Child abuse can reduce the volume of grey matter in the brain that is responsible for processing information, a new study has found.

The study, by experts at London's King's College and the FIDMAG Sisters Hospitallers Foundation for Research and Teaching in Spain, analysed the association between childhood maltreatment and the volume of cerebral grey matter.

"Childhood maltreatment acts as a severe stressor that produces a cascade of physiological and neurobiological changes that lead to enduring alterations in the brain structure," said Joaquim Radua, a researcher at FIDMAG.

In order to understand the most robust abnormalities in grey matter volumes, the research team, which included the National University of Singapore, carried out a meta-analysis of the voxel based morphometric study on childhood maltreatment.

VBM is a neuroimaging analysis technique that allows investigation of focal differences in brain anatomy comparing magnetic brain resonance of two groups of people.

The study included twelve different groups of data made up of a total of 331 individuals (56 children or adolescents and 275 adults) with a history of childhood maltreatment, plus 362 individuals who were not exposed to maltreatment (56 children or adolescents and 306 adults).

In order to examine the cerebral regions with more or less grey matter volumes in maltreated individuals, a three-dimensional meta-analytical neuroimaging method was used called 'signed differential mapping' (SDM), developed by Radua.

Relative to comparison subjects, individuals exposed to childhood maltreatment exhibited significantly smaller grey matter volumes: in the right orbitofrontal/superior temporal gyrus extending to the amygdala, insula, and parahippocampal and middle temporal gyri and in the left inferior frontal and postcentral gyri.

"Deficits in the right orbitofrontal-temporal-limbic and left inferior frontal regions remained in a subgroup analysis of unmedicated participants, indicating that these abnormalities were not related to medication but to maltreatment," said Radua.

The abnormalities in the left postcentral gyrus were found only in older maltreated individuals.

These findings show that the most consistent grey matter abnormalities in individuals exposed to childhood maltreatment are located in ventrolateral prefrontal and limbic-temporal regions.

These regions have relatively late development, i.e. after the maltreatment and the malfunction could explain the affective and cognitive deficit of people with a history of child abuse, researchers said.

The study was published in the American Journal of Psychiatry.

Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan Sunday launched a two-day vaccination campaign in Bihar's Muzaffarpur district hit by a suspected encephalitis outbreak that has claimed the lives of at least 139 children so far.

"The campaign has been launched to ensure 100 percent immunization of children in the affected areas," Harsh Vardhan told media persons after the campaign began at a primary health centre in Kanti block of Muzaffarpur, about 70 km from here.

He said all children should be vaccinated as it is the best preventive measure against any disease.

"Immunization is a must for children for safeguarding them against all diseases, not only encephalitis," he said.

"I was informed by doctors and health officials here that 92 percent children in the affected districts have not been vaccinated. Our aim is to ensure 100 percent immunization of children," Harsh Vardhan said.

He said that after returning to Delhi Sunday night, he would formulate a comprehensive plan to eradicate the suspected Acute Encephalitis Syndrome (AES).

"I have discussed it with experts and doctors during my visit to Muzaffarpur. It helped me understand the situation. I will also discuss the disease with experts of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention based in Atlanta, US, during my visit June 26," he said.

The minister said he has already discussed the disease and its possible causes with World Health Organisation officials and scientists from various institutes but they were not sure whether it was viral, toxic or metabolic.

"There is a need of indepth research on the cause of deaths due to the disease," he said.

Harsh Vardhan reiterated that the central government would provide all possible help to Bihar in controlling the outbreak.

A virology centre would be set up in Bihar on the lines of the National Institute of Virology in Pune, he said.

The disease, limited to Muzaffarpur till last week, has now spread to Vaishali, Samastipur, Sheohar, East Champaran, Sitamarhi, Begusarai, Bhagalpur and Gaya districts of the state.

The Acute Encephalitis Syndrome is a severe case of encephalitis characterised by inflammation of the brain. The infection - transmitted by mosquitoes - causes high fever.

A recent study has found out that swimming could be an ultimate mood uplifter. In case you are feeling low and morose and want to feel content ,swimming could be the answer to your woes.

Members of British Gas SwimBritain (a series of fun team swimming relays that take place across Britain every September) found out in a study that taking a regular dip at your local pool can make you feel happier as well as healthier.The participants who took part in this study reported an increase of 35 percent in positivity during a four week study.

The results have also shown that the low impact sport is a tonic for everyday life, increasing levels of sleep quality, energy levels and fitness levels during the course of the study.Only a few laps a week can have an almost immediate effect with high boosts in one's well being.

"Swimming is obviously close to my heart and it's my goal to help the nation rediscover their love of the water, so this research is really good news for the sport, and something I've always known anyway," said Olympic Swimmer, Becky Adlington.

"The fact that it has significant benefits both in body and mind is a great reason to get back in the pool and that's why I am a big fan of British Gas SwimBritain, a fun relay challenge taking place this summer, which is encouraging as many people as possible to give themselves a swimming goal and see the benefits for themselves," added Adlington.

A new study has revealed that a well-known drug that was first synthesized in 1916 and used to treat African sleeping sickness can reverse autism-like symptoms in mice and it might help humans eventually.

The findings fit neatly with the idea that autism is caused by a multitude of interconnected factors: twenty percent of the known factors associated with autism are genetic, but most are not. It's wrong to think of genes and the environment as separate and independent factors. Genes and environmental factors interact. The net result of this interaction is metabolism.

Robert K. Naviaux, MD tested the effect of suramin, used to treat trypanosomiasis or African sleeping sickness, a parasitic disease and found that suramin blocked the extracellular signaling pathway used by ATP and other mitokines in a mouse model of autism spectrum disorder (ASD), ending the cell danger response and related inflammation. Cells subsequently began behaving normally and autism-like behaviors and metabolism in the mice were corrected.

However, the biological and behavioral benefits of suramin were not permanent, nor preventive. A single dose remained effective in the mice for about five weeks, and then washed out. Moreover, suramin cannot be taken long-term since it can result in anemia and adrenal gland dysfunction.

Naviaux said that correcting abnormalities in a mouse is a long way from a cure in humans but it is believed that this approach, antipurinergic therapy, is a new and fresh way to address the challenge of autism.

The study is published online in the journal Translational Psychiatry.

There may soon be a drug that could lower your cholesterol levels and also treat breast cancer. Researchers have shown that a compound initially developed as a cholesterol-fighting molecule can also kill cancerous cells.

"The compound exhibited anti-tumour properties in both human samples, which were outside the body, and in samples that were administered by injection into the mice," explained Salman Hyder, professor of biomedical sciences at University of Missouri in the US.

"In both cases, proteins that cause tumours to grow were eliminated, leading to more aggressive cell death," Hyder added.

When administered to human breast cancer cells, the compound was effective in reducing breast cancer cell growth and often caused cancer cell death, the findings showed.

The cholesterol-lowering drug the researchers tested destroyed an estrogen receptor - a protein which encourages the tumour cells to grow.

Following injection of the compound in mice with breast cancer, the molecule was found to be effective at killing breast cancer cells by reducing the presence of estrogen receptors in tumour cells.

Although tumour cells may initially respond to therapies, most eventually develop resistance which causes breast cancer cells to grow and spread.

Cholesterol also can contribute to the development of anti-hormone resistance because it is converted into hormones in tumour cells.

Therefore, these cholesterol-forming pathways are attractive therapeutic targets for the treatment of breast cancer.

"Further clinical testing can lead to a drug that has the dual purpose of fighting high cholesterol and cancer," Hyder noted.

The study appeared in the journal Breast Cancer Research and Treatment.