroom: Health Sciences - January 31, 2024 Category: Universities & Medical Training Source Type: news
Viral protein fragments may unlock mystery behind serious COVID-19 outcomes
Key takeawaysThere remains no clear explanation for why COVID-19, caused by SARS-CoV-2, can result in severe outcomes or death while other coronaviruses just cause common colds, or why COVID-19 symptoms persist after the coronavirus that causes it has been eliminated.A UCLA-led research team has shown that fragments of the coronavirus may drive inflammation by mimicking the action of specific immune molecules in the body.The findings could contribute to not only the understanding and treatment of COVID-19 but also efforts to detect coronaviruses with the potential to cause pandemics before they become widespread.There are ...
Source: UCLA Newsroom: Health Sciences - January 31, 2024 Category: Universities & Medical Training Source Type: news
Challenge accepted: Graduate students answer call to help boost health equity
Empowering people living in Watts to become their own environmental justice advocates by training them as citizen scientists who can gather data and map hazards and assets.Offering Asian youth in the San Gabriel Valley culturally sensitive mental health and well-being lessons that combine teachings about nutrition, sleep and regular physical activity with traditional Chinese medicine practices.These ambitious and practical ideas to narrow or eliminate longstanding disparities in health care are among those proposed by the 15 finalists in the third annual Health Equity Challenge, which is sponsored by the UCLA Center for...
Source: UCLA Newsroom: Health Sciences - January 12, 2024 Category: Universities & Medical Training Source Type: news
ICYMI: UCLA to transform empty Westside Pavilion mall into UCLA Research Park
Chancellor Block, California Gov. Gavin Newsom and UC President Michael Drake announce the UCLA Research Park. Just a week ago, UCLA announced it had acquired the former Westside Pavilion and will transform the empty shopping mall into the UCLA Research Park — an engine of scientific, technological, creative and economic growth for Southern California and beyond.Read the Newsroom story and view photos of the site.Plans for the massive research park were unveiled at a Jan. 3 press conference with Chancellor Gene Block, California Gov. Gavin Newsrom, UC President Michael Drake, representatives from Google, private donor...
Source: UCLA Newsroom: Health Sciences - January 10, 2024 Category: Universities & Medical Training Source Type: news
The UCLA Research Park: Immunology and immunotherapy
With the California Institute for Immunology and Immunotherapy at UCLA as an anchor tenant at theUCLA Research Park on the site of the former Westside Pavilion shopping mall, UCLA is poised to enter a new era of biomedical breakthroughs.A first-of-its kind effort in California, the nonprofit public-private partnership will leverage UCLA ’s existing strengths in clinical and biomedical scientific research across a range of disciplines. Top-flight scientists from UCLA and around the world will pursue new tools, treatments and vaccines to address a variety of pressing health challenges, including cancer, infectious diseases...
Source: UCLA Newsroom: Health Sciences - January 3, 2024 Category: Universities & Medical Training Source Type: news
2023 reflections: Stepping boldly into the future
With the holidays around the corner, it ’s that time again — an opportunity to take stock of year filled with awe-inspiring achievements and more than a few surprises, and to celebrate the accomplishments of our entire Bruin community.“New” was certainly the watchword for 2023, which saw the opening of new vistas and venues for the arts, the introduction of new majors and academic programs, the establishment of a new campus facility formedical technology and training, the welcoming of new deans inmedicine,engineering andlaw, and the launch of the newUCLA Strategic Plan: 2023 –28, which charts a course for the uni...
Source: UCLA Newsroom: Health Sciences - December 23, 2023 Category: Universities & Medical Training Source Type: news
Recent immigrants saw biggest spike in mental distress as anti-immigrant sentiment increased
Key takeawaysAll immigrants were affected. Even California immigrants living in the U.S. for 15 years or more experienced 50% increases in serious psychological distress.Citizenship status matters. California ’s immigrant adults with and without a green card saw more than double the increases in serious psychological distress than adults who were naturalized citizens.Effects of English proficiency. Immigrants who spoke only English were the sole subgroup not to show an increase in serious psychological distress.Anti-immigrant rhetoric and policies are widely known to have harmful impacts on mental health, but a new polic...
Source: UCLA Newsroom: Health Sciences - December 18, 2023 Category: Universities & Medical Training Source Type: news
The keto diet protects against epileptic seizures. Scientists are uncovering why
The high-fat, low-carbohydrate ketogenic diet is more than just a trendy weight-loss tactic. It has also been known to help control seizures in children with epilepsy, particularly those who don ’t respond to first-line anti-seizure medications.In a new UCLA study published in the journalCell Reports, researchers demonstrate that the changes the diet causes in the human gut microbiome — the trillions of bacteria and other microorganisms that live in the digestive tract — can confer protection against seizures in mice.Understanding how the function of the microbiome is altered by the diet could aid in the development ...
Source: UCLA Newsroom: Health Sciences - December 15, 2023 Category: Universities & Medical Training Source Type: news
Could the ‘central dogma’ of biology be misleading bioengineers?
Key takeawaysMesenchymal stem cells, found in bone marrow, secrete therapeutic proteins that could potentially help regenerate damaged tissue.A UCLA study examining these cells challenges the conventional understanding of which genetic instructions prompt the release of these therapeutic proteins.The findings could help advance both regenerative medicine research and the laboratory production of biologic treatments already in use.Today, medicines based on antibodies— proteins that fight infection and disease —are prescribed for everything from cancer to COVID-19 to high cholesterol.The antibody drugs are supplied by ...
Source: UCLA Newsroom: Health Sciences - December 11, 2023 Category: Universities & Medical Training Source Type: news
1 out of 5 patients listed as alive in electronic health records are actually dead
About 20 % of patients whose medical records showed them as being alive with a serious illness were in fact deceased, according to California data, leading to hundreds of unnecessary interactions such as appointment reminders, prescription refills and other kinds of wasteful outreach that strain resources and health care workers ’ time.The data gap is due to California law that makes these full death data available only “for purposes of law enforcement or preventing fraud,” a UCLA-lead research team found. Even a real-time death database maintained by the National Association for Public Health Statistics and Informat...
Source: UCLA Newsroom: Health Sciences - December 5, 2023 Category: Universities & Medical Training Source Type: news
Despite stronger fears of being a victim of gun violence, California immigrants far less likely to own firearms than citizens
This study shows that the immigrant population’s concern about gun violence is significant,” saidNinez Ponce, director of the Center for Health Policy Research and principal investigator for the California Health Interview Survey, or CHIS.Firearm ownershipPrior research showed 17.6% of all California adults own a firearm. However the number is just 6.0% among immigrants, according to 2021 CHIS data in the new study. The authors included naturalized adult citizens in the “citizens” category, as firearm access among naturalized citizens more closely mimics that of citizens than immigrants.The study, which builds on t...
Source: UCLA Newsroom: Health Sciences - November 28, 2023 Category: Universities & Medical Training Source Type: news
Why emotions stirred by music create such powerful memories
Key takeawaysUCLA psychologistsused music to manipulate emotions of volunteers and found the dynamics of their emotions molded otherwise neutral experiences into memorable events.The tug of war between integrating memories and separating them helps to form distinct memories, allowing people to understand and find meaning in their experiences, and retain information.These findings could hold therapeutic promise in helping people with PTSD and depression.Time flows in a continuous stream — yet our memories are divided into separate episodes, all of which become part of our personal narrative. How emotions shape thi...
Source: UCLA Newsroom: Health Sciences - November 21, 2023 Category: Universities & Medical Training Source Type: news
