Public Health
A history of alcohol abuse is unlikely to cause long-term memory impairment in men and women, but smoking just might in women, a new study has found.
The findings are based on assessments of 115 men and 169 women with an average age of 43. Overall, 45 percent of men and 37 percent of women met the criteria for lifetime alcohol abuse, and 13 percent and nearly 4 percent, respectively, had a lifetime history of alcohol dependence. One quarter of women and 18 percent of men had a history of tobacco dependence. The study appears in the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs
Overall, women who…
Scientists have an emerging interest in lectins, naturally occurring chemicals in plants, because of their ability to halt the chain of reaction that leads to a variety of infections.
Now, researchers from the University of Michigan say they have found a potent inhibitor of HIV, derived from the lectin found in bananas that may open the door to new treatments to prevent sexual transmission of HIV.
In laboratory tests, BanLec, the lectin found in bananas, was as potent as two current anti-HIV drugs, T-20 and maraviroc, currently in clinical use. Based on the findings published in the…
The first cases of Electromagnetic Hypersensitivity (often referred to as electro-hypersensitivity or even EHS) were studied in the 1970s and yet decades later few people are even aware of the condition. We living human beings are more than just flesh and blood; we are also a highly complex electromagnetic system. This also means that we interact with external electromagnetic radiation (EMR). But try switching off every single electrical device in your home and work and ponder on how dependent we now are on these devices. The problem is that no importance is given to how detrimental all this…
Who says science journalism is dying when it seems to be gloating about slaying one sacred cow after another: chiropractic, homoeopathy and now... dieting.
The internet is bursting to the seams with weight loss programs, slimming advice, nutrition counselling, fitness regimes, low fat, low carb, low salt, low sugar, low motivation diets. It's enough to drive one to drink, except that it would also make you fatter...or would it?
The diet industry has been around long enough to see that it sells hopes and mirages - and makes a ton of cash doing so - yet none of these diets can claim long-…
A lack of free time is no longer a viable excuse for avoiding exercise, according to a new study in The Journal of Physiology.
Researchers studying interval training have found that it not only takes less time than what is typically recommended, but the regimen does not have to be overly intense to be effective in helping reduce the risk of such diseases at Type 2 diabetes.
The study adds to a growing body of research that has zeroed in on this particular style of exercise in which a person trains hard but for less time.
"What we've been able to show is that interval training does not have…
When we anticipate or smell a meal, the parasympathetic nervous system triggers salivation and increases insulin production in response to the expectation that glucose will be entering the blood stream. Scientists writing in Science Signaling say this response may be a risk factor for Type 2 diabetes.
"We think this parasympathetic response is potentially important in type 2 diabetes," said Vann Bennett, a professor in the departments of cell biology, biochemistry, at Duke. "Our study showed there is a novel mutation in the gene encoding ankyrin-B, which increases the risk of type 2 diabetes…
Adolescents who watch R-Rated movies are more likely to try alcohol at a young age, according to a study based on phone surveys of 6,255 10-14 year-old children.
Published in Prevention Science, the study examined the relationship between watching R-rated movies and the probability of alcohol use across different levels of "sensation seeking," which is a tendency to seek out risky experiences.
Sensation seeking was based on how individual subjects identified with statements like: "I like to do scary things, I like to do dangerous things, I often think there is nothing to do, and I like to…
Several studies have shown that smokers have a lower risk of developing Parkinson's disease. But the relationship between risk for the disease and smoking may not be so simple. New research published in Neurology shows that smoking for a greater number of years may reduce the risk of the disease, but smoking a larger number of cigarettes per day made no difference.
The study involved 305,468 AARP members age 50 to 71 who completed a survey on diet and lifestyle at the time and again about 10 years later. During that time, 1,662 of the people had developed Parkinson's disease, or about one-…
A study in the March edition of the American Journal of Psychiatry, senior-authored by Jerome C. Wakefield, empirically challenges the effectiveness of psychiatrists' official diagnostic manual in preventing mistaken, false-positive diagnoses of depression. This isn't the first time that Wakefield has challenged the DSM criteria for diagnosing depression. His first assault caused such controversy that the criteria were slightly tightened, but DSM-V is on the horizon and I suspect psychiatrists are busy pushing their particular niche obsessions.
According to the DSM, the diagnosis of major…
Newswire |
The European Kidney Health Alliance (EKHA) and World Kidney Day (WKD) organisations today call for European Union (EU) support. Early awareness, identification and treatment of chronic kidney disease (CKD) and its associated diseases, including diabetes - the leading cause of CKD(1) - must be prioritised on the EU health agenda. The Members of European Parliament (MEP) Group for Kidney Health met with distinguished panellists at the European Parliament in Strasbourg today at a meeting held to coincide with the annual global health awareness campaign World Kidney Day, 11th March 2010. …