Monday, 28 April 2014
Nearly half of the people asked said they wanted more food after drinking
Drinking more than three
large glasses of wine can push people over a "tipping point", meaning
they consume about 6,300 extra calories in the following 24 hours, a
report has said.
The extra calories could lead to gaining 2lb a week (900g), the survey of 2,042 people suggested. 
Saudi Arabia says more than 100 patients infected with the Mers coronavirus have now died since the outbreak began in 2012.
The health ministry said another eight deaths occurred on Sunday, taking the toll to 102.The acting health minister says three hospitals in Riyadh, Jeddah and Dammam have been designated specialist centres for treating Mers.
Thursday, 17 April 2014
Health Correspondent Adam Brimelow explains how the sensor works
Researchers
have developed a new type of pressure sensor - dubbed a "second skin" -
which they say could prevent dangerous sores.
The technology is being developed initially for amputees who suffer rubbing against their artificial limbs. Monday, 14 April 2014
Some men even get swollen stomachs
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Researchers at St George's University, London, who carried out the study of 282 Dads-to-be said the phenomenon was known as "Couvade syndrome".
Experts said it was not clear why some men had similar symptoms to their partners but it could be related to anxiety over the pregnancy.
Specialists monitored the men, aged between 19 and 55, whose partners attended St George's Hospital during their pregnancy and compared the findings with a similar number of controls.
Saturday, 12 April 2014
The National Institute of Health researchers write that while many doctors prescribe low dose aspirin to women who have suffered a miscarriage or stillbirth and want to conceive again, there is no substantial evidence to prove this actually works.
Dr. Enrique Schisterman, chief of the Epidemiology Branch at the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development in Bethesda, MD, and colleagues carried out the study - the largest of its kind - by randomly assigning more than 1,000 women with a history of miscarriage or stillbirth to one of two groups: an aspirin group and a placebo group.
Epstein-Barr virus - the cause of infectious mononucleosis - is
responsible for a range of illnesses, such as Hodgkin's lymphoma and
Burkitt's lymphoma. But now, researchers have discovered how it takes
over our cells' gene-regulating mechanisms to allow the virus to
duplicate itself.
Commonly known as the "kissing disease" - because it can be passed from human to human through kissing - Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is also known as human herpesvirus 4.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), EBV is spread by saliva through kissing, sharing drinks and food, using the same cups or utensils, or having contact with toys children have drooled on.
Commonly known as the "kissing disease" - because it can be passed from human to human through kissing - Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is also known as human herpesvirus 4.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), EBV is spread by saliva through kissing, sharing drinks and food, using the same cups or utensils, or having contact with toys children have drooled on.
Four women have had new vaginas grown in the laboratory and implanted by doctors in the US.
A tissue sample and a biodegradable scaffold were used to
grow vaginas in the right size and shape for each woman as well as being
a tissue match. They all reported normal levels of "desire, arousal, lubrication, orgasm, satisfaction" and painless intercourse.
Experts said the study, published in the Lancet, was the latest example of the power of regenerative medicine.
'I feel fortunate' In each woman the vagina did not form properly while they were still inside their mother's womb, a condition known as vaginal aplasia.
Current treatments can involve surgically creating a cavity, which is then lined with skin grafts or parts of the intestine.
Thursday, 10 April 2014
Video Overview: Mental Boost from Spending Time With Grandchildren
A new study found that postmenopausal women who spend a bit of time with their grandchild may do better on tests of memory than women who don't.
But it seems to be a case of too much of a good thing not being so good. Women who spent significantly more time caring for their grandchild showed memory impairment, the study found.
"Spend time with your grandchildren for a mental boost."
The research was led by Katherine Burn, BSc, of the University of Melbourne in Victoria, Australia. The researchers used information from the Women's Healthy Aging Project, which involved questionnaires administered by trained field workers in 2004. They asked whether the women, aged 57 to 68, had grandchildren, whether they cared for them, how often they cared for them if they did and whether their children had been particularly demanding of them in the past 12 months.
The women were given a series of four tests as part of a neuropsychological assessment.
There were 186 women in the study, of which 131 were grandmothers. Of these, 111 were currently caring for their grandchildren. The number of grandchildren they cared for varied.
Those caring for grandchildren one day a week had the highest cognitive performance of all, better than women who did not care for grandchildren at all and better than grandmothers who did so more often.
Related: Exercising Away Cognitive Impairment
Those who cared for their grandchildren five days a week or more did less well with their working memory (recent memory) and with the time it took for them to process thoughts.
Most of the respondents (67.6 percent) reported that they did not feel their children were particularly demanding, but those who did report finding their children demanding tended to be those who watched their grandchildren often and did not fare as well on the memory tests. The study's authors suggested that mood may play a role in how well these women performed on the tests.
These authors wrote that the population of women studied are generally better educated and healthier than the general population, which may have influenced the findings.
"Because grandmothering is such an important and common social role for postmenopausal women, we need to know more about its effects on their future health," said NAMS Executive Director Margery Gass, MD. "This study is a good start."
Related: Health Risks Seniors Should Be Aware Of
This study was small, according to Jim McAleer, MPA, president of the Alzheimer's Association, but the results did not surprise him. He said in an email that other studies have shown that social engagement and exercise (and it's assumed there is some exercise involved in caring for children) benefit the mind. "It's surprising that longer periods of care impacted memory function. Perhaps extend physical exertion in those cases caused other health problems that impacted memory, or increased stress -- a known risk factor for memory loss."
Peter Strong, PhD, of the Boulder Center for Mindfulness Therapy, wrote in an email that he believes the inner feeling of self-worth that comes from being socially engaged with grandchildren is what's important. As for the negative effect of spending too much time caring for their grandchildren? "Once a week is enough to develop this inner belief; any more than this may create the opposite belief of not being physically or mentally able to fulfill the expectations of extended child minding and this will undermine the positive belief of self-worth."
Adding urgency to the quest to uncover hidden
triggers is the grim fact that in many cases, the first symptom of
cardiovascular disease (CVD) can be a fatal heart attack or stroke. CVD ranks
as the leading killer of Americans.
Here’s a look at some little-known heart hazards—and how to protect yourself.
Here’s a look at some little-known heart hazards—and how to protect yourself.
Saturday, 5 April 2014
In the heart of close-knit gay community, Luke Martel reflects the
feelings of many when it comes to a strain of meningitis that has killed
three gay men this year in Los Angeles County: He's concerned but not
overly so.
Martel, a gay bartender who moved to West Hollywood from New York City several months ago, called the deaths from the rare bacterial infection that can be passed by kissing, sharing utensils or coughing "a little scary" but said he doesn't plan to heed calls to get vaccinated.
"I might not take a drag off someone's cigarette now. And I'll run from people who don't cover their mouths when they cough," he said. But otherwise, he believes, "I'm safe."
Martel, a gay bartender who moved to West Hollywood from New York City several months ago, called the deaths from the rare bacterial infection that can be passed by kissing, sharing utensils or coughing "a little scary" but said he doesn't plan to heed calls to get vaccinated.
"I might not take a drag off someone's cigarette now. And I'll run from people who don't cover their mouths when they cough," he said. But otherwise, he believes, "I'm safe."
“Hippocrates was a visionary who figured out the most important ways we can stay healthy, all of which have been proved by modern science,” says David Katz, MD, founding director of the Yale University Prevention Research Center and author of the book Disease Proof: The Remarkable Truth About What Makes Us Well. Here are some of my favorite weight and wellness rules that have stood the test of time.
Thursday, 3 April 2014
The illegal party drug
ketamine is an "exciting" and "dramatic" new treatment for depression,
say doctors who have conducted the first trial in the UK.
Some patients who have faced incurable depression for decades
have had symptoms disappear within hours of taking low doses of the
drug.The small trial on 28 people, reported in the Journal of Psychopharmacology, shows the benefits can last months.
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Aerobic exercise in your 20s may protect the brain in middle age, according to a US study.
Activities that maintain cardio fitness - such as running,
swimming and cycling - led to better thinking skills and memory 20 years
on.Scientists say the research, reported in Neurology, adds to evidence the brain benefits from good heart health.
Cardio fitness is a measure of how well the body absorbs oxygen during exercise and transports it to the muscles.
Researchers at the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, tested almost 3,000 healthy people with an average age of 25.
Tuesday, 1 April 2014
It's the first migraine-prevention drug approved for adolescents, the FDA said in a news release. Topamax was first sanctioned in 1996 to prevent seizures, and was approved to prevent migraines in adults in 2004.
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