SAN FRANCISCO (UPI) — Children of lesbian-mother families demonstrate healthy psychological adjustment; in fact, they score higher than their peers, U.S. researchers say.

Study leader Dr. Nanette Gartrell of the University of California, San Francisco and colleagues say from 1986 to 1992, 154 prospective lesbian mothers volunteered for the study designed to follow planned lesbian families from the child’s conception until they were adults.

Information was obtained via interviews and questionnaires by 78 children when they were age 10 and 17 as well as Child Behavior Checklists that were completed by their mothers.

The study, published online ahead of print in the July issue of the journal Pediatrics, found the 17-year-olds were rated significantly higher in social, academic and total competence compared with their counterparts raised by heterosexual parents.

In addition, the study found the sons and daughters of lesbian mothers scored significantly lower in social problems, rule-breaking, and aggressive and externalizing problem behavior compared with children of traditional families using Achenbach’s normative sample of American youth.

Within the study sample, no differences were found among the teens whose mothers were still together and those whose mothers had separated, the study says.

Copyright 2010 by United Press International

Sourced and published by Henry Sapiecha

Simple Urine Test for the Condition

Science (June 5, 2010) — Children with autism have a different chemical fingerprint in their urine than non-autistic children, according to new research published tomorrow in the print edition of the Journal of Proteome Research.

The researchers behind the study, from Imperial College London and the University of South Australia, suggest that their findings could ultimately lead to a simple urine test to determine whether or not a young child has autism.

Autism affects an estimated one in every 100 people in the UK. People with autism have a range of different symptoms, but they commonly experience problems with communication and social skills, such as understanding other people’s emotions and making conversation and eye contact.

People with autism are also known to suffer from gastrointestinal disorders and they have a different makeup of bacteria in their guts from non-autistic people.

Today’s research shows that it is possible to distinguish between autistic and non-autistic children by looking at the by-products of gut bacteria and the body’s metabolic processes in the children’s urine. The exact biological significance of gastrointestinal disorders in the development of autism is unknown.

The distinctive urinary metabolic fingerprint for autism identified in today’s study could form the basis of a non-invasive test that might help diagnose autism earlier. This would enable autistic children to receive assistance, such as advanced behavioural therapy, earlier in their development than is currently possible.

At present, children are assessed for autism through a lengthy process involving a range of tests that explore the child’s social interaction, communication and imaginative skills.

Early intervention can greatly improve the progress of children with autism but it is currently difficult to establish a firm diagnosis when children are under 18 months of age, although it is likely that changes may occur much earlier than this.

The researchers suggest that their new understanding of the makeup of bacteria in autistic children’s guts could also help scientists to develop treatments to tackle autistic people’s gastrointestinal problems.

Professor Jeremy Nicholson, the corresponding author of the study, who is the Head of the Department of Surgery and Cancer at Imperial College London, said: “Autism is a condition that affects a person’s social skills, so at first it might seem strange that there’s a relationship between autism and what’s happening in someone’s gut. However, your metabolism and the makeup of your gut bacteria reflect all sorts of things, including your lifestyle and your genes. Autism affects many different parts of a person’s system and our study shows that you can see how it disrupts their system by looking at their metabolism and their gut bacteria.

“We hope our findings might be the first step towards creating a simple urine test to diagnose autism at a really young age, although this is a long way off — such a test could take many years to develop and we’re just beginning to explore the possibilities. We know that giving therapy to children with autism when they are very young can make a huge difference to their progress. A urine test might enable professionals to quickly identify children with autism and help them early on,” he added.

The researchers are now keen to investigate whether metabolic differences in people with autism are related to the causes of the condition or are a consequence of its progression.

The researchers reached their conclusions by using H NMR Spectroscopy to analyse the urine of three groups of children aged between 3 and 9: 39 children who had previously been diagnosed with autism, 28 non-autistic siblings of children with autism, and 34 children who did not have autism who did not have an autistic sibling.

They found that each of the three groups had a distinct chemical fingerprint. Non-autistic children with autistic siblings had a different chemical fingerprint than those without any autistic siblings, and autistic children had a different chemical fingerprint than the other two groups.

Sourced and published by Henry Sapiecha 7th June 2010

Curcumin is a powerful antioxidant that is found in curry powder and used in traditional Indian cooking. The blending of curcumin with other spices has made this seasoning appeal more to the European pallet and has made the ingredient a popular and healthy choice for seasoning many different dishes. However, more than just your taste buds will benefit from curry. Curry, and more specifically curcumin, has been found to help prevent Alzheimer’s disease.

The preventative quality of curry goes beyond its basic antioxidant function. Curcumin has been found effective in slowing or stopping the formation of protein fragments in brain cells. It is able to do this so effectively because it has such a low molecular weight. This enables it to seep into the blood stream better and bind to the beta amyloid plaque that forms on the brains of Alzheimer’s patients. So curry is good at not only preventing Alzheimer’s disease, but it removing some plaques of those already in the early stages.

If you don’t think that curry can do all that it claims, consider the fact that adults between the ages of 70-79 in India had a four times lower rate of Alzheimer’s disease in one 2003 study. The conclusion that researcher drew is that the difference is in the curry. The yellow, powdery food preservative, curcumin, found in curry, is found in abundance in the traditional Indian diet.

Here are some great uses for curry that will spice up your diet and put this strong antioxidant to work in cleaning up brain plaque that may already be forming. Curry can be a very strong flavor that some people just don’t like. For those who don’t care for it, the flavor can be played down as in the following recipes, keeping all of the nutritional benefits in.

1. Sprinkle some curry powder on your chicken salad. Adding halved red grapes and green onions balances the strength of the curry flavor. It’s also great with toasted almond slivers. You can serve it on a bed of dark green spinach or in half a tomato to add to the nutritional value.
2. Vitamins A and C are abundant in a traditional Bombay rice dish that has both curry powder and cumin. Use brown rice as your base adding chick peas, apricots, zucchini, onion, and any other vegetables you like such as carrots and red pepper. This can be cooked in a vegetable or fat-free chicken broth until the rice is cooked through. Just a tablespoon of curry powder and a teaspoon of cumin to 1 ½ cups uncooked rice balances the recipe.
3. Try adding 1/8 teaspoon of curry powder to low-fat or fat-free mayonnaise to spice up your next turkey sandwich. Load on the fresh lettuce, raw spinach, tomatoes, and peppers and put the balanced meal into a whole-wheat pita pocket.
4. 
   Curry can be added subtly into many different recipes eliminating the need for salt. Check to be sure that your curry seasoning does not have added salt, or use just plain cumin in its place. You’ll spice up your meals while protecting your brain.

Sourced and published by Henry Sapiecha 17th March 2010

And That’s Good

Agro loud women die early

Not out @ 110years

Nice women really do finish last. And that’s a good thing, if you’re talking about the ultimate finish line of life, which we are. Enjoying life longer than all your classmates is great as long as you have nurtured younger friends.

In a study of more than 97,000 women, those who were the most cynical and hostile (the researchers’ words, not ours; that’s one heck of a combination, and yes, there IS a test for that) had a 23 percent higher risk of dying from cancer, and, in fact, tended to die earlier from all causes than their nicer peers.

The brighter side: Optimistic women tended to live longer (we’re good with that; our wives fit that category).

They had a 16 percent lower risk for heart attacks, 14 percent lower risk of dying earlier than their peers and a 24 percent lower risk of dying from cardiovascular disease. Men weren’t included in this study, but we suspect that optimism also would have positive effects and that cynical hostility doesn’t really work for our gender, either.

It’s possible that optimism and hostility affect your actual physiology. And it’s clear that optimists deal with bad things in healthier ways, which may lead to less health-sapping stress. Optimists also build stronger social relationships, a critical aspect of adding years to your life and life to your years.

Can you change your point of view? It’s not out of the question, and it’s worth the effort. Simple ways to start: Try helping people, engaging in your community or in a spiritual community, or just expressing gratitude to someone.