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Use of Cellular Phones associated with Increased risk of Brain Tumors

A recent article published by a team in Sweden suggests that there is an increased risk of brain cancer in the areas of highest exposure in patients using digital telephones (Case Control Study on Radiology work, Medical X-Ray Investigations, and Cellular Telephones as Risk Factors for Brain Tumors, Hardell, et al, May 4, 2000, www.medscape.com). Their analysis focused on the effect of d...

One in Three Heart Attack Patients Have No Chest Pains

Death Rates Higher for Those Without This Symptom. As many as one-third of patients never have chest pains prior to or during a heart attack, a study published in The Journal of the American Medical Association suggests. And for women, diabetics and others who belong to groups likely to have atypical heart attack symptoms, more than half may never have such pains. The report examined symp...

Thyroid hormone treatment hastens recovery after cardiac surgery

Thyroid hormone treatment after surgery requiring heart bypass speeds recovery in children undergoing correction of congenital heart defects, according to a clinical trial published in The Lancet. The effects were greatest in the patients who underwent long and difficult surgeries. Following trauma or surgery or during a critical illness, thyroid hormone concentrations plummet. Ma...

Serum Progesterone Helps Stratify Ectopic Pregnancy Risk

Measurement of serum progesterone levels may be helpful in deciding which emergency department patients with no strong clinical signs are at low risk of ectopic pregnancy, according to a report in the August issue of the Annals of Emergency Medicine. They measured progesterone levels in 716 first-trimester patients who presented to an emergency department with abdominal pain or...

Endangered species may be successfully cloned in another animal's womb

Scientists for the first time have found a way for the survival of endangered animal species of the world. In a major breakthrough a Massachusetts scientists who engineered the feat has managed to clone cells from an endangered animal (Asian Gaur) and successfully impregnated an Iowa cow with the clone. The scientific journal Cloning has reported in its upcoming edition that...

Levothyroxine Thyroid Hormone Replacement, Approved for Hypothyroidism

The thyroid hormone replacement prescription drug, levothyroxine sodium (Unithroid) for hypothyroidism in adults and children has been approved for use in the United States by the FDA. The thyroid hormaone is involved in the regulation of a wide range of metabolic processes within the body in all age groups. In children thyroid hormones are essential for normal physical growth and i...

Kidney Stones - Interesting New Research implicates bacteria as its cause

In India Kidney Stones are not uncommon problem due to the hot and often humid weather. Most of these stones are made up of Calcium, Oxalate and phosphates. The cause of stone disease is debatable, however it is well known that drinking less water is a risk factor for stone disease. New research by the National Kidney foundation suggests that the culprit is a tiny bacteria called N...

Patients With Filariasis More Prone To HIV Infection

According to a report published in the December issue of the Journal of Infectious Diseases, HIV infection is significantly enhanced in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from individuals with untreated filarial infection compared to PBMCs from infected patients treated with antifilarial agents. According to Dr. Ramya Gopinath and her team at the National Institute of Allergy and...

Multi billion-dollar suit filed against cell phone firm for causing brain tumours

In the United States of America, a lawyer- Peter Angelos, who won millions of dollars as compensation from the tobacco industry in Maryland, has announced that he is dragging Vodafone to court in a billion dollar suit. He is claiming compensation to cell phone users who are said to have developed brain tumours after using the instruments made by Verizon wireless. This case has raised eyeb...

Individuals with sleep related breathing disorders more prone to heart disease

A good night’s sleep is a gift, exclusive to the blessed. The less fortunate are those with sleeping disorders, who may experience problems such as early morning headaches or serious daytime fatigue. Among the various sleep disorders, sleep apnea in its mild or moderate form is commonly experienced. Sleep apnea is a disorder characterized by brief interruptions of breathing during sleep....

Vitamin Shields Brittle Bones

Osteoporosis, wherein the density of the bone is lost and becomes brittle, is one of the dreaded complications in women after they attain their menopause. This happens as a result of decreased levels of estrogen, which is responsible for maintaining the bone density. Dr. Sunil J. Wimalawansa, of the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, has shown her study using the animal mod...

One...just one cigarette can spoil the heart function.

"Smoking is injurious to health"- this warning , printed in every cigarette carton ,had been a useless tool to bring down the habit of smoking in many. But now the fact that even a single cigarette is enough to do the necessary damage is proved by the researchers of North Carolina. It is a well known fact that long term smoking has a significant risk towads the diseases such as heart a...

Hormone replacement Therapy a headache

Researchers from Sweden warn women undergoing hormone replacement therapy against the risk of uterus cancer. Hormone Replacement Therapy is advised for women to reduce menopausal side effects like hot flushes and night sweats, and to protect them from osteoporosis and heart disease.// Research has shown the drugs, which replace natural hormones that decrease with menopause,...

Ovarian cancer in relationship with Hormone therapy

A major US study has found that women who have taken postmenopausal oestrogens for ten years or more are at substantially greater risk of fatal ovarian cancer. The risk persists for many years after therapy is discontinued, researchers from the American Cancer Society report// in the Journal of the American Medical Association.The study followed 201,681 postmenopausal women from 1982 t...

Vaccination reminder for anyone over 65..

Experts in the US recommend that everyone over 65 should get a pneumococcus vaccination.As you get older, your immune system may weaken, making you more prone to infection. That's why it may be wise to take a 'flu jab. Doctors at the Mayo Clinic in the US also urge people over 65 to have a pneumococcal vaccination.// The jab protects you from pneumonia, meningitis, and various other s...

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...

Low testosterone levels lead to eating disorders

The researchers suspect low testosterone levels in men suffering from eating disorders. Men who suffer from eating disorders can be affected more than women with the same problems, researchers say.// Eating disorders are associated with a weakening of the bones, which become dangerously thin and brittle. This is linked to severe weight loss and lack of essential nutrients, particula...

New therapy better at increasing bone density

According to researchers, adding vitamin D to oestrogen and progesterone therapy for older women increases their bone density.It is already well established that hormone replacement therapy - oestrogen plus progesterone helps prevent osteoporosis in women past the menopause. According to researchers at Creighton University in the US, a new study covering 400 women, that this blend of horm...

Decrease in testosterone levels lead to Alzheimer's

Suppression of testosterone levels in men with testicular cancer may inadvertently increase the risk of Alzheimer’s disease, warn US researchers.A research team from North Carolina University has found that when circulating testosterone levels go down, a high rise in levels of amyloid – the protein implicated in Alzheimer’s disease – occurs. They suggest that this phenomenon might explain...

Hormone contraceptives lead to bone problems

New research confirms that the main ingredient in the -- depo medroxyprogesterone acetate or DMPA -- can cause significant bone loss when used long term. The younger you are when you begin using this contraceptive, the greater your risk of bone-related problems later in life. // From the time we are born, well into middle age, our bone mass is constantly breaking down and re-buildin...

Can one get addicted to fast food?

The New Scientist magazine in its January issue has reported that a regular diet of fast foods like hamburgers, fries and foods high in fat and calories may be addictive. The researchers have found that eating oneself to obesity is not just due to a lack of self-control, but is most likely due to the hormonal changes caused by the fast foods, in the body, that could impair the ability to...

The Link Between Hepatitis B Vaccine And Multiple Sclerosis Questioned

A recent study by Harvard researchers suggests a link between the hepatitis B vaccination and multiple sclerosis. In their study, people who received the vaccine were three-times more likely to develop MS // over the next three years than those who were not vaccinated. While this finding is disturbing, the investigators emphasize the overall effect of the vaccine on the development of MS...

Treatment Options For Retinitis Pigmentosa Questioned

Retinitis pigmentosa, a progressive eye disease targeting the light-collecting cells of the retina, affects one in 4,000 people worldwide and can cause // vision loss. Researchers say for patients suffering from retinitis pigmentosa, the addition of docosahexaenoic acid to vitamin A therapy may not provide long-term benefits, according to a recent study. Researchers followed 221 patients...

Hormone therapy may affect heart attack severity in women

Recent studies undertaken at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center researcher and colleagues, showed promising signs after research in monkeys suggested //that the type of progestin in hormonal therapy could in fact affect heart attack severity. At an annual meeting of the North American Menopause Society in Washington, D.C. today, Dr. J. Koudy Williams who is the lead invest...

Understanding The Risks Of Hormone Therapy

Women who take hormone therapy that combines estrogen with progestin have double the risk for venous thrombosis ( VT ), a type of blood clot,// according to a recent study. VT affects one to two people in every 1,000. Risk for VT increases with age and is higher in men, blacks and obese individuals. Postmenopausal hormone therapy is associated with a two- to three-fold increased risk of...

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...

Killing two birds (cholesterol and Alzheimers disease) with the same stone

Treating cholesterol can also help in slowing the progression of Alzheimer’s’ disease. The study was published in the Journal of Neurology Neurosurgery and Psychiatry // . The research team assessed the degree of brain function loss caused by Alzheimer’s disease in 342 patients attending a memory clinic. They then monitored the progress of the disease for almost three years. The average...

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...

Kids More Prone To Mosquito Bites

Children are more vulnerable to bites of mosquitoes that carry the malaria parasites, according to a study. Each year, malaria kills about two million people around the world, most of them children under five. //The disease kills more than one million children - 2,800 per day - each year in Africa alone, according to World Health Organisation (WHO). Researchers led by David Smith,...

vitamin D needed in elderly for bone development

Vitamin D has an important role to play in proper development of bones in infants, thereby it is procured by sunlight exposure.// But a study says that a greater need is there in elderly especially when exposure to sunlight is limited. The American Medical Women's Association (AMWA) today issued physician recommendations to generate greater understanding of the role of vitamin D in bon...

Harsh British Winter Could Kill Upto 90,000 Pensioners

With rising gas prices and breakdown of electricity supplies, upto 90,000 senior citizens could die due to severe cold, charity organizations have warned.//As the Meteorological Office has issued its second severe weather warning, parliament debated the rising price of gas - essential to warm homes - while some experts feared a breakdown in electricity supplies during the winter. Cha...

New protein diet program questioned.

The New protein rich diet that created waves among the public was questioned as they recommend the patients to include double the amount // of proteins in their daily diet. Scientist at the Australia’s Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization wrote the book on this diet. This best seller sold half a million copies in Australia. The diet said that 30-35% o...

Wisdom behind High Protein Diet Questioned

The Total Wellbeing Diet advocated by scientists from Australia's Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization // has come under severe scrutiny with an editorial in the journal Nature questioning the wisdom behind the intake of a high-protein diet. A normal Western diet usually consists of 15 percent of protein, but the Total wellbeing Diet advocates a 30 to 35 percen...

Indonesia Claims To Have Arrested The Bird Flu.

Bird flu that made news recently due to its wide spreading nature across the world. But now Indonesia claims to have put an end to its // spread across the country. The health minister pointed out that previously there were21 provinces a...

NHS Forced to Borrow Money at Rates of 10 percent

Rising debts are forcing NHS to borrow money at rates of 10 percent from NHS banks. These rates are much higher than those offered by other street banks. Traditionally the NHS// in collaboration with the Department of Health lent money with no charge. However from April the charge on borrowing could be 10% while those NHS trusts that invested their profits could receive interest of abo...

Smoker's are prone to Alzheimer's

Smokers are more than twice as likely to develop Alzheimer's Disease as people who have never smoked, according to new research. The study - the largest ever of its kind and the first major research to look at people before they develop Alzheimer's - followed 5,369 men and women aged 57 and over. None of the people had Alzheimer's, the most common form of dementia, before the study...

Is there a link between bones and memory?

In a large study of elderly people, researchers have uncovered a strong link between thin bones and poor verbal memory. To investigate, Zhang and colleagues analyzed the relationship between bone mineral density (BMD) and verbal memory impairment among more than 4,300 elderly people included in the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. // The researchers found tha...

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...

First human clone is near

Human cloning could effectively create a replica of another living or dead person. Scientists could create the first cloned human before the end of the year. Dr. Panayiotis Zavos, who along with his Italian colleague Dr. Severino Antinori has triggered worldwide alarm with plans to create tailor-made offspring. Countries like France and Germany have appealed to the United Nations to ge...

Hormone Deficiency Results In Miscarriage

A deficiency in a protective hormone may be behind some early miscarriages, preliminary research suggests. The hormone, called corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH), is normally released by the mother and the embryo soon after it implants itself in the womb. Without it, the embryo may be left vulnerable to attack from the mother's immune system.// CRH triggers the production of a prote...