Medindia Health News

Risk of Psychiatric Disorders in Children Born After Fertility Treatment
Bigger Anti-Smoking Warnings on Cigarette Packs for Thais
Blood Test to Predict Breast Cancer
Slow Degeneration in Motor Neurone Mice Seen by Cell Scientists
Molar Pregnancy / Hydatidiform Mole
Investigation on Selling Indigenous Blood Concluded
WHO Warns of Risk of Ebola Spread in West Africa
Improving Monitoring of Kidney Transplant Patients With 'Big Data'
An App That Can Cheer You Up Out Of Laziness
Predicting Risk of Metabolic Syndrome With Big Data Analytics
Melanoma-Specific Genes That Determines Its Aggressiveness Discovered
Meet the the Iron Lady in US Arm Wrestling
Ethnic Background of the Dad may Influence Birthweight
Sexting Makes Teens 6 Times More Likely to Having Sex
New Protein That Inhibits Tumor Growth Discovered
Single Gene Helps Distinguish Aggressive and Non-Aggressive Thymomas
One-third of Knee Replacements in the US are Inappropriate
Supercooled Livers may be a Boon for Organ Transplants
Medics Show Anger at Government's Inaction Over Ebola
Back Pain Treatment Made Easier With Digital Spine Analysis
One-tenth of Adult Deaths Due to Excessive Drinking: US
Guinness World Record Holder Prof. Rela Performs Another Successful Complicated Liver Surgery
Curry Spices Lower Hypertension in Rats, Say Researchers
Aesthetic Nasal Tip Projection, Rotation in White Women Examined

Risk of Psychiatric Disorders in Children Born After Fertility Treatment

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Higher risk of psychiatric disorders is found in children born to women with fertility problems than naturally conceived children. The increase in risk was described as "modest" by researchers from Denmark, but was found to persist throughout childhood and into young adulthood. The results, which are presented today at the 30th Annual Meeting of ESHRE in Munich by Dr Allan Jensen of the Danish Cancer Society Research Center at the University of Copenhagen, were ...

Bigger Anti-Smoking Warnings on Cigarette Packs for Thais

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Warnings on risks of smoking are to be displayed across 85 percent of the surface of cigarette packets, said Thai health authorities on Friday, in a blow to tobacco companies who had fiercely opposed the move. The warnings -- featuring gruesome photographs of smoking-related ailments -- will increase from 55 to 85 percent of the surface of both sides of every cigarette packet, suggests the kingdom's Ministry of Public Health. "The law enforces the enlarging ...

Blood Test to Predict Breast Cancer

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A simple blood test could be used to predict breast cancer in women with predisposition, even if they do not inherit genes associated with the disease, scientists said on Friday. Research has identified a molecular "switch" in blood samples that makes a woman vulnerable to breast cancer. The marker is linked to the BRCA1 breast cancer gene but was also present in those who did not have the mutation and later developed the disease. BRCA1 and ...

Slow Degeneration in Motor Neurone Mice Seen by Cell Scientists

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Slowing down deterioration of mice with motor neurone disease has been done successfully by Japanese stem cell scientists, and this could pave way for eventual human treatment, reveals a new paper. A team of researchers from the Kyoto University and Keio University transplanted specially created cells into mice with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also called Lou Gehrig's, or motor neurone disease. The progress of the creatures' neurological degeneration ...

Molar Pregnancy / Hydatidiform Mole

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Molar pregnancy or hydatidiform mole is a problem that arises during early pregnancy. The tissues that should form the placenta proliferate abnormally to form a benign mass.

Investigation on Selling Indigenous Blood Concluded

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After months-long investigation, Ecuador alleged Friday that a US laboratory sold blood samples taken without consent from an indigenous group, across at least eight countries. The samples were taken from the Huaorani ethnic group of about 3,000 people who live in a corner of Ecuador's isolated Amazon basin region, it is alleged. The group is known for its unique genetic profile and immunity to disease, making it attractive to researchers. The ...

WHO Warns of Risk of Ebola Spread in West Africa

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Warnings of spread of Ebola beyond hard-hit Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone to neighbouring nations has been issued by WHO, adding that travel bans were not the answer. "We want other countries in west Africa to be ready," WHO Ebola specialist Pierre Formenty said on Friday. "I'm talking about bordering countries like Ivory Coast, Mali, Senegal, Guinea-Bissau." Those countries are among 11 nations due to attend WHO-brokered talks on the crisis in Ghana ...

Improving Monitoring of Kidney Transplant Patients With 'Big Data'

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Improving monitoring of kidney patients is possible with a new data analysis technique, and could lead to profound changes in the way we understand our health, suggest researchers in a University of Leed-led study. The research, published in the journal iPLoS Computational Biology/i, provides a way of making sense out of the huge number of clues about a kidney transplant patient's prognosis contained in their blood. By applying sophisticated "big ...

An App That Can Cheer You Up Out Of Laziness

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Are you a lazy person spending most of the time idle and in want of something that can cheer you up out of bed? Here comes an app for people with sedentary lifestyle that can bring about a welcome change in their sedentary behavior, thereby improving their health. Irrespective of the levels of physical activity undertaken, greater sedentary time is a major risk factor for obesity, cardiovascular disease and mortality. Co-researcher Dale ...

Predicting Risk of Metabolic Syndrome With Big Data Analytics

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Analysis of patient records using state-of-the-art data analytics can be done to predict future risk of metabolic syndrome, as demonstrated in research published in /iAmerican Journal of Managed Care/i. More than a third of the U.S. population has metabolic syndrome, a condition that can lead to chronic heart disease, stroke and diabetes. These conditions combine to account for almost 20 percent of overall health care costs in the U.S. The study was conducted by Aetna (NYSE: ...

Melanoma-Specific Genes That Determines Its Aggressiveness Discovered

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More than 40 genes that predict the level of aggressiveness of melanoma, and that can distinguish it from other cancers with a poor prognosis, have been discovered by researchers from the Spanish National Cancer Research Centre (CNIO). The discovery, published in emCancer Cell/em, will help to identify unique aspects of melanoma that could contribute to determine the risk of developing metastasis in patients with this disease. This study is relevant because it ...

Meet the the Iron Lady in US Arm Wrestling

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"Amy Smackhouse" slams down her opponents hand with one hand, and the other hand holding a bottle of bourbon in her latest victory in the women's arm-wrestling tournament. The tongue-in-cheek event aims at humor and to raise money for charity, but there is a competitive edge of sorts. In regular life, Smackhouse is called Andrea Kavanagh, and she works at an environmental non-profit organization. But on stage in the US capital Saturday evening, ...

Ethnic Background of the Dad may Influence Birthweight

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A new study has found that the father's ethnic background can also determine the baby's birth weight.Previous research by Dr. Joel Ray of St. Michael's Hospital has shown that a mother's ethnic background can influence birthweights, and his team's new study shows the same is true for a father. Dr. Ray, a physician and researcher at the hospital's Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute, has studied birthweights among different ethnic groups because babies who are considered ...

Sexting Makes Teens 6 Times More Likely to Having Sex

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To understand if sexting during adolescence is just a technologically enabled extension of flirtation or a risk behaviour, a team of researchers have conducted a study. The latest research, published in the July 2014 issue of the journal emPediatrics/em, found that among middle school students, those who reported receiving a sext were 6 times more likely to also report being sexually active. While past research has examined sexting and sexual behavior among ...

New Protein That Inhibits Tumor Growth Discovered

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An extensively studied protein has now been found to inhibit tumor growth and slow the development of new blood vessels for cancers to metastasize in a new study. The creation of new blood vessels, or angiogenesis, is a vital part of cancer growth and metastasis. Blood vessels carry nutrients and oxygen, which tumors need to survive, expand, and migrate to other parts of the body. A family of proteins called vascular endothelial growth factors (VEGFs) are behind ...

Single Gene Helps Distinguish Aggressive and Non-Aggressive Thymomas

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Researchers have discovered a single gene which may define the difference between a fast growing tumor and a slow growing tumor for Thymoma, a rare form of cancer.Thymoma is a cancer derived from the epithelial cells of the thymus, an organ critical to the lymphatic system where T-cells, or so-called "killer cells," mature. Very little is known about the role of the gene mutation GTF2l in human tumors, but scientists from Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer ...

One-third of Knee Replacements in the US are Inappropriate

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Using a patient classification system, a new report has found that more than one-third of the total knee replacement surgeries in the US could be classified as inappropriate. The study, published in iArthritis (and) Rheumatology/i, a journal of the American College of Rheumatology (ACR), highlights the need for consensus on patient selection criteria among U.S. medical professionals treating those with the potential need of knee replacement surgery. The Agency for ...

Supercooled Livers may be a Boon for Organ Transplants

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A new supercooling technique may help keep rat livers alive for a longer time than before, which may ease shortages of human transplant organs. The method involves cooling the livers while flushing them with oxygen and nutrients and preserving them in a solution containing a form of antifreeze. The livers can be conserved at temperatures below zero degrees Celsius (32 degrees Fahrenheit) yet not freeze and thus suffer cell damage. All rats ...

Medics Show Anger at Government's Inaction Over Ebola

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Officials of Guinean capital Conakry now face the anger of hospital doctors over the Ebola crisis sweeping the country and their hopeful pronouncements about the end of the outbreak. "They lied, so our partners, and even the local population, put down their guard. And this is the result -- the epidemic has spread throughout the country," says Dr Alphadio from the Donka hospital. Guinea is at the heart of west Africa's Ebola outbreak which has seen the ...

Back Pain Treatment Made Easier With Digital Spine Analysis

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Back pain is a common condition experienced by almost all people at some point in their lifetime, and the spine has been the least measured and considered the most amazing engineering phenomenon in our body. Now, India's Qi Spine Clinic has made measuring of spine function easier for spine specialists with the creation of digital spine analysis (DSA), a muscular evaluation of the spine, with the use of a spine function graph. The DSA confers ...

One-tenth of Adult Deaths Due to Excessive Drinking: US

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One in 10 deaths among US adults are caused by excessive alcohol consumption, either due to accidents or medical conditions arising from long-term drinking, research showed Thursday. Each year, alcohol-related deaths cost the US economy (Dollar) 224 billion, mainly in lost productivity, said a report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The report in the journal Preventing Chronic Disease said 10 percent of deaths of people aged 20-64 -- a total ...

Guinness World Record Holder Prof. Rela Performs Another Successful Complicated Liver Surgery

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World-famous liver specialist and a Guinness World Record holder Prof. Mohamed Rela has given a new lease of life to a 49-year-old Pune woman Gunwanti Gundesha by performing one of the most complicated liver transplant surgeries successfully. Gunwanti Gundesha was rushed to the Global Hospital at Parel a month ago on May 29 in a comatose state with complete liver failure. She was emergently placed on a ventilator, and various tests were ...

Curry Spices Lower Hypertension in Rats, Say Researchers

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In rats, curry spices were found to lower blood pressure, say Indian medical researchers. S. Thanikachalam, a cardiology expert who headed the research, said his team had tested a mixture of ginger, cardamom, cumin and pepper -- common ingredients in Indian kitchens -- along with white lotus petals and others on the rodents. "We saw tremendous positive changes in rats induced with high blood pressure during our laboratory experiments," said Thanikachalam, ...

Aesthetic Nasal Tip Projection, Rotation in White Women Examined

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Different definitions of beauty are applicable to faces of different races. strongBottom Line:/strong A nasal tip rotation of 106 degrees was considered the most aesthetic in a study of young white women, although what defines beauty for white faces is not necessarily applicable to the faces of other races or ethnicities. strongAuthor: /strongOmar Ahmed, M.D., of New York University, and colleagues. strongBackground:/strong Rhinoplasty ...