Let the Rhythm Move You

Researchers led by Dr. Andrea Trombetti at the University Hospitals and Faculty of Medicine of Geneva have discovered music to be beneficial in the prevention of falls by senior citizens. A year-long trial of 134 people over the age of 65 has shown that exercise in conjunction with listening to music can improve balance and the ability to multi-task while walking. Less than half the number of falls were reported by those involved in the trials compared with those who were not. The exercises included walking in rhythm with music and performing exaggerated upper body movements.

Andrea Trombetti et al. Archives of Internal Medicine November 22, 2010
https://archinte.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/short/archinternmed.2010.446v1

A Bright Idea for Sterilization

At the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, researchers have devised a new technique to destroy dangerous bacterial pathogens in the operating room. It comes in the form of a pleasant violet light. The high-intensity, narrow-spectrum (HINS) light wavelengths are harmless to humans but deadly to bacteria. Continuous sterilization of surfaces and air can be achieved by incorporating the HINS lights in the existing lighting system. Superbugs will have to hide in the shadows in the near future.

Clay Dillow PopSci November 15, 2010
https://www.popsci.com/science/article/2010-11/researchers-use-bacteria-killing-light-destroy-pathogens-flip-switch

Strolling Toward a Bigger Brain

Walking 10 kilometres a week can improve brain size and help you retain memories, a new study says. Dr. Cyrus Raji at Pittsburgh University, who led the study, found that healthy adults needed to walk at least 9.7 kilometres (six miles) a week to maintain brain volume and reduce their risk of conditions such as Alzheimer's disease. An active lifestyle results in a bigger and healthier brain, the 10-year study concluded.

Jeremy Laurance New Zealand Herald November 29, 2010
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/lifestyle/news/article.cfm?c_id=6&objectid=10690852

Virus Drives You Mad

Fuller Torrey, director of the Stanley Medical Research Institute in Chevy Chase, Maryland, and his colleagues believe they have found a new virus – one that causes schizophrenia and one that everybody carries, whether dormant or active. Researchers say that environmental conditions and individual immunity deficiencies may activate the virus. Medical experts are now running drug trials to counteract what is now known as human endogenous retrovirus W, or HERV-W.

Douglas Fox Discover November 8, 2010
https://discovermagazine.com/2010/jun/03-the-insanity-virus/article_view?b_start:int=0&-C=

It's All In Your Head

Have you ever had ringing in your ears (tinnitus)? Turns out it's been in your head the whole time. McMaster University professor Larry Roberts and his team have pinpointed the cause of the noisy condition that affects an approximate 10% of the population – neurons firing in the brain.

"Tinnitus itself is not actually generated by irritative processes in the ear, but it's generated by changes that take place in the brain when neurons in the brain lose some of their input from the ear," Roberts explains. Buzzing or ringing in the ears is directly related to hearing loss and may be on the rise due to the use of iPods and the like.

Pat Hewitt Yahoo Canada News November 11, 2010
https://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/capress/101111/national/tinnitus_cause