Children's Health: Early-life exercise alters gut microbes,♦ Parents can play a role in preventing teen fighting ♦ How does type of toy affect quantity, quality of language in infant playtime?

Early-life exercise alters gut microbes, promotes healthy brain and metabolism The human gut harbors a teeming menagerie of over 100 trillion microorganisms, and researchers have discovered that exercising early in life can alter that microbial community for the better, promoting healthier brain and metabolic activity over the course of a lifetime.

How does type of toy affect quantity, quality of language in infant playtime? Electronic toys for infants that produce lights, words and songs were associated with decreased quantity and quality of language compared to playing with books or traditional toys such as a wooden puzzle, a shape-sorter and a set of rubber blocks.

Parents can play a role in preventing teen fighting With nearly one-fourth of teens reporting fighting in the past year, a new study finds parents, who are often left out of violence prevention programs, can play an important role in reducing adolescent altercations

Undiagnosed Diseases Program gives answers where there were none An Undiagnosed Diseases Program provides an ending for one family's 24 year search for answers to their children's health issues.

Weight Loss; Food and Emotions: 90 percent overlook key to weight loss ♦ Gut microbes trigger fat loss ♦ Short sleep linked to distracted secondary eating

Food and Emotions: 90 percent overlook key to weight loss The results of a national survey about weight loss barriers finds 90 percent of respondents discounted one of the most important factors -- your mind. A neuropsychologist says the most crucial factor is your psychological relationship with food and exercise, yet the majority (60 percent) listed diet and exercise to be the biggest barriers of weight loss, and only 10 percent of people thought psychological well being was the biggest barrier to weight loss.

Sperm carries information about dad's weight Turns out dads are also eating for two. A study reveals that a man's weight affects the heritable information contained in sperm. The sperm cells of lean and obese men possess different epigenetic marks, notable at gene regions associated with the control of appetite.

Gut microbes trigger fat loss in response to cold temperatures Exposure to cold temperatures is known to mimic the effects of exercise, protecting against obesity and improving metabolic health. A study now reveals that the beneficial health effects of cold exposure are mediated in part by gut microbes. The researchers found that cold exposure dramatically alters the composition of intestinal bacteria in mice and that this microbial shift is sufficient to burn fat, improve glucose metabolism, and reduce body weight

Short sleep linked to distracted secondary eating, drinking Research suggests a link between short sleep and obesity from secondary eating and drinking while engaged in another activity. Investigators assessed time spent on secondary eating and drinking as well as primary eating and drinking, with sleep duration as the principal independent variable.

Bacterial Research: Researchers resolve structure of a key component of bacterial decision-making ♦ How bacterial predators evolved to kill other bacteria without harming themselves

How bacterial predators evolved to kill other bacteria without harming themselves How predatory bacteria function has been little understood to date. Predators have been found to produce a protein 'antidote' that protects them from their own weapons. Understanding how these predators attack bacteria could provide new ways of combatting antimicrobial resistance.

First look at gut microbes in an American Indian community Very little is known about how the diversity of gut microbes might vary among different groups of people, and whether and how those variations might play into well-recognized health disparities. Now, researchers have taken a step toward filling those gaps with the first descriptions of the gut microbiomes of individuals in a Native-American community

New clues for battling botulism Scientists have discovered new details about how 'cloaking' proteins protect the toxin that causes botulism, a fatal disease caused most commonly by consuming improperly canned foods. That knowledge and the cloaking proteins themselves might now be turned against the toxin -- the deadliest known to humankind.

Researchers resolve structure of a key component of bacterial decision-making For bacteria that swim, determining whether to stay the course or head in a new direction is vital to survival. A new study offers atomic-level details of the molecular machinery that allows swimming bacteria to sense their environment and change direction when needed.

11/14/14 Health News: Body weight influenced by gut microbes ♦ High-fat diet postpones brain aging ♦ Children And Especially Babies Need to Eat Fish: Allergies

Why Children And Especially Babies Need to Eat Fish: Allergies

This past June, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) encouraged Americans to eat more fish. They pointed out that fish has lots of health benefits; not only is it a great source of protein, it’s a great source of other nutrients, including some that can help developing brains. That’s why they particularly want pregnant women and children to heed the advice. Continue reading

High-fat diet postpones brain aging in mice

New research suggests that signs of brain aging can be postponed in mice if placed on a high-fat diet. In the long term, this opens the possibility of treatment of children suffering from premature aging and patients with Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease.Continue Reading

Body weight heavily influenced by gut microbes: Genes shape body weight by affecting gut microbes

Our genetic makeup influences whether we are fat or thin by shaping which types of microbes thrive in our body, according to a new study. Scientists identified a specific, little known bacterial family that is highly heritable and more common in individuals with low body weight. This microbe also protected against weight gain when transplanted into mice. The results could pave the way for personalized probiotic therapies that are optimized to reduce the risk of obesity-related diseases based on an individual's genetic makeup.Continue Reading