French CNRS scientists in collaboration have shown that a memory of a traumatic event can be wiped out, although other, associated recollections remain intact. This is what a scientist in the Laboratory for the Neurobiology of Learning, Memory and Communication (CNRS/Orsay University), working with an American team, has recently demonstrated in the rat. This result could be used to cure patients suffering from post-traumatic stress. [click link for full article]

America is facing an epidemic. Despite numerous studies showing the negative effects of obesity on everything from heart disease and diabetes to possible links with cancer, one in five American children is obese. However, a collaborative program sponsored by the University of Michigan and the Ann Arbor community teaches children healthy habits and offers hope for a healthier future. And results from a new study suggest that the program is working. [click link for full article]

In the April 1 issue of G&D, a Korean research team led by Dr. Kyong-Tai Kim (Pohang University) describes how melatonin production is coordinated with the body’s natural sleep/wake cycles.Melatonin is a hormone produced by the pineal gland in the brain, which helps to regulate our bodies’ circadian rhythm (the roughly-24-hour cycle around which basic physiological processes proceed). [click link for full article]

TVs, radios, magazines, I-Pods, cell-phone videos, instant messaging, Web surfing, car DVD players. Today’s adolescents are so saturated in media, often more than one form simultaneously, that it’s hard even to measure their exposure to determine its health impact. [click link for full article]

Three Scholar Awards programs, sponsored by the American Association for Cancer Research, will provide scientists traditionally underrepresented in cancer research with financial support to participate in the premier international meeting in the field. [click link for full article]

Total spending on antidepressants and other medications for mental health disorders increased by 150% between 1997 and 2004, according a report recently released by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, the Washington Times reports. [click link for full article]

Leading figures in the global fight against lung cancer met in the city of Geneva, Switzerland last week to discuss the latest tools for preventing and treating chest malignancies, which kill more than 1.3 million people each year. [click link for full article]

Thousands of people with liver and kidney disease die every year from too much ammonia in their blood, and scientists from the United States and Japan have found a possible solution. In the April 2007 issue of The FASEB Journal they report that a protein which excretes ammonia through pufferfish gills is similar to human Rh blood proteins. By targeting human Rh proteins, new treatments will help people with damaged livers and kidneys remove toxic ammonia from their bloodstream. [click link for full article]

Using a microscope and some extreme “snapshot” photography with shutter speeds only a few nanoseconds long, researchers from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and Cornell University have uncovered the traces of ephemeral “nanobubbles” formed in boiling water on a microheater. Their observations* suggest an added complexity to the everyday phenomenon of boiling, and may affect technologies as diverse as inkjet printers and some proposed cancer therapies. [click link for full article]

CMS on Monday issued a final rule for competitive bidding in Medicare for durable medical equipment, CQ HealthBeat reports. [click link for full article]