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NewsDecember 8

Diabetes and diet: an easier solution?

Type 2, or adult onset diabetes, is running at epidemic proportions in New Zealand with the Ministry of Health estimating that as many as 200,000 people - or five per cent of the adult population - have diabetes; half are still undiagnosed.
Diabetes and diet: an easier solution?
Diabetes and diet: an easier solution?
NewsDecember 8

Conversation counts for kids

The importance of talking to young children is well recognised, but just how important has been revealed by research at Otago's Department of Psychology.
Conversation counts for kids
Conversation counts for kids
NewsDecember 8

Cancer research gives new hope

Otago genetic researchers have discovered exactly how a deadly hereditary type of stomach cancer develops, giving new hope to families affected by the disease.
Cancer research gives new hope
Cancer research gives new hope
NewsDecember 8

“Asia in the Making of New Zealand”

New Zealand has had a rich history of engagement with Asia, but the impact and influence of Asian peoples and cultures here has become increasingly visible in the last 15 years.
“Asia in the Making of New Zealand”
“Asia in the Making of New Zealand”
NewsDecember 8

Brain cell recordings a hit

Being able to record the activity of single brain cells is enabling Department of Physiology researchers to gain an insight into how a new generation of drugs - called A2A receptor antagonists - are acting on brains affected by Parkinson's disease.
Brain cell recordings a hit
Brain cell recordings a hit
NewsDecember 8

The changing faces of Anzac Day

Look around at any Anzac Day service and what do you see? As expected, there are a few veterans, their numbers reducing each year. But perhaps unexpectedly, there are young people in increasing numbers.
The changing faces of Anzac Day
The changing faces of Anzac Day
NewsDecember 8

Research group targets kidney disease

New Zealand already spends about 10 per cent of its health budget on chronic kidney disease and its downstream effects, and the prospect of an increasing epidemic is putting even greater emphasis on research.
Research group targets kidney disease
Research group targets kidney disease
NewsDecember 8

Tracking epilepsy's genetic trail

Paediatric neurologist Dr Lynette Sadleir, from the University of Otago, Wellington, is on a gene hunt. She is very keen to track down those genes, or combinations of genes, that can be linked to major forms of epilepsy or, more correctly, epilepsy syndromes.
Tracking epilepsy's genetic trail
Tracking epilepsy's genetic trail
NewsDecember 8

Blood, bleach and bacteria

After years of international scientific debate, scientists from Otago's Free Radical Research Group in Christchurch have recently made a major advance as to how white blood cells destroy invading bacteria in the body - bleach.
Blood, bleach and bacteria
Blood, bleach and bacteria
NewsDecember 8

CBT in cyberspace

PC may soon mean personal computer instead of psychiatric care for people seeking help with depression.
CBT in cyberspace
CBT in cyberspace
NewsDecember 8

Treating depression: what works best?

Depression is one of the most common psychological disorders in our society and is usually treated either with medication or by psychotherapy ("talking therapy"), involving consultations over some weeks and months with a psychiatrist, clinical psychologist or counsellor.
Treating depression: what works best?
Treating depression: what works best?
NewsDecember 8

Pursuing persistent pollutants

Being on the POPs chart might be considered a good thing in music circles, but for chemists like Dr Kimberly Hageman, the POPs list is a very different thing.
Pursuing persistent pollutants
Pursuing persistent pollutants
NewsDecember 8

The queen of all pheromones

Honey bee queens control their offspring with chemicals (pheromones), but just how these chemicals work largely remained a mystery until recent studies by the "bee team" at Otago's Department of Zoology.
The queen of all pheromones
The queen of all pheromones
NewsDecember 8

Raising the zinc status

Forty years after beginning her research career in Ethiopia, Human Nutrition Professor Rosalind Gibson has returned to the south of that country to work among some of the many people in sub-Saharan Africa who have a nutritional status particularly low in zinc.
Raising the zinc status
Raising the zinc status
NewsDecember 8

Tracking Trout

Understanding the habits and behaviour of the wily brown trout is one of the great sports-fishing challenges of the South Island, attracting anglers from all over the world.
Tracking Trout
Tracking Trout
NewsDecember 8

Heads in the clouds research

The remote Kosipe Valley, in the highlands of Papua New Guinea, may hold a key piece in a global jigsaw puzzle that explains how and when ancestors of modern humans left Africa somewhere around 60-70,000 years ago.
Heads in the clouds research
Heads in the clouds research
NewsDecember 8

Spatial skills linked to tone deafness

Why are some people tone deaf? This question has long puzzled scientists, but Otago's Psychology researchers have come up with surprising evidence about the brain processes involved.
Spatial skills linked to tone deafness
Spatial skills linked to tone deafness
NewsDecember 8

Children's teeth do matter...a lot

Anyone who has experienced toothache knows how debilitating it can be. For young children, it can have a devastating effect on both them and their families. But just how much the oral health of youngsters affects lives has been hard to quantify - until now.
Children's teeth do matter...a lot
Children's teeth do matter...a lot
NewsDecember 8

Children's teeth do matter...a lot

Anyone who has experienced toothache knows how debilitating it can be. For young children, it can have a devastating effect on both them and their families. But just how much the oral health of youngsters affects lives has been hard to quantify - until now.
NewsDecember 8

Business building bridges

Mäori and general business communities have more in common than differences, and both would gain from closer collaboration. That was just one finding of a wide-ranging national survey of Mäori and mainstream business networks, organisations and government agencies, to find ways for them to work together for the benefit of themselves and the economy.
Business building bridges
Business building bridges
NewsDecember 8

Which medicines for whom?

Who gets what, when and from where? It may seem like a simple question, but applying it to prescription medicines for around 32,000 people is no simple task.
Which medicines for whom?
Which medicines for whom?
NewsDecember 8

Vital vitamin C

Vitamin C has long been known to help prevent scurvy and is often used as a remedy for colds, but ground-breaking Otago research has shown that this vitamin plays an even more important role in maintaining good health.
Vital vitamin C
Vital vitamin C
NewsDecember 8

Research spearheads energy revolution

Professor Gerry Carrington and Dr Janet Stephenson, together with a host of other researchers at the University of Otago and nationwide, are part of a group that is serious about helping New Zealand to shift to a sustainable energy path.
Research spearheads energy revolution
Research spearheads energy revolution
NewsDecember 8

Partnerships for social change

New Zealand is groaning under the burden of its social ills, but Associate Professor Pat Shannon (Department of Social Work and Community Development) says it's become abundantly clear the answer does not lie with agendas and solutions imposed by bureaucrats in Wellington.
Partnerships for social change
Partnerships for social change
NewsDecember 8

UV under ice

Increased UV radiation due to depletion of the ozone layer is known to have harmful affects on human beings. It seems it is also a factor for the Antarctic sea urchin sterechinus neumayeri. Dr Miles Lamare, of Otago's Department of Marine Science, says the larval stages of marine invertebrates such as sea urchins are crucial to the ecosystem of the Antarctic.
UV under ice
UV under ice