Health News

Heaps of waste are a common sight at SSG

Despite stringent norms laid down for the disposal of biomedical waste by the state government, it can be found in abundance lying at the premises of SSG hospital, Vadodara. One can find used bandages, cotton, and medical gloves in plenty.

The recent controversy regarding the sale of biomedical waste in Ahmedabad has once again created major concern for the hospital officials across the state. According to the state government norms, the hospital authorities should mandatory dispose the biomedical waste at the incinerators.  But when DNA visited SSG hospital premises, the scene was really disturbing.

Night shifts can make you fat and play havoc with metabolism

London, Mar 3 : Working at night might make you fat, claim scientists, who found that unsociable working hours slow the body''s natural metabolism.

After closely monitoring people with disrupted sleep patterns, researchers discovered that working at night and sleeping during the day affects the body''s natural rhythms and slows down the rate it burns energy.

According to Harvard Medical School scientists, the result - known as circadian misalignment - could lead to increased risks from obesity, diabetes and even heart disease.

Circadian misalignment refers to the body''s own natural biological clock which regulates when we want to sleep, eat and wake, reports The Telegraph.

New type of vaccination may provide instant immunity against diseases

Washington, March 3 : Scripps research scientists say that a new vaccination method they have developed may be used to provide instantaneous protection against diseases caused by viruses and bacteria, cancers, and even virulent toxins.

Professor Carlos Barbas, III, says that tests on mice suggest that the vaccination method called covalent immunization can overcome a major drawback of vaccinations - the lag time of days, or even weeks, that it normally takes for immunity to build against a pathogen.

He revealed that his team tested the vaccination method on mice with either melanoma or colon cancer.

Smoking cessation drug helps reduce alcohol cravings

Smoking cessation drug helps reduce alcohol cravingsWashington, Mar 3: A popular smoking cessation drug has been found to effectively reduce alcohol cravings, claim researchers.

The study led by researchers from Yale School of Medicine has shown that heavy-drinking smokers were much less likely to drink after taking the drug varenicline.

They found that the group taking varenicline, sold under the name, Chantix, reported fewer cravings for alcohol and less intoxicated when they did drink.

Viewing TV two hours a day ‘doubles asthma risk’

Viewing TV two hours a day ‘doubles asthma risk’Washington, Mar 3: Young children who spend more than two hours glued to the TV every day double their risk of developing asthma, a UK study has found.

The study, published in the journal Thorax, was based on more than 3,000 children whose respiratory health was tracked from birth to 11.5 years of age.

The children were all participants in the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC), which has been following the long-term health of 14,000 children and their parents.

How we respond to stress at cellular level in the brain

Washington, March 3 : Conducting experiments on mice, scientists in Canada have identified a novel mechanism whereby the brain responds to stress.

University of Calgary scientist Dr. Jaideep Bains, along with is researcher colleagues at the Hotchkiss Brain Institute, have found that neurons in the hypothalamus-the brain's command centre for stress responses-interpret "off" chemical signals as "on" chemical signals when stress is perceived.

"It's as if the brakes in your car are now acting to speed up the vehicle, rather than slow it down," Nature magazine quoted Bains as saying.

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