5, July 201

Revealed — left-handed people are likely to be born in winter

Is your child born in the month between October and January? They are likely to become left-handed, says new research

According to a study most of the left handed people, especially men, are born between the months October to February. The study conducted by Ulrich Tran, Stefan Stieger, and Martin Voracek comprised of two large and independent samples of nearly 13000 adults from Austria and Germany and found that overall, 7.5 percent of women and 8.8 percent of men were left-handed. Ulrich Tran, lead author of the study, said that this imbalance was caused since more left-handed men were born specifically during November, December, and January. On a monthly average, 8.2 percent of left-handed men were born during the period February to October, which rose to 10.5 percent during November to January. The relative darkness during the period November to January may not directly connected to this birth seasonality of handedness, and they assume that the relative brightness during the period May to July, half a year before, was its distal cause, added Ulrich Tran.

A theory, brought forth in the 1980’s by US neurologists Norman Geschwind and Albert Galaburda, posits that testosterone delays the maturation of the left brain hemisphere during embryonic development. The left brain hemisphere is dominant among right-handers, the right brain hemisphere is dominant among left-handers. Intrauterine testosterone levels are higher in the male fetus, because of its own testosterone secretion, than in the female fetus. However, the testosterone level of the mother and external factors may also affect intrauterine testosterone levels. Specifically, more daylight may increase testosterone levels, making a seasonality effect plausible. According to the findings, there was a small, but robust and replicable, effect of birth seasonality on handedness, which affected only men, however, the exact way of causation still needs to be investigated in future studies.

Source: www.thehealthsite.com

05.07.2014

Fat tissue in bone marrow may lower the risk of heart disease, diabetes

Bone marrow fat tissue has long been associated with poor health effects like most reduced bone mass and increased risks of fractures as well as osteoporosis. But now, scientists have now found that it might not be true. Bone marrow is a significant source of the hormone adiponectin that is linked to maintain insulin sensitivity, break down fat and even reduce the risk of heart disease, diabetes and cancers associated with obesity.

Bone marrow fat tissue – which increases as body weight falls – is a previously unrecognised source of adiponectin during calorie restriction, the findings showed. ‘These findings are significant because we have found that bone marrow adipose tissue may have positive, protective roles, and influence adaptive functions outside of the bone tissue, at least during calorie restriction,’ said Ormond MacDougald, professor at University of Michigan in the US.

The new study includes people with anorexia, patients undergoing chemotherapy, rabbits and mice. ‘We know that low adiponectin has been correlated with multiple health problems and our findings suggest that an important source of this protein, and potentially others that we have not identified yet, is the fat tissue inside bone marrow,’ said Erica Scheller, postdoctoral fellow at University of Michigan. People with obesity have the lowest levels of adiponectin – potentially increasing their risk for developing such diseases while the leaner someone gets, the more adiponectin they have. The study appeared online in the journal Cell Metabolism.

Source: www.thehealthsite.com

05.07.2014

When mind is Weak, situation is Problem. When mind is balanced, situation is Challenge. But, when mind is Strong, situation becomes Opportunity