Anorexia nervosa is a disorder with a grim reputation. Even experts say that anorexia is often devastatingly chronic and carries high mortality rates. However, these views are highly biased. A study recently conducted in Finland among young women uncovers a completely different side to anorexia.
In the first nationwide outcome study anorexia of conducted to date, anorexia is a common, often severe, but highly transient illness. Its outcome is generally good: up to 70% of women with anorexia recover before age 30 according to collaborating scientist at Columbia University and University of Helsinki, Finland.
A man diagnosed with a severe form of pneumonia known as legionnaires' disease died in Russia's Urals town Wednesday, bringing the death toll to four since the outbreak was reported July 19, local health officials said.
"One more patient died of legionellosis in the town of Verkhnyaya Pyshma," the Health Ministry in the Sverdlovsk Region said. "The number of victims of the infection has reached four."
A total of 150 people from 18 to 81 years of age have been hospitalized with the suspected disease since mid-July. Four people are in intensive care, the ministry said.
But health officials said the disease was subsiding as people with a suspected light form of the pneumonia have been brought to the hospital in the last few days. "Their hospitalization has been a kind of excessive precaution," officials said.
Workers face a potential health threat from office laser printers that emit large amounts of tiny particles into the air, an Australian research team has found.
Potential effects range from respiratory irritation to effects on the cardiovascular system and cancer, says author Professor Lidia Morawska from the Queensland University of Technology.
The researchers do not know the chemical makeup of the particles and how they are released. But they recommend good office ventilation to minimise the chances of particles entering the airways.
Helen Pidd
GuardianTue, 31 Jul 2007 22:16 UTC
Some of the world's leading food manufacturers have begun marketing to children on social networking websites and internet chat programs.
An International Agency for Research on Cancer study showed that chest X-rays may increase women's chances of developing breast cancer. The study involved 1,600 women with high-risk BRCA1 and 2 gene mutations.
Study of the population of Iceland shows significant increased risk of developing both conditions among relatives through 3 generations
Researchers and clinicians have widely noted an intriguing link between some intestinal diseases and some forms of arthritis. In particular, chronic inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) frequently afflicts patients with ankylosing spondylitis (AS), marked by chronic inflammation of the spine and the sacroiliac joints. Separately, both IBD and AS have been shown to run in families. Yet, the specific genetic susceptibility, and whether it is the same for both diseases, remains a mystery.
For studying the genetic links between IBD and AS, the citizens of Iceland are an ideal population. In contrast to not just Americans but most other Europeans, Icelanders are strikingly homogeneous with respect to environmental, cultural, and genetic factors. What's more, Iceland boasts an extensive genealogic database, collected by deCODE Genetics, containing records on every family in the country, plus registries of all patients diagnosed with IBD and AS spanning 50-year periods, along with a highly accessible health care system. Leveraging these resources, researchers at Landspitali University Hospital, Reykjavik, assessed the occurrence of IBD and AS among relatives and the risk of inheriting either and both disorders. Their results, featured in the August 2007 issue of Arthritis & Rheumatism (http://www.interscience.wiley.com/journal/arthritis), provide compelling evidence of a common genetic component for IBD and AS.
A former top adviser to Margaret Thatcher who was convicted of faking prescriptions to feed his secret heroin addiction last night urged the Government to dish out the deadly substance freely on the NHS.Dr Clive Froggatt claims Britain will lose the war on drugs unless heroin is made legal.
Will Dunham
ReutersTue, 31 Jul 2007 01:21 UTC
Exercise and moderate caffeine consumption together could help ward off sun-induced skin cancer, researchers said on Monday, but cautioned against ditching the sun screen in favor of a jog and a cappuccino.
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A single cannabis joint may cause as much damage to the lungs as five chain-smoked cigarettes, research has found. Medical examinations of cannabis and cigarette smokers found the drug increased specific lung problems, including obstructed airways and hyperinflation, a condition where too much air remains in the lungs when a person exhales.
TRACEE HERBAUGH
APThu, 19 Oct 2006 12:00 UTC
NEW YORK - More than 10 million people are at risk for lung infection, cancer and shortened life expectancy because they live in the 10 worst-polluted cities in the world, according to a report issued Wednesday.
The report published by the Blacksmith Institute, an international environmental research group, lists 10 cities in eight countries where pollution poses health risks and fosters poverty.
