OPL

Bad News for Short People

A report from June issue of the American Journal of Epidemiology reports that People of shorter stature face higher mortality rates than taller people from most causes except cancer. In a study of more than 30,000 men and women undertaken by Dr.Pekka Jousilahti and his colleagues from the National Public Health Institute in Helsinki, Finland, it was found that there was an association bet...

New hope on the Horizon for People Wishing to Quit Smoking

Smoking is one of the most difficult addiction to give up. In an exciting research done at the University of Toronto in Canada it was found that medication called methoxsalen ( this is currently used to treat skin disorders) may help addicts who wish to give up smoking. Nicotine replacement, in the form of a patch or gum, to keep the level of nicotine in blood up witho...

Antioxidants protect health tissue in people undergoing radiation therapy.

A recent finding by Indian scientists revealed that two antioxidants in black pepper and turmeric- piperine and curcumin were found to help protect the bacterial DNA from damage by irradiation in test organism. Spices with antioxidants property have radio protective effect and protecting organisms like Escherichia role and Bacillus megaterium organisms (taken for study) against of gamma...

Skinny people need to exercise too

Every one knows that exercising reduces the risk of heart disease. But almost everyone feels that exercising is only for obese and fat people. But recent study shows that skinny people are also prone to developing heart diseases because fitness and fatness are both important factors in the genesis of various heart ailments. Dr. Peter T. Katzmarzyk of York University in North York, Canada...

Prescription Drug - Helps People Stop Smoking

The Mumbai-based Sun Pharmaceutical Industries entered the antismoking segment with its "Smoquit" (buproprion 150mg tabs) recently. The medication in Smoquit has been used for over a decade as an antidepressant, albeit at a different dose. The Rs. 13.50-per tablet priced Smoquit, the first pharmacotherapy ever available for the treatment of smoking problem, is a prescription drug and is r...

Five People Treated For Anthrax In Indonesia

A worrying anthrax outbreak in Makassar, Indonesia, has infected at least five people working in a slaughterhouse, an official stated, reports Jakarta Post // . The human infections came to light after official confirmation that about 30 cows and water buffaloes in Tamangapa subdistrict have died of anthrax recently. The local health office earlier did medical checks on the fi...

Height of ignorance in people!

People are very ignorant when it comes to their health. A startling study shows that people are oblivious to the harmful effects of painkillers. Findings signify need for patient education on complications of misusing painkillers.// According to a study supported by the American Gastroenterological Association (AGA), over-the-counter and prescription painkillers are often used inapprop...

HIV Positive People Touching 60,000 In UK

The number of people infected with HIV in the UK rose last year to an estimated 58,300 and almost a third of those may not know they are carrying the disease, a report said on Thursday.// Most new cases were diagnosed in heterosexuals and nearly three-quarters of those were probably contracted in Africa. The Health Protection Agency (HPA) said the number of HIV sufferers had...

Hormone treatment helps obese people slim down

Treatment with leptin, a natural hormone that helps control body weight, could help many overweight people slim down. Discovered in 1994, leptin is normally produced by fat cells and is believed to provide a signal about the amount of body fat to the body's energy-regulation system. // Leptin treatment has already helped people who completely lack the hormone because of a genetic muta...

Safe for people with asthma

According to a new study even after getting a shot of influenza vaccine, there is no difference in asthma exacerbation among people who have taken and those have not. Influenza can be a serious problem for people with asthma, so vaccination seems like a sensible thing to do. But there have been concerns that the flu jab can make people's asthma worse. To find it this out researchers at Cl...

More People Seeking Treatment for Depression

Major depression, the leading cause of disability in the United States, affects more than 9 million adults in a given year.Despite advances in treatment options and educational efforts,// depression has been described as underdiagnosed and poorly treated in the US. In fact, a recent study stressed that as many as 8 million Americans with serious mental illness fail to receive adequate tre...

Arginine food bar assists people with angina

A medical food bar enriched with arginine and vitamins increased the exercise capacity and quality of life of those with angina. Arginine is an amino acid// that can produce the gas nitric oxide which, in turn, may improve the functioning of blood vessels. So you might think that arginine might help people with heart problems, especially those with angina, by enhancing blood supply to the...

Statins reduce risks for angioplasty patients

Cholesterol-lowering drugs that help prevent heart disease also appear to cut the risk of a heart attack and other complications after angioplasty.// Angioplasty, an alternative to bypass surgery, allows doctors to open clogged coronary arteries without major surgery by inserting a tiny balloon to the narrowest point and inflating the balloon. But 3 of every 5 patients who go through the...

Cholesterol Drug Helps After Angioplasty

According to researchers at the Erasmus University Hospital, a common cholesterol fighting drug, a statin called Lescol or fluvastatin, can reduce the risk of heart complications by up to 20 percent for about 1 million American each year. "This reduction in major heart events -- such as dying of heart disease or suffering another heart attack is quite impressive," said Dr. Patrick Serruys...

Quality of lives of older people

In an endeavour to assess the future needs of an aging population, a group of older people have been studied for nearly 20 years. Within 20 years, half the babies born on the planet can expect to live till they are 70. The physical, mental and economic needs// of our rapidly aging population will be known based on this study. In an attempt to answer some of these questions, scientists at...

Brain changes observed in people with sleep apnoea

Researchers in University of Boston observe that brain imaging sheds new light on the possible causes of sleep apnoea. In sleep apnoea, a person stops breathing, momentarily, many times during the night.// The cause is often a weakening of the muscles at the back of the throat, causing upper airway obstruction. Sleep apnoea is often linked with snoring and, naturally, causes daytime sleep...

Cholesterol-lowering therapy benefits older people also

According to a new study it is observed that statins reduce the risk of heart attack in older people. Long-term treatment with statins lowers cholesterol// levels and so lowers the risk of heart disease. This has been shown to be the case in middle-aged people, but the benefits for the elderly have not been so clear. Researchers at the University of Glasgow have assessed the benefit o...

Cholesterol lowering drugs aid people after heart transplant

According to a new study, there is a large survival benefit in taking cholesterol-lowering drugs after a heart transplant. Researchers in Munich have studied the effect of taking simvastatin soon after a heart transplant. //They looked at a group of 72 patients who had had heart transplants from 1992. Of these, 32 took the cholesterol-lowering drug simvastatin four days after treatment, w...

Exercise helps people with cramping leg pain

A new study published by New England Journal of Medicine suggests that patients who have cramping leg pain symptomatic of peripheral arterial disease(PAD) may benefit from walking a little// while longer, even as the pain persists. Kerry J. Stewart, Johns Hopkins University, Director of Clinical Exercise Physiology said that patients with PAD often experience pain during exercise, so t...

Herbal supplement ephedra posing threat to people's health

A study published in the online version of Annals of Internal Medicine has suggested that the herbal supplement ephedra, often used for weight loss or to boost energy, is posing a threat to people's health and experts are calling for authorities to ban or restrict access to the supplement. The study used data gathered by the American Association of Poison Control Centers. Researchers clai...

Angioplasty Should be the Standard

A new study finds angioplasty should be the treatment of choice for heart attack patients, even if the hospital they initially //go to doesn't offer angioplasty services and they have to be transferred to another facility for treatment. Research has shown heart attack patients fare better when they are treated with angioplasty to open up the clogged blood vessel that caused the attack th...

Pain Common in People with MS

Multiple sclerosis is known to cause pain among patients, but studies are lacking on how much pain patients feel or how pain affects their daily lives.// In a new study in the most recent issue of Archives of Neurology, Danish researchers report results from a postal survey aimed at gauging pain among those with MS and comparing it to pain suffered by people in the general population....

People with skin cancer at higher risk for other types

Skin cancer usually is so easily cured that Luvie Owens almost forgot she had it.But results of a major new study are giving her cause for concern: Women who have had the most common forms of skin cancer// are 2.3 times as likely to also get deadlier cancers such as breast, lung and colon. Among African-American women, the risk of getting other cancers is 7.5 times higher. The study di...

The Success Rate Of Angioplasty In Female Patients Low

Male heart attack patients fare better after having a procedure to open clogged arteries than female patients, say researchers based on results // from a recent study. The study, conducted in Taiwan, looked at mortality rates and other factors among a group of about 870 men and about 160 women who underwent balloon angioplasty to clear blocked arteries following a heart attack. While bot...

Angioplasty The Much Preferred Treatment Of Choice For Heart Attacks

A new study finds angioplasty should be the treatment of choice for heart attack patients, even if the hospital they initially go to doesn’t offer angioplasty// services and they have to be transferred to another facility for treatment. Research has shown heart attack patients fare better when they are treated with angioplasty to open up the clogged blood vessel that caused the attack th...

Laser Therapy Found To Help People Quit Smoking

New research shows Low Level Laser Therapy could help people quit smoking. Laser therapy also does not require nicotine or drug replacement. The therapy delivers laser beams to acupuncture points // on the body and ear to eliminate the craving for nicotine. It is a noninvasive method , has no side effects and smokers need only three to five treatment sessions that last about 30 minutes....

Angioplasty death risk reduced by doubling drug dose

A new study shows how the risk of death and heart attack can be reduced for heart patients undergoing an angioplasty. It was found that doubling the usual dose of an anti-clotting drug before the procedure is the answer.// Angioplasty is a procedure in which a balloon-tipped catheter is threaded into an artery. The balloon is inflated to compress plaque in the artery and unblock the ve...

Pomegranate Juice May Be The Next Best Thing For People With Heart Disease

New study has suggested that polyphenolic antioxidants present in the juice of pomegranate may help in reducing stress and atherogenesis. // Atherogenesis is the process of plaques etc forming in the inner lining of the arteries that make them hard causing a state of atherosclerosis. This causes disturbed blood flow and may cause serious damage to heart. Perceived stress increases the...

Angioplasty death risk reduced by doubling drug dose

A new study shows how the risk of death and heart attack can be reduced for heart patients undergoing an angioplasty.// It was found that doubling the usual dose of an anti-clotting drug before the procedure is the answer. Angioplasty is a procedure in which a balloon-tipped catheter is threaded into an artery. The balloon is inflated to compress plaque in the artery and unblock the ves...

New Treatment For People Allergic To Cats

People who are allergic to animals like cats often do have a reaction like asthma or allergic rhinitis. Study has shown // that it is possible to generate a new therapy based on the immunity of the person concerned against allergic reactions. A protein found in cat saliva and dander, called gamma Feline domesticus causes the release of histamine in people allergic to cats. The latest...

Obese people can be hypertensive as well

Scientists of University of Mississippi Medical Center US have found out that body mass index are positively// related to hypertension and high blood pressure. 3216 people who had never been given any medication for hypertension were subjected to 24 hr monitoring of systolic and diastolic blood pressure. Body mass index could be significantly related to mean daytime and nighttime systo...

Study reveals that it is easy for people to learn from watching others learn

A Canadian research team from the University of Western Ontario had found out that it is possible to learn// complex physical actions by observing others. The study used a robot arm to show how to perform complex mechanical tasks to a group of people. When the video of this learning process was shown to a group, they learned to do the same action in less time than the people in the vi...

New food guide for people fighting excess weight

The US department of Agriculture has recently unveiled a new guide to healthy eating that suggests different //food charts for people with different needs. Based on the idea that same diet pattern does not work on everybody, the new diet plan is based on age, sex and the level of activity. The new plan is called MyPyramid and it is basically an interactive website that gives you a die...

People who fight wars may be at high risk of cardiovascular disease

Men who have fought wars are more likely to have cardiovascular risks than men// who didn’t. Men who have survived wars are more likely to be heavy drinkers of alcohol, heavy smokers of tobacco and with high tendency of becoming obese. War veterans are four times likely to be taken to drinking more than two pegs of alcohol a day than becoming never drinkers, and 1.6 times more likely...

People suffering from Alzheimer’s: can they take decisions about their treatment

A study published in the May issue of the journal Neurology states that patients// with very mild degree of Alzheimer’s disease may be competent to take decisions about their treatments, but those with moderate to severe form of the disease may not remain competent to do so. The study also points out that people who are aware of their disease and its growth in the mare more likely to t...

Elderly people with chronic pain can use narcotics safely

Scientists have reported that use of narcotics for chronic pain in elderly works, as they are less likely to //ask for increasing the dose. On the other hand, the use of the drug for younger adults may lead to constant increase in the dosage with serious health repercussions. The drugs in question are opioid pain medications like morphine, methadone and oxycodone. Opioid drugs are us...

People with low birth weight may help themselves in diabetes

New study says that people with low birth weight may help themselves from the incidence of diabetes with// controlled diet and controlling their body weights. Diabetes affects the population in terms of affecting the metabolism of blood glucose and impaired function of the insulin that helps in controlling the blood sugar levels. The main risk factors for diabetes are obesity, physical...

Risk of deep vein thrombosis less in people who were flight stockings when flying

Graduated compression stockings that are worn during long hours of flying can significantly reduce the risk// of deep vein thrombosis. Researchers of the study had compared nine studies of nearly 2500 passengers who had flown long distance in airlines. The researchers had carried out the research where they had advised all the participants of the study to walk or exercise regularly, dr...

People with abnormal heart rhythms must avoid fish oil

Fish oil supplements may be harmful for people with abnormal heartbeats, says the new research// on the subject. Fish oil is noted for omega 3 fatty acids that are essential to the body in terms of regulating blood pressure and blood clotting and must be taken in as supplements. These fatty acids are known to have preventive properties for disease like Alzheimer’s, arthritis, breast ca...

Elderly people are more at risk from eye damage

Increasing stiffness of the eyes, which has aged, makes them more at risk to damage// and eye injury. As the eyes age along with the person the lens of the eyes become stiff and more susceptible to damage. The aged eye lens will be four times as stiff as it were at birth. Researchers of the Wake Forest-Virginia Tech School of Biomedical Engineering and Sciences have developed a comput...