Health

A new study has revealed that high-intensity exercise is protective against coronary heart disease (CHD).

Researchers have found that high-intensity exercise is very beneficial for people who already have heart disease.

K. G. Jebsen from Center of Exercise in Medicine at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) in Trondheim, Norway, analyzed data from four randomized, controlled trials conducted at the centre to try to determine what characterized the most effective high-intensity training programme for this patient group.

Obese men who binge eat are more likely to have elevated cholesterol and high blood pressure than their female counterparts, a new study has found.

Binge eating disorder is defined as the repeated consumption of large quantities of food in a short period of time without some other compensatory activity, such as the vomiting seen in bulimia.

People with binge eating disorder also report feeling of a loss of control over their eating.

Vitamin B supplements may help reduce the risk of stroke, scientists have claimed.

Researchers analysed 14 randomised clinical trials with a total of 54,913 participants. All of the studies compared B vitamin use with a placebo or a very low-dose B vitamin.

Participants were then followed for a minimum of six months. There were 2,471 strokes throughout the studies, all of which showed some benefit of taking vitamin B.

Mindful meditation can help reduce stress, decrease cellular aging, and help patients cope with their illness, according to traditional medicine and eminent researchers.

Researchers have found that doctors who underwent mindfulness meditation training listened better to their patients and were less judgmental at home and at work, the Huffington Post reported.

Researchers have revealed that islet transplantation can produce substantially improved results for patients with type 1 diabetes, as it helps increase levels of insulin production to the degree that patients are able to discontinue daily insulin injections.

In islet transplantation, clusters of insulin-producing cells known as islets are transplanted from a donor pancreas into another person’s liver, while allowing the harvested cells a short period of rest prior to transplant.

A new study has found that paracetamol has a significant effect on exercise performance and the body’s ability to cope with the thermal challenge of exercise in the heat.

The research team have previously shown that paracetamol can improve endurance performance through a reduction in exercise-induced pain.

This study suggests, for the first time, that paracetamol can also improve the length of time someone can exercise for in hot conditions.

HIV in suicide mode! In a breakthrough, researchers, including an Indian origin scientist, have created a microbicide that can trick HIV into killing itself without disturbing any healthy cells.

Pinning down an effective way to combat the spread of the human immunodeficiency virus, the viral precursor to AIDS, has long been a challenge for scientists and physicians, because the virus is an elusive one that mutates frequently and, as a result, quickly becomes immune to medication.

A new saline jab could be a ray of hope for sufferers of chronic back pain.

A saline jab to the spine has been shown to be far more effective than steroids for treating the debilitating condition, the Daily Express reported.

The breakthrough treatment targeting lower back pain means patients would not have to endure the side-effects of drugs now used to treat the problem, experts said.

And it could help save over 12 billion pounds lost every year to the economy by workers forced to take days off because of crippling pain.

A group of Russian scientists claim that the Chaga fungus, which commonly grows on birch trees, could target the HIV virus.

According to the Wall Street Journal’s Emerging Europe blog, mushrooms found in certain parts of Siberia could hold a promising answer to the deadly AIDS virus.

Scientists at Siberia’s Vector research institute said that the Chaga mushroom could not only hold strong medicinal purposes, but fight against viruses like HIV, smallpox, and even influenza, the New York Daily News reported.

A new study has found definitive associations between certain lifestyle and demographic factors and levels of a promising early biomarker of type 2 diabetes risk.

Over the last decade, researchers have amassed increasing evidence that relatively low levels of a protein called sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG) can indicate an elevated risk of type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome years in advance.

Dr. Simin Liu, professor of epidemiology and medicine at Brown, led an effort to measure SHBG levels in 13,547 women who take part of the national Women’s Health Initiative.

Scientists successfully vacuumed a 2-foot blood clot out of a patient’s heart in order to save his life.

Todd Dunlap, 62, arrived at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center’s emergency room on August 8 suffering from shortness of breath, fatigue and extreme cold. A CT scan revealed a 24-inch clot stretching from his legs into his heart, and doctors feared that it could break loose and lodge in his lungs, blocking oxygen and killing him instantly.

Scientists have identified a new gene that may have the ability to prevent HIV from spreading after the virus enters the body.

The study led by King’s College London is the first to identify a role for the human MX2 gene in inhibiting Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), the virus that causes AIDS.

Researchers said this gene could be a new target for effective, less toxic treatments where the body’s own natural defence system is mobilised against the virus.

Acids kept in the open in empty soft drink and packaged drinking water bottles lead to catastrophic accidents.

According to doctors, if not treated, ingestion of small amount (10ml) can lead to irreversible damage to food pipe and lifelong inability to eat and drink.

Sir Ganga Ram Hospital authorities say 20-25 cases reach the hospital’s emergency every year with peak incidence
between 1-3 years of age.

Ingestion of such corrosives burn the food pipe from inside and cause ulcers in it. These ulcers bleed and

The belief that men who retire early from their job are at a higher risk of dying sooner is not true, according to a new research.

Australia’s Centre of Excellence in Population Aging Research said that there is no such effect and that men retiring early are no more set to die at any age than those who continue their job, the Sydney Morning Herald reported.

Lead Australian author John Piggott and researchers from Norway took advantage of a ‘natural experiment.’

In 1989, Norway introduced an early retirement program, which covered some firms and not others.

A new study has found that red grapes and blueberries can enhance immune function in humans.

In an analysis of 446 compounds for their the ability to boost the innate immune system in humans, researchers in the Linus Pauling Institute at Oregon State University discovered just two that stood out from the crowd – the resveratrol found in red grapes and a compound called pterostilbene from blueberries.

Researchers have suggested that a tree bark that is used in Samoa to make medicinal tea, could help treat AIDS.

Dr Paul Wender of Stanford University has said that an AIDS medicine made from Samoa’s mamala tree could be available in the next 18 – 24 months.

Wender and others, which includes AIDS researchers Paul Cox and Stephen Brown, heard about mamala’s use as a remedy for viral hepatitis in Falealupo at the most western point of Samoa.

The risk of severe depression could be reduced by a healthy diet, a new study has revealed.

The study of 2,000 men was conducted at the University of Eastern Finland.

Anu Ruusunen, MSc, said that the study reinforces the hypothesis that a healthy diet has potential not only in the warding off of depression, but also in its prevention.

Depressed individuals often have a poor quality of diet and decreased intake of nutrients.

Although chest pain is recognized as a symptom of heart troubles, a new study has found that one out of five women aged 55 years or less having a heart attack do not experience this symptom.

The study led by the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre has implications for emergency room healthcare professionals and for at-risk individuals, as seconds matter when it comes to the accurate diagnosis and treatment of heart attack.

Senior author of the study, Dr. Louise Pilote, said that chest pain, age and gender are no longer the definers of a heart attack.

Scientists have found that people affected by cold sores have a mutation in a gene, which means their immune system is not able to prevent the blisters from developing.

Researchers at the University of Edinburgh have solved the long-standing mystery behind why some people are troubled by cold sores while others are not.

Cold sores are clusters of small blisters on the lip and outer edge of the mouth caused by a strain of the herpes simplex virus – herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1).

By binding multiple molecules of a common leukemia drug with nanodiamonds, scientists have managed to boost the delivery of the drug to leukemic cells and retain the drug within the cells to combat the cancer.

This novel discovery, reported for the first time, addresses one of the major challenges in the treatment of leukemia where the cancer cells develop ways to pump drugs out of the body before they can do their job, particularly after they are exposed to chemotherapeutics.

With summer coming to a close, and kids heading back to school and preparation for fall begins, we shouldn’t forget to consider fall allergies.

An estimated 35 million Americans suffer from allergies, which in the fall begin in late August and peak in September.

For those with fall allergies, three triggers typically occur – ragweed, indoor allergens and infections.

A new research has found that a cancer drug has the potential to treat diabetes.

A pair of studies by researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine has identified a molecular pathway — a series of interaction among proteins — involved in the development of diabetes. Furthermore, they have found that a drug already approved for use in humans can regulate the pathway.

The studies, done in mice, identify a previously unexpected link between a low-oxygen condition called hypoxia and the ability of cells in the liver to respond to insulin.

Animal experiments have shown that prenatal alcohol exposure in utero, especially during the early stages of pregnancy, can cause fetal alcohol syndrome.

The pharmacological and toxicological mechanisms of ethanol are considered to be related to the effects of ceramide.

As an important signal transduction molecule, ceramide participates in a variety of cellular transduction pathways and can modulate cell cycle, cellular differentiation, proliferation, and apoptosis.

Researchers have found that people wrongly accused of a crime are often less stressed than the guilty at an early stage, but during police interrogation they lose their energy and motivation to continue defending themselves and admit to a crime they didn’t commit.

To better understand what leads to false confessions, Max Guyll, an assistant professor of psychology, and Stephanie Madon, an associate professor of psychology, measured various indicators of stress, such as blood pressure, heart rate and nervous system activity.

While irregular periods are common among teenage girls, researchers have warned that if erratic menstrual cycles persist later into the teen years, girls should see a specialist to determine if they are suffering from Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS).

PCOS is an endocrine disorder that is characterized by an excess of androgens or male hormones in the body. The imbalance of hormones interferes with the growth and release of eggs from the ovaries, which can prevent ovulation and menstruation.