According to a survey published on Tuesday about 5.6 million people in the U. S. have some form of paralysis and nearly a quarter of them have suffered spinal cord injuries.

The survey by Anthony Cahill of the University of New Mexico and colleagues reported that the largest group of 29 % were paralyzed or partly paralyzed by stroke and spinal cord injuries affected 23 %.

The study was funded by the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation, which was set up by the actor who was paralyzed in a horse-riding accident in 1995 and died in
2004 while Dana Reeve died from lung cancer in 2006.

According to the findings of the researchers of the Kansas City University of Medicine and Biosciences, mothers-to-be who exercise during their pregnancy term give birth to healthy babies, with their lungs and nervous system strengthened in the womb.

In addition, exercise during pregnancy also helps women reduce the chances of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) or cot deaths. Researchers say that, if pregnant women remain physically active, the babies in their wombs not only have lower heart rates but also show improved breathing.

In another case of racial discrimination, a study revealed that black patients with lung cancer were less likely than white patients to receive recommended chemotherapy and surgery.

The study said that disparity in lung cancer treatments were as large in 2002 as they were back in the early 1990s, despite efforts to decrease those inequalities in treatment.

According to researchers, depression in heart patients can in most probability lead to heart failure despite the usage of anti depressants.

"Our data suggest that depression is an important and emerging risk factor for heart failure among patients with coronary heart disease," Heidi May of Intermountain Medical Center in Utah, whose study appears in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, said in a statement.

Next time finding heart healthy food for your family makes you go into a tizzy, try to relax and come to terms with the fact that there is nothing much you can do about that. Recent studies show that very few of these food products actually show strong evidence of lowering heart disease risk.

Dr. Bohdan Pomahac of Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, the surgeon who led the country's second-ever face transplant operation said he is "cautiously optimistic" over the recovery of the patient and that "so far he is doing very, very well."

Pomahac and his team in a 17 hour surgery Thursday replaced the man's nose, palate, upper lip, and some skin, muscles and nerves with those of a dead donor. He added that the man who was severely injured in a freak accident several years ago has so far chosen to keep his identity a secret, is recovering as expected.