Health News

iStockphoto(OXFORD, England) -- Bad at math? A new study by researchers at Oxford University suggests that applying high-frequency electrical noise to the brain can make you better at math for up to six months following treatment. According to BBC News, 51 Oxford students participated in the small study appearing in Current Biology. Over a five-day period the students had to complete two arithmetic problems each day. Half were given transcranial random noise stimulation, or TRNS. Six months later, the group that had received the TRNS preformed much better when asked to solve math problems than the control group. Dr Roi ... Read more!

iStockphoto/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) -- Many people suffer from depression as a complication after suffering a stroke, however, a new study shows that depression may be a risk factor for future strokes.Researchers studied women born between 1946 and 1961, surveying the participants every three years between 1988 and 2010. Women were asked to self-report their depression, medication use and diagnosis or treatment. They also self-reported any stroke they may have suffered. Additionally, stroke deaths were identified using a national database.Over 10,000 women participated in the survey, the results of which were published in the journal Stroke. The data determined that ... Read more!

Jupiterimages/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) -- Over the past ten years, the rate of mental health disorders in American children has been rising, according to a new study.Between 13 and 20 percent of children have experienced a mental disorder, says the study, published in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. Those figures were based on surveillance data from a number of federal agencies, including the Centers for Disease Control, gathered between 1994 and 2011.The data from 2010 showed that the second leading cause of death among children between the ages of 12 and 17 was suicide. Additionally, mood disorders were the ... Read more!

Photodisc/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) -- Seventy two hours after Elissa Bantug's mastectomy, she felt broken. She was only 25 years old, but she had lost both breasts and her strawberry blonde hair to cancer. Drainage tubes still hung from her chest to remove excess fluid from the operation.In that moment, she just wanted to have sex with her boyfriend."I just needed something to make me not feel so broken," said Bantug, who is now 31. "Anything to make me feel beautiful."But instead of responding to her advances, Bantug said, her boyfriend pushed her off of him and told her ... Read more!

iStockphoto/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) -- Mini-movies of growing embryos could help boost the success of in vitro fertilization, a new study found. But the number of women who could benefit from the time-lapse technology is unclear.For the study, British researchers used time-lapse photography to track the earliest stage of embryonic development – a process that unfolds in womb-mimicking incubators for couples using IVF. The researchers then used an algorithm to spot the embryos most likely to grow into babies."Embryo selection based predominantly on specific time-lapse derived algorithms could rapidly become routine in IVF treatment," the study authors wrote in the ... Read more!

iStockphoto/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) -- With tiger moms, helicopter parents, and permissive and authoritarian models, parenting styles differ as much in the United States as they do in any country.But can American parents learn something from their counterparts in different parts of the world?The answer is yes, according to Christine Gross-Loh, author of the recently published book Parenting Without Borders: Surprising Lessons Parents Around the World Can Teach Us. The Harvard-educated mother of four traveled to and researched parenting styles in Finland, Sweden, Germany, France, Japan, China, Italy and other countries.American parents may not think they need any lessons. ... Read more!

iStockphoto/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) -- How much sleep you get might be at least partially determined by the color of your bedroom.According to a recent survey, bedrooms decorated with more calm colors, like blue, yellow and green, often offer more sleep than those adorned with more stimulating colors. According to the U.K.'s Daily Mail, the survey showed that people whose bedrooms are blue get the most sleep, nearly eight hours on average. Comparatively, those with purple bedrooms get an average of under six hours of sleep.Yellow, green, silver and orange bedrooms also offered more than seven hours sleep, which contributes ... Read more!

Beyond Meat(NEW YORK) -- Fake meat isn’t a new thing, but good fake meat that is almost indistinguishable from real meat could be very big in cleaning up your diet and helping the planet.Beyond Meat, a Manhattan Beach, Calif.-based food company that specializes in making “chicken” from plant-based protein, claims it is 80 percent of the way toward making real-tasting fake chicken. And you can find out for yourself as their products are now in Whole Foods markets and the Tropical Smoothie restaurants in New York City, where you can substitute its fake chicken for real chicken in burritos.... Read more!

The Copeland Family(NEW YORK) -- Aimee Copeland, the 25-year-old who lost her hands, both feet and her entire right leg to flesh-eating bacteria a year ago, has received two new bionic hands.Copeland spent the week in Ohio at Touch Bionics, where she received two bionic hands free of charge. The hands cost $100,000 a piece, on average, a company spokesperson told ABC News.Copeland spent the week getting fitted for the limbs and learning how to use them. The prosthetics respond to muscle signals in Copeland’s residual limbs and are capable of 24 different kinds of movements.She will ... Read more!

James Woodson/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) -- Visiting a gynecologist for the first time can be awkward and embarrassing for some teens. But the visit is crucial to help them understand their bodies and lay the groundwork for future health and wellness.The American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists recommends the first visit should be between the ages of 13 to 15. The exam should be an opportunity to educate teens about their bodies and help them establish a relationship with a gynecologist at an early age.What to ExpectThe first visit is an opportunity for teens to get accurate information about ... Read more!