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Cholesterol-lowering Statins Not Related to Side Effects: Study

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Researchers from National Heart and Lung Institute in London have suggested that drug statin used for lowering cholesterol is safe and that only a small amount of side-effects can be attributed to its use. Almost all the side effects mentioned in the trials "occurred anyway when patients were administered placebo", say the investigators. All this while, statins are associated with side effects such as nausea, insomnia, fatigue, kidney issues, muscle problems and erectile ...

Key 'Fat Gene' Discovered

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Scientists have identified the most important obesity gene, paving way for possible drug targets to tackle a dangerous and growing epidemic. Mice bred to lack a gene dubbed IRX3 were almost a third lighter than rodents with the gene, they said. The equivalent gene exists in humans, and its functioning may explain why some people are more prone to obesity than others. "Our data strongly suggests that IRX3 controls body mass and regulates ...

Fish Oil Helps Treat Congenital Hyperinsulinism

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Purified fish oils could help treat congenital hyperinsulinism - a rare and potentially lethal disease of newborn babies, says research. The disease, called congenital hyperinsulinism, means that the infant's brain is starved of blood sugar which can lead to brain damage or long-term disability. But by giving the children purified fish oils similar to those used to treat some heart attack patients, alongside standard medical treatment, their blood sugar levels ...

Study Says Nicotine Withdrawal Weakens Brain Connections

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Smokers who suffer from nicotine withdrawal may have more trouble shifting from one brain network to another, reveals a new study. According to the study conducted by scientists in Penn Medicine and the National Institute on Drug Abuse, nicotine withdrawal makes it hard for people to shift from "default mode", when people are in "introspective" or "self-referential" state, into a control network, the executive control network, that could help exert more conscious, ...

Screening for Prostate Cancer using PSA: Is it recommended?

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What is PSA test? PSA stands for prostate specific antigen. This protein can be detected in the blood using a simple blood test. High levels could suggest the presence of a href="http:www.medindia.net/patients/patientinfo/prostatecancer.htm" target="_blank" class="vcontentshlink"prostate cancer/a, and therefore the test has been used to screen men for this cancer. (Screening is done to check for the presence of an illness in a person ...

Comparable Outcomes for Commonly Used Surgeries to Treat Vaginal Prolapse: Study

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Two of the common surgical procedures for vaginal prolapse and stress urinary incontinence were found to be equally effective and devoid of adverse event outcomes, and behavioral therapy with pelvic muscle training did not improve urinary symptoms or prolapse outcomes after surgery, suggests a study in the March 12 issue of emJAMA/em. Pelvic organ prolapse (protrusion) occurs when the uterus descends into the lower vagina or vaginal walls protrude beyond the ...

Randomized Clinical Trials Usually Discontinued: Study

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Among the 1,000 randomized clinical trials initiated between 2000 and 2003, approximately 25 percent were discontinued, the most common reason cited being poor recruitment of volunteers; and less than half of these trials reported the discontinuation to a research ethics committee, or were ever published, according to a study in the March 12 issue of emJAMA/em. Conducting high-quality randomized clinical trials (RCTs) is challenging and resource-demanding. ...

Increased Risk of Hospitalization and Respiratory Support for Patients Who Need Repeat Emergency Treatments for opioid overdose

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Increased need of hospitalization and requirement of respiratory support with a mechanical ventilator is found in patients brought to emergency departments more than once in a year for treatment of opioid drug overdoses. A study conducted by Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) investigators also identified factors that increased the risk of subsequent overdoses requiring emergency department visits. "To our knowledge this is the first study that has identified ...

Two of Pelvic Prolapse Surgeries Found to be Similarly Effective and Safe

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Similar rates of success and safety found in two surgical treatments for a form of pelvic hernia affecting women, say scientists in a National Institutes of Health research network. A guided exercise therapy to strengthen pelvic muscles did not add to the benefits of either surgery. The surgical procedures and exercise therapy are used to treat pelvic organ prolapse, an often uncomfortable and sometimes painful weakening of the pelvic organs that may affect women ...

Brain Function Boost Retained Long After School With Education

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European populations are growing older on average, and this could pose serious challenges to health care, budgets, and economic growth. As a greater proportion of a country's population grows into old age, average cognition levels and national productivity tend to decline, and the incidence of dementia increases. "Finding ways to improve the cognition of seniors is of central importance to the economic well-being of aging countries," says IIASA researcher Vegard ...

Fighting Brain Damage from Stroke With a Substance Naturally Found in Humans

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A molecular substance found naturally in humans and rats can 'substantially reduce' brain damage after an acute stroke and help in better recovery, says a new animal study by researchers at Henry Ford Hospital. The study, published online before print in iStroke/i, the journal of the American Heart Association, was the first ever to show that the peptide AcSDKP provides neurological protection when administered one to four hours after the onset of an ischemic ...

Comparable Incontinence and Prolapse Procedures in Women

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Safety and efficacy are comparable in two common procedures to treat pelvic organ prolapse without vaginal mesh, reveals a research published in the latest issue of the iJournal of the American Medical Association/i. Researchers also found that behavioral and pelvic floor muscle therapy (BPMT) did not improve urinary incontinence or prolapse symptoms in affected women. Pelvic organ prolapse occurs when the uterus and/or vaginal walls protrude outside of the ...

Nepal Plans Leasing Himalayan Peaks: Official

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Himalayan peaks planned to be leased to private tourism, said a Nepal official on Tuesday, in a bid to ease traffic on Mount Everest and help jumpstart the economy. The proposal would involve hiring out some of the 326 Himalayan peaks that are currently open, in an attempt to lure climbers away from the main drawcard of Everest amid fears of congestion. It one of several new measures -- including lower mountaineering fees -- designed to attract more ...

The Upside of Feeling too Sad for Chocolate

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The gratification and the pleasure of consuming excessive chocolate and deep-fried foods is instant, but it can pave way to a double-edged sword of negative consequences ranging from weight gain to feelings of low self-esteem. A new study in the iJournal of Consumer Research/i reveals that combating this type of self-destructive behavior may be achieved simply by making a person feel sad. "We found that when people who are sad are exposed to pictures of indulgent ...

Following Patients After Hip Fracture Surgery With New MRI That can 'See Through' Metal Screws

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The most common type of hip fracture, the femoral neck fracture, increases the risk of complications for the patients. A special type of MRI developed at Hospital for Special Surgery in collaboration with GE Healthcare can show a detailed image following fracture repair, without the distortion caused by metal surgical screws that are problematic in standard MRIs. Each year, more than 340,000 people suffer a broken hip in the United States. The femoral neck, the ...

Gestational Diabetes Linked to Increased Risk for Heart Disease

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Gestational diabetes may increase the risk of early heart disease later in life, finds study published in the iJournal of the American Heart Association/i. "Our research shows that just having a history of gestational diabetes elevates a woman's risk of developing early atherosclerosis before she develops type 2 diabetes or metabolic syndrome," said Erica P. Gunderson, PhD, MPH, study lead author and senior research scientist in the Kaiser Permanente ...

Pain After Knee Replacement Surgery is Reported More in Women Than Men: Study

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Serious pain following a knee replacement surgery is more common in middle-aged women with rheumatoid arthritis or arthritis resulting from an injury, as found by researchers from Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS) in New York have found. One of the biggest concerns patients have is the amount of pain they will have after knee replacement surgery. Although it is a very successful operation overall to relieve arthritis pain and restore function, persistent postoperative ...

Magnet Hospitals Have Higher Quality of Care

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A new study conducted by scientists finds magnet hospitals show higher job satisfaction and lower odds of patient mortality than non-Magnet hospitals. Magnet However, only nine percent of American hospitals are recognized as Magnet. Currently, there is little research into the causes of the differences between Magnet and non-Magnet hospitals, research that could create an infrastructure for positive change in nurse and patient outcomes. Now research from New ...

New Treatment for Anorexia Identified

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Oxytocin (love hormone) could provide a novel treatment option for anorexia nervosa, says research. The study, published today, found that oxytocin alters anorexic patients' tendencies to fixate on images of high calorie foods, and larger body shape. The findings follow an earlier study by the same group showing that oxytocin changed patients' responses to angry and disgusted faces. Anorexia nervosa affects approximately 1 in 150 teenage girls ...

First Device to Treat Migraine Gets FDA Nod for Marketing

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The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has given a green signal to the marketing of a device that can help prevent migraine headaches. With this nod, Cefaly Anti-migraine Device becomes the first device to get market approval for treating migraines. The portable, battery-operated device is manufactured by Belgian company Cephaly Technology and is worn across the forehead. Patients above 18 years are advised to wear the device for no more than 20 minutes ...

Check Your Weight as Obesity Ups Risk of Ovarian Cancer: Study

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Researchers have suggested that healthy lifestyle cuts down cancer risks and thus obesity in women ups the chance of developing ovarian cancer. Researchers said that if women have a healthy weight, then the risk of developing ovarian cancer, among other types of cancers, automatically comes down. According to the study, fat tissue produces hormone like compounds that cause inflammation and produce certain proteins that lead to growth of cells and increases ...

Spice Up Holi Party With Desi Delights

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For your taste buds, finger foods are always an indulging delight. Pair them with desi delights like thandaai, jaljeera, masala chaach or traditional masala chai on the festival of Holi as a treat for your tummy. It will however help if you follow some do's and don'ts of serving the perfect Holi snacks, as suggested by McCain Foods Kitchen: * Serve them light: Snacks are not a full meal. They are essentially appetizers which are created ...

Women Prefer Men to be 5 Inches Taller Than Them

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Most women want their partners to be at least 5 inches taller than them, reveals a new survey. Almost one in five respondents said that a gap between four and six inches was the best match in the couple's height and five inches was the ideal, the Daily Star reported. According to the survey, 70 percent of women feel comfortable in a relationship where their man is taller than them, while only a quarter of women and 35 percent of men said that height ...

Healthy Food is Good for You - and You can Sell It too

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The booster club in Muscatine, Iowa took a chance in the fall of 2008. Researchers from the University of Iowa asked whether the club would add healthy foods - from apples to string cheese - to its concessions menu. And, by the way, would it also consider putting healthier ingredients in big sellers like nachos and popcorn? These were no idle requests. Booster clubs across the United States directly support schools' athletic and extra-curricular ...

Individual's Unique Ability Demonstrates Desired Immune Response to HIV Virus

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A person's unique ability to fight HIV has provided key insights into an immune response that researchers now hope to trigger with a vaccine. This is according to findings reported by a team that includes Duke Medicine scientists. The person had a rare combination of both lupus and HIV. Lupus, specifically systemic lupus erythematosus, or SLE, is a disease in which the immune system attacks the body's cells and tissue. In an analysis published March ...

Meet Woman Suffering from Persistent Genital Arousal Disorder Who Has Non-Stop Orgasms

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From South Carolina, a woman who suffers from Persistent Genital Arousal Disorder that gives her uncontrollable orgasms, has claimed that having orgasms all day might sound like fun but for her, it's a living hell. Heather McCuen told a UK publication that she tried everything from intimate botox jabs to anti-depressants and even electric-shock therapy to live a normal life without feeling the need to masturbate, the Daily Star reported. The 40-year-old ...

Blind can 'Hear' Colors and Shapes: Research

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What if you could "hear" shapes? or colors? These features are normally perceived visually, but using sensory substitution devices (SSDs) they can now be conveyed to the brain noninvasively through other senses. At the Center for Human Perception and Cognition, headed by Prof. Amir Amedi of the Edmond and Lily Safra Center for Brain Sciences and the Institute for Medical Research Israel-Canada at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem Faculty of Medicine, the blind ...

Researchers Create New Tool to Unravel the Mysteries of Metastasis

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If one could do this with all the circuit components, then this would allow people to learn how the circuitry is built. "We are now doing this in live cells and seeing what happens," said Hahn, a member of the UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center. "Kinases are the circuit components. And we can now activate just one kinase and study how it interacts with just one other molecule in real time." These kinase circuits are critical for cellular activities, ...

Education Protecting Poor Women from Obesity in Developing Nations

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A new research shows that education and increasing awareness are protecting poor women in developing nations, including India, from the fattening effects of rising wealth. Obesity levels among women in low and middle-income countries tend to rise in line with wealth as they purchase more energy-dense foods. Researchers at the University College London suggest that more educated consumers make better food choices that mitigate this effect. The ...

New Algorithm may Help Divorced Couples Share Their Kids

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A researcher has discovered an algorithm that helps make life easy for divorced couples when it comes to sharing their kids. To discover a model that would allow Physicist Andres Gomberoff and his girlfriend, each of whom have two kids, to see all their kids on the same weekend every other week, the scientist enlisted the help of a few fellow researchers, the Verge reported. The scientists developed an algorithm which allowed each parent to spend time ...

Your Smartphone may Give You Wrinkles

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The use of gadgets such as smartphones could be giving you wrinkles around the neck, as constantly looking down at handheld devices and computers develops a line around the neck and chin. According to CACI international, a U.K. nonsurgical facelift systems manufacturer and supplier, there is an emergence of the new wrinkle 'Techneck' amongst tech-obsessive people, Slate Magazine reported. The CACI, who have noticed a surge in enquiries on combating lines ...

Now Kindergarteners can Do Basic Algebra: Study

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Most preschoolers and kindergarteners can solve basic algebra questions before even entering a math class, reveals a new study. The study, conducted by Johns Hopkins University's Krieger School of Arts and Sciences, has found that children between 4 and 6, can do basic algebra naturally. According to the research, the kids are able to solve questions when the algebra problem is acted out by two furry stuffed animals, using "magic cups" filled with objects ...

Loss of Antioxidant Protein Represses Regeneration of Muscle

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Good news for lifelong exercisers: Physical activity helps to regenerate muscle mass, which tends to diminish as people age, along with its salutary effects on the heart, weight and other facets of health. In a study published in the journal iFree Radical Biology and Medicine/i, researchers from the University of Utah and other institutions found that aged mice lacking Nrf2 that underwent two weeks of endurance exercise stress on treadmills showed poor stem ...

Physical Fitness During Teens Prevents Early Onset of Dementia: Study

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Swedish researchers have found that teenagers who exhibit lower intelligent quotient (IQ) and poor cardiovascular fitness suffer from dementia before the age of 60 years. Researchers said physical exercise helps in better functioning of brain and also produces new nerve cells in adult brain. All these protect the brain from damage and diseases. According to the study, the chance of suffering from dementia with poorer cardiovascular fitness later in life increases ...

California's TTUSD Offers Yoga Class to Highschoolers

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California's Tahoe Truckee Unified School District (TTUSD) is offering yoga classes to its high school students, reveal sources. Hindus have applauded TTUSD for offering yoga in its high schools, and have urged all California school districts to do the same for their pupils. Calling it a "step in the right direction", Hindu statesman Rajan Zed, in a statement in Nevada (USA) today, suggested all school districts of California to incorporate ...

New Technique Uses ATP Trigger to Deliver Anti-cancer Drugs Directly into Cancer Cells

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A new technique that uses adenosine-5'-triphosphate (ATP), the so-called "energy molecule," to trigger the release of anti-cancer drugs directly into cancer cells, has been developed by biomedical engineering researchers. Early laboratory tests show it increases the effectiveness of drugs targeting breast cancer. The technique was developed by researchers at North Carolina State University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. "This is ...

Contact Lenses Best for Babies Following Cataract Surgery

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Implantation of an artificial lens is the standard of care among adults and children who undergo cataract surgery. But a clinical trial suggests that for most infants, surgery followed by the use of contact lenses for several years-and an eventual lens implant-may be the better solution. The trial was funded in part by the National Eye Institute (NEI), a component of the National Institutes of Health. A cataract is a clouding of the eye''s lens, and can be removed ...

CT Scans may Help Predict Chemotherapy Response in Pancreatic Cancer

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Important secondary benefit may be observed by using computed tomography scans to guide the treatment of those suffering from pancreatic cancer. According to new research from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, the scans also reflect how well chemotherapy will penetrate the tumor, predicting the effectiveness of treatment. The research, published in the iJournal of Clinical Investigation/i, is the first human study to address the issue of chemotherapy ...

Men are Vainer Than Women: Study

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Men are officially vainer than women, a new study has found. According to the Daily Star, British men are the vainest of them all, as they spend a total of 335 days of their life staring at themselves in the mirror. Male grooming habits are escalating at such a rapid pace that beauty experts have even coined a new phrase for them, a study conducted by bathroom retailer Betta Living said. Dubbed "Reflectors" because they spend so long starring ...

Thickness of Brain's Cortex Linked to IQ

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The rate of change of thickness of one's brain's cortex could be important in determining the IQ, a new study found. The study has potentially wide-ranging implications for the pedagogical world and for judicial cases in which the defendant's IQ score could play a role in determining the severity of the sentence. Dr. Sherif Karama, assistant professor of psychiatry at McGill University, psychiatrist at Douglas Mental Health University Institute and ...

History of Kawasaki Disease may Pose health Threats to Pregnancy

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A team of researchers from the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine are attempting to look at the health threats faced by pregnant women having a history of Kawasaki disease. The findings are published in the March 6, 2014 online edition of the emBritish Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology/em. KD is a childhood condition affecting the coronary arteries. It is the most common cause of acquired heart disease in children. First recognized ...

Mother Braves Her Way to Give Birth in the Aftermath of Deadliest Typhoon

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An exhausted but determined young lady gave birth to a baby girl on a remains of the aftermath of the Philippine's deadliest storm. Three days later the 21-year-old was lying on a concrete floor in labour amid broken glass, splintered wood and other wreckage of a destroyed airport building that had been turned into a makeshift medical centre. A military doctor told an AFP journalist who witnessed the birth -- the first at the centre since the typhoon -- that ...

New Diabetes Prevention Website Launched in Asia

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A latest website has been launched to curb the emerging diabetes epidemic in Asia and has the potential to overwhelm health care systems. A new website-the Asian Diabetes Prevention Initiative-aims to put a stop to this deadly epidemic by offering Asian countries authoritative, science-based information to stop the spread of type 2 diabetes. The website is a joint initiative between the Department of Nutrition at Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) and Saw Swee ...

Breast Cancer Patient Treatment Will Improve With New Prognostic Test for Breast Cancer

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A new clinical test for breast cancer which aims to improve patient treatment has emerged from a study by researchers in Nottingham. The Nottingham Prognostic Index Plus (NPI+) could be available to patients within two years. The findings, published in the iBritish Journal of Cancer/i today, could significantly improve the way in which breast cancer patients are treated by giving clinicians more detailed information about a patient's breast cancer ...