New York, February 10: Taking various glaucoma medication lowers the risk of death in sufferers from different causes, a new study finds.
Glaucoma — an eye condition in which damaged optic nerve leads to progressive, irreversible loss of vision — is the second leading cause of blindness.
According to the study of Ophthalmology, glaucoma drugs, regardless of their type, increase the survival rate in the affected patients.
Washington, February 10: While secondhand smoke had long been known to have cancer-causing properties, a new study reports thirdhand smoke has the same effects.
“Smoking outside is better than smoking indoors but nicotine residues will stick to a smoker’s skin and clothing,” said lead researcher Lara Gundel.
According to the study substantial levels of toxins are found on smoke-exposed material long after the cigarette has been put out.
London, February 10: FDA approves rosuvastatin (Crestor) for the primary prevention of cardiovascular disease, making it the first statin recommended to be used in healthy individuals.
Many studies have pointed out the fact that more than half of the patients who experience heart attacks or other cardiovascular problems have normal blood cholesterol levels.
London, February 10: Making Internet a diagnostic tool, a British mother is said to have used search engine Google to detect her daughter’s brain tumour after doubting doctors held the child was simply “attention-seeking”.
25-year-old Carly Hornbuckle was certain her little girl Bella was seriously ill when she kept being sick in the mornings and lost weight. But doctors told her the four-year old was probably playing up because she was “unsettled” after the arrival of baby sister Imogen.
Melbourne, February 10: Severely obese teens who had surgery to limit what they could eat lost more weight and enjoyed more health benefits than those who did an intensive lifestyle program, researchers said on Tuesday.
They said 21 of 25 severely obese teens aged 14 to 18 who underwent a form of gastric banding lost more than half of their excess weight compared with just 3 out of 25 who did a diet, exercise and behavior modification program.
Chennai, February 10: With 11 more legal aid clinics for the HIV infected to come up in the State on Wednesday, positive persons in 16 districts of the State will be served by free legal services and counselling.
The districts in which one clinic each will be inaugurated on Wednesday are Chennai, Dharmapuri, Villupuram, Krishnagiri, Salem, Tiruchi, Tirupur, Karur, Theni, Tuticorin and Kanyakumari.
Coimbatore, February 10: An MBA girl student died of swine flu at a private hospital in the city today.
The 21-year-old student, a resident of Rathinapuri in the city, was admitted to the hospital three days ago with symptoms of fever and throat pain.
As the symptoms continued for the fourth day today and her condition worsened, her swab samples were sent to a testing centre where it tested positive.
She was then taken to the government hospital here, hospital sources said adding however she was declared brought dead.
—-PTI
Washington, February 10: First Lady Michelle Obama stepped into the limelight Tuesday to lead a campaign that will seek ways of reducing childhood obesity, which affects nearly one third of children in the US.
The new public awareness campaign marks one of the highest-profile policy assignments yet for the first lady since President Barack Obama took office in January last year.
The Obamas hope to improve coordination within the government and work with parents, schools and communities to improve nutrition, increase exercise and change other habits of US children.
Washington, February 09: Preschool children are less likely to become obese if they regularly eat dinner with the rest of the family, get adequate sleep and limit television watching time.
In a large US sample, the study showed that four-year-olds living in homes with all three routines had an almost 40 percent lower prevalence of obesity than did children living in homes that practised none of these routines.
Sydney, February 09: Every single moment the brain is forced to process thousands of separate odours from the world around us. Through a new study of honeybees, scientists have discovered the brain has an advanced ability to isolate specific odours and recollect smells.
“There is a lot of information coming into the brain whenever a scent is detected and it would be difficult to process it all,” says Judith Reinhard, who led the study at the University of Queensland (UQ) Brain Institute.
London, February 09: High levels of vitamin D are linked with a lower risk of colon cancer, according to a comparison of more than half a million Europeans, published by the British Medical Journal (BMJ).
Patients with the highest levels of vitamin D in their blood had a nearly 40 percent lower risk of colorectal cancer compared to those with the lowest levels.
Washington, February 09: Women over 40 are nearly twice as likely to give birth to an autistic child than a mother under 30, researchers said Monday in a study that found more evidence of links between autism and maternal age.
The father’s age had nearly no impact on the child’s risk of autism unless the father is older and the mother is younger than 30, according to the 10-year study, which examined 4.9 million births in the 1990s.
Paris, February 09: A common antidepressant weakens or cancels the beneficial effects of a standard treatment for breast cancer, according to a study released today.
Women who take the mood drug paroxetine – better known by its brand names Paxil and Seroxat – at the same time as the breast cancer medication tamoxifen face an increased risk of death, researchers reported.
The antidepressant alone has no impact on the course of the disease but should not be taken at the same time as anti- cancer drug, the study recommended.
London, February 09: In a key breakthrough, scientists claim to have discovered a pill which can reverse the effects of osteoporosis by healing brittle bones.
An international team has claimed that the once-a- day drug, LP533401, can make brittle bones strong again and if taken for six weeks, it can cure osteoporosis in certain cases and stop it developing in others.
Importantly, and unlike most of the osteoporosis drugs already in use, the new pill actually builds new bone, rather than simply slowing the breakdown of old bone.
Berlin, February 09: For people who want to stop snoring, it often helps if they sleep on their side or with their upper body in a slightly raised position, the German Otolaryngologists Association noted.
Losing weight can also help and snorers should refrain from a nightcap before going to bed, it said.
Sometimes a minor operation is advisable to stiffen soft palatal tissue. The German ear, nose and throat doctors said the procedures significantly increased the quality of patients’ sleep – they wake up rested again and are no longer so tired during the day.
—-Agencies
London, February 09: Girls as young as ten are falling pregnant, shocking new figures have revealed.
Over the past eight years, no fewer than 15 girls found they were expecting when they were aged just ten. A further 39 found out they were pregnant when they were 11.
Since 2002 there have been 63,487 pregnancies among under-15s in England and Wales: a total of 23 conceptions every single day among girls too young to legally have sex.
Washington, February 08: Youngsters, who self-identify as gay or lesbian or who are unsure of their sexual identity, are at higher suicide risk, a new study has claimed.
Health experts have long-known that gay, lesbian and bisexual youth face significantly elevated risks of mental problems, including suicidal thoughts, but a new study by a team from McGill University in Canada found that self-identity is the crucial risk-factor rather than actual sexual behaviours.
London, February 08: AstraZeneca has struck a deal with the commercial arm of a British charity to try and develop a new class of a “cancer metabolism” drugs.
The aim is to exploit the fact cancer cells use energy differently to normal cells, by creating new drugs that control cell metabolism in order to attack tumors whilst sparing normal tissues, the two partners said.
The three-year alliance will work on a portfolio of projects selected by Cancer Research UK’s commercialization and development arm, Cancer Research Technology (CRT).
London, February 08: Estrogen-only hormone replacement therapy (HRT) may increase the risk of developing asthma after the menopause, scientists said on Monday.
The findings, from a major study involving almost 58,000 women in France over 12 years, add to a growing body of evidence suggesting a link between some female hormones and asthma.
French and Mexican researchers found that compared with women who had never used any form of HRT, those who did use it were 21 percent more likely to develop asthma, but the risk of asthma was most significant in those using estrogen alone.
New delhi, February 08: A “Walk for Life” initiative was flagged off by Gursharan Kaur, wife of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, here on Sunday to raise awareness of cancer, show solidarity with people afflicted by the disease, and raise funds for their palliative and supportive care services.
The walk — a CanSupport initiative which was supported by the American Center and Max India Foundation — saw the participation of Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit and United States Ambassador to India Timothy Roemer.
Hyderabad, February 07: Nearly 50 per cent of the children aged between three and six in the twin cities have been suffering from malnutrition, data available with the Hyderabad District Collectorate has revealed .
The issue came to light after officials of Women and Child Welfare Department took up a programme to ascertain the weight of children .
London, February 07: Pig lungs could be transplanted into humans to overcome a shortage of donor organs after a medical breakthrough.
Australian scientists have paved the way for animal-human transplants in as little as five years, after keeping pig lungs alive and functioning with human blood.
The breakthrough came after scientists at Melbourne’s St Vincent’s Hospital were able to remove a section of pig DNA called the Gal gene, which made the pig organs incompatible with human blood.
Washington, February 06: After insisting for a year that failure was not an option, President Barack Obama is now
acknowledging his health care overhaul may die in the US Congress.
His tone at a Democratic National Committee fundraiser yesterday night verged at times on defeatist. Even while saying he still wanted to get the job done, Mr. Obama bowed to new political realities.
Democrats no longer command a supermajority in the Senate, and voters and lawmakers are far more concerned with jobs and the economy than with enacting sweeping and expensive changes to the health system.
New Delhi, February 06: After months of wait, India is likely to start swine flu vaccination from Feb 19 and tens of thousands of medical practitioners will get the first doses of the imported vaccine to distribute among the people.
The country has received 1.5 million doses of vaccine from multinational pharma firm Sanofi Pasteur in two installments – 500,000 doses Wednesday and one million doses Thursday – a senior health ministry official told IANS.
London, February 06: Scientists have come up with a new method that isolates and destroys sick cells using lasers and nanoparticles at Rice University.
The scientists administered lasers to create “nanobubbles” by zapping gold nanoparticles within the cells.
“Single-cell targeting is one of the most touted advantages of nanomedicine, and our approach delivers on that promise with a localized effect inside an individual cell,” said Rice physicist and lead researcher on the project Dmitri Lapotko.