Health News
Use of insecticide-treated bed nets by 75pc of population could eradicate malaria
Washington, March 8 : Malaria could be eliminated if three-fourths of the population used insecticide-treated bed nets, a new study has suggested.
The study from the National Institute for Mathematical and Biological Synthesis (NIMBioS), which uses a mathematical model, found that use of insecticide-treated bed nets or ITNs positively affected the infection''s reproduction number, or R, which is the primary epidemiological number used to determine the degree which a disease can spread through a population.
The model concluded that if 75 percent of the population were to use ITNs, malaria could be eliminated.
Gastric artery embolization suppresses `hunger hormone,`leads to weight loss
Washington, March 8 : A first-in-human study has shown that gastric artery chemical embolization is safe and effective for obesity treatment.
The procedure that suppresses a hunger-stimulating hormone led to significant weight loss for at least six months in a small preliminary study.
Excess weight increases the risk for other conditions, such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol and type 2 diabetes.
Why some people tend to get heart attacks in winter
Washington, Mar 8 : Cholesterol levels seem to fluctuate significantly with the change of seasons, which may leave some people with borderline high cholesterol at greater cardiovascular risk during the winter months, a study has revealed.
While prior studies have shown that heart attacks and heart-related deaths increase during the winter months, researchers in Brazil were interested in finding out whether the prevalence of high cholesterol-a well-known cardiovascular risk factor-might follow a similar pattern.
Red wine pill could help protect against killer diseases
Washington, Mar 8 : Scientists have developed a wonder pill harnessing the health-boosting power of red wine which can protect against a host of chronic killer diseases.
A new study demonstrates what researchers consider conclusive evidence that the red wine compound resveratrol directly activates a protein that promotes health and longevity in animal models.
What's more, the researchers have uncovered the molecular mechanism for this interaction, and show that a class of more potent drugs currently in clinical trials act in a similar fashion.
Human Y chromosome much older than thought
Washington, March 6 : An extremely rare Y chromosome found in an African American pushes back the time of the most recent common ancestor for the Y chromosome lineage tree to 300,000 years ago.
The new divergent lineage, which was found in an individual who submitted his DNA to Family Tree DNA, a company specializing in DNA analysis to trace family roots, branched from the Y chromosome tree before the first appearance of anatomically modern humans in the fossil record.
Bitter tasting food may help prevent asthma attacks
Washington, March 6 : Substances that give some foods their bitter flavors can also act to reverse the contraction of airway cells, scientists at the University of Massachusetts Medical School have found.
This reversal, known as bronchodilation, is needed to treat airway obstructive diseases such as asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. The new findings could have significant implications for such treatments.
Disco therapy helps Holocaust survivors get over nightmarish memories
New York, March 4 : Disco is being used in Brooklyn to help Holocaust victims get over their anxiety and grief.
Trippy lighting and funky music creates a soothing sensory experience at Minnie's Place in Canarsie, helping survivors of the greatest atrocity of the 20th century get over their nightmarish memories, the New York Post reported.
With black lights, a projector beaming psychedelic images on a wall, a "shower curtain" of multi-colored fiber-optic strands and an aromatherapy diffuser, people would feel like a trip to The Body Shop.
Botulinum toxin may hold key for treatment of common skin diseases
Washington, Mar. 4 : Botulinum toxin could have an enormous potential in treatment of inflammatory skin diseases like psoriasis and eczema, researchers have claimed.
Erin Gilbert, MD, PhD, FAAD, a board-certified dermatologist and assistant professor of dermatology at SUNY Downstate in Brooklyn, New York, explained that a quandary in dermatology is the widespread use of steroids in treating inflammatory skin diseases.
US man suing ex for stealing his sperm and conceiving baby
Washington, Mar 2 : A man from Louisiana is suing a fertility clinic and his former girlfriend after the sperm bank handed over two vials of his sperm in a "paper lunch sack" to the woman who then conceived a child without his permission.
Lawyer Cade Bernsen accuses Toby Devall of having "bluffed her way into getting the sperm" and created a baby without ex-boyfriend Layne Hardin's consent "purposefully out of vindictiveness and to punish him for breaking up with her," ABC News reported.
BPA exposure during pregnancy ups asthma risk in kids
Washington, Mar 2 : Early childhood exposure to the chemical bisphenol A (BPA) can elevate risk for asthma in young children, a new study has revealed.
Researchers at the Columbia Center for Children's Environmental Health at the Mailman School of Public Health are the first to report the association.
BPA is a component of some plastics and is found in food can liners and store receipts.
Pregnancy leads to permanent changes in women’s feet
Washington, Mar 2 : A new study has confirmed what many women have long suspected - pregnancy permanently changes the size and shape of the mum to be's feet.
Flat feet are a common problem for pregnant women. The arch of the foot flattens out, possibly due to the extra weight and increased looseness (laxity) of the joints associated with pregnancy.
The study by the University of Iowa suggests that this loss of arch height is permanent.
Postmenopausal smokers 6 times likelier to experience tooth loss
Washington, March 2 : Postmenopausal women who smoke are at a greater risk of losing their teeth as compared to their peers who have never taken up the habit.
The study involved 1,106 women who participated in the Buffalo OsteoPerio Study, an offshoot of the Women's Health Initiative, (WHI), the largest clinical trial and observational study ever undertaken in the U. S., involving more than 162,000 women across the nation, including nearly 4,000 in Buffalo.
Smoking has long been associated with tooth loss, but postmenopausal women, in particular, experience more tooth loss than their male counterparts.
Don't co-opt aid into Somalia campaign: MSF
New York, Mar 1 - Efforts are on at the UN to integrate humanitarian assistance into the international military campaign against opponents of Somalia's government that will further threaten the safe delivery of impartial aid to Somalis, Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) said.
The UN Security Council is currently deliberating the future structure of the UN's mission in Somalia.
Under discussion is the possible inclusion of humanitarian assistance within the broader political and military agenda for Somalia.
Fungi inspires potential cancer drugs
Washington, February 28 : Drawing inspiration from a chemical that fungi secrete to defend their territory, MIT chemists have synthesized and tested several dozen compounds that may hold promise as potential cancer drugs.
A few years ago, MIT researchers led by associate professor of chemistry Mohammad Movassaghi became the first to chemically synthesize 11,11''-dideoxyverticillin, a highly complex fungal compound that has shown anti-cancer activity in previous studies.
This and related compounds naturally occur in such small amounts that it has been difficult to do a comprehensive study of the relationship between the compound''s structure and its activity - research that could aid drug development, Movassaghi siad.
Signs of heart disease found in newborns of overweight/obese mums
Washington, February 28 : A new study has found first signs of heart disease in babies born to mums who are overweight or obese.
The walls of the body's major artery - the aorta - are already thickened in newborns of overweight or obese mums, the study found.
Importantly, this arterial thickening, which is a sign of heart disease, is independent of the child's weight at birth - a known risk factor for later heart disease and stroke.
Heading soccer ball may affect mental ability
Washington, February 28 : A new research has suggested that even less forceful actions like `heading' a soccer ball may cause changes in performance on certain cognitive tasks.
Anne Sereno and colleagues from the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston tested the effects of non-injurious head-to-ball impacts on cognitive function using a tablet-based app.
They found that high school female soccer players were significantly slower than non-players on a task that required pointing away from a target on the screen, but showed no difference in performance when pointing to the on-screen visual target.
Increased sugar intake linked to higher diabetes rates
Washington, February 28 : A prevailing theory suggests that eating too much of any food, including sugar, can cause you to gain weight and it's the resulting obesity that predisposes people to diabetes.
But now the results of a large epidemiological study have suggested sugar may also have a direct, independent link to diabetes.
Researchers from the Stanford University School of Medicine, the University of California-Berkeley and the University of California-San Francisco examined data on sugar availability and diabetes rates from 175 countries over the past decade.
Pessimists live longer and healthier lives
Washington, February 28 : Pessimism about the future may lead to longer and healthier life, researchers have suggested.
According to a new study, older people who have low expectations for a satisfying future may be more likely to live longer, healthier lives than those who see brighter days ahead.
"Our findings revealed that being overly optimistic in predicting a better future was associated with a greater risk of disability and death within the following decade," said lead author Frieder R. Lang, PhD, of the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg in Germany.
Sit less and move more to cut diabetes risk
Washington, February 28 : People at high risk of developing type 2 diabetes would benefit from being told to sit less and move around more often- rather than simply exercising regularly, a new research has suggested.
The experts suggested that reducing sitting time by 90 minutes in total per day could lead to important health benefits.
Currently, at risk patients are advised to engage in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) for at least 150 mins per week. But the new study suggested that patients should in fact be advised to reduce their sedentary time (time spent moving very little or not at all, for example sitting or lying down).
Gut microbes help regulate blood pressure
Washington, February 27 : A new study has suggested that gut bacteria are an integral part of the body's complex system for maintaining a stable blood pressure.
Using mice models, researchers at The Johns Hopkins University and Yale University have discovered that a specialized receptor, normally found in the nose, is also in blood vessels throughout the body, sensing small molecules created by microbes that line mammalian intestines, and responding to these molecules by increasing blood pressure.