A three-year analysis, carried by The World Health Organization, shows that instead of genetics, social factors play a more vital role in huge variations in ill health and life expectancy all around the globe.
The report suggests “People are being killed by social injustice on a grand scale.” For example, if a boy lives in some deprived suburb, he may live average 28 years less than a boy who born in an affluent area. …Click here to read more
According to US scientists, Gene therapy, which is likely to restore hearing in mice, may prove helpful in humans too.
The scientists found that gene transfer developed functioning hair cells that are considered essential for the inner ear to interpret sounds.
People who have normal hearing their cochlear hair cells can turn sound into electrical signals that are transmitted to the brain. If the cells are lost or damaged once, they
Once the cells are lost or damaged, they cannot be replaced naturally.
According to experts, men and women of certain age can prevent heart attack by taking aspirin daily.
Researchers from Nottingham and Sheffield universities analyzed data on more than 12,000 patients and they found aspirin proved beneficial for men aged 48 and above and women aged 57 and above.
Usually, blood vessel blockage because of some clot causes heart attacks and aspirin helps to avoid the formation of these blood clots.
The British Heart Foundation says that further research is required before the recommendation of “blanket prescribing”
According to Israeli researchers, women with positive outlook in life have lower risk of developing breast cancer.
The study has been published in the BioMed Central journal and it also finds that being bereaved or getting divorced increase the risk of the cancer as well.
UK experts say that it’s hard to compare emotional stresses in different women. …Click here to read more
The US Environmental Protection Agency has offered several guidelines to people so that they do not intake high levels of mercury as it can be detrimental to health.
While fish and shellfish contain high amounts of proteins, are low in saturated fats, and contain Omega-3 fatty acids, they also contain traces of mercury. While the risks of eating fish or shellfish with high amounts of mercury depend on person to person, pregnant women are particularly told to avoid fish of these kids as it can have a negative effect on the unborn child. Although mercury can gradually be removed from the body, it is a slow process and may take up to a year. Therefore, the US EPA has suggested a list of fish types which should be avoided.
TOKYO – Matusushita Electrical Industrial Co. claims to have developed technology that can determine a person’s response to medication as well as their risk of developing diseases.
Matsushita, better known through its well-established brand, Panasonic, collaborated with researchers at Konan University for this project. The company claims the technology is the first of its kind in the world. The technology uses artificial DNA that is dissolved in a solution rather than being attached to an electrode.
The technology electronically identifies sequence variations in a specific DNA strand, called single nucleotide polymorphisms, or SNP’s. An SNP refers to one base pair and its position in the DNA sequence that is different from the other base pair. It is these differences in base pairs which are said to generate individual differences in each person’s reaction to drugs, development diseases and other health related factors.
U.S government researchers find that an epilepsy drug that is being tested to treat addiction also helped to shed weight in obese rats.
The researchers said that their findings not only helped to treat drug addicts, but it also showed promising results for an easy treatment for obesity.
After 40 days of the drug injections (known as Vigabatrin or GVG), even those rats that were bred to be obese seemed to lose almost 19 percent of their weight and normal rats seemed to lose 12 to 20 percent weight.
A new more accurate way to spot severe forms of bowel cancer has been developed by the stem cell scientists. It allows for a tailored treatment that may improve patients’ chances to survive.
According to British researchers, patients with some severe kind of bowel cancer may be spotted early after testing for a stem cell indicatory protein known as Lamin A.
The researchers suggested that patients with positive Lamin A must be given chemotherapy aside from the operation as it increases their odds to survive. …Click here to read more
According to a small scale US study, people who use anti-depressants may have poor driving skill.
Researchers from North Dakota University included 60 people in a driving simulation to test their concentration, reaction and steering.
They found that people who were on high dose anti-depressant courses had impaired driving skills.
But the researchers didn’t find whether it was the result of the actual condition or the pills caused those poor driving skills. According to researchers a larger study is needed to find it out.
The participants of that study were divided into three groups: Those who were on a high dose, those who were taking low dose and the people that were not on medication.
A series of common driving situations like reacting to brake lights, traffic signals and stop signs were recreated in the simulation they were put through.
The researchers will present their findings at the Annual Convention of the American Psychological Association on Monday.
According to the outcomes of the study, people who were not on medication got 69 points, people on low medication got 65 and those who were on high dose got 54.
The researchers concluded that either pills or the condition caused the problems.
Dr Holly Dannewitz who led the study told that they needed more work to do on this with a much larger study.
WASHINGTON – FDA awarded a safety certification to a chemical, used in baby bottles, canned food and household item in spite of persistent safety concern from consumers and politicians.
The trace amounts of bisphenol A, that used in canned food are harmless to infants or adults. The agency acknowledged that still more research is needed to fully understand the chemical’s effects on humans, and said “there are always uncertainties associated with safety decisions.”
Bisphenol A used to harden plastic, seal canned food and in making of unbreakable bottles, is similar in structure to estrogen hormone. It is also used in hundreds of consumer products, ranging from sunglasses to CDs.
American Chemistry Council, which has defended the chemical’s safety, welcomed the FDA report.
“FDA is the government agency we rely upon to assess food-contact products. They’ve assessed this issue in great detail and their conclusion is very reassuring,” said Steve Hentges, an executive director with the council
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina - Authorities are inquiring a possible association between the deaths of 14 kids and an experimental vaccine administered to them in a clinical trial, conducted by GlaxoSmithKline (GSK).
They are investigating whether the deaths are linked to the Synflorix vaccine, said an agency official. The drug, made to fight against pneumonia, ear infections and several other pneumococcal diseases by the London-based GSK, the world’s second-largest drug maker.
A U.S. spokeswoman for Glaxo, Sarah Alspach, said “the company is not attributing the deaths to the experimental vaccine, which is being tested in three Latin American countries and in other countries around the world.”
“We rely on their safety review,” Alspach said. “Safety is our primary concern, always, with the development of any new treatment.”
More than 19,000 babies have taken at least one shot of Synflorix, which Glaxo decided to test on 24,000 infants, she said.
According to a charity, depression is considered a natural part of getting older and because of this misconception almost two million older people are being denied treatment for their depression.
The charity finds that over 65s when seek help for their depression, they are often fobbed off and given inappropriate treatment.
The Charity is known as Age Concern and it provides support and help to old people. Age Concern also stressed the government to address age discrimination in health services in its coming Equality Bill. …Click here to read more
The risk of premature death from cancer is less than half in elderly runners than non-runners.
According to the Stanford University Medical Centre team’s report, elderly joggers enjoyed a healthier life with fewer disabilities.
The findings have been published in Archives of Internal Medicine and they stress on the importance of regular exercise for older people.
Only the fittest survives.
In the study, the record of 500 older runners was tracked for more than twenty years and then it was compared to a similar group of non-runners. It’s worth mentioning that all participants of the study were in their 50s at the start of the study.
According to the English researchers they have discovered a new bacterium that contributes to tooth decay and gum disease.
The new bug called “Prevotella histicola” is being considered a brand new species of bacteria that like hundreds of other bacteria thrives in human mouth.
There are millions of bacteria in every milliliter of saliva and more than half of them are unknown.
This new finding may prove quite helpful for the scientists to understand those changes in bacterial activity that becomes the cause of mouth problems.
According to Finnish researchers, risk of dementia as well as of stroke considerably decrease by eating tuna and other fatty fish.
The lead author of the study, Jyrki Virtanen of the University of Kuopio in Finland told that ‘silent’ brain lesions that often become the cause of memory loss and dementia occurred less in those people who ate baked or broiled fish high in omega-3 fatty acids.
“The results of some previous studies have shown that fish and fish oil is helpful to avoid stroke, but this is the first study of its kind that examines the effects of fish on brain lesions in older people,” Virtanen further added.
Fish like salmon, mackerel sardines, herring and other foods like walnuts are rich with omega-3 fatty acids. These foods have also shown an anti-inflammatory effect and related to a lower risk of cardiovascular disease.
According to the US scientists, a high dose vitamin C injection may help to hold the advance of cancers back. The scientists believe that the vitamin may initiate a critical chain reaction in the cancerous cell.
When that injection was given to mice, it halved the size of pancreatic, ovarian and brain tumors. The report has been presented in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
But the scientists from Cancer Research UK believe that high doses of vitamin C may interfere with cancer treatment as it has been suggested by many studies.
According to Australian scientists’ report, women who given estrogen (sex hormone) are less likely to suffer hallucination or delusion.
The report published in the Archives of General Psychiatry Journal on Monday and it showed that sex hormone might boost blood flow to the brain.
A UK mental health charity stated that they needed funds for bigger studies in this connection.
Some amount of estrogen is found in men’s bodies while in women it produces in much greater amount and besides other functions it helps to regulate the menstrual cycle.
According to a study conducted by U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, women who have diabetes before becoming pregnant are three to four times more likely to giving birth a baby with at least one birth defect.
This is the first study of its kind that classify a wide range of birth defects that are linked with pre-pregnancy diagnosis of 1 or type2 diabetes, i.e., brain and spine defects, heart defects, oral clefts, limb deficiencies, kidney and gastrointestinal tract defects.
The research has been published in American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology.
Lead Author of the study Dr. Adolfo Correa, who is an epidemiologist at the CDC’s National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities, says in this connection “This growing link between diabetes and a lot of birth defects shows how important it is for the women to receive the best possible preconception care and particularly for those who are found with diabetes.”
The researchers said, “The exercise pills could enhance stamina”.
The journal Cell news US scientists have two pills which could build muscle, promote stamina and burn the calories.
In the research, mice were capable of running 44 % recommending human beings might be able to perform the same devoid of earlier training. …Click here to read more
Helicobacter pylori that has proved as a cause of stomach ulcers also has link with stomach cancer, a new study suggests.
The researchers investigated the cases of 550 people who had surgery for their stomach cancer. They found that the risk of developing cancer second time decreased twice by using antibiotics that killed Helicobacter pylori.
To find whether killing of the bacterium really stops the development of the cancer, more than 56,000 British people will be under a trial soon.
H.pylori invades the stomach and it is considered the cause of more than 90% of duodenal ulcers and 80% of gastric ulcers.
