My picks from ScienceDaily

Children's Sleep Problems Can Lead To School Problems:

It is obvious that young children who have difficulties sleeping are likely to have problems in school. A new study shows that African-American children and children from lower socioeconomic backgrounds fare worse than their counterparts when their sleep is disrupted. The study offers one of the first demonstrations that the relationship between children's performance and sleep may differ among children of different backgrounds. Conducted by researchers at Auburn University and Notre Dame University, it is published in the January/February 2007 issue of the journal Child Development.

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Fitness Has Fallen Since The Days Of Ancient Greece:

We may not be as fit as the people of ancient Athens, despite all that modern diet and training can provide, according to research by University of Leeds exercise physiologist, Dr Harry Rossiter. Dr Rossiter measured the metabolic rates of modern athletes rowing a reconstruction of an Athenian trireme, a 37m long warship powered by 170 rowers seated in three tiers. Using portable metabolic analysers, he measured the energy consumption of a sample of the athletes powering the ship over a range of different speeds to estimate the efficiency of the human engine of the warship. The research is published in New Scientist today (February 8).

Conscience, Religion Alter How Doctors Tell Patients About Options:

Many physicians feel no obligation to tell patients about legal but morally controversial medical treatments or to refer patients to doctors who do not object to those treatments, report researchers from the University of Chicago in the Feb. 8, 2007, issue of the New England Journal of Medicine. The medical profession appears to be divided, the researchers note, not just in its attitudes about providing controversial practices such as terminal sedation, abortion or birth control for teens, but also in its judgments about what doctors should do when patients request a legal procedure to which their doctor objects.

Smell May Outlast Other Senses:

While eyesight and hearing deteriorate markedly during the normal aging process, new research suggests the sense of smell may actually last longer in otherwise healthy individuals. About 1000 Australian males and females of all ages were tested for their ability to detect or identify a range of different odours at different concentrations, and then given an overall score for their sense of smell, or olfactory function.

Medical Therapy For Restless Legs Syndrome May Trigger Compulsive Gambling:

Compulsive gambling with extreme losses -- in two cases, greater than $100,000 -- by people without a prior history of gambling problems has been linked to a class of drugs commonly used to treat the neurological disorder restless legs syndrome (RLS). A new Mayo Clinic study is the first to describe this compulsive gambling in RLS patients who are being treated with medications that stimulate dopamine receptors in the brain. The Mayo Clinic report appeared in the Jan. 23 issue of Neurology. The extent of this problem is unknown. Apparently, it occurs only in a small number of RLS patients treated with drugs called dopamine agonists. Considering this potential side effect of dopamine agonists, the Mayo Clinic authors suggest that physicians screen all RLS patients for compulsive behaviors while taking a thorough medical history prior to prescribing dopamine agonists. Patients should be monitored closely for signs of compulsive behaviors once dopamine agonist treatment has begun. The report suggests that the compulsion to gamble worsened with increasing doses of the dopamine agonists.

Efficient Consumption Of Copper Allows Fungus To Infect The Brain:

Infection with the fungus Cryptococcus neoformans is a problem for individuals whose immune system is compromised (for example individuals with HIV and individuals who are taking chemotherapeutics to treat cancer). It can cause either cryptococcal pneumonia or, more seriously, meningoencephalitis.