Health News

Morbidly obese remain sedentary for 99pc of day

Morbidly obeseWashington, Mar 26 : Morbidly obese people are likely to remain sedentary for more than 99 percent of the day, leading to poor fitness and increased cardiovascular risk, according to a new study.

Morbidly obese individuals are those, whose body mass indexes are between 40.0 and 49.9.

On average, they walked less than 2,500 steps per day – far below healthy living guidelines of 10,000 steps per day.

Missing or mutated ‘clock’ gene ‘ups vascular disease risk’

vascular disease riskWashington, Mar 26 : Researchers at Medical College of Georgia have found that circadian clocks that set the rhythmic motion of our bodies for wakeful days and sleepy nights can also set us up for vascular disease when broken.

During the study, they found that mice with mutated or missing ‘clock’ genes were prone to thick, inflexible blood vessels with narrow passageways, unhealthy changes typically associated with risk factors such as smoking, high blood pressure and cholesterol.

New marker to detect prostate cancer identified

New marker to detect prostate cancer identifiedLondon, Mar 26 : Sarcosine, an N-methyl derivative of the amino acid glycine, can distinguish between slow-growing prostate cancers and those likely to spread and become lethal, playing a major role in cancer detection, according to scientists at the University of Michigan.

Led by Dr. Arun Sreekumar, the study not only proves that sarcosine is a marker of cancer aggressiveness, but also that it is highly associated with tumour development as well.

For the study, the researchers looked at more than 1,000 small molecules in tissues associated with prostate cancer.

Teen dad Alfie Patten is not the actual father, show DNA tests

DNALondon, March 26 : DNA tests on Alfie Patten, the 13-year-old boy who was alleged to have become a father when he was just 12, show that he not the baby girl’s actual dad.

The 300-pound test was conducted on him after half a dozen boys claimed to have slept with schoolgirl pal Chantelle Stedman, 15.

Although Alfie was convinced he was the dad after a single night of unprotected sex with Chantelle, the DNA test proved the 4ft-tall pupil was not the father of her seven-week-old tot Maisie Roxanne.

Daily marijuana intake leads to psychosis, schizophrenia

Daily marijuana intake leads to psychosis, schizophreniaWashington, Mar 26 : People who consume cannabis on daily basis are likely to show episodes of psychosis and schizophrenia, according to a doctoral thesis.

Miguel Ruiz Veguilla, from the Institute of Neurosciences of the University of Granada in Spain, also claimed that the episodes of psychosis because of marijuana intake present certain specific characteristics, both before their appearance and in the clinical presentation of the psychosis.

Male circumcision ''cuts risk of common STDs, but not syphilis''

Male circumcision ''cuts risk of common STDs, but not syphilis''London, Mar 26 : Circumcision not only protects heterosexual men from HIV, but it also helps prevent two other sexually transmitted infections - herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2), the cause of genital herpes, and human papillomavirus (HPV), which can cause cancer and genital warts, says a new study.

However, the New England Journal of Medicine research found that circumcision had no effect on the transmission of syphilis.

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