Health. iyouproject » PEOPLE

The parasitic intestinal worm.

laimisk — Fri, 25 Nov 2011 14:31:57 +0000

An international research collaboration has mapped the entire genome of the roundworm, a parasitic intestinal worm that currently infects some 1.2 billion people worldwide, researchers at Copenhagen University said here Thursday.

The breakthrough could help pave the way towards finding vaccines or medicines to treat or prevent the parasite that infects millions of people every year with roundworm, the university said.(...)
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Cyclones and droughts there is an increase in depression.

laimisk — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 11:01:58 +0000

An Australia report released on Monday draws a direct link between inaction on climate change and long-term social and mental health problems.

The Climate Institute report, A Climate of Suffering: The Real Cost of Living with Inaction on Climate Change, points that in the wake of extreme weather in Australia, such as cyclones and droughts, there is an increase in depression, anxiety, post- traumatic stress and substance abuse.

As many as one in five people reported “emotional injury, stress and despair” in the wake of these events.

The report also warns continuing catastrophic weather events are creating anxiety and insecurity for children at levels not seen since the Cold War.

It claims one in 10 children of primary school age showed symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder after Cyclone Larry in 2006.

According to Professor Ian Hickie, from the Brain & Mind Institute, regional and remote communities are most vulnerable to the impact of climate change.

He said a recent study of rural New South Wales where, following the long drought, self-harm and suicide rose by up to eight percent.

“I think what we are seeing now is a much more significant counting of not just the short-term costs and reactions but the longer-term costs, the loss of community cohesion and that being essential to people’s long-term mental health,” Professor Hickie.

“The drought was a particularly instructive event for everyone in Australia and we saw a lot of focus for the first time on the mental health effects, particularly suicides in rural families, the effect on rural communities of prolonged examples of weather change,” Hickie said.

Climate Institute chief executive John Connor said that not only did natural disasters cost taxpayers about nine billion U.S. dollars last year, but there are also damaging Australia’s social fabric.

He said that with Australian regions increasingly exposed to extreme weather, recognizing and managing the risks of climate change is essential, and it is an insurance policy to protect Australia’s communities.

The study came as the political and social debate over Australian federal government’s proposed carbon tax intensifies.

In 2007, a report by the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO) projected the effects of various greenhouse gas emission scenarios for 2030, 2050 and 2070.

It said droughts were likely to become more frequent, fire danger was set to increase and tropical cyclones were likely to become more intense.

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The first full face transplant.

laimisk — Sat, 14 May 2011 12:50:13 +0000

A young father who was terribly disfigured in an electrical accident showed off his new look Monday alongside doctors who performed the United States’ first full face transplant.

Visibly moved as he described how his young daughter called him “handsome” and how the first whiff of hospital food was so tantalizing, 26-year-old Dallas Wiens said there were no words to thank the anonymous donor and his family.(...)
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Exaggerated fear of radiation

laimisk — Sun, 20 Mar 2011 20:26:09 +0000

As workers struggle to contain the fallout from the crippled nuclear plant in northeastern Japan, people as far away as Illinois are calling public health officials in a state of panic.

They are hoping to get their hands on potassium iodide pills to protect them from radiation — despite warnings that, in the absence of a real nuclear threat, taking the medicine is riskier than doing nothing.(...)
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The ice cream, marketed as “Baby Gaga”

laimisk — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 10:07:56 +0000

Local government officials said Monday they have confiscated ice cream made with human breast milk from a London shop amid concerns the dessert is unsafe.

A spokeswoman from Westminster City Council said it was responding to two complaints from the public over whether a shop should be selling edibles made from other people’s bodily fluids and awaiting guidance from Britain’s Food Standards Agency. The official spoke on condition of anonymity in keeping with council policy.

The official said the ice cream, marketed as “Baby Gaga” and launched last week, is being tested with the full cooperation of The Icecreamists, the parlor marketing the dessert.

Viruses, including hepatitis, can be passed on through breast milk.

The company has said that the milk was screened in line with blood donor requirements before being pasteurized and churned together with vanilla pods and lemon zest. The dish comes in a martini glass and sells for 14 pounds ($22.50) each.

“As far as we are aware there is no law prohibiting a business from selling breast milk ice cream,” Matt O’Connor, founder of The Icecreamists, said in a statement.

The company paid women who responded to an online ad to donate their breast milk and said all of its products meet the “highest and safest” of food standards.

The company said it has had a “huge response” to its “fresh take” on the world of ice cream. The Icecreamists said at the time that its “Baby Gaga” ice cream sold out as soon as it launched on Friday, but that women had signed up to donate more milk.

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Of millions of people may be doomed.

laimisk — Fri, 25 Feb 2011 14:50:28 +0000

Measles, mumps, rubella, Marek’s disease, hepatitis A, hepatitis B, adenoviruses, and the commercial evolution of vaccines against meningococci and pneumococci were the diseases targeted by the pioneering American microbiologist Dr. Maurice Hilleman.

If the allegations of the man who developed the poliomyelitis vaccine programme for a large pharmaceutical company are (...)
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Parents to listen and understand.

laimisk — Sun, 20 Feb 2011 13:01:22 +0000

Nancy Erlach-Danon, specialist in the behavioural-cognitive area, stated in an interview with the Brazilian site IG, that one of the main problems in parent-child relationships is when the parents try to pressure their children into following a career they do not necessarily wish to follow.

Parents should not pressure their children into a professional area or job, they should learn to listen. Guiding, facilitating and opening windows are the key words. Cajoling and steering are definitely out, according to the advice of the latest generation of professional and behavioural psychologists.(...)
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World Day of the Sick.

laimisk — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 14:47:38 +0000

The World Day of the Sick is a feast day of the Roman Catholic Church which was instituted on May 13, 1992 by Pope John Paul II.

Beginning on February 11, 1993, it is celebrated every year on the commemoration of Our Lady of Lourdes, for all believers seeks to be “a special time of prayer and sharing, of offering one’s suffering”.

On this day in particular, we focus on the redemptive value of human suffering and on the important role of those who are sick in the work of spreading the Gospel.

Whether your cross is your own illness, loneliness or pain, or that of a loved one, you have a special bond with Christ Crucified and also with the suffering people of the Missions and those who serve them.

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Between popularity and aggression

laimisk — Wed, 09 Feb 2011 19:08:43 +0000

Previous studies showed that aggression makes kids more popular, but a new study suggests that becoming more popular makes kids more aggressive.

To determine the link between popularity and aggression, researchers at the University of California, Davis examined surveys involving about 3,700 students.
The surveys asked the students about their friendships as well as whom they picked on and who picked on them. The surveys’ questions concerned both physical aggression and relationship aggression such as name- calling and ostracism.(...)
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The World Cancer Day

laimisk — Fri, 04 Feb 2011 05:52:26 +0000

Moderate physical exercises can help reduce the risk of cancers such as breast cancer and colon cancer, the World Health Organization said on the World Cancer Day Friday.

In a report, WHO recommended moderate intensity aerobic physical activities of at least 150 minutes a week, for all people aged 18 and over, which has proven effective in bring down risks to noncommunicable diseases (NCDs).

For the 5 to 17-age group, the WHO said at least 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous intensity physical activities can serve to prevent such diseases from building-up.

“Physical activity has a strong role to play in reducing the incidence of certain cancers,” said Ala Alwan, WHO assistant director-general for Noncommunicable Diseases and Mental Health.

“Physical inactivity is the fourth leading risk factor for all global deaths, with 31 percent of the world’s population not physically active,” he added.

WHO said physical inactivity is in close relation with cancers and other NCDs, such as cardiovascular diseases and diabetes, and worldwide, it is associated with 3.2 million deaths per year.

The situation is particularly alarming in low- and middle-income countries, which suffered 2.6 million cases of death, a majority of the world’s total, said the report.

The World Cancer Day was introduced in 2005 by the Union for International Cancer Control (UICC), which takes place each year on Feb. 4. Preventing cancer and raising quality of life for cancer patients are recurring themes.

Cancer is a leading cause of death around the world. WHO estimates, without intervention, 84 million people will die of cancer between 2005 and 2015.

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The Fiji Cancer Society vowed here Friday that it aims to reduce the number of cancer deaths in the island nation by getting people to hospitals sooner.

The society said in a press release that research has proven that by finding cancer early at stages I or II, there is a 90 percent survival rate. However, finding cancer late at stages III or IV drops the survival rate to 10 – 20 percent.

The society’s President Nirmala Nambiar was quoted as saying “as we continue to see our lifestyles change and evolve with modernization, we also see more complex cases of cancer that was never known before.”

Nambiar made the remarks to marks the launch of a major event worldwide — World Cancer Day when people the world over including Fiji join the battle against cancer.

She said Fiji health professionals are receiving more and more women with late stage tumors, where all that can be done is to make them comfortable in their last days.

“The Fiji Cancer Society has now partnered with many stakeholders to deliver on advocating for cancer awareness to the community so women can be examined by doctors early,” she said.

More women in Fiji were leaving behind, children and husbands, extended families who cannot understand what happened and why so quickly as cancer grips the island nation.

Nambiar pointed out that her society, together with the United International Cancer Congress, invites the public to join forces to have a cancer free world by raising the level of awareness in the community from the basic home level to schools and the wider community.

The year 2010 saw the society embark on a lot of initiatives to raise the level of cancer awareness in Fiji. “Many strong partnerships with corporate organizations in Fiji like Motibhais, Colgate Palmolive, Digicel, the Ministry of Health and the Fiji National University helped drive these initiatives,” she said.

She vowed that in 2011, the Fiji Cancer Society more than ever before would like to make a concerted effort to coordinate the fight against cancer. As part of the World Cancer Day initiative, the society will be holding free breast check clinics and free Pap smear tests for women who continue to fight the battle to visit clinics

Early detection and awareness is the key to reducing the number of cancer deaths and helping to prevent the killer disease. “We invite the general public to come forward with a helping hand and reach out to those who are suffering in our community and make a difference by providing support financially, emotionally or just by lending a listening ear,” Nambiar said.

She stressed that”early detection through self-checks, visiting a health professional when something is detected and giving your health professional full information is critical towards getting an accurate diagnosis.”