A person’s lifetime risk of getting heart disease may be much higher than previously thought, according to a major US study published on Wednesday. A single risk factor — such as smoking, having diabetes, high blood pressure or elevated cholesterol — can significantly boost one’s likelihood of having a heart attack or stroke [...]
Even a slightly high blood pressure is considered dangerous to largely increase the stroke risk, a new study found. The finding was published Wednesday on the online edition of U.S. medical journal Neurology. In the study, researchers found people who have pre-hypertension, whose blood pressure measured between normal and high, are 55 percent more likely [...]
About 7,000 people are being infected with AIDS each day and about half of the 34 million people with HIV do not know they have it, according to a U.N. report released to mark the disease’s 30th anniversary. The UNAIDS agency said more money, less waste and smarter programs are urgently needed to consolidate gains [...]
A respected international panel of scientists says cellphones are possible cancer-causing agents, putting them in the same category as the pesticide DDT, gasoline engine exhaust and coffee. The classification was issued Tuesday in Lyon, France, by the International Agency for Research on Cancer after a review of dozens of published studies. The agency is an [...]
Not only those with overweight problems face higher risk of colon cancer, but the skinny folk are also in the same boat, a latest study has found. The surprising finding emerged from the Singapore Chinese Health Study, a long-term research involving more than 50,000 participants and funded by the United States National Cancer Institute, local [...]
The strategy announced by Kerlikowske’s office calls for additional training on responsible prescription practices for the more than 1 million doctors authorized to prescribe certain controlled substances. Such a change would require congressional approval. Although the DEA and local police recently arrested more than 20 people, including five doctors, in a crackdown on South Florida [...]
The United States could soon be faced with an epidemic of Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease ( NAFLD), one of the major contributing factors of chronic liver disease (CLD), the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) reported Saturday. If the current rates of obesity and diabetes continue for another two decades, the prevalence of [...]
DANGER ! New data suggest that the epilepsy drug Topamax (topiramate) and its generic versions increase the risk for the birth defects cleft lip and cleft palate in babies born to women who use the medication during pregnancy, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said Friday in a statement. Before prescribing topiramate, approved to [...]
The majority of the world’s annual new cancer cases and deaths (7.1 million and 4.8 million, respectively) are now occurring in economically developing countries. Cancer rates are increasing in developing countries due to changing lifestyles linked with economic growth, the American Cancer Society (ACS) said. This reflects the growing adoption of unhealthy behaviors — such [...]
Electronic cigarettes, which are increasingly used worldwide, are unsafe and pose health risks, a new study suggests. To determine the health effects of e-cigarettes, researchers at the University of California (UC), Riverside evaluated five e- cigarette brands and found design flaws, lack of adequate labeling, and several concerns about quality control and health issues. They [...]
In the first study to assess the global impact of second-hand smoke,World Health Organization ( WHO) experts found that children are more heavily exposed to second-hand smoke than any other age-group, and around 165,000 of them a year die because of it. Around one in a hundred deaths worldwide is due to passive smoking, which [...]
The press release from the company said that the drinking glasses were being recalled due to quality issues, rather than health hazards. Coca-Cola is withdrawing 22,000 collectible glasses from the US market. The paint, which the world’s larges producer of soft drinks used for its glasses, contained toxic cadmium. The concentration of the cancerous substance [...]
Obese women who lose weight during pregnancy may have a lower risk of certain pregnancy complications, but — with the exception of extremely obese women — those benefits may be outweighed by negative effects on the baby’s birth size, a new study suggests. The findings, published in the obstetrics journal BJOG, add to the fairly [...]
A sugar-rich diet is just as bad as a high-fat diet that can cause health damage even when a person is of normal weight, a new Australian study released on Wednesday found. A study conducted at the University of Melbourne found signs of impaired heart functioning when mice were fed a sugar-rich for just 12 [...]
Middle-aged chain smokers face greater risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease, or dementia, U.S. researchers have found in a new study. The conclusion was based on analysis of data concerning 21,123 ethnically diverse people who were surveyed between 1978 and 1985, when they were 50 to 60 years old. During an average follow-up of 23 years, [...]
A new study has found that regular consumption of soda and other sugar-sweetened beverages is associated with a clear and consistently greater risk of metabolic syndrome and type 2 diabetes. According to the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) researchers, the study provides empirical evidence that intake of sugary beverages should be limited to reduce [...]
The Japanese Giant Hornet is one of the most dangerous insects in the world. Two stings is enough to kill most people and shoots flesh-melting acid at the face of its victims – usually at the eyes. This five-ayes monster is endemic in the rural areas of Japan. In his article “Japanese Giant Hornets: World’s [...]
Drugmaker Abbott Laboratories said Wednesday it is recalling millions of containers of its best-selling Similac infant formula that may be contaminated with insect parts. The voluntary action affects up to 5 million Similac-brand powder formulas sold in the U.S., Puerto Rico, Guam and some Caribbean countries. The company said the products may contain a small [...]
A consortium of cancer researchers has identified four chromosome locations with genetic changes that are likely to alter a woman’s risk of developing ovarian cancer. The findings appear Sunday in an article in Nature Genetics. Researchers say that while more needs to be learned about the function of the specific chromosomal regions involved in susceptibility, [...]
Recent research has pointed towards the existence of a growing number of bacteria which become resistant to drugs, rendering the patient infected with these germs virtually untreatable, because with the current aitibiotics ineffective, there are no alrernative options for therapy. The alert by the UNO’s World Health Organization was issued early this week after research [...]
Drinking alcohol may help reduce the severity of rheumatoid arthritis and cut the risk of developing the painful and crippling disease, a study published Wednesday has shown for the first time. Researchers led by Gerry Wilson, a professor at the University of Sheffield in Britain, asked 873 arthritis patients and a control group of 1,004 [...]
Regularly sleeping for more or less than seven hours per day is associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease, a new study suggests. Researchers at West Virginia University School of Medicine based their finding on data from 30,397 adults who participated in the 2005 National Health Interview Survey, which collected information on demographic factors, [...]
For years and years now, millions of sun worshippers across the country would hit the beaches during summer to work on the perfect, golden tan. However, the advent of indoor tanning salons now allows Americans to sport a sun-kissed look year-round. And as more and more people pursue a perpetual summer-style tan, dermatologists have begun [...]
Children who eat three or more burgers a week may be at a higher risk of asthma and wheezing, but a healthy diet rich in fruit and fish seems to stave off the risk, according to a large international study. Researchers from Germany, Spain and Britain who studied data on 50,000 children across the world [...]
People who get plenty of vitamin K from food may have a lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes than those who get less of the vitamin, a new study suggests. Researchers found that among more than 38,000 Dutch adults they followed for a decade, those who got the most vitamin K in their diets [...]
Children exposed to pesticides known as organophosphates could have a higher risk of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), according to a U.S. study that urges parents to always wash produce thoroughly. Researchers tracked the pesticides’ breakdown products in children’ urine and found those with high levels were almost twice as likely to develop ADHD as those with [...]
Surviving a heart attack can kill your sex life. But it doesn’t have to, and a new study shows doctors play a key role in whether it does. Patients were less likely to resume having sex if their doctors did not talk about when it was safe, the study found. Many heart attack survivors fear [...]
Schools may have a good reason for banning nuts from the classroom and canteen with a U.S. study finding the number of children allergic to peanuts and tree-nuts may be rising. Researchers from the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York found that between one and two percent of children in the United States [...]
I would not recommend strict diets to anyone to improve their health. No diet has ever extended anyone’s life. I proceed from the assumption that food must bring you pleasure. You can’t just fight against your food throughout the whole life. People always struggle – for peace, for harvests and for many other things. If [...]
It’s a dream of medical science that looks tantalizingly within reach: the artificial pancreas, a potential breakthrough treatment for the scourge of type 1 diabetes. Meant to mimic the function of a real pancreas, the artificial version is a complex device that combines a pager-sized continuous glucose monitor and sensor that tracks blood [...]
University of Georgia researchers have developed a technique that can diagnose a common type of pneumonia within minutes, potentially replacing existing tests that can take several days for results. The researchers detected Mycoplasma pneumoniae, which causes atypical or “walking pneumonia,” in true clinical samples with over 97 percent accuracy using a recently-developed nanotechnology- based platform. [...]
About one in five adults in the US smokes, and about half of those who don’t quit will die from the habit, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Preventing, which also estimates that smoking costs the economy $183 billion each year. Personalized phone counselling along with web-based guidance may help, according to [...]
Diagnostic medical imaging refers to the process of obtaining images of parts of the human body for examination and diagnosis of illness or injury. The process may include x-rays, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), ultrasound, computerized tomography (CT), or positron emission tomography (PET). The information derived from diagnostic medical imaging often allows health care professionals to [...]
In a study in the Archives of Disease in Childhood journal, British researchers used a “strengths and difficulties” questionnaire completed by parents about their children and found that abnormal scores were less common in children who were breastfed for at least four months. Babies who are breastfed are less likely to grow into children with [...]
Is it too late to shed those extra pounds before the beach season? No, it isn’t and yes you can enjoy a healthy, weight-watching diet and continue eating those carbohydrates, free from those dull, colorless regimes which leave you feeling hungry. According to Dr. Chris Iliades* you can diet and eat carbs, indeed you must [...]
