College athletes twice as likely to have depression than retired collegiate athletes

Apr. 2, 2013 ? A survey of current and former college athletes finds depression levels significantly higher in current athletes, a result that upended the researchers' hypothesis. The finding published in Sports Health suggests the need for more research to understand depression among college athletes.

"We expected to see a significant increase in depression once athletes graduated, but by comparison it appears the stress of intercollegiate athletics may be more significant than we and others anticipated," says the study's senior investigator Daniel Merenstein, MD, an associate professor of family medicine and human science at Georgetown University Medical Center.

While no research exists on depression in athletes who have recently graduated from college, the researchers hypothesized that the changes in lifestyle and loss of personal identity would put former college athletes at an increased risk for depression.

"College athletes often derive their personal identity from their sport, focusing a lot of their time on athletics in college," the study authors write. "They are often surrounded by other athletes and frequently have an athletic identity from their peers who recognize them on campus as an athlete."

The authors also point out that after college athletics, there is a loss of social support from teammates, coaches and advisors, and that former athletes may not maintain peak physical condition -- all possible factors for depression.

To examine their hypothesis, the researchers sent surveys to 663 athletes; 163 former and 117 current athletes from nine different universities took part in the study. All had participated in Division I NCAA sponsored sports. Graduated athletes represented 15 different sports and current athletes represented 10.

The analysis of the surveys revealed that nearly 17 percent of current college athletes had scores consistent with depression -- double that of retired college athletes (eight percent).

Merenstein, a family medicine physician, and his colleagues suggest that stressors experienced by college athletes such as overtraining, injury, pressure to perform, lack of free time or stress from schoolwork could contribute to increased susceptibility to depression.

"College in general is a potentially stressful time for many students. The additional stress of playing high-level sports appears to add to that stress," he says.

Merenstein advises parents, friends and coaches to be aware of changes in behavior, weight and sleep of college athletes, and of all students.

In addition to Merenstein, authors of the study include Jared Cohen, a medical student at Temple University and Sabrina Weigand, a medical student at Tulane University. At the time of the study, both were students in the department of human science at Georgetown University School of Nursing & Health Studies.

The study was supported by the department of family medicine. The authors report having no personal financial interests related to the study.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Georgetown University Medical Center.

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Journal Reference:

1. S. Weigand, J. Cohen, D. Merenstein. Susceptibility for Depression in Current and Retired Student Athletes. Sports Health: A Multidisciplinary Approach, 2013; DOI: 10.1177/1941738113480464

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Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/most_popular/~3/mRf-Q2Oc1nw/130402150149.htm

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Newly approved blood thinner may increase susceptibility to some viral infections

Apr. 1, 2013 ? A study led by researchers at the University of North Carolina indicates that a newly approved blood thinner that blocks a key component of the human blood clotting system may increase the risk and severity of certain viral infections, including flu and myocarditis, a viral infection of the heart and a significant cause of sudden death in children and young adults.

For the past 50 years, people with the heartbeat irregularity, atrial fibrillation, and others at increased risk for forming potentially life-threatening blood clots have been given the anticoagulant drug warfarin. Recently, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the use of the blood-thinner Dabigatran etexilate (called Pradaxa?) for atrial fibrillation patients. The drug inhibits thrombin, the body's central coagulation activator of the blood clotting system.

In blocking thrombin activity, the drug disturbs the protease cascade of molecular events that normally occurs in coagulation. While clot formation is reduced, the new study shows it may also cause an unintended consequence. "Our findings show that blocking thrombin reduces the innate immune response to viral infection," says study senior author Nigel Mackman, PhD, the John C. Parker Distinguished Professor of Medicine in the division of hematology and director of the UNC McAllister Heart Institute. "The use of the new generation of blood thinners might increase the risk and severity of flu and myocarditis."

A report of the research appears in the March 2013 issue of The Journal of Clinical Investigation.

Mackman points out that viral infections such as dengue fever trigger activation of the coagulation system but it was considered a bad thing. He says studies on bacterial infections have found that the last product of the "clotting cascade" (the process that occurs in blood clot formation) -- fibrin -- helps activate immune cell macrophages that boosts the immune system.

"But it seems that the antiviral mechanism of the clotting system is not via fibrin but rather via thrombin; namely, its activation of protease activated receptor proteins such as PAR-1," says Mackman. "The new study was aimed at finding out if PAR-1 plays any role in virus infections, a question of importance to the use of Pradaxa? and the development of antithrombotic drugs that target PAR-1 on platelets."

To find the answer, Mackman and colleagues used mice in which the PAR-1 gene is deleted and subjected then to infection with a virus that causes myocarditis. They found that loss of PAR-1 mediated signaling after infection with the cardiotrophic virus resulted in increased viral buildup in the heart, cardiac injury and, later, increased impairment of heart function.

Moreover, the absence of PAR-1 signaling was associated with a slower response to the virus of the innate immune soon after viral infection. The innate immune system provides early defense against disease causing organisms. The defense is almost immediate.

The researchers treated normal mice with Pradaxa?. They showed that thrombin inhibition increased cardiac virus load and cardiac injury after viral infection in a similar manner to a deficiency of PAR-1. In addition, they infected the PAR-1 deficient mice with influenza A and found that PAR-1 signaling was important in controlling the virus load in the lung in the early phase after infection. These results suggest that thrombin and PAR-1 mediate important early antiviral signals after infection.

"Pradaxa? inhibits clot formation by reducing fibrin deposition and platelet aggregation." said Mackman. "Importantly, Pradaxa? might not only facilitate significant lifesaving effects in reducing cardiac death but may also interfere with other processes in the body.

"The results we generated were completely unexpected and in fact our hypothesis was that PAR-1 deficient mice would be protected from viral myocarditis because they would have reduced inflammation," Mackman added. "We are now determining if the traditional long term anticoagulant warfarin has the same effect on viral infection or is this specific to the new blood thinner."

The majority of the study was a collaboration between the Mackman group at UNC and the Charit? -- Universit?tsmedizin in Berlin, Germany, and other groups at UNC, including at the Gillings School of Global Public Health, and across the USA.

The first-author is Silvio Antoniak, PhD, a postdoctoral researcher in Mackman's lab. Other co-authors from Mackman's lab were A. Phillip Owens III, PhD; Martin Baumnacke, MD; and Julie C. Williams, PhD.

The study was supported by the Myocarditis Foundation through a research grant to Silvio Antoniak. Additional funds were provided by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI), a component of the National Institutes of Health.

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Journal Reference:

1. Silvio Antoniak, A. Phillip Owens, Martin Baunacke, Julie C. Williams, Rebecca D. Lee, Alice Weith?user, Patricia A. Sheridan, Ronny Malz, James P. Luyendyk, Denise A. Esserman, JoAnn Trejo, Daniel Kirchhofer, Burns C. Blaxall, Rafal Pawlinski, Melinda A. Beck, Ursula Rauch, Nigel Mackman. PAR-1 contributes to the innate immune response during viral infection. Journal of Clinical Investigation, 2013; 123 (3): 1310 DOI: 10.1172/JCI66125

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Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/~3/ANitGbFwha4/130401132058.htm

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'Miracle foods': Can they decrease the risk of cancer?

Apr. 1, 2013 ? Cancer is a disease that invokes fear, so it is not surprising that the public is eager to identify ways to decrease the risk. The media often features information on "Miracle Foods" and publicizes whether these foods can actually decrease the risk of cancer.

"Reality Check: There is No Such Thing as a Miracle Food," published in Volume 65, Issue 2, 2013 of Nutrition and Cancer: An International Journal, is a commentary written by the University of Minnesota's Maki Inoue-Choi, Sarah Oppeneer, and Kim Robien that calls on both researchers as well as media sources to consider the validity of multiple studies as opposed to singular studies before assuming that media information is factual.

"Nutritional scientists and epidemiologists should be cognizant of the public health messages that are taken away from their individual studies and not sensationalize the findings or contribute to the media frenzy around a single study," the authors believe.

The authors mention two separate studies that theorize a decreased risk of ovarian cancer due to flavonoids in red onions and omega-3 in sea bass. Both of these studies were reported as fact on a popular television talk show. The authors assert that with further research, three other studies would have been found that can disprove the findings reported as true.

"The public needs more information about the effect of diet as a whole on cancer risk, as well as the importance of achieving and maintaining an ideal body weight, regular physical activity, and avoiding a sedentary lifestyle," the authors wrote. ?

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Taylor & Francis, via AlphaGalileo.

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Journal Reference:

1. Maki Inoue-Choi, Sarah J. Oppeneer, Kim Robien. Reality Check: There is No Such Thing as a Miracle Food. Nutrition and Cancer, 2013; 65 (2): 165 DOI: 10.1080/01635581.2013.748921

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/health_medicine/nutrition/~3/M8ou2yj1lio/130401090605.htm

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?Buckwild? Star Shain Gandee Found Dead UPDATE (VIDEO)

“Buckwild” Star Shain Gandee Found Dead UPDATE (VIDEO)

“Buckwild” star Shain Gandee was found dead along with two other people in West Virginia. The MTV reality star had been reported missing since Sunday. The deaths are currently under investigation, but no foul play appears to be involved. Gandee, 21, was reportedly found dead along with two other people in a vehicle in Sissonville, ...

“Buckwild” Star Shain Gandee Found Dead UPDATE (VIDEO) Stupid Celebrities Gossip Stupid Celebrities Gossip News

Source: http://stupidcelebrities.net/2013/04/buckwild-star-shain-gandee-found-dead-video/

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Jimi Hendrix's 'People, Hell and Angels': Posthumous Album Set For A Strong Debut

"People, Hell and Angels," a new posthumous album from music legend Jimi Hendrix, is set to be the deceased rocker's biggest album since his 1968 smash hit, "Electric Ladyland."

While "Electric Ladyland" hit No. 1 on the Billboard 200, "People, Hell and Angels" is set to debut at No. 2.

The 12-track "People, Hell and Angels" was produced by Eddie Kramer, Hendrix's former sound manager. The album features tracks that were recorded to serve as a follow-up to "Electric Ladyland," including the recently released single, "Somewhere."

Billboard reports that "People, Hell and Angels" is on track to sell 70,000 copies. The rock album will likely come in second to Luke Bryan's latest album, "Spring Break... Here to Party," which is projected to take the No. 1 spot.

Hendrix and Bryan will be joined at the top of Billboard's chart by Josh Groban, Bruno Mars, and Tim McGraw, among others.

For more, head over to Billboard.

• US rock singer and guitarrist Jimi Hendrix ('Hey Joe', 'Purple Haze') pictured during his concert on the island Fehmarn in the Baltic Sea, West Germany, 1970.

• US rock singer and guitarist, Jimi Hendrix performs on stage at the Isle of Wight festival in 1970.

• US Rock singer and guitarist Jimi Hendrix on stage at the Pop festival on the Baltic Sea island of Fehmarn 1970.

• 1970 photo of Jimi Hendrix performing on the Isle of Wight in England. (AP Photo/FILE)

• The Jimi Hendrix Experience; Noel Redding, Jimi Hendrix and Mitch Mitchell.

• Jimi Hendrix performs live on stage 1969

• Noel Redding, left, Jimi Hendrix, centre, and Mitch Mitchell, of the Jimi Hendrix Experience, arrive at Heathrow airport, London, Aug. 21, 1967, after completing a nine week tour of the United States. (AP Photo/Peter Kemp)

• The American rock singer and guitarist Jimi Hendrix performs at a pop festival on the Baltic Sea island of Fehmarn.

• An undated portrait of the US-American rock singer and guitarist Jimi Hendrix. Hendrix died on 18th Septmenber 1970 after the consumption of alcohol and sleeping pills.

• The Jimi Hendrix Experience; (clockwise from top left) Mitch Mitchell, Noel Redding and Jimi Hendrix. Circa 1969

• The Jimi Hendrix Experience performing live on stage. Circa 1968

• American-born guitarist Jimi Hendrix with his girlfriend Kathy Etchingham at a record launch in central London. 1969

• Shown in photo is 25-year old Pop singer Jimi Hendrix was jailed for drunkenness in Stockholm, Sweden in morning on Thursday, Jan. 5, 1968 after having gone berserk and destroyed everything in his room at Goteborg hotel Opa Len. Jimi Hendrix is escorted by two police. (AP Photo)

• Hendrix In England, 1966

• Hendrix In England, 1966

• Singer and songwriter, Jimi Hendrix (1942-1970) smiles as he arrives at Heathrow airport, London, England. 1965

• Photo of Jimi HENDRIX and Curtis KNIGHT and SQUIRES, 1966

• Jimi Hendrix At An Airport Around 1966-1970

• Al Hendrix and his son Jimi Hendrix (3 years old), 1945

• Photo of Jimi HENDRIX 1967

• Photo of Jimi HENDRIX performing, 1967

• Photo of Noel REDDING and Mitch MITCHELL and JIMI HENDRIX EXPERIENCE and Jimi HENDRIX

• Photo of Noel REDDING and Jimi HENDRIX

• Photo of Jimi HENDRIX EXPERIENCE and Jimi HENDRIX and Mitch MITCHELL and Noel REDDING

• Photo of Jimi HENDRIX 1967

• Photo of Jimi HENDRIX EXPERIENCE and Jimi HENDRIX and Mitch MITCHELL and Noel REDDING 1967

• Photo of Mitch MITCHELL and Jimi HENDRIX and Noel REDDING 1967

• Photo of Jimi HENDRIX 1967

• Photo of Jimi HENDRIX 1967

• Photo of Jimi HENDRIX 1967

• Photo of Jimi HENDRIX 1967

• Photo of Jimi HENDRIX 1967

• Photo of Jimi HENDRIX 1967

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/10/jimi-hendrix-people-hell-and-angels-debut_n_2848208.html

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Ronda Rousey and Liz Carmouche make weight as all UFC 157 fights are official

ANAHEIM, Calif. -- For the first time, women stood on the scales to weigh in for a UFC bout. Bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey and challenger Liz Carmouche both made weight in an uneventful weigh-in on Friday afternoon at the Honda Center.

[Also: Ronda Rousey doesn't want to touch UFC title belt before fighting]

Michael Chiesa came in slightly over weight but the athletic commission let the small overage slide. Nah-Shon Burrell was significantly overweight and will forfeit 20 percent of his purse to his opponent. Here are complete weigh-in results, thanks to MMA Junkie.

MAIN CARD (Pay-per-view, 10 p.m. ET)
? Champ Ronda Rousey (134.6) vs. Liz Carmouche (133.6) - for women's bantamweight title
? Dan Henderson (205) vs. Lyoto Machida (202)
? Urijah Faber (136) vs. Ivan Menjivar (135.6)
? Court McGee (170) vs. Josh Neer (171)
? Josh Koscheck (171) vs. Robbie Lawler (171)
PRELIMINARY CARD (FX, 8 p.m. ET)
? Lavar Johnson (255) vs. Brendan Schaub (243)
? Mike Chiesa (156.2) vs. Anton Kuivanen (156)
? Dennis Bermudez (145) vs. Matt Grice (145)
? Caros Fodor (155) vs. Sam Stout (155)
PRELIMINARY CARD (Facebook, 6:30 p.m. ET)
? Brock Jardine (170) vs. Kenny Robertson (170)
? Neil Magny (171) vs. Jon Manley (171)
? Nah-Shon Burrell (175.8) vs. Yuri Villefort (170)

UFC video on Yahoo! Sports:

Other popular content on Yahoo! Sports:
? Alex Smith on the trading block in Indy
? Tigers ace Justin Verlander willing to test free-agent waters for $200M deal
? Danica Patrick bows out of Nationwide race; ready for Daytona 500
? Wake Forest knocks off No. 2 Miami

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/ronda-rousey-liz-carmouche-weight-ufc-157-fights-021835462--mma.html

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'Parade's End' keeps British TV invasion going

LOS ANGELES (AP) ? Tom Stoppard is sitting on the patio of a Sunset Boulevard hotel, bathed in California winter sunshine, framed by bamboo landscaping and looking very much out of his element in Hollywood.

The acclaimed British playwright professes to feeling that way as well, despite having pocketed a Writers Guild of America lifetime achievement award the night before for his screenplays, including the Oscar-winning "Shakespeare in Love."

"I was always nervous coming here. The first time I was terrified," he said. "I'm trying not to sound nauseatingly self-deprecating, but I don't think of myself as being a terrific screenwriter or even a natural screenwriter."

Combine that, he said, with the local entertainment industry's perception that "I'm some different kind of animal," a high-minded artist to whom the words "intellectual" and "philosophy" are freely applied.

But if Hollywood can be forgiven anything, it should be that. Stoppard has created a remarkable wealth of two dozen-plus plays, including "Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead," ''Travesties" and "The Real Thing," and he's counting on more.

He looks like a proper man of letters, with unkempt gray hair, a comfortably unstylish cardigan and a delicately shaped mouth that hesitates, slightly, before dispensing exacting thoughts on the art of writing (without pretension: he relishes a snippet of "Ghostbusters" dialogue.)

Stoppard also is the master behind "Parade's End," a five-part HBO miniseries (airing Tuesday through Thursday, 9 p.m. EST) that was lauded by U.K. critics as "the thinking man's 'Downton Abbey'" after its BBC airing.

Adapted by Stoppard from a series of novels by British writer Ford Madox Ford, "Parade's End" features rising stars Benedict Cumberbatch ("Sherlock Holmes" and the upcoming "Star Trek" movie) and Rebecca Hall ("Vicky Cristina Barcelona") in the juiciest of roles.

Like PBS' "Downton Abbey," it's set in the early 20th century among aristocrats and encompasses World War I's shattering effect on the social order. Romance is provided by the triangle of Cumberbatch's tradition-bound Christopher, his unfaithful wife, Sylvia (Hall), and a suffragette (Australian newcomer Adelaide Clemens). The uniformly impressive cast includes Janet McTeer, Miranda Richardson, Roger Allam and Rupert Everett.

Stoppard rejects the oft-made comparison to PBS' "Downton" as unfair to it and its writer-creator, Julian Fellowes: "I was embarrassed by it because it's so condescending of Julian's work. He's a good writer and he's done a superlative job," he said. It's also a misguided comparison because "Downton" is heading toward season four and "Parade's End" is "five episodes and that's it, forever."

The self-effacing Stoppard leaves it at that. But there's a wider gap between the two: "Downton" is an easy-to-digest soap opera, while "Parade's End" is a challenging, nuanced view of a slice of British society and a set of singular characters, all dressed to the nines in the heady language of literature.

"There's a wonderful richness to the language and a beauty, which I think is the brilliance of Tom Stoppard, and also this very beautiful language of Ford Madox Ford," said director Susanna White.

The heedless, acid-tongued Sylvia has dialogue to relish, something Stoppard cannot resist.

"The line I like best comes straight from Ford: (the public) likes 'a whiff of sex coming off our crowd, like the steam on the water in the crocodile house at the zoo,'" he said, adding gleefully, "What a line!"

Although careful to credit the novelist with that particular zinger, Stoppard said "Parade's End" is the first adaptation in which his dialogue and that from the original text have become intertwined in his memory.

He attributes that to the year he spent forming Ford's intricate novels into a screenplay, often crafting original scenes, and the several more years he spent helping bring the series to fruition with the producers and White ("Generation Kill").

"It's the closest thing to writing a play which isn't a play that I have ever been involved with," he said.

The stage has been the Czech-born Stoppard's chief occupation since leaving journalism in his 20s. But he's made a number of detours into film, either as a screenwriter or a behind-the-scenes script doctor. His latest big-screen project is the adaptation of "Anna Karenina" with Keira Knightley.

Stoppard's insistence that he isn't an outstanding scriptwriter stems, in part, from his reticence. Then there's what he calls the differing "schools of eloquence" represented by film and plays.

"I envy and admire movies which are eloquent without recourse to long speeches," he said, citing several lines to illustrate his point. One comes from "The Fugitive" ("I don't care," Tommy Lee Jones says after Harrison Ford insists he didn't kill his wife), another from "Ghostbusters."

Bill Murray is confronted by "this kind of Amazonian ghost goddess, spooky thing, and he goes, 'This chick is toast,'" Stoppard said, with a delighted smile.

"It's the sense that precisely the right words have been uttered," he explained.

That's how fellow scribes feel about him. One L.A. film and TV writer said she regularly rereads the famed cricket-bat speech from "The Real Thing," about the challenge of writing, for joy and inspiration: "If you get it right," the character Henry says, "the cricket ball will travel two hundred yards in four seconds, and all you've done is give it a knock like knocking the top off a bottle of stout, and it makes a noise like a trout taking a fly. What we're trying to do is to write cricket bats, so that when we throw up an idea and give it a little knock, it might travel."

For now, the right words for Stoppard would be those of a new play, the first since "Rock 'n' Roll" from seven years ago. He has no regrets about immersing himself in "Parade's End," but is ready for the solitude needed to find the right story for the stage.

He used to steal away to a house in France until the air travel became too much. Now he makes do with a "small, shabby cottage an hour-and-a-half from London, which in theory is supposed to be my French house. But it's not far enough away" to evade commitments, social and otherwise. ("I'm Mr. Available," he laments.)

It's welcome assurance to hear the guild lifetime award he received Feb. 17 doesn't signal a halt for Stoppard. It did pull him up short, at least briefly.

"I was quite surprised. Though I am 75, so I shouldn't be surprised. But I haven't thought of stopping yet."

___

Online:

http://www.hbo.com

___

Lynn Elber is a national television columnist for The Associated Press. She can be reached at lelber(at)ap.org and on Twitter (at)lynnelber.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/parades-end-keeps-british-tv-invasion-going-190932439.html

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