Washington, Feb 25 : A team of scientists, including an Indian-origin boffin, has identified a specific gene that plays a key role in the weight-gain response to a high-fat diet.

The study, conducted on mice, has suggested that blocking this gene could one day be a therapeutic strategy to reduce diet-related obesity and associated disorders, such as diabetes and liver damage, in humans.

The researchers found that a diet rich in fat induced production of this gene, called protein kinase C beta (PKC beta), in the fat cells of mice. These mice rapidly gained weight while eating a high-fat diet for 12 weeks.

Washington, Feb 25 : Older adults who are physically fit have better spatial memory than those who are less healthy, says a new study.

Spatial memory is the part of memory responsible for recording information about one''s environment and its spatial orientation.

For example, a person''s spatial memory is required in order to navigate around a familiar city.

Hippocampus is a brain structure located inside the medial temporal lobe of the cerebral cortex, and plays a major role in short term memory and spatial navigation.

Researchers from the University of Illinois and the University of Pittsburgh have found that fitness increases hippocampus size and improves spatial memory in humans.

London, February 25: UK skin specialists have warned that excessive use of video game consoles can lead to a skin disorder, dubbed PlayStation palmar hidradenitis.

Describing this condition in the British Journal of Dermatology, the researchers have revealed that a 12-year-old girl had to attend a Swiss hospital recently after having intensely painful sores on the palms of her hands.

They say that the little girl, who was a regular user of a games console, recovered fully after 10 days of abstinence.

Kuala Lumpur  - Fifty-seven per cent of men and 64 per cent of women in the Asia-Pacific region responding to a survey reported dissatisfaction with their sex lives, news reports said Wednesday.

People in only three of the 13 countries where the pharmaceutical firm Pfizer Inc conducted its survey reported satisfaction rates of more than 50 per cent.

India ranked the highest with 73 per cent of respondents to the Asia-Pacific Sexual Health and Overall Wellness survey saying they were satisfied. It was followed by the Philippines at 52 per cent, Taiwan at 51 per cent and New Zealand at 40 per cent.

Japan ranked the lowest at 10 per cent.

Doctors say Ramesh Jhala acquired virus from needle used by tattoo artist

Eighteen-year-old Ramesh Jhala, a resident of Choila in Bayad taluka of Sabarkantha, did not know that getting a five-rupee tattoo on his hand would land him in a hospital. Jhala has been detected positive with hepatitis –B virus in Modasa. 

Four months back, Jhala had visited Pavagadh to seek blessing from Goddess Mahakali. During his visit, he was tempted to get a tattoo done by a cheap tattoo carver. Doctors now believe that Jhala might have acquired the virus from the needle the tattoo artist used to engrave a tattoo on his hand.

Fraudsters promised vaccines that never came; toll mounts as experts look for main source of virus 

The hepatitis-B epidemic in Modasa has not only taken lives of many but also given rise to frauds.

Promising hepatitis-B virus vaccination at reasonable prices, some fraudsters have taken Rs17,000 from residents of Varthu village near Modasa. 

Tempted by the pricing at Rs12 a vaccination, (otherwise Rs50), about 1,500 residents in Varthu village, gave away money and never found self proclaimed doctors visiting the village again. 

Residents of Varthu village are scared as four people have died by now. Villagers say, this is for the first time that they have seen people dying due to a disease at such a large scale.