Medindia Health News |  |
- Scientists Solve White Tiger Mystery
- Quiz on Organic Foods
- Doctors Say Soaring Temperatures can Affect Quality of Pills
- Statin Use Ups Diabetes Risk
- Food Supplement from Beef, Oysters Fights Brain Disorders
- Scientists Identify Genetic Risk Factor for Pulmonary Fibrosis
- Study Says Flu Vaccine also Linked to Narcolepsy in Adults
- Self-Reported Dietary Fibs Distort Survey Results
- Inflammatory Bowel Disease Increases Melanoma Risk
- Potatoes may be One of the Best Superfoods, Says Study
- UCI Study Finds Swine Flu Pandemic of 2009 More Deadly for Younger Adults
- Researcher Says Alleviating Hunger in the US Is a SNAP
- The Global Obesity Epidemic Could Be Explained by Our Addiction to Unhealthy Foods
- Genetic Tie to Improved Survival Time for Pulmonary Fibrosis Found By Scientists
- Scientists Find That Bacterium Uses Natural 'Thermometer' to Trigger Diarrheal Disease
- Post-approval TAVI Registry Shows High Rates of Device Success at 1 Year: Report
- Lower Rate of Mental Stress-Induced Cardiac Ischemia Shown on Treatment With Antidepressant
- Low Radiation Scans Help Identify Cancer in Earliest Stages: Study
- Research: Doctors Prescribe More Analgesics to Women Than to Men Just for Being Female
- Risk Factors for Rupture or Bleeding of Arachnoid Cysts in Children Assessed By Study
- Study Finds Simple Sensory Exercises at Home Effective Among Autistic Kids
- Iodine Deficiency During Pregnancy may Lead to Lower IQ Among Kids: Researchers
- More English Courses in Universities
- US Boy Scouts to Allow Gay Youths, Not Leaders
- Ground-breaking Stem Cell Study Has Errors
- First Ever Gay-pride March Banned by Ukrainian Court
- Polio Grasps Another Child In Pakistan
- Postpartum Depression Predictors Uncovered
- Indian Heart Beats for a Pakistani Man
- Zebrafish May Aid Research Into Motor Neuron Disease
- Stress Relief for Family Members of Dementia Patients
- Diagnosis Turns Complicated With SARS Virus Patent
- Workers in Open Plan Offices Fall Sick More Often, Says Study
- Amount of Calories in Fast Foods Underestimated by People
- 11 People Fall Sick After Consuming Chips Doused With Caustic Soda
- Exposure to Porn Linked to Risky Behavior Among Kids
- Children Born to Parents Who are Cohabiting, but Not Married, Have High Obesity Risk
- EU Struggles to Find Evidence Against Restaurants Serving Olive Oil in Jugs
- Brain Size Shrinks Among Older People With History of Migraine and Depression
- Fish Oil Reduces Negative Effects of Mental Stress on Heart
- Johns Hopkins Releases New Guidelines for Blood Ordered for Surgeries
- WHO Warns World is Not Equipped to Deal With Flu Pandemic
- Decision to Limit Life Support Depends on Hospital Culture and Physician Practices
- Extended Use of Common Antibiotics may Cut Down Hospitalization Rates Among COPD Patients
- Measuring Exercise Levels can Predict Hospitalization Risk Among COPD Patients
- Video Games Featuring Human-Like Enemy More Likely to Provoke Aggression
- Regular Exposure to Both Wood and Tobacco Smoke Poses Greater Risk of COPD
| Scientists Solve White Tiger Mystery Posted:  Researchers have solved the genetic mystery of Indian white tigers. Their spectacular white coats are produced by a single change in a known pigment gene, according to the study, appearing on May 23 in iCurrent Biology/i, a Cell Press publication. "The white tiger represents part of the natural genetic diversity of the tiger that is worth conserving, but is now seen only in captivity," says Shu-Jin Luo of China's Peking University. Luo, Xiao ... |
| Posted:  Is organic food safe? Is it more nutritious? Is it worth the price you pay for it? Take this quiz to find out. |
| Doctors Say Soaring Temperatures can Affect Quality of Pills Posted:  Extreme heat can affect medicines, say researchers. "Quality of medicines can deteriorate during summers because of high temperatures. As most medicines are designed to be stored at normal room temperatures, no drug should be exposed to temperatures higher than 86 degrees fahrenheit (30 degrees Celsius)," the Delhi Medical Association (DMA) said in a statement here. According to doctors, chemists and pharmaceutical manufacturers should store ... |
| Posted:  Use of atorvastatin and simvastatin may boost the risk of developing diabetes, suggests study published in BMJ. Statins are among the most widely prescribed medications for the prevention of cardiovascular events. Although tolerated well, an association with new-onset diabetes has recently been suggested. One trial suggested a 27% increased risk of diabetes with rosuvastatin whereas another suggested patients taking pravastatin benefitted from a 30% lower ... |
| Food Supplement from Beef, Oysters Fights Brain Disorders Posted:  Phosphatidylserine - food supplement produced from beef, soy and oysters was found to improve cognition and slow memory. Phosphatidylserine helps fights degenerative brain disorders, including Parkinson's disease and Familial Dysautonomia (FD). This is the finding made by a team headed by Prof. Gil Ast and Dr. Ron Bochner of Tel Aviv University's Department of Human Molecular Genetics. In FD, a rare genetic disorder that impacts the nervous system ... |
| Scientists Identify Genetic Risk Factor for Pulmonary Fibrosis Posted:  Genetic risk factor for pulmonary fibrosis has been discovered by researchers. The team including physicians and scientists at the University of Colorado School of Medicine looked at a fairly common variant of the gene for mucin-5B, a protein that is a component of the mucous produced by the bronchial tubes. While this variant of the MUC5B gene is fairly common, pulmonary fibrosis is an uncommonly reported disease. In a review of CT scans of more ... |
| Study Says Flu Vaccine also Linked to Narcolepsy in Adults Posted:  New data links the Pandemrix flu vaccine to an increased risk of sleeping disorder narcolepsy. Other studies had already shown a link between the drug used in the 2009-10 "swine flu" outbreak and a higher incidence of narcolepsy in vaccinated children, teens and people under 30. The new research, conducted by Finland's National Institute for Health and Welfare, found that Pandemrix-vaccinated adults between the ages of 20 and 64 had a three-to-five ... |
| Self-Reported Dietary Fibs Distort Survey Results Posted:  Do you get the urge to fib about your eating style or your diet behavior even if it happens to be on the survey form? If yes, then you are not alone. Assessments of diet in researches are usually based on self-report methods but the validity of these methods is dependent on the accuracy with which participants record their dietary intake. Under-reporting in self-reported dietary methods is a well-documented phenomenon among adults. But ... |
| Inflammatory Bowel Disease Increases Melanoma Risk Posted:  Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) patients are at an increased risk of melanoma, a form of skin cancer, say scientists. More than 1.5 million Americans have Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis (UC), the most common forms of inflammatory bowel disease. Both conditions inflame the lining of the intestine, leading to bouts of watery diarrhea, rectal bleeding, abdominal cramps and pain, fever and weight loss. "Based on this data, we are suggesting ... |
| Potatoes may be One of the Best Superfoods, Says Study Posted:  Potatoes deliver one of the most affordable source of potassium of the more frequently consumed vegetables and are one of the best nutritional values in the produce aisle, says study. Dr. Adam Drewnowski and colleagues from the University of Washington used a combination of nutrient profiling methods and national food prices data to create an "affordability index," which was then used to examine the nutrients per unit cost of 98 individual vegetables as well ... |
| UCI Study Finds Swine Flu Pandemic of 2009 More Deadly for Younger Adults Posted:  A new UC Irvine study reveals that the 2009 H1N1 swine flu pandemic was deadliest for people under the age of 65, while those 65 and over had greater immunity due to previous exposure to similar viruses. The revelation was made as the world prepares for what may be the next pandemic strain of influenza virus. Deaths from flu pandemics tend to skew younger than those from seasonal flu because of "antigenic recycling," or the fact that some parts of flu viruses have ... |
| Researcher Says Alleviating Hunger in the US Is a SNAP Posted:  The cornerstone of our efforts to alleviate food insecurity should be to encourage more people to participate in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) "because it works," according to a University of Illinois researcher. According to Craig Gundersen, SNAP, formerly known as the Food Stamp Program, is a great social safety net program and with some additional improvements could be even more successful at reducing the number of food-insecure households. ... |
| The Global Obesity Epidemic Could Be Explained by Our Addiction to Unhealthy Foods Posted:  High-fructose corn syrup can cause behavioural reactions in rats similar to those produced by drugs of abuse such as cocaine, according to new research. These results, presented by addiction expert Francesco Leri, Associate Professor of Neuroscience and Applied Cognitive Science at the University of Guelph, suggest food addiction could explain, at least partly, the current global obesity epidemic. These results were presented at the 2013 Canadian Neuroscience ... |
| Genetic Tie to Improved Survival Time for Pulmonary Fibrosis Found By Scientists Posted:  According to a paper published online by iJAMA/i, research into genetic features of pulmonary fibrosis by physicians and scientists at the University of Colorado School of Medicine may lead to improved treatment of this deadly lung disease. The study found that a particular genetic variation helps predict survival in some cases of pulmonary fibrosis, a chronic progressive disease with a median survival of three years. As a result of the study, researchers may ... |
| Scientists Find That Bacterium Uses Natural 'Thermometer' to Trigger Diarrheal Disease Posted:  How does the bacterium iShigella/idetect that it's in a human host? Shigella is the cause of a deadly diarrheal disease. According to a study published May 21 in the journal iPLOS ONE/i, Ohio University scientists have found that a biological "RNA thermometer" monitors whether the environment is right for the bacterium to produce the factors it needs to survive within the body. The scientists have been seeking more information about the genetic pathways of iShigella/i ... |
| Post-approval TAVI Registry Shows High Rates of Device Success at 1 Year: Report Posted:  Good clinical outcomes in routine clinical practice, with high rates of device success for all access approaches, valve sizes and delivery systems was shown by one year results from SOURCE XT - one of the largest, post-approval transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) registries to-date. This was reported at EuroPCR 2013. The SOURCE XT Post-Approval Study followed up 2688 consecutively enrolled patients (mean age 81.5 years) undergoing TAVI with the Sapien ... |
| Lower Rate of Mental Stress-Induced Cardiac Ischemia Shown on Treatment With Antidepressant Posted:  According to a study, among patients with stable coronary heart disease and mental stress-induced myocardial ischemia (MSIMI), 6 weeks of treatment with the antidepressant escitalopram, compared with placebo, resulted in a lower rate of MSIMI. The study can be found in the May 22/29 issue of iJAMA/i. "A robust body of evidence has identified emotional stress as a potential triggering factor in coronary heart disease (CHD) and other cardiovascular events," according ... |
| Low Radiation Scans Help Identify Cancer in Earliest Stages: Study Posted:  Low-dose computed tomography (LDCT) can be highly effective in helping clinicians spot tiny lung nodules which, in a small number of patients, may indicate the earliest stages of the disease, according to a study. The study was conducted on veterans at high risk for developing lung cancer. LDCT uses less than a quarter of the radiation of a conventional CT scan. Results of the study will be presented at the ATS 2013 International Conference. "Lung cancer ... |
| Research: Doctors Prescribe More Analgesics to Women Than to Men Just for Being Female Posted:  A woman is more likely to be prescribed pain-relieving drugs regardless of pain, social class or age. A study published in iGaceta Sanitaria/i (Spanish health scientific journal) affirms that this phenomenon is influenced by socioeconomic inequality between genders in the Autonomous Community in which the patient resides. In 1999, a researcher at the University of Harvard, Ishiro Kawachi, observed that in the states of the USA with a larger proportion of women ... |
| Risk Factors for Rupture or Bleeding of Arachnoid Cysts in Children Assessed By Study Posted:  A common type of brain lesion that is usually harmless, but with a risk of rupture or bleeding is arachnoid cysts. A new study identifies risk factors for rupture or bleeding in children with "incidentally" detected arachnoid cysts, reports the May issue of iNeurosurgery/i/a, official journal of the Congress of Neurological Surgeons/a. The journal is published by Lippincott Williams (and) Wilkins/a, a part of Wolters Kluwer Health/a. Risk is higher for ... |
| Study Finds Simple Sensory Exercises at Home Effective Among Autistic Kids Posted:  Children with autism showed significant improvement after six months of simple sensory exercises at home using everyday items such as scents, spoons and sponges, according to a study by UC Irvine neurobiologists. They found that a treatment known as environmental enrichment led to notable gains in male subjects between the ages of 3 and 12. Study co-authors Cynthia Woo and Michael Leon randomly assigned 28 boys to one of two groups, balanced for age ... |
| Iodine Deficiency During Pregnancy may Lead to Lower IQ Among Kids: Researchers Posted:  Mild iodine deficiency during pregnancy could be dimming the intellect of some babies born in the UK, claim researchers. Their study of 1,000 families showed lower IQs and reading scores in primary school pupils whose mother had had too little iodine while pregnant. Academics advise women of child-bearing age to maintain iodine in their diets by eating dairy products and fish. Women were warned not to take seaweed pills, as they contain ... |
| More English Courses in Universities Posted:  France's lower house gives an approval to introduce more courses in English at universities despite criticism. A majority of lawmakers in the National Assembly approved the second article of a bill on higher education in a show-of-hands vote. The full bill is expected to be approved in the Assembly and the upper house Senate, where the ruling Socialists and their left-wing allies have majorities. Higher Education Minister Genevieve Fioraso ... |
| US Boy Scouts to Allow Gay Youths, Not Leaders Posted:  After a vote in the annual meeting in Texas, the Boy Scouts of America proclaimed that they will allow gay youths to join the organisation. Sixty-one percent of the estimated 1,400 delegates of the BSA's National Council voted to end a ban that for decades has barred open homosexuality in the movement. The resolution, passed during the gathering at the Gaylord Texan Resort (and) Convention Center in Grapevine, Texas, will go into force on January 1, 2014. ... |
| Ground-breaking Stem Cell Study Has Errors Posted:  Lead author of a ground-breaking study that involved the conversion of human skin cells to embryonic stem cells, confessed that the study had errors. Shoukhrat Mitalipov nevertheless adamantly stood by the conclusions of the study published last week in journal Cell, which reported that human stem cell lines for the first time had been created via cloning. The journal Nature contacted Mitalipov after an anonymous online critic on PubPeer spotted four ... |
| First Ever Gay-pride March Banned by Ukrainian Court Posted:  The Ukrainian court banned activists from holding their first gay pride march, creating a fear of violence. Kiev's district administrative court ruled that no events could be staged in the capital on Saturday because of City Day celebrations, the Interfax Ukraine news agency reported. Activists had planned to hold Kiev's inaugural "Equality March" that day calling for an end to rampant discrimination against sexual minorities in Ukraine. But ... |
| Polio Grasps Another Child In Pakistan Posted:  UN official reveals the death of a second child that died after contracted polio due to the banning of polio vaccination by Taliban's there. The first polio case was detected in the North Waziristan region, also known as the strong bastion of Taliban and Al-Qaeda linked militants, earlier this month, with officials expecting a "bigger outbreak" of the disease. "This is the second child, a 36-month-old boy getting paralysed after contracting polio," the ... |
| Postpartum Depression Predictors Uncovered Posted:  A new novel method can help detect epigenetic modifications in the blood of pregnant women, thereby helping foretell post-partum depression and prevent it before the symptoms turn worse. The findings of the small study involving 52 pregnant women are described online in the journal iMolecular Psychiatry/i. "Postpartum depression can be harmful to both mother and child," says study leader Zachary Kaminsky, Ph.D., an assistant professor of psychiatry ... |
| Indian Heart Beats for a Pakistani Man Posted:  An Indian heart now beats for the 40-year old Moulana Mohammed Zubair Ashmi, a Pakistani, after undergoing a successful heart transplant surgery at the Fortis Hospital, Chennai. Ashmi was suffering from a condition called dilated cardiomyopathy in which functioning of both the ventricles of the heart is severely depressed, said a statement from the hospital Thursday. He was repeatedly admitted to several hospitals in Pakistan with breathing difficulty, ... |
| Zebrafish May Aid Research Into Motor Neuron Disease Posted:  A new discovery made in fishes could aid the research into motor neuron disease. Scientists have found that a key hormone allows young zebrafish to develop and replace their motor neurons - a kind of nerve cell found in the spinal cord. The discovery may aid efforts to create neurons from stem cells in the lab, and support further research into a disorder for which there is still no cure. In humans, motor neurons control important muscle ... |
| Stress Relief for Family Members of Dementia Patients Posted:  Family members of older individuals suffering from dementia show less stress and good moods on days when the dementia patients receive adult day services, new research suggests. "Caregivers who live with and care for someone with dementia can experience extraordinary amounts of stress," said Steven Zarit, professor and head, human development and family studies. "The use of adult day services appears to provide caregivers with a much-needed break that can possibly ... |
| Diagnosis Turns Complicated With SARS Virus Patent Posted:  The news SARS-like virus, which claimed the lives of 22 people worldwide in less than a year, is now patented by foreign drug companies, thereby slowing down the diagnosis process. "We are still struggling with diagnostics and the reason is that the virus was patented by scientists and is not allowed to be used for investigations by other scientists," said Saudi Deputy Health Minister Ziad Memish. He told diplomats gathered in Geneva for the World Health ... |
| Workers in Open Plan Offices Fall Sick More Often, Says Study Posted:  A new study published in the Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment and Health suggests that people who work in open plan offices are far more likely to get sick and take sick leaves compared to those who work in enclosed work environment. The study revealed that those who worked in open plan offices were 62 percent more likely to fall sick and take a day off and suggested that such a work environment encouraged the spread of germs and also added that it increases ... |
| Amount of Calories in Fast Foods Underestimated by People Posted:  A new study published in the online edition of British Medical Journal suggests that people who love to eat fast food can underestimate the amount of calories that they consume by as much as 500 calories. Researchers led by Jason Block of Harvard Medical School surveyed over 3,400 children, teens and adults in 2010 and 2011 who regularly ate at popular fast food restaurants such as McDonald's, Burger King, KFC, Subway, Dunkin' Donuts and Wendy's. They were asked to ... |
| 11 People Fall Sick After Consuming Chips Doused With Caustic Soda Posted:  Around 11 people, including five children under 10 years of age, required a visit to the hospital after they consumed chips doused in caustic soda in a Western Australian restaurant. The incident occurred at a Chicken Treat outlet in Bunbury after an employee mistakenly put caustic soda in a salt shaker insider of salt. The victims were taken to the Bunbury Hospital, where three children remained in the hospital, while two others were sent to a Perth hospital for further ... |
| Exposure to Porn Linked to Risky Behavior Among Kids Posted:  A new report released by the Children's Commissioner in England has found a clear link between 'risky behavior' among children and their exposure to extreme images, such as pornography, at a young age. The report reveals that children who regularly viewed pornography at a young age were more likely to indulge in underage sex and sexting, have a 'casual and hedonistic' attitude and experiment in alcohol drinks and drugs. The report also added that boys were ... |
| Children Born to Parents Who are Cohabiting, but Not Married, Have High Obesity Risk Posted:  A joint study conducted by researchers at University of Houston and Rice University suggests that children whose parents are not married but are cohabiting are nearly twice as likely to be obese compared to children whose parents are married. The researchers used data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Birth Cohort, which involved more than 10,400 children in the United States. The study also included interviews with the primary caregivers when the children ... |
| EU Struggles to Find Evidence Against Restaurants Serving Olive Oil in Jugs Posted:  The European Commission revealed that it will no longer be pursuing a ban on restaurants serving olive oil to diners in jugs after struggling to come up with any evidence to support such a ban. European Union Agriculture Commissioner Dacian Ciolos took to a regular media podium to perform a U-turn that spawned a string of Twitter gags and reaction, but stuck to his line that restaurateurs are potentially misleading customers by pouring cheap or old oil into containers ... |
| Brain Size Shrinks Among Older People With History of Migraine and Depression Posted:  A new study published in the journal Neurology reveals that elderly people who have a history of migraines and depression may have smaller brain tissue volumes compared to people with either one of the conditions or who have no such history. "Studies show that people with migraine have double the risk of depression compared to people without migraine," said study author Larus S. Gudmundsson, PhD, with the National Institute on Aging and the Uniformed Services ... |
| Fish Oil Reduces Negative Effects of Mental Stress on Heart Posted:  Researchers led by Jason R. Carter of Michigan Technological University have tried to explain the mysterious health benefits provided by fish oil by stating that the omega 3 fatty acids in the fish oil improves the heart health by counteracting the detrimental effects caused by mental stress. Their findings show that volunteers who took fish oil supplements for several weeks had a blunted response to mental stress in several measurements of cardiovascular health, ... |
| Johns Hopkins Releases New Guidelines for Blood Ordered for Surgeries Posted:  For the first time in more than 35 years, researchers at Johns Hopkins have come out with new guidelines that will govern the amount of blood ordered for surgical patients. The recommendations, based on a lengthy study of blood use at The Johns Hopkins Hospital (JHH), can potentially save the medical center more than (Dollar) 200,000 a year and improve patient safety, researchers say. A report on the research that led up to the new guidelines, published online ... |
| WHO Warns World is Not Equipped to Deal With Flu Pandemic Posted:  The World Health Organization has come out with a stark warning, stating that the world is not equipped to deal with a massive virus outbreak, as the fears persist that the H7N9 bird flu virus can mutate into a new strain that can spread easily among people. Keiji Fukuda told delegates at a WHO meeting that despite efforts since an outbreak of another form of avian influenza, H1N1, in 2009-10, far more contingency planning was essential. "Even though ... |
| Decision to Limit Life Support Depends on Hospital Culture and Physician Practices Posted:  A new study conducted by researchers at Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and presented at the American Thoracic Society International Conference suggests that physician practices and culture of a hospital influences the decision to limit life support among intensive care unit (ICU) patients. A retrospective analysis of over 269,000 ICU patients from the Project IMPACT database revealed a substantial variation in decisions to forgo ... |
| Extended Use of Common Antibiotics may Cut Down Hospitalization Rates Among COPD Patients Posted:  A comparison of hospitalization rates among chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients treated with a 12-month course of azithromycin and those treated with placebo reveals that extended used of the antibiotic may prolong the time between hospitalizations for patients. The results of the current analysis will be presented at the ATS 2013 International Conference. "Preventing respiratory-related re-hospitalizations is a key component of COPD ... |
| Measuring Exercise Levels can Predict Hospitalization Risk Among COPD Patients Posted: A new study conducted by a team of researchers in Connecticut suggests that measuring exercise levels of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) can predict whether or not they will end up needing hospitalization. The study also corroborates an earlier investigation that linked higher levels of inactivity with an increased incidence of hospitalizations among patients with COPD. The results of the study will be presented at the ATS 2013 ... |
| Video Games Featuring Human-Like Enemy More Likely to Provoke Aggression Posted:  A new study has found that playing video games that feature human-like characters was more likely to provoke violent thoughts and aggression compared to playing games where you have to fight against monstrous creatures. "It's important to think in terms of risk factors," Kirstie Farrar, associate professor of communication at University of Connecticut and the lead researcher on the study said. "The research clearly suggests that, among other risk factors, ... |
| Regular Exposure to Both Wood and Tobacco Smoke Poses Greater Risk of COPD Posted:  A new study has found that being regularly exposed to both wood smoke and tobacco smoke increases the risk of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Exposure to both types of smoke also leads to experiencing more frequent and severe symptoms of the disease along with more severe airflow obstruction compared to being exposed to just one type of smoke. "Although previous studies have shown a definite link between wood smoke exposure and the development of ... |
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