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Another influenza season is beginning in the northern temperate zone, and our government's Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will strongly urge Americans to get a flu shot. Health officials will say that every winter 5 - 20 percent of the population catches the flu, 200,000 people are hospitalized, and 36,000 people will die from it.
Use of drugs to enhance memory and concentration should be permitted, experts say.
Off-label use of stimulants, such as Ritalin, is on the rise among college students. Studies show that 5 percent to 15 percent of students use prescription drugs as study aids, and surveys suggest the practice may be common among academics as well. The trend has sparked debates over how and when these cognitive enhancers should be used. Military personnel routinely use stimulants while on active duty, but should that practice also be permitted among surgeons working long shifts? What about scientists working late nights in the lab? Or students taking exams?
Off-label use of stimulants, such as Ritalin, is on the rise among college students. Studies show that 5 percent to 15 percent of students use prescription drugs as study aids, and surveys suggest the practice may be common among academics as well. The trend has sparked debates over how and when these cognitive enhancers should be used. Military personnel routinely use stimulants while on active duty, but should that practice also be permitted among surgeons working long shifts? What about scientists working late nights in the lab? Or students taking exams?
Every fall, the public is barraged by messages from doctors, nurses and other health care providers to get a flu vaccination to protect against the influenza virus. But the truth is, some doctors and nurses might talk the talk without walking the walk.
According to the most recent data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a significant chunk of health care professionals declined to get vaccinated against the influenza virus during the 2006-07 flu season, with only about 40 percent opting for a jab. It's an "abysmal and profoundly sad" statistic, according to Dr. William Schaffner, chairman of the department of preventive medicine at Vanderbilt Medical School in Nashville, Tenn.
According to the most recent data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a significant chunk of health care professionals declined to get vaccinated against the influenza virus during the 2006-07 flu season, with only about 40 percent opting for a jab. It's an "abysmal and profoundly sad" statistic, according to Dr. William Schaffner, chairman of the department of preventive medicine at Vanderbilt Medical School in Nashville, Tenn.
In older adults at risk for heart disease, a Mediterranean diet plus daily servings of mixed nuts may help manage metabolic syndrome, according to a Spanish study.
Metabolic syndrome describes a group of health problems that includes abdominal obesity, high cholesterol, high blood pressure and high glucose levels -- all of which are risk factors for cardiovascular disease. Previous research suggests that a Mediterranean diet -- which includes lots of cereals, vegetables, fruits and olive oil, moderate consumption of fish and alcohol, and low intake of dairy, meats and sweets -- lowers the risk of metabolic syndrome.
Metabolic syndrome describes a group of health problems that includes abdominal obesity, high cholesterol, high blood pressure and high glucose levels -- all of which are risk factors for cardiovascular disease. Previous research suggests that a Mediterranean diet -- which includes lots of cereals, vegetables, fruits and olive oil, moderate consumption of fish and alcohol, and low intake of dairy, meats and sweets -- lowers the risk of metabolic syndrome.
Irish government officials say tests have confirmed illegally high levels of dioxin chemicals in cattle that ate the same oil-tainted food that has already devastated Ireland's pork industry.
The government scheduled a news conference Tuesday to confirm the positive dioxin findings in 38 cattle farms.
The government scheduled a news conference Tuesday to confirm the positive dioxin findings in 38 cattle farms.
Men are at risk of being "feminised" by thousands of "gender bending" chemicals that are changing the behaviour of humans and animals, according to a report.
Scientists are warning that manmade pollutants which have escaped into the environment mimic the female sex hormone oestrogen.
The males of species including fish, amphibians, birds, and reptiles have been feminised by exposure to sex hormone disrupting chemicals and have been found to be abnormally making egg yolk protein, normally made by females, according to the report by Chem Trust, environmental group.
The authors claim that the chemicals found in food packaging, cleaning products, plastics, sewage and paint cause genital deformities, reduce sperm count and "feminise" males.
Scientists are warning that manmade pollutants which have escaped into the environment mimic the female sex hormone oestrogen.
The males of species including fish, amphibians, birds, and reptiles have been feminised by exposure to sex hormone disrupting chemicals and have been found to be abnormally making egg yolk protein, normally made by females, according to the report by Chem Trust, environmental group.
The authors claim that the chemicals found in food packaging, cleaning products, plastics, sewage and paint cause genital deformities, reduce sperm count and "feminise" males.
Men may fancy it and medical science considers it the best indicator of a woman's health and fertility, but the classic hourglass figure isn't necessarily suited for demands in the real world, according to new body type research conducted at the University of Utah.
Having a less than Barbie doll, more cylindrical body might not look ideal on the shelf, but it offers substantial benefits for coping with daily life, Elizabeth Cashdan, chair of the U. anthropology department, reports in the December issue of the journal Current Anthropology.
In societies and under conditions in both Third World and industrialized countries, women with bigger waists and flatter hips tend to have the strength, assertiveness and competitive attributes to cope with the stresses of bringing home the bacon and tending to the survival of her family.
Having a less than Barbie doll, more cylindrical body might not look ideal on the shelf, but it offers substantial benefits for coping with daily life, Elizabeth Cashdan, chair of the U. anthropology department, reports in the December issue of the journal Current Anthropology.
In societies and under conditions in both Third World and industrialized countries, women with bigger waists and flatter hips tend to have the strength, assertiveness and competitive attributes to cope with the stresses of bringing home the bacon and tending to the survival of her family.
With up to half of a person's body mass consisting of skeletal muscle, chronic inflammation of those muscles - which include those found in the limbs - can result in significant physical impairment.
According to University of Illinois kinesiology and community health professor Kimberly Huey, past research has demonstrated that the antioxidant properties of Vitamin E may be associated with reduced expression of certain pro-inflammatory cytokines, in vitro, in various types of cells. Cytokines are regulatory proteins that function as intercellular communicators that assist the immune system in generating a response.
To consider whether the administration of Vitamin E, in vivo, might have similar effects on skeletal and cardiac muscle, Huey and a team of Illinois researchers put Vitamin E to the test in mice. The team included study designer Rodney Johnson, a U. of I. professor of animal sciences, whose previous work has suggested a possible link, in mice, between short-term Vitamin E supplementation and reduced inflammation in the brain.
According to University of Illinois kinesiology and community health professor Kimberly Huey, past research has demonstrated that the antioxidant properties of Vitamin E may be associated with reduced expression of certain pro-inflammatory cytokines, in vitro, in various types of cells. Cytokines are regulatory proteins that function as intercellular communicators that assist the immune system in generating a response.
To consider whether the administration of Vitamin E, in vivo, might have similar effects on skeletal and cardiac muscle, Huey and a team of Illinois researchers put Vitamin E to the test in mice. The team included study designer Rodney Johnson, a U. of I. professor of animal sciences, whose previous work has suggested a possible link, in mice, between short-term Vitamin E supplementation and reduced inflammation in the brain.
Antibiotics are the single largest class of agents that cause idiosyncratic drug-induced liver injury (DILI), reports a new study in Gastroenterology, an official journal of the American Gastroenterological Association (AGA) Institute. DILI is the most common cause of death from acute liver failure and accounts for approximately 13 percent of cases of acute liver failure in the U.S.
It is caused by a wide variety of prescription and nonprescription medications, nutritional supplements and herbals.
"DILI is a serious health problem that impacts patients, physicians, government regulators and the pharmaceutical industry," said Naga P. Chalasani, MD, of the Indiana University School of Medicine and lead author of the study. "Further efforts are needed in defining its pathogenesis and developing means for the early detection, accurate diagnosis, prevention and treatment of DILI."
It is caused by a wide variety of prescription and nonprescription medications, nutritional supplements and herbals.
"DILI is a serious health problem that impacts patients, physicians, government regulators and the pharmaceutical industry," said Naga P. Chalasani, MD, of the Indiana University School of Medicine and lead author of the study. "Further efforts are needed in defining its pathogenesis and developing means for the early detection, accurate diagnosis, prevention and treatment of DILI."
Happiness is contagious, spreading among friends, neighbors, siblings and spouses like the flu, according to a large study that for the first time shows how emotion can ripple through clusters of people who may not even know each other.
The study of more than 4,700 people who were followed over 20 years found that people who are happy or become happy boost the chances that someone they know will be happy. The power of happiness, moreover, can span another degree of separation, elevating the mood of that person's husband, wife, brother, sister, friend or next-door neighbor.
"You would think that your emotional state would depend on your own choices and actions and experience," said Nicholas A. Christakis, a medical sociologist at Harvard University who helped conduct the study published online today by BMJ, a British medical journal. "But it also depends on the choices and actions and experiences of other people, including people to whom you are not directly connected. Happiness is contagious."
The study of more than 4,700 people who were followed over 20 years found that people who are happy or become happy boost the chances that someone they know will be happy. The power of happiness, moreover, can span another degree of separation, elevating the mood of that person's husband, wife, brother, sister, friend or next-door neighbor.
"You would think that your emotional state would depend on your own choices and actions and experience," said Nicholas A. Christakis, a medical sociologist at Harvard University who helped conduct the study published online today by BMJ, a British medical journal. "But it also depends on the choices and actions and experiences of other people, including people to whom you are not directly connected. Happiness is contagious."
Comment: All the propaganda and damage control in this article cannot hide the fact that the doctors and nurses know that the flu vaccine is poison. That's why they decline to have it injected in their veins.