Health

Scientists have found a way of detecting and quantifying an infant`s risk of autism in the womb itself, says a new study conducted by scientists in the US.

Researchers at the Yale School of Medicine have figured out how to measure an infant`s risk of developing autism by looking for abnormalities in his/her placenta at birth, allowing for earlier diagnosis and treatment for the developmental disorder.

The findings are reported in the April 25 online issue of Biological Psychiatry.

Drinking two or more cups of coffee daily could decrease the risk of breast cancer recurring in patients taking the widely used drug Tamoxifen, a study at Lund University in Sweden has suggested.

In the study, patients who took the pill, along with two or more cups of coffee daily, reported less than half the rate of cancer recurrence, compared with their non-coffee drinking, Tamoxifen-taking counterparts.

A surgeon from Indiana University School of Medicine is hoping to vanquish breast cancer that has metastasized to the brain by using glass, gold, nanotechnology and Greek mythology.

Susan E. Clare, M.D., Ph.D., associate professor of surgery at the IU School of Medicine, is the initiating principal investigator for a 573,000-dollar Department of Defense grant that will allow her to explore a new approach to delivering therapy to brain metastases from primary breast cancer.

Around 5.5 lakh patients in the country require dialysis or kidney transplant, according to the Indian Council of Medical Research.

Dialysis facility is available with central government hospitals like All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, Safdarjung Hospital, Jawaharlal Institute of Post Graduate Medical Education and Research (JIPMER), Puducherry, and Post-Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER), Chandigarh, the Lok Sabha was informed Friday.

Clenching your fist could be enough to help boost your memory, a new study has claimed.

Clenching your right hand may help form a stronger memory of an event or action, and clenching the left may help you recollect the memory later, according to researcher Ruth Propper and colleagues from Montclair State University in US.

Participants in the research study published in the journal PLOS ONE were split into groups and asked to first memorise, and later recall words from a list of 72 words.

A synthetic form of vitamin D, calcipotriol (a drug already approved by the FDA for the treatment of psoriasis), could be a potential new therapy for liver fibrosis, scientists at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies have suggested.

Liver fibrosis results from an excessive accumulation of tough, fibrous scar tissue and occurs in most types of chronic liver diseases.

In industrialized countries, the main causes of liver injury leading to fibrosis include chronic hepatitis virus infection, excess alcohol consumption and, increasingly, nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH).

Prisoners who are psychopaths lack the basic neurophysiological “hardwiring” that enables them to care for others, a new study has found.

“A marked lack of empathy is a hallmark characteristic of individuals with psychopathy,” lead author of the study, Jean Decety, the Irving B. Harris Professor in Psychology and Psychiatry at University of Chicago said.

Psychopathy affects approximately 1 percent of the United States general population and 20 percent to 30 percent of the male and female US prison population.

International experts probing China`s deadly H7N9 bird flu virus said Wednesday it was “one of the most lethal influenza viruses” seen so far as Taiwan reported the first case outside the mainland.

China has confirmed 108 cases and 22 deaths since the first infections were announced on March 31 and Taiwan Wednesday confirmed its first infection in a man who had recently returned from working in eastern China where most cases have been reported.

Researchers, led by an Indian-origin scientist, have identified genes which help female mice and some other mammals delay the onset of pregnancy.

Unlike in humans, the remarkable ability, known as embryonic diapause, is a temporary state of suspended animation that occurs when environmental conditions are not favourable to the survival of the mother and the newborn.

A new study, published in the journal Open Biology, reveals the molecular mechanism responsible for pausing and resuming a pregnancy.

Scientists from the Manchester Collaborative Centre for Inflammation Research (MCCIR) have made a breakthrough that could be used to aid the design of future cancer treatments.

They have discovered why a particular cancer drug is so effective at killing cells.

Professor Daniel Davis and his team used high quality video imaging to investigate why the drug rituximab is so effective at killing cancerous B cells.

It is widely used in the treatment of B cell malignancies, such as lymphoma and leukaemia – as well as in autoimmune diseases like rheumatoid arthritis.

University of Guelph researchers have created the first-ever vaccine for gut bacteria common in autistic children that may help control some autism symptoms.

Brittany Pequegnat and Guelph chemistry professor Mario Monteiro developed a carbohydrate-based vaccine against the gut bug Clostridium bolteae.

C. bolteae is known to play a role in gastrointestinal disorders, and it often shows up in higher numbers in the GI tracts of autistic children than in those of healthy kids.

Deep male voices and high-pitched female voices are perceived as more attractive because listeners gauge the speaker`s body size from the frequency of their voice, according to a new research.

Studies of animals and birds reveal that listeners can perceive a caller`s body size and intension based on the frequency, voice quality and formant spacing of a call.

For example, low frequency growls are more likely to indicate larger body size, dominance or a potential attack, while higher frequency and pure-tone-like sounds suggest smaller size, submissiveness and fear.

Chocolate may increase inflammation that aggravates acne, a new small-scale study has found.

Researchers at the Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Center in the Netherlands, collected blood samples from participants before and after they ate 48 g of chocolate, each day for four days.

The chocolate contained about 30 per cent cocoa.

They then exposed the blood cells to bacteria called Propionibacterium acnes, which contribute to acne when they grow inside clogged pores and cause pores to become inflamed, and to Staphylococcus aureus, another skin bacteria that can aggravate acne.

Washington, April 25 (ANI): Dietary substitution of saturated fats enriched in medium chain triglycerides (MCT) for polyunsaturated fat prevents the development of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), according to new research.

The study was carried out by scientists at the Arkansas Children”s Nutrition Center, a U.S. Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service Human Nutrition Research Center at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences.

Washington, April 25 (ANI): A new study has suggested that drinking one (or one extra) 12oz serving size of sugar-sweetened soft drink a day can be enough to increase the risk of developing type 2 diabetes by 22 percent.

The research was conducted by Dr Dora Romaguera, Dr Petra Wark and Dr Teresa Norat, Imperial College London, UK, and colleagues and comes from data in the InterAct consortium.

Washington, April 24 (ANI): Long term exposure to air pollution may cause heart attacks and strokes by speeding up atherosclerosis, or “hardening of the arteries”, according to a study by U.S. researchers.

Taking a specific form of a vitamin E supplement can give ex-smokers an extra booth in their endeavors toward a healthier lifestyle, new research has found.

In the small study, improvement in blood vessel function associated with the added vitamin E potentially translates into an estimated 19 percent greater drop in future risk for cardiovascular disease.

The recent case of Roona Begum, an 18 months old Tripura girl suffering from a rare illness that has caused her head to swell to more than double its normal size is talk of the town in the Medical fraternity. Doctors across India have expressed amazement at this rare medical condition. This particular illness is termed as `Hydrocephalus` or in a layman’s language commonly termed as ` water on the brain`. This water is basically the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) which serves important functions:

-It protects the brain from damage

-It removes waste products from the brain

Eating grapes can help reduce the buildup of fat and can protect against cardiovascular disease, a new study suggests.

Researchers at the University of Michigan found that natural components found in grapes, known as polyphenols, can aid in the body`s organ function, deterring the chance of metabolic syndrome.

Cutting back on sleep could harm blood vessel function and breathing control, a new study has found.

A bevy of research has shown a link between sleep deprivation and cardiovascular disease, metabolic disorders, and obesity.

However, it`s been unclear why sleep loss might lead to these effects. Several studies have tested the effects of total sleep deprivation, but this model isn`t a good fit for the way most people lose sleep, with a few hours here and there.

Consumption of whole eggs can be a part of a heart healthy diet, even in those with existing coronary heart disease, a new study has found.

Research from Yale University explored the impact of daily whole egg consumption in men and women with coronary heart disease.

The subjects were randomized to consume either two eggs, half a cup of egg substitute or a high-carbohydrate breakfast for six weeks as part of their typical diet.

American doctors have warned that the famous `Cinnamon Challenge`, which involves swallowing a teaspoon of cinnamon in one go, could be more harmful than fun.

The `Cinnamon Dare`, which has been attempted by many youngsters on Youtube, involves trying to swallow one teaspoon of cinnamon without water, often while being filmed,.

But a report has revealed that 30 US teenagers had to undergo medical treatment after ingesting the spice last year.

The report also claimed that cinnamon, which is made from tree bark, can cause scarring in the lungs.

Neuroscientists have described for the first time in exhaustive detail the underlying neurobiology of an amnesiac who suffered from profound memory loss after damage to key portions of his brain.

A simple operation which could effectively cure high blood pressure is being tested on patients in Britain.

The breakthrough treatment could save thousands of lives each year after the trials showed a substantial and permanent reduction in blood pressure and a decrease in drugs needed.

It is hoped the technique will end the need for powerful drugs and help many patients come off daily medication completely.

Bladder cancer is the most expensive cancer to treat over a patient`s lifetime.

Reported statistics show its incidence in India is over 200,000 with ~15,000 new patients diagnosed every year. Worldwide, bladder cancer is the fourth most common cancer in men and eighth in the women, with transitional cell carcinoma (TCC) comprising up to 90% of all primary bladder tumors.