The world’s No. hamburger chain has announced to limit sodium in its “Kids Meals”. The move may work to change Burger King’s reputation as one of the most unhealthy food providers in the industry.

On Wednesday, Burger King announced that there would be limited amount of sodium (600 milligrams or less) in all of its kids Meals advertised to children.

McDonald’s and many other fast-food chains are already preparing children’s meals with less sodium. According to McDonald’s website, its four piece Chicken McNuggets Happy Meal, which contains caramel dip, Apple Dippers, and one percent low-fat white milk, has 570mg of sodium and 390 calories.

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Glucocorticoid drugs that are used to treat chronic lung damage in preemies proved harmful for brain in mice.  Researchers from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis say that the drugs seem to cause cognitive and motor control problems even if they are given before birth.

In their study, the researchers observed the effects of the synthetic glucocorticoids dexamethasone and betamethasone that were given to preemies to help lung development. These drugs seemed to cause brain cell death in mice when given four and ten days after birth.

Kevin K. Noguchi, who is one of study authors, says in a university news release: “The drugs seemed to damage neural progenitor cells that are responsible for producing new neurons.  So it’s quite easy to understand that if the cells that produce new neurons are killed, it can cause severe neurodevelopmental effects.”

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Soon after the two studies that discounted the helpfulness of vitamin B, folic acid, vitamin D and calcium supplements for cancer prevention, now U.S researchers report that even vitamin C and E supplements are not helpful to avoid cancer.

The same researchers have recently reported that vitamin C and E supplements are not beneficial to prevent even heart disease.

Dr. Howard Sesso (one of the study’s authors), who is an assistant professor of medicine in the division of preventive medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, says: “We find no compelling evidence to take vitamin E or C at least in the context of two very common outcomes i.e. cardioprotection and chemoprevention.”

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A CDC report shows that around 20 percent adults smoked last year that was far short of government objective of 12 percent.

Experts at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say that the US wouldn’t succeed to meet its Healthy People 2010 objective of decreasing the adult smoking rate to 12% or less.

Several CDC studies, released on Thursday, seem to suggest that this failure means high levels of smoking-related health issues, deaths and productivity lost.

In US, smoking is counted for a leading cause of preventable death and disease; however, inclusive tobacco control programs can prevent millions of premature deaths in the country.

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A new study suggests that the high cost of angioplasty doesn’t seem to justify the marginal benefit.

Reporting at the American Heart Association’s annual scientific sessions in New Orleans, the researchers told that adding angioplasty to optimal medical therapy could improve angina-related symptoms in some patients, but at a very high cost.

Dr Sidney Smith, chairman of the AHA says: “It’s an important trial, but the cost is important too and we find that the use of stents and additional angina related to that was expensive.”

However, it doesn’t mean that the procedure shouldn’t be performed.

“Cost must not be a barricade, but to do things in a better way, it should be an incentive by targeting the population or by making it a less expensive procedure. Definitely we need to find a way to fix the cost.” Smith added.

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The results of a new study show that six out of ten middle-aged Britons don’t use a condom in a first-time sexual encounter.

Some experts say that these numbers may be the same for Americans, as in the US rates of all STDs (including HIV) are on increase with an estimated 19 million new cases every year. The U.S Centers for Disease and Prevention say that almost of STDs new cases are occurring among people 15 to 24.

However, the older adults are also at risk. Study’s lead author, Catherine Mercer, who is a lecturer at the Centre for Sexual Health & HIV Research at University College London, says: “Usually it is assumed that STDs are only increasing among young people, but data suggests that sexually transmitted infection diagnosis rates are increasing in almost all age groups in the UK.”

The report has been published in online edition of the International Journal of Epidemiology. It shows that most Britons engaging in unsafe sexual relations fall in 30s and 40s age group and have relationships where age difference is of five and more years.

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A study suggests that elderly, who don’t have 7.5 hours sleep a night, are at higher death risk.

Japanese researchers say that those elderly people who get less than 7.5 hours of sleep and have high blood pressure, it may increase their risk of heart disease.

In his study, the researchers tracked the sleep of 1,255 people (With 70.4 year average age) and they also followed their health for 50 months. They found in the follow-up that there were 99 cardiovascular disease events including heart attack, stroke and sudden cardiac death.

The researchers noted that people who took less than 7.5 hours sleep a night had the highest risk of cardiovascular event. The study has been published in the Nov. 10 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine.

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Psycnodysostosis is a kind of a genetic disease characterised by short physique and that opens a window into how the joints could be destroyed by arthritis. Such a condition is caused by an enzyme called “Cathepsin K” that hampers the cells that break down the bones into bone modelling and repair; this further leads to bone resorption as well as brittle bones.

Cathepsin K has been studied largely using mouse pointers to study its role in bone metabolism. However, a new study observes its role in bone resorption in humans and concludes that it’s not required for bone break down.

The study took place in the Helsinki University Central Hospital in Finland and it involved a 55 year old patient suffering from Psycnodysostosis and also developed psoriatic arthritis(which is similar to psoriasis – a kind of a skin and nail disease).

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A new study says that taking folic acid and other vitamin B supplements do not lower cancer risk; however, the good news is that they don’t increase cancer risk either.

The study has been published in the Nov.5 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Study author, Dr. Shumin Zhang, who is an associate professor of medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, in Boston, says: “We have found that in women at cardiovascular disease risk folic acid, vitamin B6 and vitamin B12 didn’t have any beneficial or harmful effects on their invasive or breast cancer risk.”

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the government has mandated to add folic acid to cereals and breads, as their adequate levels in women have proven to prevent serious birth defects.

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All we know neither smoking nor obesity is healthier for us, but now the results of a new study shows that chances of early death are highest among obese smokers.

Lead author of the study, Annemarie Koster, who is an epidemiologist at the U.S National Institute on Aging, says: “Everyone knows that obesity and smoking are two well-known health risk factors and now our study suggests that smoking coupled with obesity increases the death risk.”

The both carry a considerable mortality risk, but especially smoking, Koster said.

“You can lower your death risk by losing weight, but if you lose weight as well as quit smoking, it can increase your health and decrease death risk,” she added.

The study has been published in the November issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

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The world is getting obsessed with the “size 0” celebrities and is causing women all across the globe to put themselves at the risk of infertility according to the leading fertility experts. Loads of women are shedding off weight in order to mimic the amazingly thin celebrities without being aware of the fact that they such dramatic weight loss can be injurious to their fertility.

Women with the BMI of below 19 are at a greater risk of experiencing irregularities in their menstrual cycle. This can certainly lead to infertility. In addition, if you still lose more weight, you may perhaps stop ovulating. However, the process can be easily reversed with some weight gain. Women need a considerable amount of fat to store the essential oestrogen as well as the other hormones.

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A vitamin that is found in fish, potatoes and meat may prove helpful to protect the brain from Alzheimer as well as to boost memory in healthy people.

US researchers have found that vitamin B3 reduces levels of a protein related to Alzheimer’s damage in mice.

UK Alzheimer’s charities advise people not to start taking the vitamin before results from human studies.

The vitamin is known as nicotinamide and it is sold in pharmacies and health food shops in UK.

The said vitamin has also shown to help people with diabetic complications and has some anti-inflammatory qualities as well.

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According to a new study, women have a greater variety of bugs on their hands than on men.

Professor Rob knight, who co-authored the study, says: “The thing that is quite astonishing is the variability between individuals and hands on the same individuals.

The lead author of the study, Noah Fierer says: “The number of bacteria species found on the study participants hands was a big surprise and similarly the greater diversity of bacteria was found on women hands.”

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A UK government agency advises that pregnant women should reduce caffeine consumption and wouldn’t take more than two cups of coffee or four cups of tea a day.

The previous recommended levels of the stimulant levels were of 300mg a day, but now the Food Standard Agency has lowered them to 200mg which is a reduction of a third.

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Breast cancer patients, going through endocrine treatment may show hot flashes, night sweats and joint symptoms which indicate toward gradual success of the treatment and reduction in estrogen level, that is a key risk factor of breast cancer, British researchers report.