Health

Bonn, July 06: Revenge may be sweet, but it could damage your health and make you unhappier than most other people, according to a study by German and Belgian researchers.

The study conducted among 20,000 people by the universities of Bonn and Maastricht also revealed that people who like to pay back perceived injustices also have fewer friends and are less satisfied with life.

The researchers wanted to find out what influence character traits such as positive and negative acts of reciprocation had on “success” and “satisfaction with life.”

Hamburg, July 06: Night shift work is strenuous, but the potential health problems, such as obesity and cardiovascular disease, may be much bigger than previously thought, according to a recent study.

The study conducted by Harvard University in Boston and published in the online edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences revealed a higher risk of diabetes, obesity and cardiovascular disease among night shift workers.

Ludhaina, July 06: As many as 260 patients were examined today at a free medical camp organized by DMCH in the OPD block of the hospital. The consultants from the specialties of Medicine, Pediatrics, Skin, Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Orthopaedics, Eye, ENT and Urology examined the patients.

Mumbai, July 05: As the details of Michael Jackson’s medication come out in the open, it reminds us that it’s not just narcotics that can addict us but prescription drugs, too, can be just as addictive.

Dr Shrikant Shinde is a 25-year-old post-graduate medical student with a reputed Pune hospital for a specialisation in pediatrics — hardly the addict kind. Yet, his addiction to painkillers has followed a similar path.

San Francisco, July 05: It might take Californians a puff or two to get their heads around an apparent contradiction recently enshrined in state law. The same marijuana smoke that doctors can recommend to ease cancer patients’ suffering must soon come with a warning saying it causes the disease.

State environmental regulators last month voted to place marijuana smoke on its list of hundreds of substances known to cause cancer. The decision could lead to warning signs in medical marijuana dispensaries and labels on packaged pot within a year.

New Delhi, July 05: Youth in India and China face huge risks from party drugs like Ecstasy and Adam because of their large populations and increasing disposable income, a senior UN official has warned.

Besides, these synthetic drugs are easily available as they can be produced in the kitchen unlike heroine or cocaine, says Christina Albertin, who heads the UN Office on Drugs and Crime for South Asia.

Wellington, July 05: Roll-your-own cigarettes, favoured by some smokers who think they are safer than the factory-made products, could be more dangerous, even when filters are used, according to research released in New Zealand on Sunday.

Dr Murray Laugesen, a public health specialist based in Christchurch, said a study found that smokers of roll-your-owns inhaled 28 per cent more smoke, even though they contained less tobacco than factory-made cigarettes, because they tended to suck more intensively.

London, July 05: Parents might be alienating their kids by allowing them to play computer games for too long, according to a leading author.

Bernadette Tynan, a former child development academic, insists that the solitary nature of the games might have an adverse impact on parent-child bond, which is believed to be key to development.

“Parents are right to be concerned about online products as some do tend to focus on solitary time and do little to help build parent-child relationships,” the Scotsman quoted Tynan as saying.

New York, July 05: Children who are overweight and wet the bed at night may have obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), researchers report.

Both being overweight and wetting the bed are associated with the nighttime breathing disorder, they found. However, overweight and bedwetting are not associated with each other.

In a “case-control” study, Dr. Joseph G. Barone, of Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, New Brunswick, New Jersey, and colleagues performed overnight sleep studies in 149 children between the ages of 5 and 15 with OSA, and 139 matched control children.

Washington, July 05: Teens who suffer from migraine headaches are more likely to get lower grades, and less likely to graduate from high school, or attend college than those who don’t have migraine, according to a study.

Conducted by Joseph Sabia, a professor of Public Policy at American University’s School of Public Affairs, and Daniel Rees, a professor of Economics at the University of Colorado Denver, the study is the first to have examined effect of migraine in teens on future academic achievement.

New Delhi, July 04:A Thai national was found suffering from swine flu, taking the total number of influenza A (H1N1) cases in India to 129, said an official statement Saturday.

‘The only new case reported Saturday was of a 23-year-old Thai national who travelled from Bangkok to Mumbai by Thai Airways flight TG 317 that reached Mumbai June 28 and proceeded further to Kandla port (in Gujarat) to board a ship on which he is a crew member,’ it said.

Washington, July 04: Queen’s University biologists have revealed that insight into the locust’s brain may offer a novel way to manipulate human brain to stave off diseases like migraines, stroke, and epilepsy.

The researchers said that a similarity in brain disturbance between the insect and human sufferers of migraines, stroke, and epilepsy could open pathways for development of new drug therapies.

London, July 04: Scientists are focussing on bacteria-killer proteins known as colicins to potentially open the way to new medicines.

A team led by Colin Kleanthous, biology professor from the University of York, will study how colicins use decoys to mimic key parts of the cells’ own protein machinery to evade their defences.

Wellington, July 04: Three people have died of swine flu in New Zealand, the Ministry of Health announced on Saturday, reporting the country’s first fatalities from the H1N1 virus.

It said the chief coroner had reported that it was “strongly probable” the H1N1 virus was a major factor in the death of a 19-year-old man in Hamilton on Sunday and a 42-year-old man in Christchurch on Thursday.

A Ministry statement said that a young girl with underlying medical conditions died on Saturday morning in Wellington Hospital after testing positive for swine flu.

London, July 04: A new breed of sweet potato is being touted as the superfood of the future, with experts saying the vegetable may stop people from getting cancer.

The designer sweet potato, grown for its anti-cancer purple pigment, is also said to contain anti-aging and antioxidant chemicals, the Daily Telegraph reported.

Soyoung Lim, a researcher from Kansas State University, developed the variety of sweet potato with a purple skin and flesh to boost its cancer-fighting properties.

Washington, July 04: Well planned vegetarian diets are healthy and nutritious for all age groups and help prevent heart diseases, cancer, obesity and diabetes.

Winston Craig, professor of nutrition and wellness at Andrews University, and Reed Mangels, nutrition advisor at the Vegetarian Resource Group, Baltimore, conducted the study on behalf of the American Dietetic Association (ADA).

Washington, July 04: Suffering from diabetes? Fret not, just adopt a proper and healthy diet, for a new study has revealed that using lifestyle interventions on top of existing drug treatments can help controlling high blood sugar levels.

A team at University of Otago has provided intensive dietary advice to improve blood sugar control in diabetics — even though they’re on what is regarded as the best available medication.

London, July 04: Scientists are focussing on bacteria-killer proteins known as colicins to potentially open the way to new medicines.

A team led by Colin Kleanthous, biology professor from the University of York, will study how colicins use decoys to mimic key parts of the cells’ own protein machinery to evade their defences.

Cancun (Mexico), July 04: World Health Organization head Margaret Chan has warned a forum in Mexico that the swine flu virus worldwide is now unstoppable.

The WHO says most H1N1 cases are mild, with many people recovering unaided.

As the summit opened, the UK alone was projecting more than 100,000 new cases of H1N1 a day by the end of the summer.

“As we see today, with well over 100 countries reporting cases, once a fully fit pandemic virus emerges, its further international spread is unstoppable,” The BBC quoted Dr. Chan, as saying in her opening remarks.

Mexico, July 03: At least 337 people have died from swine flu, which has also sickened 80,000 others in 121 countries, the World Health Organization (WHO) said Thursday. Keiji Fukuda, WHO assistant director-general, announced the agency’s updated figures at a two-day summit on influenza being held in the Mexican resort city of Cancun.

Washington, July 03: Experts suggest that it is ‘alluring’ even for well-behaved children to emulate ‘bad’ characters on a film screen”.

But the study also shows that movie characters who smoke, regardless of whether they are a ‘goodie’ or a ‘baddie’, overall influence teens’ smoking tendencies.

Susanne Tanski, the lead author on the study, and an assistant professor of paediatrics at Dartmouth Medical School in the US, said: “It’s true that ‘bad guys’ are more often smokers in the movies, but there really are not that many ‘bad guys’ compared to ‘good guys’.

Washington, July 03: In a landmark finding a team of international scientists have identified the immune system link to schizophrenia, the devastating mental disease thought to be caused by the interaction of both genetic and environmental factors.

The researchers also showed the condition is genetically similar to bipolar disorder also known as manic depression.

New Delhi, July 03: In a bid to give much-needed breather to lakhs of asthma patients as well pharma majors like Cipla, India has sought exemption for ozone-depleting choloroflurocarbons (CFC) based metered-dose inhalers (MDI) under Montreal Protocol for 2010.

The exemption request has come after five drug companies including Sun Pharma, Cadila, Midas and Cipla expressed their inability to switch-over from CFC based asthma inhalers to non-CFC based inhalers by the target period of 2009, citing financial and technical reasons, environment officials said.

London, July 03: A new method developed by researchers helps women whose ovaries have been struck by cancer to have babies. Pascal Piver, who manages the in vitro fertilisation centre at Limoges University Hospital in France, described a new, two-step method of ovarian transplant that has produced excellent results in women whose ovaries have been frozen because of cancer treatment.

He said that his team’s technique worked to restore ovarian function quickly and already one patient from his clinic had had a baby and another had become pregnant.

Mexico, July 03: The UN’s top health official has opened a forum in Mexico on combating swine flu by saying that the spread of the virus worldwide is now unstoppable.

World Health Organization head Margaret Chan added that the holding of the meeting in Cancun showed confidence in Mexico, which has been hard hit.

The WHO says most H1N1 cases are mild, with many people recovering unaided.

As the summit opened, the UK alone was projecting more than 100,000 new cases of H1N1 a day by the end of the summer.