Several newly discovered genetic variants may increase the risk of developing bipolar disorder, schizophrenia or both, according to an international research consortium that includes the University of Michigan School of Public Health. Laura Scott, associate research scientist at U-M SPH, led the SPH group that participated along with more than 250 researchers from more than 20 countries that comprised the Psychiatric Genome-Wide Association Study Consortium. The various groups in the consortium found six variants not previously observed, and 11 variants total. Read More
News From U-M
U-M among international group to find genetic variants that may contribute to mental illness
Cell phones can help under-developed countries manage diabetes and other diseases
A new study by the Veterans Affairs Ann Arbor Healthcare System and University of Michigan suggests that mobile phones could help low-income patients across the globe manage diabetes and other chronic diseases. Read More
U-M awarded $4.9 million to help reduce obesity in preschool children
The USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture has awarded $4.9 million to the University of Michigan to reduce the prevalence of childhood obesity among Head Start preschoolers in Michigan. Julie C. Lumeng, M.D., a behavioral pediatrician at the U-M's C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital, will lead a research team of faculty from the U-M School of Public Health, the U-M Center for Human Growth and Development, and Michigan State University. Read More
Certain parts of the brain activated in people who heard tailored health messages and quit smoking
People who demonstrated a stronger brain response to certain brain regions when receiving individually tailored smoking cessation messages were more likely to quit smoking four months after, a new study found. Read More
Study: African American men say doctor visits are often a bad experience
A majority of African American men said they do not go to the doctor because visits are stressful and physicians don't give adequate information on how to make prescribed behavior or lifestyle changes, a new University of Michigan study shows. When they did go, the majority of the 105 men questioned said they disliked the tone physicians used with them. When those men did visit the doctor, they said it was because they were seeking test results or their family encouraged them to go, told," said Derek Griffith, assistant professor in the U-M School of Public Health and principal investigator of the study. [Read more...]
Study suggests that being too clean can make people sick
Young people who are overexposed to antibacterial soaps containing triclosan may suffer more allergies, and exposure to higher levels of Bisphenol A (BPA) among adults may negatively influence the immune system, a new University of Michigan School of Public Health study suggests. "We found that people over age 18 with higher levels of BPA exposure had higher CMV antibody levels, which suggests their cell-mediated immune system may not be functioning properly," said Erin Rees Clayton, research investigator at the U-M School of Public Health. [Read more...]
New center focuses on prenatal exposure to obesogens, looks to Detroit
The University of Michigan School of Public Health received a grant to study exposure to certain toxins, or so-called obesogens, during pregnancy to determine if and how these toxins contribute to child obesity or change the timing of puberty. The study of obesogens is not new, but the SPH study is one of the only few that will have data tracking the effects of toxins on the same children from birth into school years and adolescence. Obesogens are chemicals that are thought to contribute to obesity by disrupting normal processes in the body, and this long-term perspective is critical to see how obesogens may affect the risk of a child developing obesity, diabetes, and other chronic diseases later in life, said Karen Peterson, principal investigator of the new center and director of U-M SPH's Human Nutrition Program. [Read more...]
Playing pertussis blame game
Thanks to widespread childhood vaccination, whooping cough (pertussis), which causes violent, gasping coughing spells in infants, once seemed to be under control, but has been on the rise in the U.S. and other countries since the 1980s. There has been a shift in who is getting sick, with fewer cases seen in preschool children and more in teenagers, according to a new study. The reasons for the changing patterns have been unclear, but a variety of explanations have been proposed—genetic changes in the bacterium that causes the disease or the “wearing off” of immunity in people who were vaccinated years ago, for example. [Read more...]