Despite suffering severe pain, about one in three older cancer patients do not end up taking opioids, the most potent of analgesics, according to a new study from Canada. It's not clear why these patients are not getting their pain treated with opioids, which include morphine, oxycodone and fentanyl. It could be that physicians are not prescribing the medications or that patients are getting prescriptions, but not filling them. They don't have … full story

Drug addicts and their non-addicted siblings share certain features in the brain, suggesting a susceptibility to addiction is inherited but is also a flaw that can be overcome, scientists said on Thursday. Researchers who scanned the brains of 50 pairs of brothers and sisters of whom one was a cocaine addict found that both siblings had brain abnormalities that make it more difficult for them to exercise self-control. The findings increase understanding … full story

International scientists on Friday agreed to a temporary two-month halt to controversial research on a bird flu virus that may be easily passed among humans, citing global health concerns. Two separate teams of researchers, one in the Netherlands and the other in the United States, found ways late last year to engineer the H5N1 virus so that it was transmitted among mammals, something that has previously been rare. The breakthrough raised alarm … full story

Elderly people with higher levels of certain vitamins and omega 3 fatty acids in their blood score better on mental acuity tests than those who eat junk food, a new study has shown. The study published in Neurology, the journal of the American Academy of Neurology, also showed that eating better could help reduce the brain shrinkage commonly associated with Alzheimer's disease. "This approach clearly shows the biological and neurological activity … full story

Top US scientists on Wednesday defended their bid to stop details of a mutant bird flu virus from being published and called for global cooperation to ward off an uncontrollable pandemic. Meanwhile, scientists involved in the experiments said they are cooperating with government officials and the editors of the journals Science and Nature to pare down their research for publication in the coming weeks. The controversy arose when two separate research … full story

Landscape artist Jane Anderson struggled with seasonal affective disorder in the winter months. She tried meditation and noticed a change within a month. “My experience was a sense of calmness, of better ability to regulate my emotions,” she says. Her experience inspired a new study which found changes in brain activity after only five weeks of meditation training, the journal Psychological Science reports. But Anderson, who did this research … full story

More than the apple, a strawberry a day could keep not just one doctor away, but an entire army of brain, hormone and cancer specialists. Fisetin is a natural flavonoid found very abundantly in strawberries and to some extent in other fruits, vegetables, tea and red wine. It eases diabetes complications, Salk Institute’s Cellular Neurobiology Lab (CFL) said. Flavonoids are natural compounds having similar effects as antioxidants, which help protect … full story

One way of prompting physical activity among children is to promote them duringleisure time, tailored to the specific gender. Researchers found children’s perceptions of what constituted play included both physically active and sedentary behaviours. Rowan Brockman from the University of Bristol Centre for Exercise, Nutrition and Health Sciences, who led the study, said: “Contemporary children do engage in active play and value both the physical … full story

If you want to improve the way you eat, the best way to do so is to first make an action plan and then visualise yourself carrying it out, researchers say. “Telling people to just change the way they eat doesn’t work; we’ve known that for a while,” says Bärbel Knäuper of McGill’s Department of Psychology. “What we’ve done that’s new is to add visualisation techniques to the action plan,” adds Knauper, the journal Psychology and Health reports. … full story

Boys seem to get a greater kick out of caffeine than girls, according to the results of a double-blind study. Boys also credited caffeine with having a positive effect on their athletic performance, not so girls. The study, conducted by Jennifer L. Temple, neurobiologist and assistant professor of nutrition sciences at the University at Buffalo in the US, is the first to show how genders respond to caffeine consumption. “We are hoping that our … full story