TopNews

A latest study has found that rats in New York City carry a flea species that is capable of transmitting plague pathogens, including the bubonic plague, typhus and spotted fever.

The study, conducted by teams from Cornell and Columbia Universities, included 133 New York City rats and found 6,500 fleas, lice and mites that can carry bacteria that can lead to serious diseases in humans.

Matthew Frye, lead author and Cornell entomologist, said that the Oriental rat fleas, which are notorious for their role in spreading the bubonic plague, were also among the rats that were found by them.

He mentioned that just a single flea bite can pass on infection as the fleas regurgitate rats' infected blood and guts when they bite into human hosts, passing along disease.

An international team affirmed that adults can suffer from flu once every five years. But many people will feel sick more often than that, but as per the researchers other flu-like infections are to be blamed.

The researchers have based their findings on a field study conducted in China. In the research, the scientists took and tested blood samples of 151 volunteers aged between seven and 81. Main aim of testing the blood samples was to know how often flu infections take place.

Experts affirmed that the data would help experts to know more about the risk of infection and also, the spread area of the disease through communities. In the study published in the journal PLoS Biology, the researchers looked at nine main strains of flu known to present in the world between 1968 and 2009.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Tuesday asked the makers of testosterone boosting products, which are used by millions of Americans, to change labels for the drugs.

According to recent FDA orders the manufacturers of the testosterone drugs will have mention on their product's label a warming that the drugs could increase the risk of heart attacks and strokes in patients taking the medications.

The FDA's notification also asks the manufacturers that labels of such drugs need to clarify that the prescription hormone is meant for use by men whose low testosterone levels situation have occurred by certain medical conditions, and not by normal aging.

Scientists have claimed that they have found a potential way to reduce the body pain using spider venom. The researchers conducted a study to understand the prospects of chemicals present in spider venom to help develop a new class of potent painkillers that prevent pain signals from passing to the brain.

The study group conducted an analysis of venom of 206 species of spider. They looked for molecules in the venom that have high efficacy of blocking nerve activity, particularly through so-called Nav1.7 channels.

According to experts, chronic pain is felt by one in five people worldwide and existing treatments are not good enough to provide sufficient or long-term relief. Cost of pain to the economy is also high with estimated $600 billion a year in the United States alone.

A new study on penis size has revealed that the average length of the manhood is almost a full inch smaller than the standard model of six inches. Researches who conducted the study believe that the new findings could help men who suffer from 'small penis anxiety', a common anxiety among males about their penis size. Some of the men are believed to be so distressed that they can even be diagnosed with 'Body Dysmorphic Disorder'.

Up till now there was no formal review of research into penis size so that a system can be developed to show the range of size of flaccid or erect penis. But now, researchers from the Institute of Psychiatry said that the new analysis and graphs display the full range of sizes.

In a new study, researchers have suggested that there is a connection between the sun's activity and earth's sea temperatures. According to the study published in the Journal Geology, effects of sea temperatures are more significant when the planet is cooler. As per reports, this is the first time when researchers were able to observe that activity of the sun plays a vital role in affecting sea surface temperatures.