Medindia Health News

Religious Leaders Urged To Spread Awareness About Polio
Pinki To Undergo Gender Determination Test On Monday
Don't Rush To Lose Weight Post-pregnancy, Urge Experts
Doc's Advice to Dads On Father's Day
Making Changes in Lifestyle Prevents Type 2 Diabetes
Illicit Drug 'Ecstasy' May Help Curb Parkinson's
Alembic Settles Dementia Drug Patent Dispute With Novartis
Judge Rules That Anorexic Student Must be Force Fed
Persistence can be Taught by Fathers to Their Kids
Even Fathers Gain Weight After Birth of Baby
Effects of BPA Exposure Could Last for Generations
Scottish Authorities Confirm Second Death in Legionnaires' Outbreak
Delhi High Court Gives a Seven-day Deadline for Government on Liver Transplant Plea
Vitamin D Combined With Calcium Reduces Mortality Risk in Elderly
Chinese Health Authorities Find High Levels of Mercury in Baby Formula
New Finding in Diabetes Patients on Insulin
Genetic Mutation Responsible for Fragile X More Common Than Previously Thought
Experts Say More Study Needed Before Determining Good Cholesterol's Negative Effects
Rheumatic Heart Disease More Easily Detected Through Echocardiogram Screenings
Hospitalization Risk for COPD Patients Could be Predicted by Low Energy Levels
Heart Disease Patients Benefitting From Online Treatment
NJIT Designer Develops New Chair That Prevents Back Pain for Musicians
Advanced Diagnostic Imaging Shows Substantial Increase In Rate Of Usage
Autistic Teens Being Taught To Cope
Newly Published Research Has Begun Saving Lives Already
Second Hand Smokers More At Risk of Dying of Heart Disease or Lung Cancer
Creating Emotional Problems In Children Is Marital Discord
Multi-Tasking Not At Arms-Length Of Video Gamers
Natural Antioxidant Can Lower Risk of Cardiovascular Disease
Depending On Their Geographical Root Lies People's Nature Or Nurture
Revelation on How The Brain Performs Motor Chunking Tasks
Chronic Food Shortage Facing North Koreans: UN
Proposed Ban Leads To Soda Wars Fizzing In New York

Religious Leaders Urged To Spread Awareness About Polio

Posted:

Union Minister of State for Tourism Sultan Ahmed has urged the community leader in West Bengal to come together to spread awareness about the benefits of polio vaccine. "All the religious leaders should come together to spread awareness about the benefits of polio vaccine and ensure that not a single child is left out in the immunization campaign," Ahmed told reporters here Friday. Around 4.5 million children are expected to be immunized in West Bengal's ...

Pinki To Undergo Gender Determination Test On Monday

Posted:

Asian Games gold medal winning athlete Pinki Pramanik who was arrested following a complaint of being a male and has allegedly raped a woman, is to undergo gender determination test at a government hospital in West Bengal on Monday. "The court has ordered to conduct the test by June 29. We are trying to convince the athlete to go for the medical examination. We will take the sportsperson for the test on Monday at a government hospital," Rajib Kumar, commissioner ...

Don't Rush To Lose Weight Post-pregnancy, Urge Experts

Posted:

Health experts have urged women not to rush to lose weight after pregnancy. Gaining weight after pregnancy is natural. Then why fuss over Aishwarya Rai's extra pounds, ask health experts. Regular crunches, low-impact exercises and small but frequent meals a day can help new moms get back in shape. But stay away from dieting. Gynaecologist Archana Dhawan says it is unfair to compare Aishwarya's frame with those of Hollywood's yummy mummies ...

Doc's Advice to Dads On Father's Day

Posted:

On average men are more at risk of dying at younger age and are also less likely to see their doctors than women. They have higher mortality rates from heart disease, cancer, stroke and AIDS. "Many men are simply afraid of what their doctor might find," said Dr. Aaron Michelfelder, a family doctor at Loyola University Health System. "But ignoring a problem doesn't make it go away. Indeed, the earlier we diagnose such conditions as diabetes, high blood ...

Making Changes in Lifestyle Prevents Type 2 Diabetes

Posted:

Making lifestyle changes can prevent type 2 diabetes, simply, effectively and cheaply, a new study says. Diabetes is a chronic and complex disease marked by high levels of sugar in the blood that arise due to problems with the hormone insulin, which regulates blood sugar levels. It is usually caused by an inability to produce insulin (type 1) or an inability to respond correctly to insulin (type 2). The study involved 230 people in poor, urban neighborhoods ...

Illicit Drug 'Ecstasy' May Help Curb Parkinson's

Posted:

The illicit drug 'ecstasy' may be used to develop medicines that curb involuntary movements in Parkinson's disease, finds a study. A team led by a medicinal chemist at The University of Western Australia (UWA) studied the possibility. Matthew Piggott, associate professor, said Parkinson's patients have a great deal of difficulty moving without medication. The drug, levodopa, restores their movement but, over time, side-effects often develop. These ...

Alembic Settles Dementia Drug Patent Dispute With Novartis

Posted:

Indian drug maker Alembic Pharmaceuticals revealed that it has settled a patent case with Novartis over Rivastigmine Tartrate capsules which are used in treating dementia. The company said that it had partnered an American company, Breckenridge Pharmaceuticals, in settling the Paragraph IV patent litigation with Novartis. Following this settlement, Alembic Pharmaceuticals said Novartis has given them the license to market the generic version of capsules before ...

Judge Rules That Anorexic Student Must be Force Fed

Posted:

A British judge has ruled that a former medical student who is suffering from anorexia should be force-fed in order to keep her alive and justified the judgment by stating that she might one day realize that she is a "special person whose life is of value". Presiding the case at the Court of Protection in London, Mr Justice Peter Jackson said that the woman "lacked capacity" to make any decisions about life-sustaining treatment and added that his ruling was in her ...

Persistence can be Taught by Fathers to Their Kids

Posted:

Persistence can be learnt by children from their fathers and can foster a better academic performance and a reduced risk of criminal behavior, a new study reveals. Researchers from Brigham Young University in Utah observed teenagers between 11 and 14 years of age in 325 two-parent families over a number of years and found that of the 52 percent of the families in which fathers exhibited authoritative parenting, the children were more likely to develop persistence and ...

Even Fathers Gain Weight After Birth of Baby

Posted:

While weight gain after the birth of a baby is usually associated with the mothers, a new study has found that even fathers gain more than a stone in weight after the baby is born. The study looked into the lifestyle habits of more than 2,000 fathers in Britain and was commissioned by Benenden Healthcare Society and the Men's Health Forum charity. The study found that on an average, a British father puts on 1.6 stone after the baby's birth. "The modern lifestyle ...

Effects of BPA Exposure Could Last for Generations

Posted:

Exposure to low doses of Bisphenol A (BPA) during gestation had immediate and long-lasting, trans-generational effects on the brain and social behaviors in mice, according to a recent study. BPA is a man-made chemical present in a variety of products including food containers, receipt paper and dental sealants and is now widely detected in human urine and blood. Public health concerns have been fueled by findings that BPA exposure can influence brain development. ...

Scottish Authorities Confirm Second Death in Legionnaires' Outbreak

Posted:

Health authorities in Scotland have confirmed that there has been a second death associated with the recent outbreak of Legionnaires' disease in the country with over 90 people so far suspected of being infected. The outbreak in Edinburgh has already claimed the life of a 56-year-old man and there have been 41 confirmed cases and 48 suspected cases so far, the local health authority said. Ten people remain in a critical condition in intensive care. The ...

Delhi High Court Gives a Seven-day Deadline for Government on Liver Transplant Plea

Posted:

The central government has been given a deadline of seven days by the Delhi High Court to decide on the plea of a 62-year old woman who has challenged the decision of a hospital not to accept a liver from a prospective donor. Passing the order, Justice Kailash Gambhir directed the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) to consider the appeal filed by Urmila Anand, of Agra, in the light of the high court's earlier judgment holding that a request for donation ...

Vitamin D Combined With Calcium Reduces Mortality Risk in Elderly

Posted:

Vitamin D when taken along with calcium has been found to lower the mortality risk in elderly. During the last decade, there has been increasing recognition of the potential health effects of vitamin D. It is well known that calcium with vitamin D supplements reduces the risk of fractures. The present study assessed mortality among patients randomized to either vitamin D alone or vitamin D with calcium. The findings from the study published in the Endocrine Society's ...

Chinese Health Authorities Find High Levels of Mercury in Baby Formula

Posted:

Chinese health authorities revealed that they have found high levels of mercury in baby formula with dairy maker Yili confirming that it has started recalling batches of the baby formula suspected of containing mercury. The company began the recall on Wednesday after a national food safety monitoring system detected "abnormal" levels of mercury in the products, state-owned Inner Mongolia Yili Industrial Group said in a statement. The recall covers baby ...

New Finding in Diabetes Patients on Insulin

Posted:

The 72nd American Diabetes Association convention heard a new observation of clinical significance in patients who were receiving insulin injections twice daily. The new observation termed DYMO stands for Dinner Hyperglycaemia and early Morning lOw sugars. Initially it was an incidental observation made out from Diabetes Tele Management System in use since 1998 at the Jothydev's Diabetes Research Center in Trivandrum, Kerala. In a subset ...

Genetic Mutation Responsible for Fragile X More Common Than Previously Thought

Posted:

Mutation of the gene that is responsible for fragile X syndrome, which is the most common form of inherited intellectual disability, is more common than previously thought, a new study has found. Writing this month (June 2012) in the iAmerican Journal of Medical Genetics/i, a team of Wisconsin researchers reports that the cascade of genetic amino acid repeats, which accumulate over generations and culminate in the mutation of a single gene causing fragile X, ...

Experts Say More Study Needed Before Determining Good Cholesterol's Negative Effects

Posted:

A team of international health experts has cautioned against accepting a new study which revealed that "good cholesterol" did not lower the risk of heart diseases and said that more research is needed before determining there are any negative effects. "It is a good study that was badly interpreted. The positive spinoff from the study is that it provided the prod for moving away from over-focusing on the contribution of cholesterol," said Philip Barter, director ...

Rheumatic Heart Disease More Easily Detected Through Echocardiogram Screenings

Posted:

A new study published in the journal Circulation reveals that rheumatic heart disease (RHD) can be more easily detected through routine screening with echocardiogram instead of clinical examinations. The study, conducted by cardiologists from Children's National Medical Center, is the largest single-population study in Africa. The August issue of iNature Reviews - Cardiology/i features a summary of the article in its Public Health feature. The ...

Hospitalization Risk for COPD Patients Could be Predicted by Low Energy Levels

Posted:

A new report published in the European Respiratory Journal reveals that low energy levels and fatigue could be an indicator a risk of hospitalization among chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients. The findings of the study could be used by doctors to help reduce the number of admissions to hospital for people with COPD, which could lead to improvements in quality of life and a reduction in the economic impact of the disease. Fatigue has ...

Heart Disease Patients Benefitting From Online Treatment

Posted:

At a higher risk of suffering a further event or a death are patients with vascular disease. Although treatment goals are often not reached and it is costly and time-consuming, the treatment of vascular risk factors by nurse practitioners is proven to be very effective in reducing this risk. Though previous studies did not show clear beneficial effects but this study looks at one year effect in a relatively large group of patients. Researchers from the University ...

NJIT Designer Develops New Chair That Prevents Back Pain for Musicians

Posted:

David Brothers, an assistant professor of interior design at NJIT School of Art + Design, revealed that he has created a new chair that helps musicians overcome a common occupational hazard. He has created a chair designed to reduce the back pain that is an occupational hazard to musicians who are required to sit for long periods, most often on a seat not designed for their needs. He said that his chair is designed to promote good playing posture and correct breathing ...

Advanced Diagnostic Imaging Shows Substantial Increase In Rate Of Usage

Posted:

According to a study in the June 13 issue of iJAMA/i among six large integrated health care systems between 1996 and 2010 there was a substantial increase in the use of advanced diagnostic imaging, including approximately a tripling of the use of computed tomography and nearly a quadrupling of the use of magnetic resonance imaging. "The use of diagnostic imaging in the Medicare population has increased significantly over the last 2 decades, particularly using ...

Autistic Teens Being Taught To Cope

Posted:

Teens with autism spectrum disorder are in a fix. The disorder which is usually characterized by impairments in communication and social interaction, but it's a continuum, so some teens diagnosed with ASD are considered high functioning and healthy enough to be "mainstreamed" in school. But without the proper social skills, even mainstreamed teens don't quite fit into the general social milieu of middle school or high school. As a result, they suffer from all the ...

Newly Published Research Has Begun Saving Lives Already

Posted:

Benefitting from new rapid tests for syphilis in six countries are pregnant women, thanks to influential research by the London School of Hygiene (and) Tropical Medicine. The study, published today in iPLoS Medicine/i, was so successful that it resulted in China, Peru, Brazil, Zambia, Uganda and Tanzania introducing the tests to help save the lives of unborn children before the research was published, demonstrating the value of including policymakers throughout ...

Second Hand Smokers More At Risk of Dying of Heart Disease or Lung Cancer

Posted:

Regular exposure to passive smoking increases risk of dying from various causes, finds a new study. Researchers of the long-term study from China found that compared with adults who lived and worked in smoke-free environs, those exposed to secondhand smoke were more likely to die of heart disease or lung cancer over 17 years. They were also more likely to die of stroke or the lung disease emphysema-two diseases that have had relatively weaker links to ...

Creating Emotional Problems In Children Is Marital Discord

Posted:

A study says that marital discord between parents, especially during kindergarten years, is long lasting and can cause emotional problems during adolescence. "The results further highlight the possibility that there will be persistent negative effects of children's early experiences when there is conflict between their parents, at least when their emotional insecurity increases as a result of the conflict," says E. Mark Cummings, professor of psychology at the Notre ...

Multi-Tasking Not At Arms-Length Of Video Gamers

Posted:

It is a known fact that video gamers are whiz kids while playing. They perform complicated tasks at top speed to eliminate the enemy in order to gain points but, the same cant' be applied in the case of multi-tasking. A study by the Visual Cognition Lab at Duke University wanted to see whether gamers who have spent hours before a screen simultaneously watching the map, scanning doorways for bad guys and listening to the chatter of their fellow gamers could answer ...

Natural Antioxidant Can Lower Risk of Cardiovascular Disease

Posted:

Researchers have discovered an enzyme that, when found at high levels and alongside low levels of HDL, good cholesterol, can significantly lower the risk of cardiovascular disease. The enzyme - glutathione peroxidase, or GPx3 - is a natural antioxidant that helps protect organisms from oxidant injury and helps the body naturally repair itself. Researchers of University of Minnesota Medical School along with the School of Public Health have found that patients with ...

Depending On Their Geographical Root Lies People's Nature Or Nurture

Posted:

A study has suggested that the extent to which our development is affected by our genetic make-up or our environmental conditions, may differ depending on where we live. Researchers from the Twins Early Development Study at King's College London's Institute of Psychiatry analysed the data from over 6,700 families and discovered that genetic and environmental contributions to these characteristics vary geographically in the United Kingdom. The team has ...

Revelation on How The Brain Performs Motor Chunking Tasks

Posted:

Revelation of the two part process that seems to occur when our brain performs 'motor chunking' tasks by scientists. These findings could have implications for the study and diagnosis of Parkinson's and other diseases of the motor system that involve action. When you dial the new number of a friend, your brain handles each button press separately, as a sequence of distinct movements, because you haven't actually typed the number before. After dialing ...

Chronic Food Shortage Facing North Koreans: UN

Posted:

The United Nations says that millions of North Koreans suffer chronic food shortages and dire health care, leaving one in three young children stunted, and there are no immediate signs of reforms to spur economic growth. Some 16 million people -- two-thirds of the population -- depend on the state rationing system and suffer varying degrees of chronic food insecurity, six UN agencies operating inside the North say in a report released Tuesday. About ...

Proposed Ban Leads To Soda Wars Fizzing In New York

Posted:

As the New York city health department began to consider a proposal by health-conscious Mayor Michael Bloomberg to ban super-sized soft drinks a soda war fizzed out in the city. Bloomberg's proposal on May 31 triggered a wave of reactions from the media, shop keepers, anti-obesity campaigners and New Yorkers who say they are tired of the mayor's alleged "nanny state" tendencies. On Tuesday, a full page ad in the commuter free sheet Metro showed a 32 ...