Washington, Apr 2: Scientists have now discovered how probiotics successfully work in fighting against a number of animal diseases, paving way for their use in preventing and even treating human diseases.

Scientists from University College Cork, Ireland, used three animal models of disease that have human counterparts – bovine mastitis, porcine salmonellosis (a gastrointestinal disease) and listeriosis in mice (an often fatal form of food poisoning) – to demonstrate the protective effects of probiotics.

"Rather than use commercially available probiotics, we made our own probiotic preparations containing safe bacteria such as Lactobacillus species newly isolated from human volunteers," said Dr. Colin Hill, the lead researcher of the study.

Sydney  - The Coca-Cola Co was ordered Thursday by Australian regulators to tell consumers an advertising campaign that said soft drinks didn't make people fat was misleading.

The US food and beverage giant had run a campaign stating it was a myth that Coke made people fat, rotted their teeth and contained lots of caffeine.

The Australian Dental Association and other health lobbying groups complained to Australia's consumer watchdog, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, which ruled Coca-Cola had breached the Trade Practices Act.

Washington, Apr 2 : In a breakthrough towards overcoming addiction, scientists have found that if a hormone related to hunger regulation is blocked in the brain's "pleasure centre", it can suppress craving for drugs like cocaine.

The study, led by Shinjae Chung and Olivier Civelli, discovered how the melanin-concentrating hormone works with dopamine in the brain's "pleasure centre" to create an addictive response to cocaine use.

The researchers have also found that blocking MCH in these brain cells limits cocaine cravings.

Washington, Apr 2 : A new study from the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center has found that head and neck cancer patients who smoke, drink, don't exercise or don't eat enough fruit have worse survival outcomes than those with better health habits.

"While there has been a recent emphasis on biomarkers and genes that might be linked to cancer survival, the health habits a person has at diagnosis play a major role in his or her survival," said study author Sonia Duffy, Ph. D., R. N., associate professor of nursing at the U-M School of Nursing, research assistant professor of otolaryngology at the U-M Medical School, and research scientist at the VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System.

London, Apr 2: Scientists are on their way to provide double bonanza to women looking for healthy skin – a moisturiser containing Viagra that could resolve cellulite issues.

The drug sildenafil has had mixed success as a drug for women, but according to Croatian researchers incorporating the stuff into a moisturiser could open up a whole new market, reports New Scientist.

London, Apr 2 : Scientists have discovered a method that can manage the amount of fat that cells store for use as a back-up energy source, and can eventually lead to therapies for liver disease and diabetes.

Researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University have also found that the process, if disrupted, can enable cellular fat to accumulate, a key factor in age-related metabolic diseases such as obesity and type 2 diabetes.

They reckon that the discovery of this previously unknown fat-fighting pathway may lead to novel drugs for the treatment of metabolic syndrome - characterised by obesity, blood lipid disorders, and insulin resistance - and for a common liver disease known as "fatty liver" or steatohepatitis.