“Cupron” provides an easy and more economical way to women and men who want to reduce the appearance of facial wrinkles, fines lines and liver, a new study done by ‘Cupron’ claims that. A four week clinical study shows that the copper ion based pillowcases have emerged as non-invasive alternative to painful cosmetic surgery and collagen injections.

Dr. Gadi Barkow, the chief medical scientist at ‘Cupron’ says that with the “Wrinkle Appearance Reducing Antimicrobial Pillowcases”, it reduces the appearance of the facial wrinkles, crow’s feet and fine lines. The customers who had been sleeping on these pillowcases for four weeks have provided with very positive feedback about these pillow cases.

These copper ion based pillowcases not only carry the cosmetic effects but also promise to protect against odor causing bacteria, fungi and other microbes. So this pillowcase currently brought in market by ‘Cupron’ has not only cosmetic appearance enhancing abilities, but also an ability to deodorize while they are used.

‘Cupron’ adopts a cost effective platform technology that combines the qualities of copper and finally a fabric containing copper-impregnated fibers is bound to textile fibers. This new fabric provides protection against the microbial attack like odor producing bacteria and fungi. It also carries an additional capacity to mingle easily with latex and other polymeric products during manufacturing.

These ‘Cupron’ copper impregnated fibers have been used by ‘Cupron’ to manufacture a number of other consumer products. These products include beddings, towels, curtains, gloves and even socks. Under the various patents, the company has recently introduced socks which claim to fight against the bacteria and fungi which causes odor. The material simply doesn’t allow the microbes to grow as the protection mechanism simply penetrates the cell wall of the microbe and disturbs the key cell functions thereby not allowing it to function, grow or reproduce.

On similar lines, they have also introduced bath towels, gloves and bed sheets. The fabric used in these products is enriched with a technology to fight against the microbial attacks and allergies which could happen due to contact with these in day to day life. As compared to the usual fabric, this copper impregnated fiber can resist the smell of mold for a longer duration. 

The company has come up with a “Beauty Sleep Set” which includes the ‘Cupron pillowcase’, sleep mask and cotton gloves which will not only enhance and rejuvenate the appearance of the skin but also protect from foul odors and bacterial attacks. The best part is that all these can be achieved with the comfort of sleep.

According to the popular notion, we credit the incidence of “Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS)” to give rise to ‘female-to-male transsexuals’; however a new study suggests that there are higher levels of androgen among the ‘Female to Male Transsexuals’. This new study has tried to diagnose PCOS by doing assessment of female-to-male transsexuals on the updated methodology and data and they have also included the results of ‘Transvaginal Ultrasonography (TS)’ adopted for its first kind of evaluation done for female-to-male transsexuals.

‘Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS)’ is a condition where there is misbalance of women hormones in the human body which generally initiates with upsetting of the periods in women, one hormonal change giving rise to another, and consequently producing more of androgens which are male sex hormones. This gives growth to extra facial and body hair, occurrence of acne and weight gain. If the symptoms are not treat at the early stage, it might along with these physical irregularities in a woman, may give rise to serious diseases like diabetes and heart diseases as it affects the release of insulin too in the body.

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A recent research has provided much insight in to the process of brain development and effects of hormone deficiencies on this process. This research, concluded at the “Karolinska Institutet” revealed that during the stage of early pregnancy, deficiencies of the thyroid hormones could cause “locomotors under-development” in a child. ‘Routine Pregnancy Tests’ there fore must examine this issue in detail, say the researchers.”Hyperthyreosis” is a typical disease found in children who are born with deficiencies of the thyroid hormones. Such children’s are at great risk of ‘locomotors under-development’ and the ‘brain under-development’ if proper treatment at the right time is not given to these children.

Scientists are still exploring in to the exact reasons that are primarily responsible for such impacts of thyroid hormone deficiencies. Scientists are also focusing on to identify the level of attention that is required to be paid to women’s hormone levels when she is pregnant. It is worthwhile to note that all the new born babies in Sweden are necessarily tested for “Hyperthyreosis”. But this is not true with all the women at the same time.

Experiments conducted on mice by the scientists at ‘Karolinska Institutet’ have almost established that the thyroid hormones of both the mother and the child are necessary for complete “locomotors development”. During the period of pregnancy, mother remains as the only source for these thyroid hormones for the baby and any deficiency in this hormone will produce ‘locomotors disorders’ which will pass to the adulthood also. At this stage the problem becomes worse and it goes beyond the range of any treatment also, according to the scientists.

Professor Bjorn Vennstrom, the lead researcher, says, “Hypothyreosis is easy to treat if it’s discovered”. He further advocates and supports the views of many other scientists who feel that more detailed monitoring of pregnant women must be ensured.

The ‘locomotors disorders’ are the results an abnormal development of specific nerve cells in motor cortex and cerebellum. With this perspective, this research study has provided a detailed insight in to the vital role of thyroid hormones which becomes a determining factor for proper brain development.

Gene modified mice were used for this study and mutation in one of two thyroid hormone receptors was monitored for resulting outcomes by the researchers. This means that the patients identified with such mutations of same type of receptor can also be identified for immediate treatment. This is the first ever finding in this regard, according to the scientists.

In a recent study, the researchers tried to probe the relationship lying between mobile phone use and ‘malignant and non malignant parotid gland‘, also known as the ‘salivary gland‘, tumors.

The study was carried out by Dr Siegal Sadetzki and colleagues from the ‘Chaim Sheba Medical Centre’; the Sackler School of Medicine at ‘Tel Aviv University’ in Israel and the ‘International Agency for Research on Cancer‘ in Lyon, France. It was funded by the ‘European Commission Fifth Framework Program’, the ‘Union Internationale Contre le Cancer’, and a grant from the ‘Israel Cancer Association’.

In the study, a group of Jewish adults suffering from benign or cancerous parotid gland tumors (PGTs, which are tumors in the largest of the salivary glands) was compared to another group of Israeli adults, randomly selected from the ‘National Population Registry‘. They tried to derive the results on the basis of seven parameters which were matched to each of the adults with PGTs. The participants were interviewed on mobile phone usage, other possible risk factors and demographic variables.

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Scientists have been conducting researches for a long time and now they have come up with sound evidences that the paternal exposure could be making serious impacts on the fetal and post-natal development of the offspring. It is more likely that such imprints will also be reflected in subsequent future generations as well.Until now the maternal exposure to several of the dangerous toxic agents during the period of pregnancy were the prime concerns for experts, scientists, and society at large.

The American Association for the Advancement of Science’ sponsored a multidisciplinary symposium recently. This symposium was focused on the concept of “Father and Fetus”. Scientists in this symposium presented many evidences that the reproductive success and post-natal development processes could be severely affected by the male-mediated influences and this may continue from one generation to another.

Evidences supported by the results obtained from certain specific animal and epidemiological studies demonstrate that paternal exposure to the various types of potentially harmful and hazardous toxins can severely affect the development process of fetus. Such negative impacts could also bring selected but wide spectrum defects and deficits in the offspring’s and there is a strong possibility that such impacts would also be reflected in the future generations as well.

Dr. Gladys Friedler, an emeritus Professor of Psychology at the Boston University School of Medicine highlighted the issue with much concern for all. Organizing a session in the symposium, he specified an urgent need of increasing the awareness levels of everyone about the “significant effect of the male parent in reproductive success and postnatal developments as well as to stimulate research on male-mediated effects”, he says.

Dr. Gladys Friedler, a pioneer researcher, presented a complete review of the researches and studies conducted in this regard and highlighted that all of them indicate clearly that the exposure to the toxins in the form of both the recreational and therapeutic drugs is equally dangerous for a male. Similarly, the exposures at the workplaces and other types of exposure are equally risky in case males as all this could potentially affect and alter the reproductive outcomes.

There are certain impacts on the offspring outcome that have been very specifically reported. Such instances include problems like low birth weight. Growth in childhood cancer cases, Problems related to overall development, behavioral disorders, typical endocrine abnormalities, and some specific cross- generational impacts. Dr. Gladys Friedler is quite hopeful that further research would help in solving these puzzled and complex issues that are directly related to the future generations.

Millions of people suffer from the problem of over active bladder and lower urinary tract symptoms. These conditions put an adverse affect on quality of life and there are costs associated with the conditions.  The ‘International Continence Society (ICS)’ defines ‘Overactive bladder (OAB)’ as urgency, with or without urgency incontinence, usually with frequency and nocturia, in the absence of infection, or other obvious pathology.

Among the above symptoms as enumerated by ICS, urgency is the most serious implication of this condition. It is defined by ICS as a sudden, compelling, difficult-to-defer desire to pass urine. It leads to other symptoms of OAB like frequency, nocturia and sometimes incontinence except in the case of patients with absent bladder sensation. The experience of urgency puts the greatest negative effect on quality of life than any of the other symptoms associated with OAB.

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“A person who views someone else’s snacking behavior will come to exhibit a similar snack selection pattern”.Mimicry has long been a topic of research for many social scientists that are constantly digging deep in to the human tendency that prompts on to mimic others. A recently concluded study which will be published in the April issue of the “Journal of Consumer Research” describes the mimic based consumption behavior in much detail.

Researchers found that if someone is eating a goldfish or animal crackers the viewer will also be inclined to eat the same stuff. It is basically mimicking someone else eat a particular food. This is replicated in the same way for the consumption of other products as well, according to the researchers.

Research took up a set of experimental studies and combined the results in order to arrive at some firm conclusion. In their first experiment participants were asked to sit in front of computer in a private lab room to watch a video of another fellow participant who was describing a series of advertisements and was eating goldfish and animal crackers from a bowl while he was describing. There were two bowls in front of this participant with goldfish and animal crackers in one and another but the participant was deliberately taking out the food item from one specific bowl repeatedly fro the entire time of the video show.

The participants who were watching these videos also had two bowls in front of themselves. Researchers observed that these participants started mimicking the same pattern at most of the time. If the participant in the video was taking goldfish crackers from the bowl then the viewer participant also took the same from a bowl in front of him for an average 71% of the time.

Similarly in 44% of the cases the participants took the animal crackers from the bowls in front of them because the participant in the video was also doing the same. A complete rating of all the case reporting revealed that overall the participants showed more inclination towards eating the goldfish crackers compared to the animal crackers.

According to the researchers, “preferences may shift as a result of unintentionally mimicking another person’s consumption behavior”.

The second experiment explored the possible linkages between responsiveness and the mimicking behavior of the participants. They examined if the person who is mimicking another person also like the same person with enhanced degree compared to otherwise normal situations. This was basically intended to explore the possible positive response for a particular product that has been endorsed this way.

Researchers observed that mimicking of body posture; angle, foot movements, and verbal patterns were the prime motivating factors for the participants to show a positive response towards a new sports drink. These participants drank the same sports drink compared to those participants who did not mimic.

The third experiment by the researchers showed that the rate of consumption of a particular product was significantly high in cases where the participants did mimic and above all they also invested in the success of this product.

Researchers say that these patterns are indicative of mimicry having a tremendous potential to be used an important tool for influencing the interpersonal persuasion and communication. This would be an immensely helpful approach in controlling several habits that will in turn help a normal person to protect himself from many health problems.

When it comes to be physically active, there is no single size that fits everyone with same effectiveness. People around the world have so much diversities and have so many different cultural and physical parameters that it is almost impossible to design an exercise method that benefits everyone upon this earth with equal degrees of benefits.A recent landmark research study conducted at the ‘University of Alberta’, Canada says that this study has been successful in defining the underlying trends variance and preferences for making a decision about what should be a most correct exercise pattern in case any person wants to be physically active.

People across the world belong to different cultures, ethnicities, genders, and income levels. Each of these people has different influences and different choices even in being physically active.

Professor Jane Ruseski and Professor Brad Humphyes at the University of Alberta included varied parameters in this research study. Some of these parameters include income, education and ethnicity which are prime influencing factors related to a person’s decision of remaining physically active.

Researchers involved the data of government spending on parks and other recreation facilities and examined their impacts on a person’s decision to the extent of participation in physical activities and other sports.

It was observed that simple walking was the most favored physical activity that was counted as an exercise and almost 57% people voted for this pattern. Study results also revealed that with an increasing in age the rate of participation in walking as a physical activity also increases significantly. Brad Humphreys says, “Programs aimed at promoting walking for exercise could appeal to older populations”.

Walking is a main physical activity and it is relatively the cheapest type of physical activity. Walking can be performed in almost every condition, weather and it does not need any special equipment or specific technique and other infrastructural facilities.

Researchers observed that with an increase in income level involvement in other types of physical activities also increases. Compared to the people who were simply high school graduates the people who has higher educational backgrounds were more inclined and participated with more interests in the outdoor recreation, sports, and other activities. On the other hand females on an average were less inclined to participate in such type of outdoor activities, group sports, and even the individual sports compared to their male counterparts.

The average time spent on physical activities in case of female was found to be almost 444 minutes per week less than their male counterparts in outdoor recreational activities. Similarly it was 108 minutes less on group sports and 74 minutes less in case of individual sports compared to males. Researchers feel that the child-care responsibilities and other household duties are mainly responsible for this less time spent in case of females as they normally have to invest one more hour in their homes compared to males on average.

Researchers feel that development of physical activity programs must be focused on these important factors along with other considerations affecting the outcomes of people from different ethnicities ad diverse cultures. Any particular program designed for some specific population group may not hold well with same outcomes in case of other population groups.”Our results have important implications for the design of government interventions aimed at increasing physical activity”, says Brad Humphreys.

It is normal to have a “Post-Natal Depression (PND)” after a child’s birth and the quality of life usually gets reduced. This commonly occurring problem poses threat to mental and physical health of a mother if not diagnosed and taken seriously.

A new study led by Professor Claude de Tychey, from ‘Universite Nancy 2′, France came out with striking results showing that the birth to a boy can lead to higher levels of PND and the quality of life worsens as compared in the case of birth of a girl child.

In a research published in the February issue of “Journal of Clinical Nursing”, it was found that just under a third of the 181 women, they studied four to eight weeks after delivery had PND. Nine percent of these women belonged to a French community where they faced no cultural pressures in terms of the gender of the baby. Three quarters of these women suffering from severe cases of PND had given birth to boys.

They found that the gender of the baby not only determines the severity of PND but also plays an important role in affecting the quality of life. The women who gave birth to boys were found enjoying a reduced quality of life even when there were no signs of post natal depression among them. This was lesser when they delivered girls.

A questionnaire was used to carry out this comparison. There were 36 questions in it asking the women to score eight important parameters of their health like proper functioning of the body, physical role, physical pains, mental health and few questions related to emotional and social health. The researchers provided a 100- point scale to women to measure themselves up on the above dimensions. The results were then further categorized on the basis of male and female births to evaluate their effects on PND and overall physical and mental health among the women. This provided 60 separate quality of life scores.

The overall results depicted clear differences in the overall quality of life and PND in case of birth of a girl and a boy. In 70% cases of women giving birth to a boy reported lower level of quality of life even when PND was absent among them. They showed higher cores of quality of life when the 10 quality of life scores were added together.

Among the women suffering from PND, the researchers found better scores of quality of life among those who had given birth to girls as compared to those who delivered boys.

Gender differences were also counted among the women with no, mild or severe PND symptoms. The gender differences were found to be greatest in women who had no PND. In 90% cases of women who delivered boys enjoyed lower quality of life than those who had delivered girls. Even the women with PND also had more instances of lower quality of life in the case of a boy comparatively. The results varied with the degree of PND of course.

Professor de Tychey concluded that these figures clearly show that having a boy resulted in lower score in relation to the quality of life. These scores were not much affected by the fact of giving birth to the first child or the second one.

Developing severe cases of PND in societies and cultures is natural where more preference to boys are given however this study was carried out in a French community where women were devoid of al the cultural pressures. 

Severe PND and reduced quality of life was reported among them when they gave birth to a boy. Better psychotherapeutic programs should be devised for such women at the earliest stage. Public health should be focused on early diagnosis and prevention of these cases.

On the Valentine’s Day, you can give the most seeking gift to your partner or spouse that is a good night’s rest. The American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery says that snoring is one of the major reasons which impels the couples to sleep separately and poses a great strain on healthy relationships. It can spoil the intimacy, brings troubles in the sex life and in certain cases, the couple seek divorce too. So it is no longer only a laughing matter.The sound of snoring is initiated in the collapsible part of the air passage where there is a lack of rigid support. It also involves the back of the nose, palate, tonsils and the tongue. Some other factors that can induce snoring are being over weight, use of sedatives and enlarged tonsils and adenoids. The problem of snoring worsens with age.

These patients not only suffer due to lack of refreshing sleep but also have a higher risk of developing cardiac, pulmonary and behavioral problems. Even if it doesn’t disturb them it is likely to ruin their partner’s chance to have a good night’s rest.

About 80 percent of the partners of the snorers decide to sleep in separate rooms, leading to isolation and frustration among both the partners. It is essential to give this problem a serious thought and prevent it to destroy the harmony and the happiness.

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As the society changes, it tends to bring changes in all the aspects. Modernization makes it necessary to bring changes in our style and way of doing things. More families have two working parents today, so make it difficult for the family to spend time together.Nothing can replace that connection which parents need to build up with children, which comes out of the time spent with children where quantity of time along with quality is the most neglected aspect. Children do react negatively when they see both the parents being engrossed in their jobs and they enjoy the lesser priority sometimes due to job compulsions.

Associate Professor Mary Muscari in her two new books on parenting the adolescents and teens wrote that the old parenting philosophies and values still hold good, in spite of all the modernization and development, the basic principals of raising the children could not be changed, only the challenges and ways keep getting changed. According to her, “Old-fashioned values are still the best”.

Teens or the adolescents usually get lesser time to spend with their parents as they are taken to be small adults. Parents assume that their adolescent children longer need or want to spend time with them, so often give them too much of space. Muscari says “Kids are not just small adults”. Teenagers do limit their interaction with parents but they still don’t have ability and experience to think and act like adults.

Some opportunities and space lent by parents are good for the teenagers, however patens still need to spend time with them and engage in different activities. Modernizing the conventional ideas of parenting to an extent is positive and healthy for a relationship between the parents and the adolescents, however giving too much of space is also not advisable.

Best parent-child relationship is characterized by a connection being established with the children. This is made out of a regular communication between the parents and the children. One of the most important experiences adults can provide to their adolescents is by talking and listening to them. So building a positive connection through effective communication is the most rewarding ways to build a positive relationship with them and lend them a secured personality.

Listening and understanding the child’s problem from his prospective is important and safe for the children. Generally such children are less engaged in gang activities and other anti social behavior.

Engaging in family activities together also pays off in building a connection between the parents and the children like eating together and sitting down and talking. If due to unmatched schedule among the family members, it should be made mandatory at least to have one meal together. That could lend everyone time to sit down together, share each other’s experiences and eventually connect.

Adolescents do prefer spending time with their peers, however parents need to be parents, there are certain things which parents need to be concerned about. Helping children to tackle everyday threats like fears and insecurities lend them a more stable personality. Parents still need to play a role as a guide in spite of the modem trend which stresses upon their becoming friends with the children. The basic philosophy can not be altered and the conventional role of being a guide still holds good.

While most people gratefully welcome the longer days and warmer weather of spring, more than 35 million Americans dread the itchy eyes, runny nose, and sneezing that comes with the season’s pollens and mold spores.Fortunately, these symptoms could be easily avoided with the help of planning, effort and common sense.

Mark Dykewicz, M.D., professor of internal medicine and chief of allergy and clinical immunology at the ‘Saint Louis University School of Medicine ‘says that with a bit of planning, effort and common sense, many people can limit their suffering during allergy season or perhaps even avoid it altogether. Fortunately, there are more treatments than ever to relieve these symptoms. New non-sedating antihistamines and nasal steroids can help relieve symptoms of hay fever and other allergic conditions.

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A new study shows that the smokers who develop symptoms pertaining to depression during hospitalization for a heart attack will have a harder time giving up smoking.Dr. Anne N. Thorndike of ‘Massachusetts General Hospital’ and ‘Harvard Medical School’ in Boston, the study’s lead author said that the depression is common among heart attack patients and these issues are more important to be taken into consideration before one can expect them to show improvement in quitting smoking in real terms. Thorndike further added that the depressed smokers tend to pick up the habit within four weeks thus making it more important to address these concerns at an early stage. The smokers also show a mental reluctance to show seriousness towards the efforts for reducing the risk of cardiac troubles further.

During the study, 245 smokers had been followed up who had been in the hospital due to heart attack or unstable angina. “Unstable angina” is a type of acute chest pain that occurs when your heart doesn’t get enough oxygen. It can be a warning sign of a heart attack. They were undergoing the dame treatment comprising of smoking cessation counseling and medication which included either bupropion hydrochloride, an anti-smoking medication sold as ‘Zyban’, or an inactive placebo.

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 A group of German Researchers have found a medical benefit associated with a tattoo rather than just being popular as a fashion statement. According to an article published in the online open access journal, “Genetic Vaccines and Therapy”, it has prospective medical value.Martin Müller and his team working in one of the ‘German Cancer Research Centers’ in Heidelberg, Germany, have found that tattooing could emerge as a more efficient way of delivering DNA vaccines than the conventional way of injecting it intramuscularly. 

The researchers used a coat protein from the ‘human papillomavirus (HPV)’, which is the cause of cervical cancer, as a model DNA vaccine antigen. Instead of inserting it in a standard intramuscular way, they tried to deliver it by tattooing the skin of mice with the standard intramuscular injection. They observed the impact in two conditions, when they added the molecular adjuvant, often given to boost immune response and without it.

They found that the tattoo method gave a stronger response both the humeral that are antibody, and cellular response. It was found to be more effective than intramuscular injection, even when they added adjuvant to the latter. Three doses of DNA vaccine given by tattooing formed 16 times higher antibody levels than three intramuscular injections with adjuvant. The adjuvants were also found adding to the effect of the injection, but in case of tattooing; they didn’t contribute much in enhancing the effect.

Tattooing is done with a solid vibrating needle. It causes a wound and swells the skin and prepares the body to activate the immune system of the body. While tattooing, a bigger area of the skin is covered than an injection, making it possible for the DNA vaccine to enter more cells.

Keeping the above things in account, tattooing can be taken as a new and better alternative for introducing a DNA vaccine into the body as it induces a stronger immune response. However it is not an easy way to gain acceptance among the people as everyone might not find it to be equally tasteful. Its likelihood to hurt also makes it less popular.

It is believed to play an important role in routine vaccination of cattle or in delivering therapeutic vaccines to humans.

Here is an exciting news for women who are willing to adopt a natural way of family planning method. ‘Georgetown University Medical Center’s Institute for Reproductive Health’ claims that more than half a million women around the world, including an estimated 50,000 in the United States, use natural family planning methods developed by them. They have developed “CycleBeads”, a visual aid to help women manage their fertility to plan or prevent pregnancy.

The company “Cycle Technologies” has introduced “CycleBeads”, available in a deluxe man-made cats-eye version in three colours. Victoria Jennings, Director of the ‘Institute for Reproductive Health’ and co-developer of ‘CycleBeads’ says that there is a growing interest in the United States in effective, easy-to-use natural family planning. It is a string of 32 colour-coded beads, a reddish bead representing the first day of a woman’s cycle, the coloured beads stand for the days when the pregnancy is unlikely and the while beads for the days when unprotected sex could lead to pregnancy.

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“Obstructive Sleep” or the “Apnea Syndrome” is a common symptom occurring among the individuals suffering from respiratory disturbances. The sleep disturbances are often seemed to be growing with the age. The people otherwise found medicinally healthy are found to develop breathing irregularities during sleep, particularly in the older individuals. This has been taken as matter of significance especially among the clinicians.

The different degrees and the defined symptoms related to the sleep disordered breathing are the other areas of importance which physicians are planning to give attention to.  The irregularities may range from completely obstructed breathing to loud snoring which can lead to reduction of oxygen supply during the sleep and early arousal.

‘Respiratory Disturbance Index (RDI)’ showed a significant increase in the intensity of the problems with the age so it can be even called a result of a normal aging process.  There are various medical documents to support the fact that there is a substantial increase of ‘sleep apnea syndrome’ with age, thus leading to the possibility of establishing the same relationship in the matter of respiratory disturbances. However these disturbances may occur in an individual without being accompanied by the symptoms or signs of ‘obstructive sleep apnea syndrome’.

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Scientists in the United States have been successful in developing a new vaccine that is expected to help in preventing the spreading of prostate cancer among the men who are at high risk. The experimental vaccine would be a basis for developing new treatments in near future, believe the scientists.

A “watchful waiting” is generally preferred by the physician across the world in case of men who indicating the increasing levels of specific antigens that are the blood markers for prostate. These men however, do not show any symptoms of prostate cancer. No specific treatment is prescribed for such type of probable patients until they show the verified symptoms of the prostate cancer.

Dr. Martin Kast, at the ‘University of Southern California’ in Los Angeles, and other co-researchers believe that the day is not far when such men, the probable prostate cancer patients, would also be vaccinated properly so that they will be safe from any future risks of the development of prostate cancer. Findings of this research study have been published in the journal “Cancer Research”.

Researchers have designed this experimental vaccine with an objective of igniting an immune system response. It will put the system against a particular protein, the ‘prostate stem cell antigen’. This protein is directly associated with the process of development of prostate cancer.

Experiments were conducted on mice. These mice were bred and made akin to develop the prostate cancer. Almost 50% of the mice with 8 week’s age and prostate cancer were given the vaccination and a booster vaccination after two weeks. Rests 50% of the mice were not given any vaccination though they had prostate cancer.

Researchers could observe that after a period of one year, the mice that got vaccination were still alive but the remaining one could not survive the prostate cancer. The vaccination caused the development of small tumors in the mice and these tumors did not advance further. Some tiny nodules of prostate cancer surrounded by the millions of immune system cells were also observed in these mice. “The vaccination turned the cancer into a chronic, manageable disease”, said Dr. Kast.

Scientists believe that the further research in this direction will definitely help in managing the prostate cancer problem in near future.

Medically supervised weight control schedule helps in enriching the bones with mineral contents among teenagers. The obese teenagers who participated in such a program were successful in loosing weight in a systematic way. A year long program at the ‘Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia’ established these findings with sufficient evidences.

According to the researchers, the adolescent if the most critical stage of life in which bones take shapes and become healthier in later years. Findings of this research study were published in the current issue of the journal “Obesity”. It involved 62 teenagers with an age range of 9-17 years. The study with in built trials aimed at exploring the effectiveness of a “comprehensive, family based, behavioral weight control program”. Effects of the drug,”Sibutramine”, a weight loss drug, were specifically observed in this study.

Researchers explained that in general obesity is directly related with the ‘high bone mineral density’. When an adolescent individual goes on reducing its weight the ‘bone mineral density’ also goes decreasing. It is mainly because of the reduction in the content of the minerals in bones.

Study results were however surprisingly in contrast to this conventional understanding. Researchers observed that despite the loss of weight in teenagers the bone mineral density was increasing.

Mineral density becomes a key factor in determining the frequency and probability of fractures in the adults. Healthy status of bones in adolescent age is more probable to help maintaining a more healthy bone life in later years. “The amount of bone mass acquired during puberty is the key determinant of lifetime fracture risk”, said researchers in the study report.

With the help of a ‘Dual Energy X-ray Absorptiometry Scanner (DXA)’, the researchers measured the bone mineral content of the whole body and also of some specific parts of the body including the legs, arms and lumbar spine. Measurement calculations and data thus obtained for all the 66 adolescents were subsequently put to comparison. Researchers found that the mineral content of bones in case of the obese teenagers was higher than the reference group, both at the beginning and at the end of the study.

The ‘bone mineral content’ for each of the teenager was adjusted for respective height. It was then revealed that the bone mineral content at arms and legs showed a less increment than estimated. Similarly the lumbar spine bone mineral content was observed to be higher than the expected.

Researchers attributed these results to the reasoning that such type of changes in the bone mineral content was mainly because of the changes that occurred in the amount of fat and muscle within the body during a weight loss program.

Now days, the growing pediatric obesity epidemic is forcing millions of adolescents across the world to undergo treatments.” It is important to understand the role of weight loss on bone health during this critical period”, said Dr. Stettler, the lead researcher.

Toxic metals consist of a group of minerals that perform no positive function in a human’s body and in fact are detected to be harmful. Today ,we are out in the open to the accumulate highest levels of these metals in recorded history, thanks to their use in day to day life including light bulbs, dental filings and mascara to toxic toys. They are a major cause of illness, aging and even genetic defects.

Toxic metals can contribute to any disease that one can think of right from weakened bones and osteoporosis, inflammation and hardening of the arteries, impaired blood sugar tolerance and diabetes, migraine headaches, premenstrual syndrome, depression, anxiety, panic attacks to thyroid imbalances. Among other disorders caused by these toxic metals are the early aging and genetic defects.

The study of toxic metals is covered under nutrition and toxicology. Studies of these specializations have never been given complete and sufficient attention in the medical schools around the world. Because of this, the diseases caused by such reasons also get a very little attention as far as the cure and treatments apart from the research and development is concerned.

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