Health

A diet rich in olive oil, nuts and other Mediterranean foods reduces the risk of heart attack, stroke or death from heart disease by up to 30 percent, according to a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

“We observed that an energy-unrestricted Mediterranean diet, supplemented with extra-virgin olive oil or nuts, resulted in a substantial reduction in the risk of major cardiovascular events among high-risk persons,” the study stated.

A discovery could spur a new generation of drugs that would be more effective against the flu virus than current drugs.

The new class of molecular compounds, developed by Simon Fraser University virologist Masahiro Niikura and his doctoral student Nicole Bance, will help develop drugs that the flu virus` strains can`t adapt to, and resist, as easily as Tamiflu, which is becoming less effective against the constantly mutating virus.

Carnosine, which is taken as a dietary supplement, could help protect against a host of diseases from cancer to Alzheimer`s disease, scientists have claimed.

The powerful antioxidant tablet is already used in anti-ageing products and by athletes to delay muscle fatigue.

Now, a new study, published in the Chemistry Central Journal, has revealed that it could offer hope to millions struck down by the devastating illnesses, the Daily Express reported.

Scientists say it could even protect against Parkinson`s and prevent complications of Type 2 diabetes.

Most babies slow in gaining weight within the first nine months catch up by the age of 13, but remain lighter and shorter than their peers, a new study has found.

The University of Bristol study is based on data from 11,499 participants, providing the most conclusive and reassuring evidence for parents that, given the right care, many infants who lag in weight gain catch up by teenage.

Scientists have now backed that starving a fever, the cure recommended in old wives` tale, indeed works.

They believe that food can accelerate the spread of infections.

A team of scientists from Edinburgh University found that well-fed water fleas were more contagious than those given less to eat.

Their study, published in the journal Biology Letters, found that some of the well-fed fleas also lived longer, giving them more time to multiply and spread infection.

Scientists have for the first time explained mechanisms behind the brain`s ability to protect itself from damage due to stroke.

The Oxford University researchers hope that harnessing this inbuilt biological mechanism, identified in rats, could help in treating stroke and preventing other neurodegenerative diseases in the future.

“We have shown for the first time that the brain has mechanisms that it can use to protect itself and keep brain cells alive,” said lead researcher Professor Alastair Buchan in a statement.

A high-dose shot of a common asthma drug, once a month, has been found to be highly effective in treating teens and adults chronically afflicted with severe, itchy rash, says a new study.

Known as omalizumab, the drug was tested on 323 people at 55 medical centres for whom standard antihistamine therapy failed to quell underlying, allergy-like reaction, known as chronic idiopathic urticaria or chronic spontaneous urticaria.

A natural antibiotic created from human sweat could fend off deadly strains of tuberculosis and other dangerous superbugs, researchers claim.

Dermcidin is produced by our skin when we sweat, and it fights off germs when skin is injured by a cut, scratch or bug bite.

Scientists have uncovered the atomic structure of the compound, enabling them to pinpoint for the first time what makes dermcidin such an efficient weapon in the battle against dangerous bugs.

London, February 24 (ANI): People with unresponsive wakefulness syndrome (UWS) – also known as vegetative state – are clinically considered unable to understand pain, and doctors do not give anaesthetic while operating them.

But Alexandra Markl at the Schon clinic in Bad Aibling, Germany, and colleagues have studied people with UWS and identified activity in brain areas involved in the emotional aspects of pain, according to New Scientist.

Washington, February 24 (ANI): Boys who are overweight or obese have lower quality of life scores than their normal weight peers, researchers including an Indian origin have found.

However, overweight/obese and normal weight girls did not show significant differences in quality of life, they said.

The researchers also found that youngsters of either sex whose weight status changed from overweight/obese to normal also saw their quality of life (QOL) scores improve.

Rajouri (Jammu and Kashmir), Feb.24 (ANI): Visitors converged at Tattapani over the weekend to take a dip in the hot water spring, which is believed to possess healing powers for treatment of various ailments.

Tattapani is situated in Kalakote village, about 35 kilometres south east of Rajouri district in the Jammu region.

Water emanating from the Tattapani spring is very hot, and is considered to be the best for skin disorders and joint pains.

An estimated 61.3 million people in India suffer from diabetes, Union Health Minister Ghulab Nabi Azad said Friday.

According to World Health Organisation (WHO), factors responsible for the increase in non-communicable diseases, including diabetes, are unhealthy diet, lack of physical activity, harmful use of alcohol, obesity and tobacco use, the minister said in a written reply in the Lok Sabha.

“The International Diabetes Federation estimates that 61.3 million persons aged 20 years and above in India had diabetes in 2011,” Azad said.

The grieving process could be branded a medical condition if a mourner feels sad for more than two weeks and consults a GP, psychiatrists have claimed.

At present, mourners can feel sad for two months before being told they have a mental disorder, Professor Dale Larson said. Decades ago, a diagnosis could be made after a year.

Early life stress like that experienced by ill newborns appears to take an early toll of the heart, affecting its ability to relax and refill with oxygen-rich blood, researchers have revealed.

The researchers found that pat pups separated from their mothers a few hours each day, experienced a significant decrease in this basic heart function when – as life tends to do – an extra stressor was added to raise blood pressure, said Dr. Catalina Bazacliu, neonatologist at the Medical College of Georgia and Children`s Hospital of Georgia at Georgia Regents University.

The US Food and Drug Administration has approved a first-of-a-kind breast cancer medication that targets tumour cells while sparing healthy ones.

The drug Kadcyla from Roche combines the established drug Herceptin with a powerful chemotherapy drug and a third chemical linking the medicines together. The chemical keeps the cocktail intact until it binds to a cancer cell, delivering a double-shot of anti-tumour poison.

Cancer researchers say the drug may offer a clear advantage over older drugs because it delivers more medication with fewer side effects.

The positive effect of smoking cessation becomes noticeable within a short period of time, according to a new study.

The study found that compared to individuals who continue smoking, the risk of myocardial infarction and stroke is reduced by more than 40 percent already within the first five years after the last cigarette.

Professor Hermann Brenner and colleagues analyzed the data of 8.807 individuals aged between 50 and 74 years using data of Saarland citizens.

Consuming avocados could be associated with better diet quality and nutrient intake level, lower intake of added sugars, lower body weight, BMI and waist circumferences, higher “good cholesterol” levels and lower metabolic syndrome risk, a new study has revealed.

Consuming avocados could be associated with better diet quality and nutrient intake level, lower intake of added sugars, lower body weight, BMI and waist circumferences, higher “good cholesterol” levels and lower metabolic syndrome risk, a new study has revealed.

Our skin secretes an antibiotic called dermcidin, which could act as a potent weapon against tuberculosis (TB) and dangerous bugs, says a study.

A team of researchers from the universities of Edinburgh, Goettingen, Tuebingen and Strasbourg have uncovered the compound’s atomic structure, helping them pinpoint for the first time what makes dermcidin such a powerful weapon against lethal pathogens.

Australian scientists claim to have developed a simple and low-cost blood test that can determine how well cancer patients are responding to chemotherapy, which could help in adjusting its dosage on a case-to-case basis.

According to Queensland Institute of Medical Research, the low-cost test discovered by a team at the institute can determine how well chemotherapy is working in patients suffering from Hodgkin`s lymphoma.

People who are at a greater genetic risk of schizophrenia are more likely to see a fall in IQ as they age, even if they do not develop the condition, according to a study.

Scientists at the University of Edinburgh say the findings could lead to new research into how different genes for schizophrenia affect brain function over time.

They also show that genes associated with schizophrenia influence people in other important ways besides causing the illness itself.

Tomatoes grown organically accumulate higher concentrations of vitamin C, lycopene and sugars, compared to those grown with traditional farming and researchers have put it all down to stressful growth conditions.

In their study, Maria Raquel Alcantara Miranda and colleagues from the Federal University of Ceara, Brazil, compared the weights and biochemical properties of tomatoes from organic and conventional farms.

The obesity epidemic in the United Kingdom has overtaken two-thirds of the male population, leaving less than a third in the ideal weight category, considering that there might also be those with less than normal weight, according to a new finding.

Experts sounded a warning that the out-of-control problem has caused tripling in the numbers hospitalised because of obesity.

Data from the National Health Service showed that the proportion of men now considered a healthy weight, with a body mass index of between 18.5 and 25, reduced from 41 percent in 1993 to 34 percent in 2011.

Triglyceride lipid emulsions rich in an omega-3 fatty acid injected within a few hours of an ischemic stroke can decrease the amount of damaged brain tissue by 50 percent or more in mice, according to a new study.

The results obtained by researchers at Columbia University Medical Centre suggest that the emulsions may be able to reduce some of the long-term neurological and behavioral problems seen in human survivors of neonatal stroke and possibly of adult stroke, as well.

Sugar-free fizzy drinks are no more likely to make you eat junk food than water, researchers have claimed.

Previously, a number of studies had claimed that artificial sweeteners in diet drinks wreaked havoc with hormones and made people feel hungry and crave sweet and fatty foods.

It was believed that artificial sweeteners, due to their intense sweetness, disrupted hunger hormones and encouraged people to eat sweet food.