NTA

Developmental, neurologic problems common in extremely preterm infants

Extremely preterm infants born before 25 weeks' gestation often have severe neurologic and developmental disabilities, researchers report in the August 10th issue of The New EnglandJournal of Medicine.The EPICure Study Group identified 308 children born at the gestational age of 25 weeks or earlier in the UK and Ireland. Of these, 283 were assessed for neurologic function Based on their l...

Not all tooth pain may have dental origins!!

The 58th annual session of the American Association of Endodontists in New Orleans, Louisiana, began with a warning from the scientific community. In a terse message, the dentists said that all toothache need not have dental origins and that toothache should not be ignored because it may be the early warning for more important problems. Especially in the third world countries, dental care...

Nearly all asthma deaths preventable

A new survey says nearly all deaths due to asthma can be prevented if the patients and their doctors had better understanding of the disease. According to WHO, around 150 million people suffer from asthma worldwide and nearly 2 lakh people die due to the disease every year. Asthma is a chronic respiratory disease, often linked with allergies, that is characterized by sudden recurring atta...

Experimental treatment for Ebola Virus Shows promising results in mice

Scientists at the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta, Georgia, have said that an experimental treatment for the deadly Ebola virus has shown promising results in mice. In the study, researchers led by Dr. Manish Gupta took antibodies from the immune systems of mice that had survived infection with the deadly Ebola virus and injected them into other Ebola-free mice...

Iron supplementation for a common side effect

Hypertensive drugs in general have a common side effect- cough. Iron supplementation cures the annoying cough that often plagues people on a widely-used blood pressure medication. The angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors are often used to treat high blood pressure, heart failure and other cardiac conditions. But up to 40% of people on ACE inhibitors are troubled by a cough....

Bayer Voluntarily Withdraws BAYCOL - A Drug Associated With 50 Deaths

Baycol is a prescription drug manufactured by Bayer Pharmaceuticals. Baycol, which was initially approved by the FDA, belongs to a statin group of drugs that lowers cholesterol by blocking enzymes that are essential in the synthesis of cholesterol in the body. Bayer Pharmaceuticals has voluntarily recalled its cholesterol drug Baycol( cerivastatin ) because // it has been linked to app...

B Vitamin Supplementatoin Saves Money and Lives

People with high blood levels of the amino acid homocysteine experience more heart attacks and death from heart disease.And giving patients inexpensive and safe therapy with the B vitamins folic acid and cyanocobalamin can lower homocysteine levels. Fortifying foods with B vitamins and giving additional supplements to people with heart disease could save lives and money.// D...

Dental exam reveals stroke risk

More than 60% of deaths from stroke in the US occur among postmenopausal women. Many of them have no warning symptoms. So how can women at risk be detected?// One way may be through having regular and thorough dental exams. A warning sign of stroke risk is atheroma - fatty deposits in the carotid arteries serving the brain. This can be picked up through a dental x-ray. Researchers in...

Complementary and Alternative medicine

Researchers at Harvard Medical School have looked at the use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) in over 2000 people. They find that the use of 20 therapies - from acupuncture to yoga - has increased in popularity since the 1960s. A new survey reveals that complementary and alternative medicine has always been popular, although the type of therapies used has changed over the y...

Periodontal disease and oral cancer may be linked

The Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey has now uncovered a link between Periodontal disease and oral cancer. Periodontal disease is a form of gum disease that causes infection and inflammation of the tissue surrounding and supporting the teeth. The participants of the study where divided into two groups, depending on the measure of gum detachment from the teeth, an ind...

Exercise Can Decrease Mental Decline

According to researchers, seniors who integrate cardiovascular activity into their lives, such as walking, would be lowering their risk of mental decline. // For the study researchers surveyed nearly 18,800 women, ages 70 to 81 years, and asked them to rank their physical activity. The data show women who walked for at least 1.5 hours weekly at a comfortable pace had better cognitive hea...

A Sedentary Childhood Could Lead To Chronic Fatigue Latter In Life

Chronic fatigue syndrome is an often disabling condition that affects primarily women. The condition is characterized by deep-seated fatigue // that cannot be overcome with rest and often worsens with physical activity. The cause of the condition is unknown, and there are no diagnostic tests or cures. A recent study explains that children who have sedentary behaviors are at increased risk...

Men More Likely To Lose Teeth To Periodontal Disease

'Periodontal disease is a major reason for losing teeth as is generally known, but there are some factors that appear to increase one's risk,' said study author Dr. Khalaf F. Al-Shammari, of Kuwait University in Jahra 'These findings // may help in educating the public about these factors that appear to increase their risk for losing their teeth and provide increased attention to avoiding...

One Third Of All Cancers Preventable!

Prevention is better than cure remains a golden statement that has withstood the test of time. It has been proved yet another time with a global survey revealing that nearly one-third of all cancers // can be prevented if nine major culprits are properly taken care of. The study was part of an overall Initiative for Global Health. Amongst, the modifiable risk factors, tobacco leads the m...

Scottish Children Have Worst Dental Health In Europe

A new research has found that Scotland's kids continue to have the worst dental health in Europe with over 75 percent of the country's overall dental problems found in children aged less than five years.// The NHS has taken serious note of this and has asked parents to start their kids off on healthy dental habits at an early age to prevent dental decay. It is generally accepted that de...

Study Finds Low Socio-Economic Status Linked to Poor Dental Health

An article appearing in the American Journal of Public Health says that low income groups and those with little education are more prone to suffer from severe dental diseases//. The study arrived at these conclusions after analyzing data from 15,000 people residing in North Carolina, Mississippi, Minnesota and Maryland. The researchers say that a person's income was intimately tied to t...

Telomerase Vital In Maintaining Ability of Stem Cell to Multiply

Carol Greider, Ph.D., director and professor of molecular biology and genetics in the Johns Hopkins Institute of Basic Biomedical Sciences and colleagues have found that the length of telomeres is important// in ensuring that stem cells are able to divide indefinitely. Telomeres are the ends of the chromosomes that protect genetic information while the chromosome is undergoing division....

Police should work as Mental Health Workers

The executive director, Treatment Advocacy center, Mary T. Zhanowicz, reports that police officers should engage themselves in providing mental support and treatment to people with mental illness//. Law enforcement officers can mentally support and provide care and help to mentally ill persons and prisoners who are psychologically disturbed and there are increased chances of these mentall...

Weizmann Institute of Science says Immune Cells Could Help Maintain Brain Function

New research from the Weizmann Institute of Science throws light on cells that could prevent deterioration of cognition in old age. These findings appear in the February issue of Nature Neuroscience. Professor Michal Schwartz of the Neurobiology Department at Weizmann led the study, //which might have important implication in delaying the onset of cognitive deterioration in the elderly....

Mountain Biking Results In Serious Injuries

When viewed from the point of view of sport, mountain biking has always been considered safe in the past. But today it has become an Olympic sport, and major injuries have become quite commonplace. //As many as three mountain biking injury cases have been reported by the SAGE Publications, which have resulted in cervical spine injuries, causing tetraplegia which is also known as quadriple...

Teething Problems – Fight Sugar For Children’s Dental Healh

Timing and frequency has never been so important when it comes to dental care in children. It appears that these factors are extremely crucial in offsetting cavities and tooth decay, according to the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry (AAPD). // In the words of Dr. Phil Hunke, representing AAPD "Most parents know that they need to watch what their kids eat and make them brush re...

Heart disease correlation to periodontal disease

Higher levels of C-reactive protein, induced by periodontal disease, could carry increased risk of heart disease, according to US researchers.Previous research has suggested that bacteria responsible for oral infections could cause the liver to release increased levels of C-reactive protein and other inflammatory agents associated with cardiovascular disease, but a definite link between t...

Stem cell transplantation of eye

In a significant breakthrough, a team of scientists have successfully transplanted cultured stem cells from the healthy eye to the diseased one, bringing light to the people who nearly lost their sight in accidents. Sustaining the current excitement about stem cells, in all 33 patients who suffered from conditions such as chemical burns, allergic reactions to drug and auto-immune diseases...

Ajanta Launches World's First Once-A-Day Nimesulide Oral Formulation

The Mumbai-based Ajanta Pharmaceuticals (APL) has launched its once-a-day 200mg controlled release nimesulide brand Nimlodi for arthritis. Nimlodi, which was developed by the Company through new drug delivery system, is the world's first once-a-day nimesulide brand for the treatment of arthritis. Ajanta, which manufactures both Allopathic and Ayurvedic medicines, developed this oral formu...

Implantable Contact Lens Found Safe and Effective

A contact lens that is implanted permanently in the eye is safe and effective for treating nearsightedness. The device is intended to be an alternative for laser operations that correct nearsightedness by reshaping the cornea, the clear outer covering of the eyeball, Dr. John Allan Vukich of the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine in Madison told. // Vukich and colleagues analy...

Dangers of Low Calcium Intake

Only 13.5 percent of girls and 36.3 percent of boys age 12 to 19 in the US get the recommended daily amount (RDA) of calcium, placing them at serious risk for osteoporosis and other bone diseases.// Because nearly 90 percent of adult bone mass is established by the end of this age range, the nation's youth stand in the midst of a calcium crisis. Osteoporosis is a pediatric disease wit...

Unnatural death common in mentally ill

Mental illness has an increased risk of death by homicide, suicide or accident. On an average mental health problems like depression or schizophrenia are related to higher rates of suicide.// What's not been clear is whether mental illness also increases the risk of other causes of unnatural death. Researchers at the University of Texas along with other colleagues in Italy did a compar...

A novel augmentation

Scientists from Japan have augmented the cells of frog eyes and ears in a test tube, in the erstwhile step towards grow-your-own organs.The mode uses special cells taken from frog embryos called stem cells. These have the potential to develop into any specific type of cell in the frog's body - heart, skin, muscle and so on.// The major technique used by the team at Tokyo University is...

Heriditary dental disorders

Scientists from NIDCR have created an animal model that mimics two human hereditary dental defects-dentinogenesis imperfecta type II and dentin dysplasia. Dr. Ashok Kulkarni and his colleagues genetically// engineered mice that make extra amounts of TGF-b1 (transforming growth factor beta-1) in their teeth. The animals were born with no apparent defects, but at two weeks their teeth becam...

Tobacco chewing leads to dental caries

Scientists from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) say that tobacco chewers are more prone to caries.The researchers studied dental caries and tobacco use data from more than// 13,000 adults aged 19 and over. The researchers illustrated between the two types of spit tobacco, also called smokeless tobacco, and other types of tobacco such as cigarettes, pipes, and cigar...

Staying mentally energitic prevents Alzheimer's

A new study shows there is some truth in the 'use it or lose it' advice when it comes keeping the brain active. It is long been believed that mental stimulation can protect the brain from Alzheimer's disease.// Researchers at the Rush Alzheimer's Disease Centre in the US now reveal new evidence for this. The report is part of the ongoing Religious Orders Study, involving the cognitive hea...

Dental x-rays to prognosticate heart attacks

According to researchers from the University at Buffalo School of Dental Medicine ,they say that information culled from routine dental X-ray// may serve as an accurate early-warning system of risk of dying from heart attack or stroke. The study was ushered in a population with a high incidence of diabetes. "Results of this study move us closer to the use of panoramic dental radiograph...

Blood Pressure Drugs maintain muscle strength

Drugs used to reduce blood pressure could help to keep elderly people fitter for longer by slowing the physical decline that accompanies age.// ACE inhibitors prevent high blood pressure by blocking an enzyme that causes blood vessels to constrict. The drugs also help to preserve muscle strength in patients suffering from congestive heart failure (CHF). Researchers said the drug...

Heart bypass-mental decline link

Tens of thousands of bypass patients suffer mental decline after bypass surgery, including difficulty thinking and remembering. One leading theory is that the heart-lung machine is the culprit. But according to a new study,// the loss of mental sharpness suffered by many heart-bypass patients several months after surgery may not be caused by the heart-lung machine used in the operating ro...

Periodontal disease may amass the risk of developing Type 2 diabetes

Study results from the Marquette University School of Dentistry suggest chronic periodontal disease may increase the risk of developing Type 2 diabetes.//The research ties the incidence of diabetes in patients with periodontal disease to the release of bacteria into the bloodstream that triggers a reaction from the immune system. Immune system cells can release proteins called cytok...

Experimental drug to fight flu

RECENT research has shown that new compounds developed for preventing and treating the flue have shown promise in animal studies, and may require only one dose to be effective.// The compounds, known collectively as multimeric zanamivir, are based on the existing flu drug relenza, or zanamivir, which the U.S. Food and Drug administration approved in 1999 for treating influenza A and B. R...

Cathine leads to mental health disorder

Cathine a chemical found in a herb called Khat has been linked to an increase in suicide among people who use it. Khat is an African shrub whose leaves remain potent only for a few days after picking.//It has several side effects which include appetite suppression, insomnia and anxiety. Its leaves are packed with the chemical cathine and have a similar effect to amphetamines when ch...

Oestrogen to help mental health

An Australian psychiatrist has discovered that treating patients with oestrogen can reduce the symptoms like delusions and halucinations.// Although antipsychotic drugs like risperidone have been shown to help many people still suffer these. But researchers have suspected for some time that oestrogen can help protect against schizophrenia, because women suffer a milder version of th...

Dental implants are turning to gain popularity

According to a new survey shows that Americans are opting for dental implants to replace problem teeth. If you lose a tooth through accident, injury or decay, //the traditional solution to the problem is to go for dentures - artificial teeth fixed on a bridge that is inserted into the mouth. But implants teeth inserted into the gum and bone by surgery are growing in popularity according...

The advantages of berries

According to researchers feeding rats with black raspberries reduces the risk of colon cancer. It is well known that a good intake of fresh fruits and vegetables may reduce the risk of cancer. Now researchers are beginning to find out more about the protective compounds that various types of produce contain. //The latest report, from researchers at Hopkins University, is about black raspb...