Health News: Knee and Hip Replacements May Be Bad for the Heart ♦ A single cocaine dose lowers perceptions of sadness and anger ♦ Testosterone changes brain structures

Testosterone changes brain structures in female-to-male transsexuals Brain imaging shows that testosterone therapy given as part of sex reassignment changes the brain structures and the pathway associated with speech and verbal fluency. This result supports research that women in general may deal with speech and interaction differently than men.

Clinical trial shows first treatment for ‘emotional flatness’ associated with schizophrenia Results of a clinical trial seem to show the first effective treatment for the negative symptoms – withdrawal, lack of emotion, and apathy – associated with schizophrenia.

Psychotic patients distinguished from controls while watching movie Alice in Wonderland Researchers using fMRI (functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging) have found that even first-episode psychotic patients process information differently from a control group. To ensure both groups experienced the same brain stimuli, the measurements were taken while the subjects watched a movie, Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland.

Knee and Hip Replacements May Be Bad for the Heart Contrary to recent reports, researchers found that osteoarthritis patients who had total knee or hip joint replacement surgery, known as arthroplasty, were at increased risk of heart attack (myocardial infarction) in the early postoperative period. However, findings indicate that long-term risk of heart attack did not persist, while the risk for venous thromboembolism -- blood clot in veins and lungs -- remained years after the procedure

A single cocaine dose lowers perceptions of sadness and anger A single dose of cocaine can interfere with the ability to recognize negative emotions such as anger and sadness.

Health News: 34 Sickened in Canadian salmonella outbreak ♦ Job-sharing with nursing robots ♦ New technique speeds nano MRI imaging

34 Sickened in Canadian salmonella outbreak linked to chicks from Alberta hatchery An investigation is underway in Canada to figure out the source of a Salmonella Enteritidis outbreak linked to live chicks from an Alberta hatchery. The outbreak has so far sickened 34 people in three provinces

Job-sharing with nursing robots Given the threat of a massive earthquake striking Japan, researchers have organized a cooperative project team to develop a new robot. They set about determining the factors that are most important to hospital patients in modern society, after which they set about developing the world's first medical round robot capable of job-sharing, making more time for face-to-face nursing care.

New urine test could reduce need for blood samples If you've been to the doctor, you probably know what to do when you're handed a plastic cup and shown to the bathroom. Most patients hand over the sample and give little thought to what happens when it's shipped to the lab for analysis. Researchers have developed a new testing method that they believe will reduce costs, get faster results and lower the volume of urine needed for a sample.

New technique speeds nano MRI imaging Nano MRI is a scanning technique that produces nondestructive, high-resolution 3-D images of nanoscale objects, and it promises to become a powerful tool for researchers and companies exploring the shape and function of biological materials such as viruses and cells in much the same way as clinical MRI today enables investigation of whole tissues in the human body.

Subclinical hyperthyroidism associated with an increased risk of hip and other fractures In an analysis that included more than 70,000 participants from 13 studies, subclinical hyperthyroidism was associated with an increased risk for hip and other fractures including spine. Subclinical hyperthyroidism is a low serum thyroid-stimulating hormone concentration in a person without clinical symptoms and normal thyroid hormone concentrations on blood tests.