Canadian Online Pharmacy

Medindia Health News

Medindia Health News

Link to Medindia Health News

Chinese Herbal Medicine May Prevent And Treat Alzheimer's

Posted:

A compound derived from Chinese herbal medicine could help prevent and treat Alzheimer's disease. Administration of the active compound tetrahydroxystilbene glucoside (TSG) derived from the herb Polygonum multiflorum Thunb, reversed both overexpression of a-synuclein, a small protein found in the brain, and its accumulation using a mouse model of Alzheimer's disease. These results may shed light on the neuropathology of AD and open up new avenues of ...

There's a Dating Site for Everyone!

Posted:

There are lots of dating sites to choose from that cater to all types of people across the world. There's always Facebook or another social network to reach out to a potential date. Some of the more well-known websites for dating, however, are generic ones like eHarmony.com, Match.com, or the free site, OKCupid. But, Julie Spira of CyberDatingExpert.com said you could also use a specialized site in this estimated 2.1 billion-dollar industry, ...

Robots Now Equipped With Skill to Jump

Posted:

Researchers at Harvard have designed a soft robot that can leap as much as a foot in the air. They have used small explosions produced by a mix of methane and oxygen in this endeavor. That ability to jump could one day prove critical in allowing the robots to avoid obstacles during search and rescue operations. "Initially, our soft robot systems used pneumatic pressure to actuate. While that system worked, it was rather slow - it took on the order ...

Racist Remarks Likelier to be Made by Men With Wider, Shorter Faces

Posted:

New research indicates that the structure of a man's face may indicate his tendency to express racially prejudiced beliefs. Studies have shown that facial width-to-height ratio (fWHR) is associated with testosterone-related behaviors, which some researchers have linked with aggression. But psychological scientist Eric Hehman of Dartmouth College and colleagues at the University of Delaware speculated that these behaviors might have more to do with social ...

Gut Bugs Could Affect Kidney Disease: Study

Posted:

According to a recent study, gut bacteria could have a bearing on how kidney disease, caused by melamine poisoning, turns out. In 2008, nearly 300,000 Chinese children were hospitalised with kidney disease brought on by powdered milk contaminated with melamine to boost protein content. Although melamine was known to combine with uric acid in children's bodies to produce harmful kidney stones, details of the reaction and the role of specific gut microbes were ...

Long, Low Intensity Exercise Trumps Short, Intense Workouts

Posted:

Researchers have suggested that standing and walking for longer stretches could actually be better than high intensity exercise in improving cholesterol and preventing diabetes. Hans Savelberg and colleagues from Maastricht University, Netherlands recruited eighteen normal-weight 19 to 24-year-old participants for their study and asked them to follow three regimes. In the first, participants were instructed to sit for 14 hours each day and not indulge ...

Box That Watches You Watch TV Being Developed by Intel

Posted:

Intel is developing a set-top TV entertainment box that can provide personalized programming. This is done by using a camera that can watch users watch TV. This has sparked a conversation among technology enthusiasts about the fine line between innovation and privacy. "Today, television does not really know anything about you, and it is the same television service for everyone in the household," said Erik Huggers, vice president of Intel Media at conference ...

Closer Relationships may Not Actually be Better Relationships

Posted:

It is generally accepted that feeling close to your romantic partner is key to having a lasting and fulfilling relationship. But a new study has found that it's not how close you feel that matters most, it's whether you are as close as you want to be, even if that's really not close at all. "Our study found that people who yearn for a more intimate partnership and people who crave more distance are equally at risk for having a problematic relationship," ...

Harsh Punishment is Meted Out to Subordinates by Powerful People

Posted:

New research suggests that providing a sense of power to someone instills a black-and-white sense of right and wrong. Once armed with this moral clarity, powerful people then perceive wrongdoing with much less ambiguity than people lacking this power, and punish apparent wrong-doers with more severity than people without power would. The research by Scott Wiltermuth, a USC Marshall School of Business assistant professor of management and organization, ...

Happy Marriage Equals Healthy Life

Posted:

Happily married couples are more likely to rate their health as better, shows a study. With this study, aging adults with declining health could benefit from improving their marriages. Christine Proulx, assistant professor in the University of Missouri Department of Human Development and Family Studies, examined the long-term relationship between self-rated health and marital quality. She found that, in all stages of marriage, positive or ...

Are Decisions Easier to Make After You Sleep on It?

Posted:

It is general consensus that decisions are easier to make after "sleeping on it" or taking a break from thinking about the decision. But a new brain imaging research from Carnegie Mellon University, has found that the brain regions responsible for making decisions continue to be active even when the conscious brain is distracted with a different task. The research provides some of the first evidence showing how the brain unconsciously processes decision ...

Research Says Sea Bug Vital for Recycling Carbon on Earth

Posted:

A new study reveals that SAR11 bug is the most abundant organism in the oceans and plays a vital role in the Earth's carbon cycle. The ubiquitous bug recycles organic matter, providing the nutrients needed by algae to produce about half of the oxygen that enters the Earth's atmosphere everyday. This carbon cycle ultimately affects all plant and animal life on the Earth. The bug has several unique characteristics, including the smallest known genetic ...

Neuropathic Pain can be Eased by Deep Brain Stimulation

Posted:

A new study says that deep brain stimulation (DBS) can lead to long-term improvement in pain scores and other outcomes in patients with neuropathic pain. About two-thirds of eligible patients who undergo DBS achieve significant and lasting benefits in terms of pain, quality of life, and overall health, according to Sandra G.J. Boccard, PhD, and colleagues of University of Oxford, led by Tipu Aziz FMedSci and Alex Green, MD. Some outcomes show continued ...

Research Identifies a Molecule That Suppress Liver Tumors

Posted:

New research has shed light on a key molecule called IQGAP1 that can suppress growth of liver tumors by altering the micro-environment of cancer cells. The finding offers new insight into cancer metastasis, the ability of a tumour to spread from its primary site to distant organs such as the brain, lung or liver. The discovery paves the way to newer therapies for preventing or treating liver metastases, the major cause of death from cancer. "Tumour ...

Risky Sex Associated With Alcohol Binging

Posted:

New research indicates that a number of secondary school students regret having sex after a night of binging on alcohol. The study was led by Paul Agius at La Trobe University and analysed data bearing on young people's sexual behaviour and its association with alcohol - specifically binge and compulsive drinking. "Significant numbers of students drank excessive amounts of alcohol and at time, lost control of the ability to stop drinking," Agius said, ...

Research: Primitive Reflexes may be More Sophisticated Than They Appear

Posted:

Researchers at Imperial College London have suggested that the so-called 'primitive' reflexes may involve more sophisticated brain function than previously thought. The Vestibular-Ocular Reflex (or VOR), common to most vertebrates, is what allows us to keep our eyes focused on a fixed point even while our heads are moving. Up until now, scientists had assumed this reflex was controlled by the lower brainstem, which regulates eating, sleeping and other low-level ...

Insights from Epigenetics Reveal That Life Experiences Put Their Stamp on the Next Generation

Posted:

A theory of evolution by Jean-Baptiste Lamarck proposed that the necks of giraffes lengthened as a consequence of the cumulative effort to reach leaves just out of their grasp. This view of evolution was largely abandoned with the advent of modern genetic theories to explain the transmission of most important traits and many medical illnesses across generations. However, there has long been the impression that major life events, like psychological traumas, ...

Effective Treatment for Common Gynecological Problem Pinpointed by New LA BioMed Research

Posted:

A progestogen-only treatment halted bleeding in women suffering from extremely heavy periods, new research from the Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute (LA BioMed) has found. The study is published online by the iAmerican Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology/i. "Excessive uterine bleeding is a common problem we see in gynecological practices and emergency rooms. It can interfere with women's daily activities and put them at risk for anemia and other more ...

Calcium is the Initial Trigger in Immune Response to Healing

Posted:

The way in which a flash of calcium is the very first step in repairing damaged tissue has been revealed by scientists, who were studying the cellular processes underlying the body's response to healing. The findings, published in iCurrent Biology/i, could lead to new therapies that speed up the healing process following injury or surgery. Until recently, very little was known about how damaged tissue activates and attracts the first white blood ...

Ancient Roman Cup the Inspiration Behind The World's Most Sensitive Plasmon Resonance Sensor

Posted:

A novel, ultra-sensitive tool for chemical, DNA, and protein analysis has been created by researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The researchers utilized optical characteristics first demonstrated by the ancient Romans in this effort. "With this device, the nanoplasmonic spectroscopy sensing, for the first time, becomes colorimetric sensing, requiring only naked eyes or ordinary visible color photography," explained Logan Liu, an assistant ...

Chemotherapy May Raise Leukemia Risk in Cancer Patients

Posted:

Despite the fact that advancements in cancer treatment have improved survival rates among patients for certain cancers, the risk of developing treatment-related leukemia still persists, finds a study. Chemotherapy is often a highly effective treatment for cancer, but certain drugs have also been shown in a range of studies to increase a patient's risk of developing therapy-related acute myeloid leukemia (tAML), a rare but frequently fatal condition. Thanks to significant ...

Darkness Therapy may Help Restore Vision

Posted:

In patients with visual disorder amblyopia, darkness therapy could help restore vision, say researchers. Amblyopia affects about four percent of the general population and is thought to develop when the two eyes do not see equally well in early life, as connections from the eyes to visual areas in the brain are still being refined. Left untreated, that imbalance of vision can lead to permanent vision loss, reports Science Daily. Restoring vision ...

Clinical Guide on Lichen Sclerosus Published by Maturitas

Posted:

A clinical guide by the European Menopause and Andropause Society (EMAS) on lichen sclerosus with summary recommendations has been published in Maturitas. This announcement was made by Elsevier, a world-leading provider of scientific, technical and medical information products and services. Vulvar lichen sclerosus (LS) is a chronic inflammatory disease which affects genital labial, perineal and perianal areas, producing significant discomfort and psychological distress. ...

Efficiency Problems for Gene Therapy Could be Solved by New Discovery in HIV

Posted:

An approach that could make gene therapy dramatically more effective for patients has been discovered by a research team from Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine. Led by professor Eric Arts, PhD, the scientists discovered that the process of gene therapy is missing essential elements thereby reducing the effectiveness of this treatment. Re-introducing this element into their model system suggests that improvements for gene therapy areon the horizon. ...

Patron of 'Heart Attack Grill' Succumbs to Heart Attack

Posted:

Las Vegas restaurant Heart Attack Grill, whose slogan is that its artery-clogging fare is "worth dying for" seems to have provided further evidence that it is indeed so. Less than two years after its unofficial spokesman, 575-pound Blair River, died of health-related causes, another loyal customer succumbed to a heart attack while standing at a bus stop in front of the establishment. John Alleman, 52 -- who like River served as a public face of the restaurant ...

Sixth Sense Rats

Posted:

Lab rats acquired sixth sense after the implantation of microelectrodes in their brains. The device allowed the rats to "touch" infrared light - which is normally invisible to them, the BBC reported. The team at Duke University fitted the rats with an infrared detector wired up to microscopic electrodes that were implanted in the part of their brains that processes tactile information. The researchers said that, in theory at least, a human with a ...

Physical Activity Reduces Depression in Bariatric Surgery Patients

Posted:

Staying physical active may help to reduce depressive symptoms in adults undergoing bariatric surgery, according to new research. "Typically, clinical professionals manage their patients' depression and anxiety with counseling and/or antidepressant or anti-anxiety medication," said Wendy C. King, Ph.D., epidemiologist at Pitt Public Health and lead author of the research, which is reported in this month's issue of the iJournal of Psychosomatic Research/i. "Recent ...

Genetic Strategy Enables Humans and Chimps to Fight Against Pathogens

Posted:

Six genomic regions where humans and chimpanzees share the same combination of genetic variants have been discovered by scientists. The finding suggested that in these regions, human genetic variation dates back to a common ancestor with chimpanzees millions of years ago, before the species split. It also highlights the importance of the dynamic co-evolution of human hosts and their pathogens in maintaining genetic variation. "When we looked for ...

New Therapeutic Target For Coronary Heart Disease Found

Posted:

Scientists have identified a new therapeutic target for coronary heart disease by investigating how certain genes affect individual's risk of developing the condition. They have discovered that an enzyme known as ADAMTS7 plays a crucial role in the build-up of cells in the coronary arteries which lead to coronary heart disease. Coronary heart disease (also known as coronary artery disease) is the nation's biggest killer, with around 94,000 deaths in ...

Testing Plan to Halt Horsemeat Scandal Approved

Posted:

The European Union has approved the launch of tests for horse DNA in meat products, seeking to end the horsemeat scandal spreading across Europe. The test programme will also look for the presence of phenylbutazone, an anti-inflammatory treatment for horses which is harmful to humans and by law supposed to be kept out of the food chain. The crisis continued to build Friday as Austria and Norway confirmed that ready-to-eat "beef" meals containing horsemeat ...

Immune Memory Lapse may Cause Repeat Bladder Infections: Study

Posted:

The immune memory lapse can hamper a timely and effective attack, according to researchers at Duke Medicine and Duke-National University of Singapore. Recurrent bladder infections, which are especially common among women, may result from a defect among the bladder's immune fighters that keeps them from remembering previous bacterial infections. Their study, which involved mice, may provide a new route to develop vaccines and treatments for urinary ...

Leukemia's Genetic Evolution may Help Predict Disease Course

Posted:

In reality tumors are not factories for the mass production of identical cancer cells, but are patchworks of cells with different patterns of gene mutations. In a new study, researchers at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and the Broad Institute show, more fully than ever before, how these mutations shift and evolve over time in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) - providing a strobe-like look at the genetic past, present, and future of CLL tumors. Their ...

Behavioral Therapy for Children With Autism can Bring in Positive Changes

Posted:

A team of researchers including a UC Santa Barbara graduate student discovered positive changes in brain activity in children with autism who received a particular type of behavioral therapy. They used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) for before-and-after analysis. Work completed at Yale University's Child Study Center used fMRI as the tool for measuring the impact of Pivotal Response Treatment (PRT) -- therapy pioneered at UCSB by Lynn ...

Women Endured Regular Violence During Stone Age: Study

Posted:

A new study has claimed that women were subject to routine violence even during the Stone Age. The analysis discovered that up to 1 in 6 skulls exhumed in Scandinavia from the late Stone Age - between about 6,000 and 3,700 years ago - had nasty head injuries, Discovery News reported. And contrary to findings from mass grave sites of the period, women were equally likely to be victims of deadly blows, according to the study. Linda Fibiger, ...

Dubai Set to Build World's Biggest Ferris Wheel Named as the Dubai Eye

Posted:

Dubai has proposed a series of mega projects reminiscent of its boom years before the downturn hit in 2009, which include theme parks and a satellite city named after the ruler. A 210 metre Ferris wheel is set to become the world's biggest Ferris wheel after its addition on the top of the Burj Khalifa tower in Dubai, according to the country's ruler Sheik Mohammed bin Rashin Al Maktoum. According to reports, the wheel which has been named as the Dubai ...

Researchers Discovered How Tongue Detects High Salt Concentrations

Posted:

Researchers say that findings from a new study could serve as a springboard for the development of taste modulators to help control the appetite for a high-salt diet. And it could also reduce the ill effects of too much sodium. Charles Zuker, PhD, and colleagues at Columbia University Medical Center have discovered how the tongue detects high concentrations of salt, the first step in a salt-avoiding behavior common to most mammals. The sensation ...

Young People Depend on Smartphones for Almost Everything

Posted:

A study has said that young people depend on Internet devices such as smartphones to 'drive every facet of their lives'. The study by Cisco on the Internet habits, that surveyed people aged under 30, including 200 Australians, found that 88 per cent of Australian respondents checked their smartphones before leaving home in the morning, as part of their morning ritual. A third continued to check their smartphones at least every hour, sometimes every ...

Researchers Found a Way to Rewire the Serotonin System

Posted:

An interdisciplinary team of researchers has found a new way to influence the vital serotonin signaling system - possibly leading to more effective medications with fewer side effects. The researchers are from the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston and the University of Houston. Scientists have linked malfunctions in serotonin signaling to a wide range of health issues, everything from depression and addictions to epilepsy and obesity and ...

Chemists Designed New Class of Catalysts Triggered by Single Proton

Posted:

At Boston College, chemists have designed a new class of catalysts triggered by the charge of a single proton. The team reports in the most recent edition of the journal iNature/i. The simple organic molecules offer a sustainable and highly efficient platform for chemical reactions that produce sets of molecules crucial to advances in medicine and the life sciences. Unearthing a reliable, truly general, efficient synthesis of single mirror-image ...

Gene Invaders Are Stymied by Cells Genome Defense

Posted:

With invading DNA regularly threatening to subvert our human blueprint, gene wars rage inside our cells. Now, building on Nobel-Prize-winning findings, UC San Francisco researchers have discovered a molecular machine that helps protect a cell's genes against these DNA interlopers. The machine, named SCANR, recognizes and targets foreign DNA. The UCSF team identified it in yeast, but given the similarity of yeast and human cells, comparable mechanisms ...

Copper Depletion Therapy Keeps Breast Cancer at Bay

Posted:

The median survival for metastatic triple-negative breast cancer patients is historically nine months. An anti-copper drug compound that disables the ability of bone marrow cells from setting up a "home" in organs to receive and nurture migrating cancer tumor cells has shown surprising benefit in one of the most difficult-to-treat forms of cancer -- high-risk triple-negative breast cancer. Results of a new phase II clinical trial conducted by researchers ...

Automated Time Machine may Reconstruct Ancestral Languages

Posted:

An automated "time machine" is being created by scientists which will help accelerate and improve the process of reconstructing hundreds of ancestral languages. Researchers from UC Berkeley and the University of British Columbia built a computer program that can rapidly reconstruct "proto-languages" - the linguistic ancestors from which all modern languages have evolved. These earliest-known languages include Proto-Indo-European, Proto-Afroasiatic ...

Charge Your Phone Powered by a Hot Cup of Coffee

Posted:

A mobile phone charger is being developed by researchers that can be powered by either a cold beer or a hot coffee. The Epiphany One Puck, which doubles as a drinks coaster, connects to a phone with a USB cable. It has two sides, one red, one blue, the Daily Mail reported. Owners use the red side as a drinks coaster to place a hot drink on it, and the blue side as for a cooling drink such as a beer. It uses something called a Stirling engine ...

Magic Trick Sheds Light on Neuroscience of Illusion

Posted:

As the magicians work to improve their art, a study of magician duo Penn and Teller's 'cups and balls' trick has advanced our understanding of how observers can be misdirected and will aid magicians. The study was led by Dr. Stephen Macknik, Director of the Laboratory of Behavioral Neurophysiology at Barrow Neurological Institute, in collaboration with fellow Barrow researchers Hector Rieiro and Dr. Susana Martinez-Conde, Director of the Laboratory of Visual Neuroscience. ...

Iceland may Become First European Country to Ban Web Porn

Posted:

In a bid to save young kids from it's damaging effects, Iceland is considering banning web pornography and by doing so it would become the first western country to block filth available online. Fears about the detrimental effects on children have led the government to work on legal measures to try and stop the flood of graphic sexual material reaching the island's shores, the Daily Mail reports. Iceland Interior Minister Ogmundur Jonasson has set up ...

RNAs Control Development of Fat Cells

Posted:

Researchers of Whitehead Institute have identified a previously unrecognized layer of genetic regulation that is necessary for the generation of undesirable white fat cells. When this regulation is disrupted, white fat cells are unable to accumulate lipid droplets or mature from their precursors. "We're trying to figure out what the mechanism is-what it takes to make fat cells," says Whitehead Founding Member Harvey Lodish, who is also a professor of ...