Washington, Mar 25 : Over the past three years there has been a drastic increase in the number of patients seeking laser treatments to take light-years off their faces, says a new American survey.

According to American Academy of Cosmetic Surgery (AACS)'s annual Procedural Survey, there has been a 456pct increase in the number of males undergoing laser resurfacing, compared to 215pct in females.

Laser resurfacing is performed with a "super-pulsed" carbon dioxide (CO2) laser to minimize wrinkles and lines on the face.

Washington, Mar 25 : Black women are three times more likely than whites to develop aggressive breast cancer, according to a new study.

The research team led by Dr Carol Rosenberg at Boston University School of Medicine has found that despite lifestyle, age and weight black women face three fold risk of developing an aggressive ''triple negative tumour''.

During the study, the researchers focused on 415 breast cancer cases.

Washington, Mar 25 : Older adults who worry about their health are less likely to engage in physical activity, and report having difficulty in walking, says a new study.

Lead researcher Kin-Kit Li of The University of Hong Kong Health along with colleagues from OSU suggests that worry, physical inactivity, and walking difficulty may actually combine to have a negative effect on each other.

Washington, Mar 25 : A non-invasive brain scanning technique may trace a biomarker for Parkinson''s disease that would let physicians screen for or track the progression of the neurodegenerative disorder, according to a University of Illinois at Chicago neuroscientist.

The tool may also help advance the development of new drugs or neuroprotective agents to treat or ward off Parkinson''s.

Washington, Mar 25: A team of scientists has developed a test that could help doctors precisely identify which breast cancer patients should receive aggressive therapy, thereby sparing many women at low risk for metastatic disease from undergoing unnecessary and potentially dangerous treatment.

Researchers developed the test based on an earlier finding that the co-mingling of three cell types can predict whether localized breast cancer will metastasize, or spread throughout the body.

Washington, Mar 25: Scientists at University at Buffalo (UB) have developed a nanoparticle that can silence a gene that triggers drug addiction.

Boffins in UB''s Institute for Lasers, Photonics and Biophotonics and UB''s Department of Medicine have developed a stable nanoparticle that delivers short RNA molecules in the brain to "silence" or turn off a gene that plays a critical role in many kinds of drug addiction.