Health

Buying gutka (chewing tobacco) in the capital may soon become a thing of the past as the Delhi government has decided to enforce a complete ban on it and other related products in the city.

“The ban would include manufacture, sale, display, transportation and storage,” a Delhi government official said Monday.

Earlier Aug 22, hearing a petition on banning the sale of tobacco, the Delhi High Court had asked the government to take a decision on the matter in two weeks.

The plea was filed by a registered society – Doctors for You.

Obese kids who are older actually consume fewer calories per day than their healthy peers, while younger overweight children consume more calories than their healthy peers.

These findings are the outcome of a new study by University of North Carolina (UNC) School of Medicine paediatrics researchers, who compared the eating habits of overweight children aged between nine and 17 years compared to those younger than nine years.

The absence of related protein molecules, Puma and Bin, prompts immune cells to turn against human organs they are meant to protect and cause type-1 diabets and rehumatoid arthiritis, known as autoimmune diseases.

Daniel Gray and colleagues from the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute’s Molecular Genetics of Cancer division and the University of Ballarat, have discovered that these pair of protein molecules work together to kill so-called ‘self-reactive’ immune cells that are programmed to attack the body’s own organs.

Intake of blood pressure pills could increase the risk of potentially deadly appendicitis by up to 63 percent, a new study has found.

Types of blood pressure pill like ACE inhibitors and ARBs raised the risk considerably in millions of people.

The two types can cause swelling in the bowel which inflames the appendix a vestigial finger-like pouch connected to the large intestine, `The Sun` reported.

When this occurs, it must be removed within hours or a deadly infection can set in. Around 300,000 men and women were studied at the Beth Deaconess Hospital, Boston, US.

Nearly half of women may have mild-to-severe sleep apnoea, according to a new Swedish study.

As many as 50 per cent of 400 adult women who were given overnight sleep tests turned out to have the sleep disorder characterised by abnormal pauses in breathing or instances of abnormally low breathing, during sleep.

Scientists monitored sleep patterns of the women overnight and found that half experienced at least five episodes an hour when they stopped breathing for longer than 10 seconds – the minimum definition of sleep apnoea.

Scientists have now discovered a technique to regularise abnormal heartbeats.

A new freezing technology, called cryoablation, has shown promising results in normalising heartbeats after being tried out at Baylor Jack and Jane Hamilton Heart and Vascular Hospital.

Some 2.5 million Americans alone suffer from abnormal heartbeats or atrial fibrillation, which causes deadly strokes.

A non-invasive approach could free diabetics from the pain of several pinpricks.

A tiny bio-sensor engineered by Fraunhofer Institute for Microelectronic Circuits and Systems IMS, Germany, is able to monitor glucose levels continuously using tissue fluids, such as in sweat or tears, which can be radioed to a mobile device.

In the past, such bio-electric sensors were too big, too imprecise and consumed too much power.

Kindey stones could double the risk of dialysis or kidney transplant later in life for people who have had them, says a study.

University of Alberta faculty of medicine and dentistry researchers Todd Alexander and Marcello Tonelli tracked data of more than three million Albertans over an 11-year period from 1997 to 2009.

They discovered those with a history of kidney stones were twice as likely to have serious kidney problems later in life when compared to people who had never suffered from kidney stones, the British Medical Journal reported.

New research suggests that weight gain of just 1.5 pounds or 0.6 kg per year is fraught with risk, enough to raise blood pressure in college students, with young women being worse off.

“If young people continue to gain 1.5 pounds a year and think it doesn`t matter, they`re misleading themselves and increasing their risk of heart disease,” said Margarita Teran-Garcia, professor of food science and human nutrition at the University of Illinois.

A daily dose of fish oil could boost the brain power in children while improving their behaviour, a new study has claimed.

The study by Oxford University found that children with poor reading skills could have their performance boosted by taking daily supplements of fatty acids found in seafood and some algae, according to new research.

Scientists gave 600mg omega-3 fatty acid pills to 362 children aged seven to nine daily for 16 weeks, the `Daily Mail` reported.

Kindey stones could double the risk of dialysis or kidney transplant later in life for people who have had them, says a study.

University of Alberta faculty of medicine and dentistry researchers Todd Alexander and Marcello Tonelli tracked data of more than three million Albertans over an 11-year period from 1997 to 2009.

They discovered those with a history of kidney stones were twice as likely to have serious kidney problems later in life when compared to people who had never suffered from kidney stones, the British Medical Journal reported.

If you end up with a rash on a new tattoo, don’t brush it off as an allergic reaction or a normal part of the healing process, says a study.

A recent study documents many cases in the Rochester, New York area, of tattoos infected with a type of bacteria often found in tap water. Evidence points to a pre-mixed grey ink, the type used in currently popular portrait or photography tattoos, as the culprit.

A new test could identify individuals who are likely to develop potentially deadly calcium deposits in their tissues and blood vessels, a precursor to chronic kidney disease (CKD).

Heart disease is the number one killer of patients with CKD and vascular calcification is thought to play a major role in it. Such patients often have abnormally high blood calcium levels due to their compromised kidney function and the effects of commonly used medications.

Scientists have discovered that chemotherapy can adversely affect the brain causing thinking and memory problems in patients.

Researchers from the Moffitt Cancer Center in Florida found that chemotherapy drugs could lead to the phenomenon called `Chemo brain` in which cancer patients experience mental fogginess during and after chemotherapy, the Daily Mail reported.

Chemotherapy is a drug or combination of drugs that kill cancer cells, the new study suggested that it can cause cognitive impairment.

Soon you can get rid of that beer belly with a single jab!

Researchers have developed an injection of a tiny capsule, containing heat-generating cells, which they claim can burn abdominal fat.

The mice injected with the capsule in the abdomen initially lost about 20 percent of belly fat.

Researchers were surprised to see that the injected cells even acted like “missionaries,” converting existing belly fat cells into so-called thermogenic cells, which use them to generate heat.

A pattern of disturbed sleep could be an early warning sign of Alzheimer`s disease, suggest scientists.

Working on a mouse model, researchers from the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, found that when the first signs of Alzheimer`s plaques appear in the brain, the normal sleep-wake cycle is significantly disrupted.

region polio-free as the last case of wild polio virus there was reported in Jan 2011 in India, making a regional polio-free certification possible in early 2014, a World Health Organisation (WHO) official said Wednesday.

WHO is working with countries to ensure the region sustains the gains made on polio eradication and achieves the regional polio-free certification in early 2014.

Scientists now have an explanation for why green tea is good for the brain — it lies in the chemical properties that affect the production of brain cells, improving memory and spatial learning.

“Green tea is a popular beverage across the world,” said Yun Bai, professor from the Third Military Medical University, Chongqing, China.

“There has been plenty of scientific attention on its use in helping prevent cardiovascular diseases, but now there is emerging evidence that its chemical properties may impact cellular mechanisms in the brain.”

A pattern of disturbed sleep could be an early warning sign of Alzheimer’s disease, suggest scientists.

Working on a mouse model, researchers from the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, found that when the first signs of Alzheimer’s plaques appear in the brain, the normal sleep-wake cycle is significantly disrupted.

Aborting first-time pregnancies can increase the future risk of premature births by 37 per cent, a new study has claimed.

Researchers from the University of Aberdeen found that women who terminate their first pregnancy could be risking not only their own health but also that of their next baby, the Daily Mail reported.

The study carried out on 6,20,000 Scottish women between 1981 and 2007 found that women who had up to four abortions were no more at risk of premature births than those who had just one.

With encephalitis claiming 13 more lives, the death toll due to the disease in eastern Uttar Pradesh has mounted to 238 this year, health officials said here today.

Additional Director (Health) Diwakar Prasad said that two children each from Gorakhpur and Sant Kabir Nagar, and one each from Kushinagar, Deoria and Bihar died at Baba Raghav Das Medical College Hospital (BRD MCH) yesterday.

Six deaths occurred on Sunday, he said, adding that all 13 deaths occurred at the BRD MCH here.

Vitamin D could help the body fight infections of tuberculosis, enabling patients to recover faster from the deadly disease, a new study has found.

A study led by researchers at Queen Mary, University of London has shown that high doses of vitamin D, given in addition to antibiotic treatment help patients with tuberculosis (TB) recover more quickly.

The findings indicate that high doses of the vitamin can dampen down the body`s inflammatory response to infection with less damage to their lungs.

Taking vitamin D supplements to compensate for its deficiency did not lower LDL or bad cholesterol levels — not at least in the short term, suggests new research.

Researchers from The Rockefeller University, New York, studied 151 people with vitamin D deficiency who received either a mega-dose (50,000 internationals units) of vitamin D3 or placebo (substance containing zero medication) weekly for eight weeks. Their cholesterol levels were measured before and after treatment.

Exposure to perfluoro-octanoic acid (PFOA), a man-made chemical used in the manufacture of lubricants, polishes, paper and textile coatings and food packaging, may be linked with heart disease and peripheral arterial disease (PAD).

PAD is a disease in which plaque builds up in the arteries that carry blood to your head, organs, and limbs.

Plaque is made up of fat, cholesterol, calcium, fibrous tissue and other substances in the blood. When plaque builds up in the arteries, the condition is called atherosclerosis.

If you happen to be one of those who often find it difficult to fall asleep at night, the reason could be usage of cellphones or tablets at bedtime.

Researchers in the US have found using an electronic gadget for just two hours before the bedtime can cause sleep problems, Daily Mail reported Wednesday.

The new study from the Lighting Research Center (LRC) at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute believes the displays cause melatonin suppression.

Melatonin is the chemical that controls our body clock.

Researchers believe that the teenagers are particularly susceptible to the problem.