Medindia Health News

Breastfed Babies Less Likely to Become Angry: Study

Breastfed babies are less likely to grow up angry and irritable compared to bottle-fed babies, according to a recent study. Scientists believe that the warm attachment to their mother makes them more mild-mannered and less hostile in later life, the Daily Express reported. The study followed almost 2,000 people for 24 years and found that those who were not breastfed as infants had higher levels of hostility, particularly cynicism and paranoia, ...

Study Says 7-hour Sleep Helps High School Students Do Better

Even seven hours of isleep/i is ideal for high school students to do better in studies, reveals study. "We're not talking about sleep deprivation, the data simply says that seven hours is optimal at that age," said study co-author Eric Eide from Brigham Young University (BYU). The new study, led by Eide and BYU economics professor Mark Showalter, is the first in a series where they examine sleep and its impact on our health and education. ...

Gay Marriage Bills Put Before Australian Parliament

Today two bills calling for the legalization of gay marriage were introduced to Australia's parliament. The private member's bills, introduced by left-leaning Greens lawmaker Adam Bandt and Stephen Jones from the ruling Labor party, take to three the pieces of legislation now before the parliament calling for gay marriage rights. Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young brought a similar bill in the upper house in September 2010 which is now being examined ...

Take Steps to Prevent Heart Disease Early

The lifetime risk of suffering heart disease depends on the risk factors that we develop in our younger and middle age, according to a recent study published in the New England Journal of Medicine. There are a number of conditions that predispose a person to heart and related diseases like stroke. Some of these are modifiable, that is, they can be prevented or treated. These include high blood pressure, increase in cholesterol levels, smoking, ...

Valentine's Day 2012 - A Day to Express Your Love

February fourteenth, a day associated with love; a day that brings with it a sweet flavor of romance; a day that sees people flocking shops and malls searching for the best gifts and cards for their loved ones, with the only intention of bringing a smile on the loved ones' faces. Yes, it is Valentine's Day once again and here's wishing all our readers a Happy Valentine's Day. In fact, the exact origin of Valentine's Day is not known.It appears that the day was ...

Britain: Donor Organs Go Waste

In Britain, every year dozens of idonor organs/i go waste, reports survey. Figures obtained by the Daily Express have revealed that in 17 months till September 2011, at least 85 donor organs were damaged. Nearly half of these were kidneys. The report said that loss of such large numbers of life-saving organs has fuelled concern that specialist teams sent to retrieve the organs were not always adequately trained to deal with the complex ...

Link Between Delayed ACL Reconstruction and Higher Rates of Associated Knee Injuries

Children who had delayed treatment for an Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) injury have increased rates of associated knee injuries, report researchers. "In our research, children who had delayed treatment of an ACL injury more than 150 days, tended to have an increased chance of also having a medial meniscus or chondral injury in their knee. These additional injuries may increase recovery time, inhibit return to play, and worsen long term functional outcomes ...

Benefits of Local Anesthesia After Knee Replacement Surgery Highlighted

Local anesthesia delivered through a catheter in the joint is found to be more beneficial than traditional methods, say researchers. Their research will be recognized with the Knee Society Award for the best work on a surgical technique at the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons annual meeting, February 7-11 in San Francisco. Their initial study findings will be presented on Friday, February 10th at 5:42 PM Pacific Time. The randomized, double-blind ...

Pioglitazone can Help Prevent Long-term Effects of Maternal Obesity

Pioglitazone - an anti-diabetic drug can prevent the long term effects of imaternal obesity/i, reveals study. This study, Pioglitazone Therapy in Offspring Exposed to Maternal Obesity, is the first step in the long term goal of preventing metabolic syndrome and obesity in children secondary to maternal obesity. The data proposes a potential role for drugs that activate peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors in the prevention of metabolic syndrome ...

Researchers Say Obese People Feel More Pain

Researchers say that ioverweight/i people are likelier to feel ipain/i than those who have normal weight. A new study of more than 1 million people found the heaviest individuals in the study also reported the highest rates of pain. "Our findings confirm and extend earlier studies about the link between obesity and pain," said study researcher Arthur Stone of Stony Brook University. For instance, a study reported ...

Primary Care Program Benefits Obese Teen Girls

A 6-month program that involved weekly peer meetings, consultations with primary care providers helped iobese teenage girls/i manage weight, improve eating behavior and body image, reveals study published in Pediatrics. Funded by the National Institutes of Health, the study is the first to report long-term results from a weight management program designed specifically for teenage girls. Most other programs have included younger children and interventions ...

Decoding the Molecular Machine Behind Some Bacteria

Scientists are in the process of decoding the molecular machine known as the 'type II bacterial secretion system' that is responsible for delivering potent toxins from ibacteria/i such as enterotoxigenic IE. coli /Iand IVibrio cholerae/I into an infected individual. Professor Richard Pickersgill, who led the research, said: "Bacterial secretion systems deliver disease causing toxins into host tissue. If we can understand how these machines ...

New Method to Measure Blood Pressure and Arterial Stiffness

A simple, non-invasive method helps to measure both arterial stiffness and iblood pressure/i simultaneously. Not only does arterial stiffness increase hypertension but hypertension can exacerbate arterial stiffness in a self perpetuating spiral. Arterial stiffness is also associated with type 2 diabetes and is involved in the development of the circulatory problems. However, arterial stiffness can be addressed, if caught early enough, by diet and ...

Molecular Secrets of Ancient Chinese Herbal Remedy Discovered

Harvard School of Dental Medicine researchers have identified the molecular secrets of halofuginone - a compound derived from Chang Shan's (root extract) bioactive ingredient. It turns out that halofuginone (HF) triggers a stress-response pathway that blocks the development of a harmful class of immune cells, called Th17 cells, which have been implicated in many autoimmune disorders. "HF prevents the autoimmune response without dampening immunity ...

Organ Damage in Inflammatory Genetic Disorder Arrested by Rheumatoid Arthritis Drug

Kineret (anakinra), an approved medication to treat rheumatoid arthritis, successfully bars progression of organ damage in people with neonatal-onset multisystem inflammatory disease (NOMID), reveals a new study. This rare and debilitating genetic disorder causes persistent inflammation and ongoing tissue damage. NOMID affects numerous organs and body systems, including the skin, joints, eyes, and central nervous system. The first sign of the disease ...

Kids' Gadget Perplex 1 In 6 Parents

The digital partition between parents and their brood has actually widened since 16 percent parents admit buying their child a device that they only partly understand how to use, reveals a new study. The report on how parents control their children's access to adult media, revealed that a quarter of children were allowed to play games classified above their age, and 40 percent were allowed to watch films above their age limit, the Guardian reported. The ...

Immune System Regulation Directly Affected If Raised on a Farm

Being raised on a farm directly affects the regulation of the immune system and induces a decrease in the immunological responses to food proteins, finds a new study. The research, led by the University of Bristol's School of Veterinary Sciences, found that spending early life in a complex farm environment increased the number of regulatory T-lymphocytes, the cells that damp down the immune system and limit immune responses. "Many large-scale epidemiological ...

Shortly, Memory- Impaired Patients to Get Smartphone 'Prescription'

A smartphone training program, theory-driven and exclusively designed for people with memory impairment, can result in 'robust' upgrading in everyday functioning. It is aimed to boost independence and confidence levels, reveals a new study. Memory impairment, particularly when it is severe, can impact virtually all aspects of everyday life. Individuals are unable to readily acquire new information making it difficult or impossible to keep appointments and stay on ...

Sporting Activity in Excess Could Mar Long-Term Success of Hip Resurfacing

The femoral ball in the hip joint is not removed in hip resurfacing; instead it is trimmed and capped with a smooth metal covering. Young and active patients with arthritis often choose hip resurfacing over total hip replacement to minimize the risk of hip dislocation, and to preserve the bone for a revision surgery should the primary resurfacing fail. However, the long-term effects of sports on a resurfaced hip were unknown. In new research presented today at ...

Tattoo Removal Could Turn Easier With New Laser Therapies

Currently, dermatologists are finding new laser therapies for improving tattoo removal treatment. Tattoos, which may affect a person's skin, can be quite difficult to treat or remove. While lasers have been used to remove tattoos for several years, the procedure requires multiple treatment sessions (typically six to 10 treatments or more) and treatments are painful, requiring a few weeks of healing time between procedures. According to ...

Spread of Clostridium Difficile in Hospitals Probably Not by Contact With Infected Patients

As opposed to present convention wherein infection with the organism iClostridium difficile/i is held as an infection that is acquired by contact with symptomatic patients. However these patients identified to be infected with iC. difficile/i, may account for merely a minority of new cases of the infection. These findings are important as they indicate that iC. difficile/i infection, which can be fatal especially in older people, may not be effectively controlled ...

Child Sex Abuse Victims Accused More by Parents If Offender is Another Youth, UNH Research Exposes

Parents are highly likely to blame and doubt their children when their child has been sexually abused by another teenager rather an adult, states new research from the Crimes against Children Research Center at the University of New Hampshire. "Parents may have higher levels of blame toward their child when sexually abused by adolescents because parents have difficulty with the concept of adolescent sex offenders. Some parents may still expect the offender to be ...

Billet Doux to Become History!

The most romantic gesture, the tradition of writing a love letter dates back thousands of years. But the practice is now facing extinction as men have apparently given up committing to paper their deepest yearnings, say researchers. In a poll of 1,000 Britons, almost four in ten men admitted they never sent a love letter,the Daily Express reported. Also one-in-eight confessed they never show their feelings for their partner. A ...

Kids May Get More Aggressive With Physical Punishment

Corporal punishment of children is potentially damaging to their long-term development, warn researchers. Over the past 20 years, a growing body of research clearly indicates that children who have experienced physical punishment tend to be more aggressive toward parents, siblings, peers and, later, spouses, and are more likely to develop antisocial behaviour. "Virtually without exception, these studies found that physical punishment was associated with ...

Pupils Learn to Embrace Failure, in UK School

A London school has launched an initiative to instruct kids to learn from failure in exams and on the sports field. Education experts have welcomed the move, which is being seen as a bid to battle against the politically correct "prizes for all" culture. Wimbledon High School says its Failure Week will coach children how they can use failure to their advantage. It will draw on famous figures such as author JK Rowling, who said she "failed ...

Study Says Self-Rated Health Important Indicator of Physical Well-Being

A new study reveals that people who rate their health as poor have an unhealthier lifestyle, are often in a poor state of health. Researchers from the Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine at the University of Zurich demonstrated that self-rated health is also linked to the probability of survival or death over a long period of more than thirty years. In the study, which was conducted in Switzerland, men who rated their health as "very poor" were ...

White Population in S Africa on the Brink of Extinction, Possibly by 2161: Study

The white and Indian population in South Africa's is declining, while the previous figure could become extinct by the year 2161, reveals new study. News 24 quoted a new report by the South African Institute of Race Relations that reveals that the country's white population was declining by about 0.3 percent every five years. The decline has been attributed by the institute to lowered fertility rates affecting the middle class across all population ...

New Prenatal Genetic Test can Detect Fetal Abnormalities in a Better Way Than Existing Tests

A new study has revealed that testing a developing fetus' DNA through chromosomal microarray (CMA) provides more information about potential disorders than the standard method of prenatal testing. The results of the 4,000-plus-participant clinical study are being presented at the 32nd annual meeting of the Society for Maternal-Foetal Medicine in Dallas. In women having routine prenatal diagnosis, CMA detected additional genetic abnormalities in about ...

Scientists Identify Potential Therapeutic Target for Tobacco-Related Lung Cancers

The immune response regulator IKBKE (serine/threonine kinase) plays two roles in tobacco-related non-small cell lung cancers, say researchers. Tobacco carcinogens induce IKBKE and, in turn, IKBKE induces chemotherapy resistance. "IKBKE is a newly identified oconogene, a gene linked to cancer," said study lead author Jin Q. Cheng, Ph.D., M.D., who studies genetic alterations and their molecular mechanisms in cancer. "In our study, we demonstrated ...

Regardless of Age, Male Fruit Flies Prefer Females With Youthful Smell

A new study has indicated that a sexy, youthful smell may make up for advancing age in fruit flies. The University of Michigan's research says male fruit flies find romance with female flies coated with pheromone - chemicals produced by an organism to communicate or attract another. It demonstrates how age-related changes in pheromone production can reduce sexual attractiveness. The study examined how pheromones play a role in the sexual ...

Poll Reveals 77% Pakistanis Marry Within Extended Family

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German Men Buy the Cheapest Valentine's Day Gifts

A new study has revealed that when it comes to buying gifts for Valentine's Day, German men are the stingiest. The survey by Jewellery website Boticca.com found German men to be the least generous when buying presents in the run up to February 14 - closely followed by Italians. It found that men in Far East countries including China, Hong Kong, Japan and Singapore spend more than any other country or region for Valentine's Day at 173 pounds per order. ...

4.5 Million Americans Living With Total Knee Replacement

A new research has found increase in total knee replacement surgeries among Americans. According to the study more than 4.5 million Americans are living with a total knee replacement (TKR), as the number of TKR surgeries has more than doubled over the past decade, with the sharpest rise among younger patients. Osteoarthritis continues to be the primary reason for TKR.Investigators used a computer model; U.S. Census data; information from the National Health Interview ...

Pharma Saleswomen Offer Sex To Meet Their Sales Target

Many young and pretty pharmaceutical saleswomen in Singapore are willing to have sex with doctors in a bid to boost their sales, according to reports. A 30-year-old saleswoman, known only as Cheryl, has heard of many saleswomen willing to sell their "body" to meet their sales target, Nanyang Siang Pau reported. One of them, she claimed, was even caught in the act with a doctor in his clinic last year. Cheryl, who works for a multi-national ...

Efficiency may Increase by Practicing Beyond Perfection

New research indicates that while practice can make you perfect; further practice may make you even more proficient. A study, led by CU-Boulder Assistant Professor Alaa Ahmed, looked at how test subjects learned particular arm-reaching movements using a robotic arm. The results showed that even after a reaching task had been learned and the corresponding decrease in muscle activity had reached a stable state, the overall energy costs to the test subjects ...

Ways to Think More Inventively

New research says that there will always be a wild and erratic quality to creativity and invention This is because an 'Aha moment' is rare and reaching it implies prevailing over formidable mental barriers. But after studying common roadblocks to problem solving, Anthony McCaffrey, a cognitive psychology researcher at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, has developed a toolkit for enhancing anyone's skills. McCaffrey believes his Obscure Features ...

Relapse to Smoking Linked to Low Dopamine Levels

Low dopamine levels that occur as a result of withdrawal from smoking actually promote the relapse to smoking, says a new study. Dopamine is a brain chemical messenger that is critically important in reward and motivation. Some research suggests that one of its central roles is to send a signal to the brain to 'seek something enjoyable'. Indeed, dopamine is released during many rewarding experiences, including taking drugs, smoking, having sex, and ...

Pensioners' Memory Boosted by Sex

Scientists have suggested that pensioners who continue to have sex even in their 70s are less likely to suffer from confusion and memory loss. A team from Rostock University in northern Germany including Professor Peter Kropp and Dr Britta Muller interviewed 170 people aged between 63 and 75 in 2011. They found that sexual satisfaction was directly linked with a young mind.The results clearly show that staying active in later life - and this includes ...

'Inhalable' Caffeine Shot on the Anvil

Researchers have revealed that a caffeine inhaler, dubbed 'AeroShot', could be the next big thing for people to get their caffeine fix. However, the critics have asserted that the novel product does have its risks. The product hit the market late last month in Massachusetts and New York, and is also available in France. A single unit is priced at 2.99 dollars at convenience, mom-and-pop, liquor and online stores. Harvard University's ...

Preventing and Treating Drug Use Via a Mobile Device

An innovative amalgamation of 'enabling technologies' is being used by researchers to help detect developing drug cravings. This mobile multimedia device can also help doctors intervene to prevent drug use. So called 'enabling technologies' - artificial intelligence, continuous physiological monitoring, wireless connectivity, and smartphone computation - exist to make behavioural interventions more effective outside the clinic or office environments. In ...

Compromise Birth Control Plan Sought by Obama

A compromise has been proposed by US President Barack Obama announced in order to defuse a row over access to birth control. His stance had prompted election-year Republican critics to claim he was waging a war on religion. In a concession, Obama said his government would no longer require religious organizations to offer free contraception on employee health plans and decried opponents he said had turned the issue into a "political football." But he ...

Research Says Annual Cost of Defensive Orthopedic Medicine is (Dollar) 2 Billion

A survey of orthopedic surgeons has found that 96 percent have practiced defensive medicine. The latter includes the ordering of tests, referrals to specialists and hospital admissions primarily to avoid liability and without significant benefit to patients. These are the findings of a new study presented today at the 2012 Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS). The study estimates the annual cost of defensive orthopaedic care at ...

Residing in US Increases Risk of Preterm Birth

New research indicates that the duration of stay in the United States is associated with increased risk of preterm birth for Hispanic women. These findings will be presented at the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine's annual meeting, The Pregnancy Meeting , in Dallas, Texas. "It is uncertain how important environmental factors are in predisposition to preterm birth," said Radek Bukowski, MD, PhD, with the University of Texas Medical Branch, Department of Obstetrics ...

Health is Adversely Affected by Comparing Yourself to Others

Researchers have said that comparing yourself to others with the same health problem can influence your physical and emotional health. The researchers conducted a qualitative synthesis of over 30 studies focusing on the relationship between social comparisons and health. "If you've ever looked at another person and thought, 'Well, at least I'm doing better than he is,' or 'Wow, I wish I could be doing as well as she is,' you're not alone," said Josh ...

Research Sheds Light on Fainting Factor in Cardiac Arrests

The survival rate is less than five percent in the 45,000 sudden cardiac arrests that occur each year in Canada. Furthermore, the presence of underlying heart disease may not always explain the occurrence of this event. In order to identify people at risk of these unexplained cardiac events, a newly published study examined the presence of certain warning symptoms that are present in people who have been resuscitated from a cardiac arrest. The research found that ...

Antidepressants and the Risk of Sudden Unexpected Death in Epilepsy

Drugs known as Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors may reduce the risk of Sudden Unexpected Death in Epilepsy (SUDEP). This is the main finding of a groundbreaking study on a mouse model that is published in Elsevier's IEpilepsy (and) Behavior/I. SUDEP is estimated to be the cause of death in up to 17% of patients with epilepsy who die from their condition. Evidence for cardiac and respiratory causes of SUDEP has been presented, but no effective prevention of ...

Additional Option for Treating Colon Cancer

A new insight into colon cancer has been obtained by an international research team led by cell biologists at the University of California, Riverside. Colon cancer is the third leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the United States. The research provides potential new avenues for diagnosing and treating the disease. Led by a href="http:facultydirectory.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/pub/public_individual.pl?faculty=716"Frances Sladek/a at UC Riverside and ...

Optimal Gestational Age for Elective Delivery is Week 39 for Women Who Have Undergone Previous C-Section

For women with prior delivery via cesarean section the optimal timing of elective delivery for mother and baby is 39 weeks. Researchers will present these findings at the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine's annual meeting, The Pregnancy Meeting , in Dallas, Texas. "Prior studies have compared the perinatal risks of elective delivery at 37 to 41 weeks gestation, but didn't evaluate the hazard of delivery versus not delivering at a specific time point," said Giuseppe ...

Seven Hours of Sleep Improves Kids' Academic Performance

A new study has claimed that just 7 hours of sleep, instead of 9 hours recommended by federal guidelines, improves academic performance in 16-18 year olds. The new study by Eric Eide and Mark Showalter from Brigham Young University is the first in a series of studies where they examine sleep and its impact on our health and education. "We're not talking about sleep deprivation," Eide, the study author said. "The data simply says that seven ...

Study Finds Cognitive Performance Decline After Natural Disasters

The impact of natural disasters, besides causing stress and anxiety, may also make the victims to do serious errors in their daily lives, reveals a new study. In their upcoming article, researchers William S. Helton and James Head from the University of Canterbury explore how cognitive performance can decline after earthquakes and other natural disasters. Past research has indicated that more traffic accidents and accident-related fatalities occur following ...

Adults More Addicted To Facebook And Twitter Than Teens

A new survey has revealed that Facebook and Twitter are liked more by adults who have a better time using them than teenagers. According to the new survey, a whopping 85 percent of adults said that other people on the social networking sites (SNS) are mostly kind, with only five percent saying that other people are mostly unkind. In comparison, 69 percent of teenagers said that people on sites like Facebook and Twitter are mostly kind, with 20 percent ...

Living in US Raises Preterm Birth Risk For Hispanic Women

A study has found that the longer a Hispanic woman lives in the United States the more she is at risk of preterm birth (PTB), especially those who were born in the U.S. This is the main finding of a study by researchers at the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) at Galveston who sought to shed light on possible environmental factors in PTB. It is one of several studies from UTMB presented this week at the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine's (SMFM) 32nd Annual ...

Five More Patients Die as Doctors' Strike Continues in AP

Five more patients died Sunday, as junior doctors of government-run hospitals in Andhra Pradesh continued their strike, demanding hike in stipend, but the hospital authorities termed it as "routine" deaths. Emergency services remained crippled across the state causing severe inconvenience to the patients. With the talks between the government and striking medicos on Saturday night failing to achieve a breakthrough, the patients are having a harrowing time ...

Imogen Thomas Seeks Hypnotherapy To Get Rid of Cake Addiction

Cake addicted Imogen Thomas is undergoing hypnotherapy to get rid of her habit. The former 'Big Brother' contestant, who is infamous for bedding footballer Ryan Giggs, paid a visit to a central London hypnotherapist on Thursday for her first session of alternative treatment. The 29-year-old was perhaps feeling a little self conscious about the reason for her outing, covering up in a large shapeless brown sweater to excess weight. However, ...

Website To Promote Premarital Virginity Launched in China

A single freelance writer in China has set up a website to promote premarital virginity. According to Chutian Times, prevalent premarital sex has driven Tu Shiyou from Wuhan in Hubei province to set up a website dedicated to promote virginity ahead of a wedding, China Daily reported. While some are doubtful about Shiyou's intention of establishing such a website, some say they are respectful. "Tu Shiyou has a good intention, but it's not ...

Excessive Consumption of Phosphate Pose Risk To Health

Experts have recommended for labeling of food products that contains phosphate, as excessive consumption of the additives could pose threat to health. Eberhard Ritz and his co-authors selectively reviewed the literature on the subject, which documents the fact that excessive phosphate consumption elevates mortality in patients with renal disease. Recent studies have also shown that phosphate apparently damages blood vessels and induces aging processes. ...

RSBY to Provide Health Insurance for 66,000 J (and) K Families

The Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana (RSBY) will soon provide health insurance to 66,000 poor families in Jammu and Kashmir. This was announced recently this week by the Minister for Health and Horticulture, Mr Sham Lal Sharma. Addressing a press conference in Jammu, he said, 'Insurance cover to the tune of Rs 30,000 has been made available to each of the 66,000 poor families. They have only to register by paying a nominal registration fee of Rs 30.' He added that ...

Same-sex Couples in US can Now Access Health Insurance

Gay and lesbian couples can now search specifically for health plans that include coverage for their domestic partners through an improved filter in HealthCare.gov, said HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius last week. This has been made possible by 'Health Plan Finder' on HealthCare.gov, which allows LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender) health insurance consumers to compare the health plans in terms of cost sharing and benefit choices, and choose the best option ...