Healthy Living Buzz

The amount of time asthma patients spend soaking up the sun may have an impact on their health, researchers have suggested. Full Article

The revelation that Hollywood celebrity Angelina Jolie had a double mastectomy as a preventative measure against cancer stoked heated discussion this past week, but one prominent cancer researcher says it demonstrates the need to make genetic testing available to all Canadians. Full Article

Pregnant women could soon take a blood test to find out whether they are at risk of post-natal depression.���� Full Article

Gene involved in neurodegenerative disease also plays a role in proper function of the circadian clock. Full Article

Victoria Bacon, wife of a Tory MP, appeals on behalf of her disabled niece over proposed cuts to Disability Living Allowance���� Full Article

Members of Britain's largest trade union, Unite, are holding a rally outside Parliament in protest over changes to the NHS. Full Article

IBNLiveGoa: HIV affected to get SMS alerts about checkup dates - IBNLiveIBNLivePanaji: HIV-affected people in Goa are now getting SMS alerts on their mobile phones reminding them about the next dose of anti-retroviral therapy (ART). This novel scheme has been launched by Goa State AIDS Control Society (GSACS), a Government ...and more�� Full Article

Washington, May 22 (IANS) Scientists have engineered nanoparticles derived from grapefruit lipids that could be used to deliver anti-cancer and other drugs to tumour cells, says a study. Full Article

Latest major revision since 1994 has been met with opposition from health advocates, medical community Full Article

The World Health Organization has issued a blunt assessment of the coronavirus outbreak in Saudi Arabia, acknowledging for the first time that there are concerns the virus may be spreading from person to person, at least in a limited way. Full Article

Washington, May 20 (ANI): A recent study has found that teens in a relationship that involves dating violence are likely to be both a victim and perpetrator, as opposed to being just one or the other. Full Article

Thank the olive oil or the nuts, but something about the Mediterranean diet could help older brains to act young again. There’s plenty of evidence that the Mediterranean diet can contribute to a lower risk of heart attacks, stroke, childhood asthma and even cancer. In fact, in a recent study, researchers assessed about 200 traditional Greek Mediterranean  foods and reported that taken together, the foods could make 1,024 relevant health claims. (MORE: Mediterranean Diet Improves Memory, But Not In Diabetics) And in May, a team of researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham and the University of Athens, Greece found that people around age 64 who primarily ate a Mediterranean diet had a lower risk of memory loss. So perhaps it’s not that surprising that in the latest study, published in the Journal of Neurology Neurosurgery and Psychiatry, researchers reported similar brain-boosting findings. Except this time, the results showed that the Mediterranean diet was significantly better than a low-fat diet in preserving brain function. The researchers, from the University of Navarra in Spain, studied 522 men and women between the ages of 55 and 80 who did not have heart disease, but were at a higher risk of having circulation-based events like a stroke because of diabetes or a combination of risk factors such as high blood pressure, a family history of stroke, or being overweight. The participants were split into three diet groups: one consumed a Mediterranean diet with extra-virgin olive oil, another ate a Mediterranean diet supplemented with mixed nuts, and the control group was assigned a low-fat diet. The typical Mediterranean diet includes plenty of olive oil, fruits, vegetables, grains and fish, with moderate amounts of dairy and meat. All of the participants agreed to complete extensive cognitive tests after about 6.5 years, in which the researchers assessed their higher cognitive functions such as their language skills, their ability to orient themselves to time and place, their capacity for abstract thinking, and their memory. (MORE: It’s the Olive Oil: Mediterranean Diet Lowers Risk of Heart Attack and Stroke) By the end of the study, 60 Full Article

London, May 22 (ANI): Researchers have claimed that mild iodine deficiency during pregnancy could be dimming the intellect of some babies born in the UK. Full Article

(Reuters) - Pfizer Inc said on Wednesday it will spin off its majority stake in animal health business Zoetis Inc to shareholders by allowing them to swap Pfizer stock for Zoetis stock at a 7 percent discount. Full Article

The study looks at the interactive effects of smoking status and age on neurocognition in one-month-abstinent alcohol dependent (AD) individuals in treatment. Full Article

Shimla, May 18 (IANS) The Congress government in Himachal Pradesh has effected a staggering 15,000 transferes in the little over four months it has been in office but the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) says the number is more than double that. The Himachal Pradesh High Court has now stepped in and put a stop to at least five transfers and cancelled one. Full Article

A California doctor has been sentenced to 14 years in federal prison for bilking her patients out of more than $1 million by promising that an herbal supplement could cure late-stage cancer and other diseases. Full Article

ADHD has been linked to struggles with drugs and alcohol, less schooling and more arrests, but the latest study shows it may also contribute to problems with weight as well. In the study published in Pediatrics, researchers connected the impulsive behavior that can characterize attention deficit-hyerpeactivity disorder (ADHD) with the over-eating that contributes to calorie-overload. In the 33-year study that tracked boys with ADHD into adulthood, men who were hyperactive as children were twice as likely to have higher body-mass index (BMI) readings and rates of obesity than men who didn’t have the condition as children. Of men diagnosed with ADHD as kids, 41% were obese compared to 22% of men who didn’t have ADHD as children. The average rate of obesity for men in this age group was 24%. The researchers say they did not set out to explore the relationship between ADHD and weight; the study was actually designed to investigate new insights into brain structures differences among people with ADHD. But in 2003, when researchers received a grant to perform brain MRI scans on the men to evaluate their psychiatric health, many of the study participants were too large to fit in the scanner. “One of these gentlemen really wanted to help out, but we had to squeeze him in, inch by inch,” says Dr. Francisco Xavier Castellanos, the study’s senior author and a professor of child and adolescent psychiatry at New York University’s Langone Medical Center. (MORE: Majority of Doctors Do Not Follow Treatment Guidelines for ADHD) For practical reasons, the scientists began asking the men for height and weight measurements to see if they would fit inside the MRI machine, which has a diameter of about 2 feet. They found that nearly three times as many men from the childhood hyperactivity group couldn’t fit in the scanner — 17 men compared to six who did not have the disorder. Intrigued, they decided to systematically collect data on the men’s weight. “There had been suggestions in the past that ADHD might be related to obesity,” says Full Article

New York TimesNavajo Confront an Increase in New HIV InfectionsNew York TimesGALLUP, N.M. — A surge in H.I.V. infections on the Navajo reservation here has doctors and public health workers increasingly alarmed that the virus that causes AIDS has resurfaced with renewed intensity in this impoverished region. National Twitter Logo.Bihar's HIV narrative in the light of red candlesTimes of IndiaIncrease in HIV infections among Navajo prompt fears of epidemicFox NewsRally expresses solidarity with PLHAThe HinduMorungExpress�-KanglaOnline�-The New Indian Expressall 71 news articles�� Full Article

Times of IndiaPinning down diabetesTimes of IndiaBariatric surgery isn't just for the obese. Docs recommend it to diabetics too, now. At 129 kg, 32-year-old IT professional Rajdeep Roy (name changed to protect identity) had been battling not just obesity but even Type 2 diabetes for three years. "My pre-meal ...Nova bariatric surgeon to deliver lectureMuscat DailyDr. Hanna returns home to offer life-changing surgeryThe Freeport Newsall 3 news articles�� Full Article

Daily News & AnalysisBet on it. Your mango is ripened using carbideDaily News & AnalysisIn its biggest haul this year, AMC destroys 22,700 kg mangoes at Naroda wholesale fruit market. AMC officials at a godown. If you have ever wondered if your fruit vendor uses carbide to ripen the mangoes, the answer is yes, there is a very good chance he ...AMC Destroys Mangoes Ripened with CarbideTopNews Arab EmiratesThe toxic truth about ripe mangoesThe New Indian Expressall 4 news articles�� Full Article

Severe asthma is currently treated with steroid tablets, which can have harmful side effects. Full Article

Angelina Jolie and the One Percent Full Article

Breathing in pollutants released into the air isn’t healthy for developing lungs, but a new study says it’s harmful for developing brains too. Kids exposed to higher levels of traffic-related air pollution in childhood scored higher on measures of hyperactivity at age 7, according to a new study published in Environmental Health Perspectives. The researchers say it’s believed the most comprehensive study to date on the effect of traffic-related air pollution on children’s behavior. “It appears that air pollution is part of the story of childhood behavior but it’s not the whole story,” says the study’s lead author Nicholas Newman, director of the Pediatric Environmental Health and Lead Clinic at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center. “We don’t know if air pollution is causing this or if it’s something else that people who live near main roads are also being exposed to.” Researchers followed 576 children from the time they were born in the Cincinnati metro area until they reached age 7. The children were separated into two groups — those who lived near a major highway or bus route — defined as less than four football fields away — and those who lived more than a mile away from heavily trafficked areas. Cincinnati, it turned out was an ideal location to the study the long term effects of exposure to air pollution since it sees a relatively high amount of truck traffic and has many hills and valleys that encourage pollution to linger in the area. Previous research suggested that the effect of traffic-related air pollution is greatest within a few hundred meters — a football field, for example — of the source of the pollution. About 11% of Americans live within a football field’s length of a four-lane highway, and 40% of U.S. children go to school within four football fields of a bustling highway. (MORE: Car Pollution Linked To Childhood Cancers) When the children were 7, their parents were asked to fill out a questionnaire about their kids’ behavior, including symptoms that could indicate attention deficit hyperactivity disorder Full Article

Washington, May 18 (ANI): Fewer than 50 percent of primary school-aged boys and fewer than 28 percent of girls meet the minimum levels of physical activity required to maintain health. Full Article

Daily News & AnalysisGE sees big bets in government healthcare projectsDaily News & AnalysisGE, a diversified manufacturing and infrastructure multinational, is seeking government projects and orders to bolster its healthcare business in India. “We see a range of opportunities in the Indian healthcare sector. Our aim to partner with the government is a ...GE, Maharashtra tie up for diagnostic facilities at 22 hospitalsHindu Business LineGE Venture to Upgrade Hospital Equipment in India StateWall Street JournalMaharashtra, Wipro GE in healthcare pactLivemintindiablooms�-Vancouver Desiall 6 news articles�� Full Article

Men struggle with their wives' breast cancer, but don't always speak up.         Full Article

By Miriam Arghandiwal and Ibrahimi Aziz KABUL (Reuters) - Afghanistan's parliament failed to pass a law on Saturday banning violence against women, a severe blow to progress made in women's rights in the conservative Muslim country since the Islamist Taliban was toppled over a decade ago. President Hamid Karzai approved the law by decree in 2009 and parliament's endorsement was required. But a rift between conservative and more secular members of the assembly resulted in debate being deferred to a later date. ... Full Article

What if you had the ability to heal your body just by changing how you think and feel? My experience with patients (as well as my personal background) has led me to the conclusion that whether they become sick or stay healthy might have more to do with everything else that's going on in their lives than with any specific health standard they abide by. Full Article

PSC is an inflammatory disease of the bile ducts that results in inflammation and subsequent fibrosis that can lead to cirrhosis of the liver, liver failure and biliary cancer Full Article