Health

100 percent muscle power doesn`t come in the way it was believed for the past 50 years, according to scientists.

The basics of how a muscle generates power remain the same: Filaments of myosin tugging on filaments of actin shorten, or contract but University of Washington-led research showed that as muscles bulge, the filaments are drawn apart from each other, the myosin tugs at sharper angles over greater distances, and it`s that action that deserves credit for half the change in muscle force scientists have been measuring.

A new study based on a 20-year follow-up suggests that exposure to several factors in utero and in early life may lead to reduced semen parameters in adulthood – and potentially to a decline in male fertility.

The study found that adverse fetal growth, exposure to maternal smoking, and a lower childhood growth trajectory were all associated with a subsequent decline in testicular function.

A dishwasher can be a hotspot for harbouring harmful fungi like black yeasts, which can cause lung infections, according to a research.

Turkish researchers said that dishwashers with their moist, warm environment are a ‘major indoor niche’ for harmful fungal pathogens, the New York Daily News reported.

For their study, the researchers went to 177 homes and picked about 900 samples from the dishwashers, washing machines, refrigerators, bathtubs, bathroom walls and showerheads.

Women who work shifts are 80 per cent more likely to have fertility problems, a new study has warned.

UK researchers found that shift work also increases the risk of menstrual disruption, while working only night shifts increases the risk of miscarriage.

Shift work, which encourages sleep deprivation and patterns of activity outside the circadian rhythm, has been associated with a greater risk of ill health and loss of well-being in some studies.

Researchers at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston have discovered that hydrogen sulfide — the pungent-smelling gas produced by rotten eggs — is a key player in colon cancer metabolism, and a potential target for therapies for the disease.

In the study, the UTMB scientists describe cell-culture and mouse experiments demonstrating that colon cancer cells produce large amounts of hydrogen sulfide, and depend on the compound for survival and growth.

A team of researchers from the University of Liverpool and University of the West of England, (UWE Bristol), have built a device that can read odours in urine to help diagnose patients with early signs of bladder cancer.

There are currently no reliable biomarkers to screen patients for bladder cancer in the same way that there are for breast and cervical cancers.

Previous research has suggested that a particular odour in the urine could be detected by dogs trained to recognise the scent, indicating that methods of diagnoses could be based on the smell of certain gases.

Raman Thapa (name changed) came to Delhi some 15 years ago. Alone and lonely in an alien city, he soon started visiting a brothel. After some time, he noticed non-itchy skin ulcers in his body and on visiting a doctor got the shock of his life when told he was suffering from a sexually transmitted disease.

An early and late first exposure to solid food for infants might be associated with the development of type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM), a new study has revealed.

The research conducted by Colorado School of Public Health, University of Colorado, Aurora, has found that both early- less than 4 months of age and late- greater than or equal to 6 months of age- first exposure to any solid food was associated with development of T1DM (hazard ratio [HR] 1.91, and HR, 3.02, respectively).

The Supreme Court Monday issued notice to the central and state governments on a plea by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) seeking a country-wide epidemiological survey to identify the magnitude of mental health problems.

The woman, who used to suffer from foot orgasm syndrome – climaxing up to six times a day due to orgasmic sensations triggered by foot – has been cured.

The woman, known only as Mrs A, was able to experience peaks of sexual excitement of a similar level to those she enjoyed with her husband just by walking and even when standing still, 18 months after a gallbladder surgery, the Mirror reported.

Experts researching the bizarre condition at Dutch universities in Utrecht and Leiden witnessed her have an orgasm within three seconds of applying pressure to her left foot.

A new study on rats has found that a female`s exposure to distress even before she conceives causes changes in the expression of a gene linked to the stress mechanism in the body – in the ovum and later in the brains of the offspring.

“The systemic similarity in many instances between us and mice raises questions about the transgenerational influences in humans as well, for example, the effects of the Second Lebanon War or the security situation in the South on the children of those who went through those difficult experiences,” the researchers at the University of Haifa said.

More than a quarter of people over the age of 70s with type 2 diabetes could benefit simply from improving communication and education in the clinic, new research has revealed.

A study led by the University of Exeter Medical School and published in The Lancet found that 27 percent achieved better glycaemic control through individualised care alone.

At the moment, patients over the age of 70 are treated using a blanket method of aggressively reducing blood glucose levels, but that does little to take their complex needs into account.

A new study of China has revealed that high level of air pollution, in the form of particulates produced by burning coal, significantly shortens the lives of people exposed to it.

According to the report co-authored by an MIT economist, 500 million Chinese who live north of the Huai River are set to lose an aggregate 2.5 billion years of life expectancy due to the extensive use of coal to power boilers for heating throughout the region.

Irregular bedtimes in early childhood have been linked with low scores in reading, maths in both boys and girls, a study has suggested.

The study authors looked at whether bedtimes in early childhood were related to brain power in more than 11,000 seven year olds, all of whom were part of the UK Millennium Cohort Study (MCS).

The research drew on regular surveys and home visits made when the kids were 3, 5, and 7, to find out about family routines, including bedtimes.

Consumption of five portions of fruit and vegetables daily can help add at least three years to your life, a new research has suggested.

The study at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm into 71,000 studied 71,706 men and women volunteers in the age group of 45 – 83 for 13 years.

They found that people who didn’t consumed much fruit or vegetables died about 37 months before people who ate five portions daily, the Daily Express reported.

Bright coloured citrus fruits like orange, lemon and lime can make your skin glow.

Bollywood beauty and makeup expert Puja Taluja reveals how these Vitamin C rich fruits, known for their antioxidant properties, work well for your skin.

Lime juice: Take a lime, squeeze it and add it to a glass of warm water with honey in it. Take a spoon and mix the contents well. Drink it every morning before breakfast.

Exercise – even in small doses – can alter your DNA, slashing the risk of obesity and diabetes, according to a new study.

Swedish researchers have described for the first time what happens on an epigenetic level in fat cells when we undertake physical activity.

“Our study shows the positive effects of exercise, because the epigenetic pattern of genes that affect fat storage in the body changes,” said Charlotte Ling, Associate Professor at Lund University Diabetes Centre.

UK’s Secretary of State for Health, Jeremy Hunt, has said that drugs companies believe that they would have found a cure for dementia by 2020.

He said that the answer in the cure for Dementia lay in DNA mapping, claiming that it could also unlock a treasure trove of info to help tackle diseases from dementia to cancer, the Daily Express reported.

Plans are under way for the UK to become world’s first country to map the personal DNA code called genome of up to 100,000 patients.

An anti-ageing cream said to contain the most expensive ingredients to date, claims to make users look five years younger.

Five thousand Brits are already on the waiting list for Cult 51, which costs 125 pounds for a 50ml jar, which is equivalent to 94,000 pounds a ton.

It is said to be clinically proven to reduce the appearance of wrinkles and fine lines by up to 52 percent in 28 days, the Sun reported.

In six weeks it reversed wear and tear by up to five years.

A new study suggests that smokers and single men are more likely to acquire cancer-causing oral human papillomavirus (HPV).

Researchers from Moffitt Cancer Center, the National Cancer Institute, Mexico and Brazil also report that newly acquired oral HPV infections in healthy men are rare and when present, usually resolve within one year.

HPV infection is known to cause virtually all cervical cancers, most anal cancers and some genital cancers.

Researchers including an Indian origin have shed some light on why aspirin benefits some people and not others.

Researchers at Duke Medicine developed a blood-based test of gene activity that has been shown to accurately identify who will respond to the therapy.

The study showed that the new gene expression profile not only measures the effectiveness of aspirin, but also serves as a strong predictor of patients who are at risk for heart attack.

A new study has looked into insulin’s role in lactation success among mothers have difficulty in making enough milk to breastfeed their babies.

The study is the first to describe how the human mammary gland becomes highly sensitive to insulin during lactation.

It is also the first study to get an accurate picture of how specific genes are switched on in the human mammary gland during lactation.

Doctors have failed to identify the rare genetic condition in a 2-year-old toddler, who was born with a severe facial deformity, suffers regular seizures, and is unable to walk, talk or eat solid food.

Aidan Jackowiak Smith of Newcastle, England, was thought to have Proteus Syndrome — which afflicted ‘Elephant Man’ John Merrick — but doctors now think he may have Cloves syndrome, the New York Daily News reported.

No one can figure out what’s causing his condition.

Admission of 26 HIV positive girls to the government primary school at Amboli village in the district has triggered protest by parents of other children.

As the parents have threatened to pull out their wards if these admissions are not cancelled, officials are trying to dispel their fears about HIV infection.

“Over 210 students and their parents, majority of them from Halpati and Vasava communities, are currently staging a sit-in outside the primary school,” said Ali S Joban, husband of the village sarpanch Hameeda Ali.

Swedish scientists have developed a technique to directly measure the extent to which drugs reach their targets in the cell.

The method, developed by researchers at Karolinska Institutet, could make a significant contribution to the development of new, improved drug substances.

Most drugs operate by binding to one or more proteins and affecting their function, which creates two common bottlenecks in the development of drugs; identifying the right target proteins and designing drug molecules able to efficiently seek out and bind to them.