Health

Food Technology magazine’s contributing editor Linda Milo Ohr has written about some food that have a beneficial effect on lowering blood pressure.

Results from a study of 32 pre-hypertensive adult subjects showed that a patented grape seed extract may help to lower both systolic and diastolic blood pressure after just eight weeks (Polyphenolics, 2013a).

A study (Katz et al, 2012) showed that 56 g of walnuts a day cut systolic blood pressure and did not lead to weight gain.

A researcher has said that a promising new malaria vaccine being tested by GlaxoSmithKline is a step in the right direction, but much more economical methods are needed.

Laura Harrington, professor of entomology at Cornell University and an expert in global health and epidemiology, said that despite a resurgence in the global effort to fight malaria, the war on this deadly mosquito borne infection has overwhelmed scientists, policy makers, and government officials alike.

The search for viable alternative to sugar is now gathering steam.

The Credit Suisse study notes that stevia—an all-natural alternative to sugar and high-fructose corn syrup—is one increasingly popular alternative.

Major beverage companies in particular are rapidly adopting stevia, and Coca-Cola has recently launched their first stevia cola drink, Coke Life, in Argentina that is sweetened with stevia and has half the calories of the original. Many further initiatives—involving stevia and other sugar alternatives—are underway.

A new randomized controlled trial has found that overweight and obese adults following a community-based weight loss intervention, namely Weight Watchers, lost more weight than people who tried to lose weight on their own.

Those in the Weight Watchers group were provided with three access routes – group meetings, mobile applications, and online tools – and further analysis found those who used all three access routes together lost the most weight.

Severe liver damage, and even failure, has been associated with weight loss supplements, a herbal supplement and energy drinks, according to various case studies.

There have been many reports of toxicity associated with dietary supplement use over the years, some with severe and even fatal outcomes.

Lead investigator Dina Halegoua-De Marzio, M.D., reported a rare case of fulminant liver failure associated with the ingestion of SlimQuick, a weight loss supplement containing green tea extract.

Researchers including an Indian-origin scientist have claimed that high-priced cigarettes and smoke-free homes can help effectively reduce smoking behaviours among low-income individuals.

Principal investigator John P. Pierce, PhD, professor and director of population sciences at UC San Diego School of Medicine, and colleagues found that expensive cigarettes – 4.50 dollar or more per pack – were linked with lower consumption across all levels.

Scientists have developed new drugs that – at least in a laboratory dish – seems to stop the brain-destroying impact of a genetic mutation at work in some forms of two incurable diseases, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and dementia.

Researchers including an Indian-origin scientist have claimed that high-priced cigarettes and smoke-free homes can help effectively reduce smoking behaviours among low-income individuals.

Principal investigator John P. Pierce, PhD, professor and director of population sciences at UC San Diego School of Medicine, and colleagues found that expensive cigarettes – 4.50 dollar or more per pack – were linked with lower consumption across all levels.

A new research has claimed that among elderly people showing no signs of dementia, hardening of the arteries could lead to the beta-amyloid plaques in the brain – hallmark of Alzheimer’s disease.

The study involved 91 people with an average age of 87 who did not have dementia. Researchers took scans of the participants’ brains to measure any plaques in the brain.

The amount of stiffness in the participants’ arteries was measured about two years later.

A new study has suggested that early preventative measures can help reduce back pain.

Experts have claimed that prompt help can spare the sufferers from their agony, the Daily Express reported.

According to the research by the Work Foundation think-tank, doctors are not taking back pain and similar conditions seriously enough because they are not life threatening, and making sure patients are fit to work is not regarded as important as other “clinical” priorities.

High blood pressure during pregnancy could dramatically increase a woman’s stroke risk, according to a new research.

Dr. Aravind Ganesh, a neurology resident at the University of Calgary, said that they’ve found that women who had high blood pressure during pregnancy could be at higher risk of stroke, particularly if they had pre-eclampsia, which is a more severe form of high blood pressure.

He said that the elevated risk of stroke could be as high as 40 per cent.

High-intensity interval training combined with Mediterranean diet counselling can help improve the heart health of people with abdominal obesity, a new study has suggested.

Author Dr. Mathieu Gayda, one of the study’s authors and an exercise physiologist at the Montreal Heart Institute, said that each of these lifestyle interventions alone is known to have an impact, but no one has studied them together in a longer term.

He said that their results show that the combination of the two interventions supersized the benefits to heart health.

A new study has suggested that early preventative measures can help reduce back pain.

Experts have claimed that prompt help can spare the sufferers from their agony, the Daily Express reported.

According to the research by the Work Foundation think-tank, doctors are not taking back pain and similar conditions seriously enough because they are not life threatening, and making sure patients are fit to work is not regarded as important as other “clinical” priorities.

The brain cleans itself of toxic metabolic by-products while one is asleep and this cleansing could be the basic purpose behind the state of rest, say experts.

The brain’s unique method of waste removal, dubbed the glymphatic system, is highly active during sleep, cleaning toxins responsible for Alzheimer’s disease and other neurological disorders, revealed the US journal Science.

Researchers from the University of Rochester, New York, also found that during sleep the brain’s cells reduce in size, allowing waste to be removed more effectively, Xinhua reported.

There is no scientific evidence to prove that emissions from mobile phones cause health related problems, including changes in brain activity, reaction times, and sleep patterns, studies by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and a French government expert group have showed.

“Studies to date provide no indication that environmental exposure to RF (radiofrequency) fields, such as from base stations, increases the risk of cancer or any other disease,” the WHO said in an advisory.

A new research based on the Cova Forada Neanderthal fossil has shown that hominid used toothpicks to mitigate pain caused by oral diseases such as inflammation of the gums, periodontal disease.

It is the oldest documented case of palliative treatment of dental disease done with this tool.

The study was aimed to show the correlation between the use of toothpicks and an attempt to alleviate sore gums in a Neanderthal maxilla recovered from the archaeological site of Cova Forada.

Researchers have revealed that even though increased age is associated with lower levels of episodic memory and with more frequent tip-of-the-tongue experiences, the two phenomena seem to be largely independent of one another.

Anecdotal evidence has suggested that tip-of-the-tongue experiences occur more frequently as people get older, but the relationship between these cognitive stumbles and actual memory problems remained unclear, according to psychological scientist and lead author Timothy Salthouse of the University of Virginia:

A new study has revealed that taking certain blood pressure medications may decrease the risk of dementia due to Alzheimer’s disease (AD).

A team of researchers found that people over the age of 75 with normal cognition who used diuretics, angiotensin-1 receptor blockers (ARBs) and angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors showed a reduced risk of AD dementia by at least 50 percent. In addition, diuretics were associated with 50 percent reduced risk in those in the group with mild cognitive impairment.

Scientists have for the first time developed a blood test to determine if a person is suffering from Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), or another serious condition such as Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD).

Researchers have conclusively identified a test for antibodies that form against a particular protein, vinculin, found in the guts of patients, many of whom suffered acute gastroenteritis at some point.

A new study has revealed that taking certain blood pressure medications may decrease the risk of dementia due to Alzheimer’s disease (AD).

A team of researchers found that people over the age of 75 with normal cognition who used diuretics, angiotensin-1 receptor blockers (ARBs) and angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors showed a reduced risk of AD dementia by at least 50 percent. In addition, diuretics were associated with 50 percent reduced risk in those in the group with mild cognitive impairment.

A new study has revealed that children born to teen mothers have less developed speaking skills at age five than kids of older mothers.

Dr. Julia Morinis, the lead author and researcher in the Centre for Research on Inner City Health of St. Michael’s Hospital said that they don’t believe that having a baby in your teens is the cause of underdeveloped speaking skills.

It’s likely that being a teen mother is a risk factor that indicates poorer circumstance for development opportunities in some cases.

(ANI): A simple blood test may be the best way to determine if a patient is suffering from Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), or another serious condition such as Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD), according to a new research.

Researchers conclusively identified a test for antibodies that form against a particular protein, vinculin, found in the guts of patients, many of whom suffered acute gastroenteritis at some point.

A new study has suggested that negative affectivity is linked to light alcohol use and binge drinking during pregnancy, showing that 16 percent of women had light alcohol use in the first trimester and 10 percent in the second trimester.

It was found that binge drinking occurred in 12 percent of women during their first trimester and 0.5 percent in the second trimester.

Experts describe negative affectivity as the tendency to experience negative emotions such as anxiety and depression.

On the occasion of World Food Day Wednesday, street food vendors across the country launched a campaign to promote their potential to provide healthy and nutritious food, a statement said here.

“We are the guarantors of food security and have the potential to provide healthy and nutritious food,” read banners that have been put up by street vendors at several locations here.

The campaign will continue till Oct 26 and includes food safety and hygiene training Oct 21 for the street vendors.

China’s ministry of commerce (MOC) Tuesday told baby formula importers to be accurate when recording sales data and for there to be no monopoly in the industry, which has been plagued by quality and price-manipulation scandals.

The ministry vowed to provide more convenient approval procedures for qualified importers, but told them to set reasonable prices and eradicate price manipulation and other moves that amounted to unfair competition, Xinhua reported citing a ministry statement.