Health

A new study has found that playing an instrument at a young age might make you healthier later in life.

Dr. Nina Kraus, professor of neurobiology at Northwestern University, said what is seen in an older adult who has made music is a biologically younger brain, Fox News reported.

Kraus said that the fact that your cognitive sensory reward system is so engaged in the process of playing music seems to strengthen those circuits that are worked for music …and those functions that are important for language.

The study is published in the Journal of Neuroscience. (ANI)

A new research has found that cranberries provide unique bioactive compounds that may help reduce the incidence of certain infections, improve heart health and temper inflammation.

Ten worldwide experts in cranberry and health research contributed to the article, including scientists and medical experts from Tufts University, Pennsylvania State University, Boston University, Rutgers University, French National Institute for Agricultural Research, University of East Anglia in the United Kingdom and Heinrich-Heine-University in Germany.

A new research has found that men with prostate cancer who ate a low-fat diet and took fish oil supplements had lower levels of pro-inflammatory substances in their blood and a lower cell cycle progression score, than men who ate a typical Western diet.

According to lead author William Aronson from UCLA, the findings are important because lowering the cell cycle progression (CCP) score, a measure used to predict cancer recurrence, may help prevent prostate cancers from becoming more aggressive.

A new study has found that women who go to sleep and woke up at same time every day had lower body fat.

Brigham Young University exercise science professor Bruce Bailey studied more than 300 women from two major Western US universities over the course of several weeks and found that those with the best sleeping habits had healthier weight.

The study found that getting less than 6.5 or more than 8.5 hours of sleep per night is associated with higher body fat and that quality of sleep is important for body composition.

A new study has revealed that drinking more milk as a teenager apparently does not lower the risk of hip fracture as an older adult and instead appears to increase that risk for men.

Diane Feskanich , Sc.D., of Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard University, Boston, and colleagues examined the association between remembered teenage milk consumption and risk of hip fracture at older ages in a study of more than 96,000 men and women with a follow-up of more than 22 years.

During the follow-up, 1,226 hip fractures were reported by women and 490 by men.

Women who are obese face an increased risk of developing an aggressive sub-type of breast cancer known as ‘basal-like’, scientists, including one of Indian-origin, have found.

Researchers at the University of North Carolina found that obesity radically alters the cellular microenvironment of mammary glands in ways favourable to the growth of basal-like tumours.

The basal-like subtype, an aggressive form of breast cancer, is found in 15 to 20 per cent of women diagnosed with breast cancer, with a high percentage of cases found among young and African-American women.

Experts have warned that many men who are unhappy with their bodies are resorting to unsafe dietary and exercise habits and risking suffering from ‘bigorexia’ disorder or muscle dysmorphia.

People suffering from muscle dysmorphia believe that they are never muscular enough, Sky News reported.

Dr Stuart Murray, an expert on muscle dysmorphia, has revealed that around 1 percent of the UK population has the illness or symptoms of it.

Murray said that when he looked at the data over the last 30 years, he found that the number of men dissatisfied with their body had tripled.

Researchers have identified genes that put some children at particularly high risk of serious asthma attacks.

An international team led by researchers from the University of Copenhagen studied the genes of 1,200 young Danish children aged between two and six who had been hospitalised several times because of severe asthma attacks, and compared them with 2,500 healthy people.

In a bid to bolster tuberculosis control in India, a new programme was announced by a private firm Monday allowing special grants for technology-driven ideas to control the disease.

The grants will be made available by the “Grand Challenges in Tuberculosis Control” (GC-TBC), an initiative by Innovation Knowledge Progress (IKP) Knowledge Park, Hyderabad.

This year, the programme primarily focuses on seeding Indian innovators to better TB treatment methods, using innovative techniques, a release said Monday.

Researchers have developed a more accurate way to calculate low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, the so-called ‘bad’ form of blood fat that can lead to hardening of the arteries and increase the risk of heart attack and stroke.

Seth S. Martin, M.D., a cardiology fellow at the Johns Hopkins Ciccarone Center for the Prevention of Heart Disease, said that the standard formula that has been used for decades to calculate LDL cholesterol often underestimates LDL where accuracy matters most- in the range considered desirable for patients at high risk for heart attack and stroke.

Researchers have found that weight reduction program decreases atrial fibrillation and symptom severity.

Hany S. Abed, B.Pharm., M.B.B.S., of the University of Adelaide and Royal Adelaide Hospital, Adelaide, Australia and colleagues evaluated the effect of a structured weight reduction program on atrial fibrillation symptoms.

The study was conducted between June 2010 and December 2011 among overweight and obese patients with symptomatic atrial fibrillation.

Researchers have discovered a simple way to further predict a diabetic patient’s risk for heart disease: by measuring their body mass index or BMI.

The Intermountain Medical Center Heart Institute researchers measured coronary artery plaque buildup in study participants, they discovered that a major controllable predictor of heart disease was BMI. Simply put: the greater the patient’s BMI, the greater their risk for heart disease.

Lean protein, satiety, low carbohydrates and fat burning are four buzzwords that are commonly associated with weight management.

Linda Milo Ohr has revealed 12 foods and ingredients that are tipping the scales towards better health.

A new study has found that women complain of bloating and irritable bowel syndrome more than men.

Cynthia M. Yoshida, MD, author of ‘ No More Digestive Problems’ has asserted that people should eat what is right for their bodies like berries, pumpkin and leafy greens, and avoid small carbohydrates that are not easily absorbed during the digestion process, the Huffington Post reported.

Gastroenterologist Patricia Raymond said that gulping air while gulping down your food is the most common cause of bloating.

Taking a single pill of beauty vitamin supplement every day can help protect skin against the ageing effects of a harsh winter, according to a new research.

The first clinical trial into the effect of a micro-nutrient beauty supplement found that it improves the condition of the skin in the coldest months.

A new study has revealed that 38 minutes or longer of Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) can improve the chance of a person surviving cardiac arrest.

Sustaining CPR that long also improves the chances that survivors will have normal brain function, researchers said.

Research has found that early return of spontaneous circulation- the body pumping blood on its own- is important for people to survive cardiac arrest with normal brain function. But little research has focused on the period between cardiac arrest and any return of spontaneous circulation.

India has earned the dubious distinction of becoming the world’s capital of coronary heart disease and diabetes, says a wellness expert.

Conducting a fitness workshop for journalists at Mumbai Press Club here, leading wellness expert Namita Jain said that several studies exposed the health hazards faced by stress-ridden Indian society.

She was speaking on the occasion of ‘World Diabetes Day’ observed recently.

Experts have warned that many men who are unhappy with their bodies are resorting to unsafe dietary and exercise habits and risking suffering from ‘bigorexia’ disorder or muscle dysmorphia.

People suffering from muscle dysmorphia believe that they are never muscular enough, Sky News reported. Dr Stuart Murray, an expert on muscle dysmorphia, has revealed that around 1 percent of the UK population has the illness or symptoms of it.

A new study has suggested that bariatric or weight loss surgery may not only help obese people keep the weight off, but also it may actually reverse the effects of aging.

Researchers at Stanford University have found that people who underwent a gastric bypass operation elongated their telomeres- caps on the ends of chromosomes- that they say may be a measure of longevity, CBS News reported.

Dr. John Morton, an associate professor of surgery at Stanford University Medical Center, conducted the study on 51 people- mostly women- before and after they underwent a gastric bypass.

A new study has revealed that enhanced extracts made from special antioxidants in spearmint and rosemary reduce deficits caused by mild cognitive impairment, which can be a precursor to Alzheimer’s disease.

Susan Farr, Ph.D., research professor geriatrics at Saint Louis University School of Medicine, said that although the study suggested that eating spearmint and rosemary is good for you, their experiments were in an animal model and she doesn’t know how much- or if any amount- of these herbs people would have to consume for learning and memory to improve.

A study of the most popular smoking cessation smartphone apps has found that very few actually adhere to key evidence-based practices shown to help smokers quit. Researchers at the George Washington School of Public Health and Health Services conducted a study of the most downloaded cessation apps for iOS and Android and found out that smartphone apps may not give people the guidance they need to quit smoking, or recommend approved medications, Cnet reports. According to associate professor Lorien C.

Scientists have developed a revolutionary new procedure to treat high blood pressure that could save lives and improve quality of life for millions of hypertension sufferers.

Final results of a three-year clinical trial led by Monash university assessed the novel procedure to treat blood pressure.

The study, conducted in Australia and Europe, found that the initial reports of a six-month blood pressure lowering benefit in this group of patients, who have treatment resistant hypertension, are sustained out to three years.

International experts raised the alarm Wednesday over the spread of drug-resistant malaria in several Southeast Asian countries, saying it endangers major global gains in fighting the mosquito-borne disease that kills more than 600,000 people annually.

While the disease wreaks its heaviest toll in Africa, it’s in nations along the Mekong River where the most serious threat to treating it has emerged.

The availability of therapies using the drug artemisinin has helped cut global malaria deaths by a quarter in the past decade.

Caffeine found in coffee leads to an increased production of adrenaline which stimulates energy production and improves blood flow to the muscles and the heart, says an expert.

According to John Stanley, lecturer in biochemistry, Trinity College, caffeine could modulate fatigue and influence ratings of exertion, perceived pain and energy levels, all of which are likely to lead to improvement in performance.

A donor’s age may have no impact on the outcome of corneal transplants, a study in the US journal Ophthalmology said Friday.

Corneas from 71-year-old donors are likely to remain as healthy as those from donors half that age 10 years after their transplant, Xinhua cited from the study, funded by the US National Institute of Health (NIH).

The study of 663 participants found that the transplant success rates for corneas from donors aged 12 to 65 and aged 66 to 75 after 10 years was similar at 77 percent and 71 percent respectively.