Washington, Oct 31: Women who gain more than 40 pounds (18 kg) during their pregnancies are nearly twice as likely to have a heavy baby, suggests a new study.

The study was conducted by the Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Research, which included more than 40,000 women and their babies.

The study has been published in the November issue of Obstetrics & Gynecology.

Washington, Oct 31: Vigorous exercise – from running, to chopping firewood or scrubbing floors – can reduce the risk of breast cancer by almost a third, a new study has found.

The study of more than thirty thousand postmenopausal American women, reported in BioMed Central''s open access journal Breast Cancer Research, has revealed that a sedentary lifestyle can be a risk factor for the disease – even in women who are not overweight.

New Delhi, Oct 31 : Most adults discriminate against HIV/AIDS patients, shows a survey based on six major cities in China.

The survey, which covered 6,000 people, was conducted from February to March conducted by Renmin University of China.

The financial and technical support was provided to them by UNAIDS.

In the study, 30 percent said children suffering from HIV/AIDS should not be allowed to attend school, 65 percent were not willing to stay in the same room as a sufferer, and 
48 percent would not share a meal with them, reports the China Daily.

"HIV/AIDS discrimination must be eliminated in order to encourage sufferers to seek treatment," Edwin Cameron, a South African AIDS prevention expert, said.

According to scientists, a simple blood test could now give an accurate prediction of when women will hit the menopause.

This unique test has developed by an International team and led by scientists from Michigan University, claims to tell women about their reproductive life by measuring hormone levels in the blood. With the help of this test women can plan pregnancies accordingly.

A new study has revealed that regular activities like yoga head stands, wearing swim goggles, sleeping face down and eye rubbing may damage one’s eyes. All these activities may contribute to glaucoma that damages the optic nerve and leads to blindness.

London, Oct 30 : An international poll has come out with varied results on one of the most debatable questions among scientists— when human life "begins" biologically?

The results come prior to a controversial constitutional amendment next week in Colorado, which will confer legal rights on embryos at the point of fertilisation.

Out of the 650 votes polled in, only 22.7pct of voters selected fertilisation as the point when human life begins.

But, detection of foetal heartbeat scored the highest, with 23.5 pct vote in its favour, and at the third position was implantation of the embryo in the womb lining with 15pct.