London, Mar 10: Researchers at the Ohio State University Medical Centre have discovered that a particular gene, BDNF, can pave the way for promising new treatment for obesity that is much safer and effective than other conventional therapies.

For the study, the researchers analysed a potentially long-term treatment that involves injecting a gene directly into one of the critical feeding and weight control centres of the brain.

Washington, Mar 10 : A new study has explained why children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder move around a lot - it helps them stay alert to complete challenging tasks.

Researchers from University of Central Florida have discovered that

children with ADHD need to move more to maintain the required level of alertness while performing tasks that challenge their working memory.

London, Mar 10 : Mothers who drink alcohol during pregnancy could give their babies a taste for booze, suggests a study in rats.

The study may shed new light on why human studies have previously linked fetal alcohol exposure to increased alcohol abuse later in life, and to a lower age at which a person first starts drinking alcohol.

Washington, Mar 10 : Researchers from Indiana University have found that Hatha yoga can help reduce fear of falling among older adults.

According to the study, just a few minutes of pranayama twice weekly can help reduce fear of falling, increase lower body flexibility and lower older adults' leisure constraints.

Fear of falling compels older adults to limit their social and physical activity, which can in turn diminish their health and quality of life.

London, March 9 : British surgeons are offering to permanently treat excessive armpit perspiration with the aid of a new 60-minute laser operation.

The Laser Sweat Ablation service, launched on Monday, will cost around 3,500 pounds.

It can end the embarrassing problem called axillary hyperhidrosis, say reports.

Surgeon Mark Whiteley, who pioneered keyhole surgery to remove varicose veins ten years ago, is offerering the treatment at his clinic in Guildford, Surrey.

He has revealed that his latest procedure involves a local anaesthetic under the arms, after which a laser permanently destroys the sweat glands, and then the treated tissue is removed using a suction method.

London, Mar 9 : After comparing 500,000 snippets of human DNA, scientists at the University of Bonn have found that people with cleft lip and palate are frequently found to have a genetic variant on chromosome 8, which may be linked with the disease.

Cleft lips and palates are among the most frequent innate abnormalities in children and is usually characterised by a gap remaining between lip, jaw and sometimes the palate, because different tissue processes of the face and mouth area do not fuse together or do so insufficiently.

While both environmental influences affecting the child in the womb and genetic factors contribute to the deformity, the new study has claimed that genes play a major role in the formation of clefts.