Alcohol consumption during pregnancy has detrimental effects on fetal central nervous system development, a study suggests.
Maternal alcohol consumption prior to and during pregnancy significantly affects cognitive functions in offspring, which may be related to changes in cyclin-dependent kinase 5 because it is associated with modulation of synaptic plasticity and impaired learning and memory.
Alcohol consumption during pregnancy has detrimental effects on fetal central nervous system development, a study suggests.
Maternal alcohol consumption prior to and during pregnancy significantly affects cognitive functions in offspring, which may be related to changes in cyclin-dependent kinase 5 because it is associated with modulation of synaptic plasticity and impaired learning and memory.
A few simple lifestyle changes could help protect you against Alzheimer`s.
According to health experts, taking steps to a healthy lifestyle can protect against heart disease, stroke, cancer – and dementia, the Daily Express reported.
Their advice comes amid warnings that rates of the deadly brain disease will triple in the next 40 years unless preventative measures are taken.
Increasing scientific evidence has shown that following a specific diet and exercise routine can reduce the risk of developing dementia by more than half.
Cuba is expected to introduce a new anti-cancer drug that is more effective than its predecessor, media reported.
The new drug, developed by Cuba`s Labiofam Entrepreneurial Group, will be presented once the relevant research is completed, according to Jose Antonio Fraga Castro, director of the organization. He did not say when that might be, reported Xinhua.
A new study has explored why non-drinkers have a higher mortality risk than people who are light drinkers.
As it turns out, the mystery as to why abstaining from alcohol makes you live longer, kind of depends on why you don`t drink.
Multiple studies have shown that the likelihood of dying for people who drink increases as they consume more alcohol.
Those same studies have shown that a person`s mortality risk also increases at the other end of the spectrum – among people who choose not to drink at all – though the risk is still much less than for heavy drinkers.
A polio virus prevalent in Pakistan has been detected in Israel, and the WHO says it does not know how the virus travelled all the way there.
“The virus genotype (or genetic make-up) is the same as prevalent in Pakistan and this is what the research has indicated. We don`t have details how the virus travelled all the way to Israel,” Nima Abid, a representative of the World Health Organisation (WHO) in Pakistan, told the Dawn.
A new study has found that kidney patients who take calcium supplements to lower their phosphorous levels could be at a 22 percent higher risk of death than those who take other non-calcium based treatments.
The study calls into question the long-time practice of prescribing calcium to lower phosphate levels in patients with chronic kidney disease.
The researchers suggest some of the calcium is absorbed into the blood stream and may expedite hardening of the arteries, leading to a higher risk of heart disease and even death.
Even a one-time exposure to nicotine may temporarily change how the brain’s reward system responds to booze, putting smokers at an increased risk of alcohol abuse, a new study has found.
Smoking is a well-known risk factor for subsequent alcohol abuse, but the mechanisms underlying this link were unknown, researchers said.
Now, the study conducted on rats found that even a single exposure to nicotine temporarily changes how the brain’s reward system responds to alcohol and increases the reinforcing properties of alcohol via stress hormones.
A US watchdog is set to revisit the potential risks from cell phone usage.
Scientists and consumer groups have been criticizing the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), as they haven’t revised mobile devices’ standards since 1996.
US scientists have identified a rare genetic mutation that can directly cause obesity in some people.
The study by Boston Children’s Hospital in US involved genetic surveys of several groups of obese humans and experiments in mice.
Mice with the genetic mutation gained weight even while eating the same amount of food as their normal counterparts; the affected gene, Mrap2, has a human counterpart (MRAP2) and appears to be involved in regulating metabolism and food consumption.
Drinking water can sharpen your mind, a new study has revealed.
The University of East London School of Psychology in England has found that subjects who drank about three cups of water – 24 ounces per 775 milliliters- before taking a series of cognitive tests – performed better on a test measuring reaction time than subjects who didn`t drink water.
The researchers speculated that being thirsty may take brain`s attention away from the task at hand, thus slowing response time.
Researchers including an Indian have found that genes linked to chronic inflammation in asthma could be more active in obese people.
First author Paresh Dandona, MD, PhD, SUNY Distinguished Professor and Chief of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism at the University at Buffalo, said that his team findings point the way to the management of asthma in the obese through simple weight reduction.
The drug topiramate, typically used to treat epilepsy and more recently weight loss, could also help people get rid of their cocaine and alcohol addictions, a new study has revealed.
Results from the double-blind, placebo-controlled trial adds to the growing body of evidence supporting topiramate as a promising medication to treat addiction.
Past, separate studies have shown that topiramate can reduce alcohol dependence, as well as reduce relapse to cocaine; however, its use to treat both alcohol and cocaine dependent people has not been explored in a clinical trial.
Sending ultrasound waves to specific areas of the brain can alter patients’ moods, a new study has found.
The discovery by University of Arizona researchers has led them conduct further investigations with the hope that this technique could one day be used to treat conditions such as depression and anxiety.
Dr. Stuart Hameroff, professor emeritus of the UA’s departments of anesthesiology and psychology and director of the UA’s Center for Consciousness Studies, is lead author on the first clinical study of brain ultrasound.
Eating one serving of dark or oily fish a week could lower risk of anxiety in pregnant women, a new study suggests.
Findings showed that pregnant women who never or rarely ate dark or oily fish (salmon and tuna, for example) were 53 percent more likely to experience high levels of anxiety in their third trimester compared with women who ate fish at least once a week, the New York Daily News reported.
Vegetarian women were also 25 percent more likely to have anxiety compared with women who had consumed some fish and meat.
A new study has shown how smoking increases a person`s vulnerability to alcohol abuse.
Smoking is a well-known risk factor for subsequent alcohol abuse, but the mechanisms underlying this link are unknown.
The study conducted in rats showed that even a single exposure to nicotine temporarily changes how the brain`s reward system responds to alcohol and increases the reinforcing properties of alcohol via stress hormones.
A probiotic bacterium which is used to treat irritable bowel syndrome has been found to soothe gut bacterial infections caused by salmonella, paving the way for potential relief from foodborne illnesses that affect millions of people annually, a new study has revealed.
Researchers from the US have been able to correct the genetic fault that causes Down`s syndrome and as a result have raised the prospect of therapy for the disorder.
The researchers took cells from people suffering from the disorder and silenced the extra chromosome, which causes the condition, an English daily reported.
Scientists have lauded the new breakthrough and said that it was the first major step towards a `chromosome therapy.`
The World Health Organisation Wednesday held off from calling for travel restrictions related to the MERS virus striking hardest in Saudi Arabia, after emergency talks on the mystery illness.
In a statement following a session of the UN health agency`s emergency committee — the rarity of which underlined global concerns about MERS — the WHO said that there currently was no reason to step up its level of alert.
A new study revealed that a derivative of DHA (docosahexaenoic acid), a main ingredient of over-the-counter fish oil supplements, can soothe and prevent neuropathic pain caused by injuries to the sensory system.
The research, by Duke University, focused on a compound called neuroprotectin D1=protectin D1 (NPD1=PD1), a bioactive lipid produced by cells in response to external stimuli.
NPD1=PD1 is present in human white blood cells, and was first identified based on its ability to resolve abdominal and brain inflammation.
Scientists have shown that inadequate sleep during pregnancy can lead to complications and hinder normal immune processes, says a study.
Women with depression are more likely than non-depressed women to suffer from disturbed sleep and adverse pregnancy outcomes.
Scientists at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine conducted the research and the study was published in the journal “Psychosomatic Medicine”.
Scientists have found the women who exercise during pregnancy are less likely to require a caesarean birth. And the ones undertaking brisk walking in particular, thrice a week, could reduce their risk of having a heavy infant by half.
The study also shows that exercise lowers the chances of developing a type of diabetes that only affects pregnant women, Daily Mail reported.
In Britain, the C-sections now constitute about 25 per cent of births in England and Wales, or over 190,000 a year, which is today more than double the proportion in 1980.
The international head of the Weight Watchers organization has said that men are vastly better than women at losing weight because they view it as “a war.”
Visiting Australia this week, Weight Watchers’ US-based chief executive David Kirchhoff said that this fact intensely annoys women, who are also burdened by a media-led barrage of negative body image stereotypes.
Guys don’t want to be seen as going on a diet, they want to be seen as getting more fit.
A new study has found that premenopausal women who aren’t interested in sex and are unhappy about this reality have distinctive blood flow patterns in their brains in response to explicit videos compared to women with normal sexual function.
A study of 16 women – six with normal sexual function and 10 with clear symptoms of dysfunction – showed distinct differences in activation of brain regions involved in making and retrieving memories, and determining how attentive they are to their response to sexual stimuli.
A new study has found that vitamin and mineral supplements does not only enhance mental energy and well-being of healthy adults but also those prone to anxiety and depression.
Bonnie Kaplan, Ph.D., professor in the faculty of medicine at the University of Calgary, Alberta, Canada, said that vitamins and mineral supplements can be the alternative to increasing psychiatric medicines for symptom relief of anxiety and depression.
The supplements, she said, also can provide the mental energy necessary to manage stress, enhance mood and reduce fatigue.