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Research Archive

Welcome to our Chinese medicine and acupuncture research news pages. We add to the content of these pages continuously as more research news comes in. Browse through the complete archive below or use the category links on the right.

Please note that the most twenty recent research archive items are free to view but access to the thousands of items in the archive require a journal subscription.

Migraines may be associated with specific personality types

Categories: Lifestyle research

Italian researchers compared 105 patients suffering from migraine without aura with a control group of 79 healthy subjects using psychometric questionnaires. Migraine patients were found to show more depressive symptoms, more difficulty with anger management with a tendency to hypercontrol, and a distinctive personality profile with high harm avoidance, high persistence and low self-directedness. ...

Sunbathing may protect against ms

Categories: Lifestyle research

A study from California has examined the influence of childhood sun exposure on the risk of multiple sclerosis (MS) in monozygotic twins. Seventy-nine twin pairs were identified where there was a quantifiable difference in sun exposure between the pair and where only one twin had MS. A numerical index of sun exposure related activities was calculated for each individual. It was found that sun expo ...

Loneliness impairs immune response

Categories: Lifestyle research

Lonely people are prone to illness and early death because their immune system genes are dysregulated. An American study analysed gene transcription activity in people who chronically experienced high versus low levels of subjective social isolation (loneliness). Genes linked to inflammation showed increased activity in people who described themselves as lonely, compared with those who said they h ...

Anger and stress are bad for the heart

Categories: Lifestyle research, Hypertension

Anger and stress in middle-aged men and women are associated with developing high blood pressure and coronary heart disease (CHD). Investigators analysed data from an American cohort study of 15,792 subjects aged 45-64 at enrolment. Participants were followed up over 11 years for the development of hypertension (blood pressure >139 systolic or >89 diastolic) and CHD events. Subjects underwen ...

Bad relationships are bad for the heart

Categories: Lifestyle research

A prospective cohort study of 9,011 British civil servants assessed negative aspects of close relationships, such as not confiding and not getting emotional support, using a questionnaire. Associations between negative aspects of relationships, and coronary events were determined during 12 years of follow-up. Results showed that people who experienced negative aspects of a close relationship had a ...

Moderate drinking good for the old brain

Categories: Lifestyle research

The results of a prospective observational study of 6005 UK adults over 50 suggest that moderate drinking is associated with better mental health than abstinence. For both men and women, better cognition and subjective well-being, and fewer depressive symptoms, were associated with moderate levels of alcohol consumption than with never having drunk at all. (Moderate alcohol consumption in older ad ...

Night shifts are carcinogenic

Categories: Lifestyle research

The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), the cancer arm of the World Health Organisation, has reclassified overnight shift work as a probable carcinogen. Epidemiological studies on nurses and flight crews have previously linked night work with cancer of the breast and prostate. An IARC panel of 24 experts looked at eight epidemiological studies on cancer rates from different geograp ...

Ten steps to avoiding cancer

Categories: Lifestyle research

The American Institute for Cancer Research and World Cancer Research Fund have issued a comprehensive report detailing the links between cancer and various dietary and lifestyle factors. The report lists ten recommendations for those who want to reduce their cancer risk: keep body fat down (recommended BMI 21-23); aim for at least 30 minutes of moderate exercise per day; avoid junk food; eat no mo ...

Breastfeeding prevents asthma

Categories: Lifestyle research

Longer breastfeeding in infancy is associated with improved lung function in later childhood, as long as the mother does not have asthma. American researchers followed 679 children from birth to adolescence and evaluated their lung function between the ages of 11 and 16. Breastfed children with non-asthmatic mothers showed increased lung volume and no decrease in forced expiratory volume (FEV) ove ...

Relaxed mum = relaxed baby

Categories: Lifestyle research

Researchers in the USA measured foetal responses to a guided meditation designed to induce maternal relaxation during the 32nd week of pregnancy. The 18-minute guided imagery intervention generated significant changes in maternal heart rate, skin conductance, respiration period and respiratory sinus arrhythmia. Significant alterations in foetal behaviour were also observed, including decreased foe ...

Maternal drinking leads to kids bad behaviour

Categories: Lifestyle research

Drinking during pregnancy has adverse behavioural consequences for the offspring. A longitudinal study questioned 4,912 mothers about their drinking habits while pregnant and assessed 8,621 of their offspring for behavioural problems between the ages of four and eleven. Children whose mothers drank alcohol during pregnancy were found to have more attention and impulsivity problems than children wh ...

Smoking in pregnancy linked to male infertility

Categories: Lifestyle research

Smoking during pregnancy adversely affects the reproductive systems of male foetuses, according to Scottish scientists. Their study looked at the expression of genes in male foetal tissue (testes, blood and liver), comparing pregnancies of mothers who smoked with those that did not. Levels of expression of a gene called DHH, which is specific to the Sertoli cells of the testes, was found to be sig ...

Obesity reduces male fertility

Categories: Lifestyle research

Researchers from the National Institutes of Health in the US have found that men with increased body mass index (BMI) are significantly more likely to be infertile than normal-weight men. The study of more than 25,000 couples found that men classed as clinically obese (BMI>30) were 36% more likely to be infertile than men of normal weight. Those who were classed as overweight (BMI 25-29.9) were ...

Organic tomatoes really are healthier

Categories: Lifestyle research

A 10-year study comparing organic tomatoes with conventionally grown ones suggests that they may be healthier, confirming pro-organic opinion. Levels of the antioxidant flavonoids quercetin and kaempferol, which have been linked to reduced rates of cardiovascular disease, cancer and dementia, increased significantly over time in samples from organic treatments, whereas they did not vary with conve ...

A little chocolate does blood pressure good

Categories: Lifestyle research

Regular eating of small amounts of dark chocolate may help lower blood pressure. In a German study, 44 volunteers with mildly raised blood pressure ate just over six grams of dark chocolate (one square from German chocolate bar Ritter Sport) or the same amount of white chocolate daily for five months. Systolic blood pressure decreased by an average of three points and diastolic pressure dropped al ...

Icsi boys have lower testosterone

Categories: Lifestyle research

A study by Danish researchers has found that intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) significantly decreases the level of testosterone in male children conceived using the assisted reproductive technique. The study examined over a thousand male babies and compared testosterone levels of boys conceived via ICSI with those of naturally conceived males, at birth and three months of age. Serum testost ...

The appendix is a bug nursery

Categories: Lifestyle research

Researchers at Duke University think they have finally found out what the human appendix is for. It may act as a 'safe house' for beneficial gut bacteria, facilitating recolonisation of the intestines in the event of a catastrophic pathogen event wiping out the rest of the gut's microflora. (Biofilms in the large bowel suggest an apparent function of the human vermiform appendix. J Theor Biol. 200 ...

Blondes make men dumb

Categories: Lifestyle research

Men who encounter fair-haired women have their own 'blonde moment'. Scientists found that men's scores in general knowledge tests fell after they were shown photos of blondes. The French researchers believe that the men's mental performance drops in response to stereotypes - they believe they are dealing with someone less intelligent and mimic that behaviour. (Blonde like me: When self-construals ...

Healthy lifestyle = healthy heart

Categories: Lifestyle research

Women can significantly cut their risk of having a heart attack by eating healthily, drinking moderately, staying physically active, maintaining a healthy weight and not smoking. A prospective Swedish cohort study followed over 24,000 postmenopausal women for six years. Women who kept to a healthy diet - a high intake of vegetables, fruit, whole grains, fish, and legumes - combined with a small am ...

Old Wives Tales

Categories: General discussion, Comment

Some clever people can be really ... well, a bit dim. The Voice of Young Science organised a demonstration on September 8th at Whitehall in London to protest against proposals for a registration scheme for practitioners of traditional medicine (Acupuncture, Herbal Medicine, Traditional Chinese Medicine and other Traditional Medicine Systems). They've come up with the hilarious idea of issuing "Dip ...