Sydney, Apr 14 : Bitter melon may not seem a very appetising name, but experts say that this vegetable may help protect the world''s population from malnutrition and disease.

Dr. Dyno Keatinge, the head of a not-for-profit research institute which uses horticulture to fight poverty and malnutrition, says that Bitter melon is rich in vitamins and offers protection against diabetes.

"It''s not a sweet vegetable, and that''s why I like it in salad and a whole range of things," the Sydney Morning Herald quoted him as saying.

Washington, April 14 : Experts at UT Southwestern Medical Center say that diseases in the lining of the uterus can be easily visualized and diagnosed with the aid of a procedure, when used in conjunction with vaginal ultrasounds.

The doctors involved in their study women who were in the midst of or had gone through menopause and who complained of abnormal bleeding.

Washington, Apr 14 : Despite all the crunching and munching at every meal, our teeth remain stronger to go under some more tests each day, and now researchers have attributed this resilience to the microscopic "basket-weave" structure of human tooth enamel.

Tooth enamel, which forms the outer coating of teeth, is a strong but brittle substance.

Although the brittleness of teeth is comparable to that of glass, they can last a lifetime without cracking to pieces.

Washington, Apr 14 : Researchers from University of Utah have found that lack of proper nutrition in the womb may cause permanent genetic changes in the offspring.

In the study conducted using rats, the researchers found that fetuses receiving poor nutrition in the womb become genetically primed to be born into an environment lacking proper nutrition. As a result, the rats were likely to grow to smaller sizes than their normal counterparts.

Washington, April 14 : A high-fiber diet has long been considered beneficial in staving off colon cancer. Now, researchers at Medical College of Georgia have found that roughage keeps the disease at bay by activating a receptor with cancer killing potential.

The GPR109A receptor is activated by butyrate, a metabolite produced by fiber-eating bacteria in the colon.

Washington, Apr 14 : People who smoke both tobacco and marijuana increase their risk of respiratory symptoms and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), a new study has found.

Smoking only marijuana, however, was not associated with increased risks, the CMAJ study claimed.

The study, which surveyed 878 people aged 40 years or more in Vancouver, Canada, was part of the Burden of Obstructive Lung Disease (BOLD) Initiative that sought to determine the prevalence of COPD in adults over 40 years in the general population.