Exposure to anesthesia more than once before the age of three appears to significantly increase a person's risk of developing learning disabilities in childhood, according to a study conducted by researchers from the Mayo Medical School and published in the journal Anesthesiology.
The researchers examined the medical records of all children born in one of five towns in Olmstead County, Minn., between the years of 1976 and 1982. They compared data on anesthesia exposure before the age of three and the diagnosis of a learning disability before the age of 19 in the 5,357 of these children who had lived in Olmstead County until at least the age of five.
Among children who had been exposed to anesthesia once before the age of three, the risk of learning abilities was the same as among children who had never been exposed. Two anesthesia exposures, however, increased the risk of learning disabilities by 59 percent, while three or more exposures increased the risk by 160 percent.
Health & Wellness
Medical staff are creating their own 'avatars' in online fantasy games such as World of Warcraft in the hope of treating youngsters addicted to virtual worlds.
Experts have said that some massively multiplayer online games, in which players battle enemies for weapons and rewards, are as addictive as crack cocaine.
Dr Richard Graham, a consultant psychiatrist at the Tavistock Centre in London, is so concerned that he plans to provide online therapy for youngsters who are spending so much time playing these games that they have lost touch with the real world.
Experts have said that some massively multiplayer online games, in which players battle enemies for weapons and rewards, are as addictive as crack cocaine.
Dr Richard Graham, a consultant psychiatrist at the Tavistock Centre in London, is so concerned that he plans to provide online therapy for youngsters who are spending so much time playing these games that they have lost touch with the real world.
Expensive organic food is no better for you than conventionally-grown farm produce, according to the Government's food watchdog.
In the most comprehensive study ever to be carried out into the nutritional content of organic food compared to ordinary fare, scientists found no significant difference in vitamins and minerals.
A separate study found there are no extra health benefits to eating organic food rather than meat, fruits or vegetables grown on intensive farms.
The Food Standards Agency (FSA), which commissioned the research by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, concluded there was no reason to buy expensive organic food for nutritional reasons.
In the most comprehensive study ever to be carried out into the nutritional content of organic food compared to ordinary fare, scientists found no significant difference in vitamins and minerals.
A separate study found there are no extra health benefits to eating organic food rather than meat, fruits or vegetables grown on intensive farms.
The Food Standards Agency (FSA), which commissioned the research by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, concluded there was no reason to buy expensive organic food for nutritional reasons.
Patients with childhood leukemia have elevated levels of household pesticides in their urine, according to a new study by the Georgetown University Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center.
"In our study, we compared urine samples from children with ALL (acute lymphoblastic leukemia) and their mothers with healthy children and their moms," said study researcher Offie Soldin.
"We found elevated levels of common household pesticides more often in the mother-child pairs affected by cancer," said Soldin, an epidemiologist at the center, who led the research published in August's issue of Therapeutic Drug Monitoring.
"In our study, we compared urine samples from children with ALL (acute lymphoblastic leukemia) and their mothers with healthy children and their moms," said study researcher Offie Soldin.
"We found elevated levels of common household pesticides more often in the mother-child pairs affected by cancer," said Soldin, an epidemiologist at the center, who led the research published in August's issue of Therapeutic Drug Monitoring.
Pregnant women infected with swine flu have a higher rate of hospitalization and greater risk of death than the general population due to the H1N1 virus, according to a new study published Wednesday in the online version of the British medical journal Lancet.
"The death of a pregnant woman is always heartbreaking, and unfortunately we have been hearing reports of otherwise healthy women dying from H1N1," said Dr. Denise Jamieson, the lead author of the study. "If a pregnant woman feels like she may have influenza she needs to call her health care provider right away."
"The death of a pregnant woman is always heartbreaking, and unfortunately we have been hearing reports of otherwise healthy women dying from H1N1," said Dr. Denise Jamieson, the lead author of the study. "If a pregnant woman feels like she may have influenza she needs to call her health care provider right away."
© Unknown
Edwards plain truth is not accepted by Canada's penitentiary and parole system which, since the 1970s, has made rehabilitation of criminals its paramount objective - something akin to pounding a square peg into a round hole.
While all that pounding was going on Professor Robert D. Hare, of the University of British Columbia, was painstakingly doing intensive research unravelling the mystery of psychopathy. Hare's conclusion: psychopaths are "completely lacking in conscience and in feelings for others, they selfishly take what they want and do as they please, violating social norms and expectations without the slightest sense of guilt or regret."
Hare distilled his research and conclusions into plain language for the general public, and published Without Conscience - The Disturbing World of the Psychopaths Among Us.
A sample of the deadly Anthrax virus was stolen yesterday from the Science Gallery in Dublin. The stolen Anthrax Bacillus is the same viral agent used by bioterrorists in the US in the 2001 attacks, which caused panic around the world. It was being exhibited as part of an exhibition called "Infectious" at Dublin's Science Gallery and shockingly the public were allowed unrestricted access to the deadly spores. A spokesperson for the gallery claimed "The sample was absolutely safe. It was a microscope slide and the public are not at risk". However Anthrax spores are notoriously hard to kill and experts have expressed concern. The Science Gallery has been sealed off while the crime is investigated and people in biohazard suits have been observed entering the space.
The current threat of swine flu doesn't justify a gamble on a vaccine that has not been fully tested.
A mass vaccination programme moves ever closer. Orders have been placed; priority groups identified. There will be enough swine flu vaccine to inoculate the entire population, starting with NHS staff, in an attempt to halt the spread of the disease and save lives.
Is all this really necessary? To start with, swine flu is far milder than we first feared, so the case for vaccinating millions of healthy adults against a disease that is no more unpleasant than a bad cold is questionable. There is a stronger argument for vaccinating those at greater risk, such as those with lung, heart or kidney disease, those with suppressed immune systems (such as those on cancer treatment), pregnant women and children under 5 - but only if the vaccine works and is safe. But there are serious doubts about this.
Rushing the vaccine on to the market means we will have no idea how effective it is, although we do have a body of research on the effectiveness of flu vaccines in general, which gives some idea of what we might expect from the swine flu vaccine. Provided that we have matched the vaccine well with the virus, it is likely to be up to 80 per cent effective in healthy adults, the group at least risk from the virus.
A mass vaccination programme moves ever closer. Orders have been placed; priority groups identified. There will be enough swine flu vaccine to inoculate the entire population, starting with NHS staff, in an attempt to halt the spread of the disease and save lives.
Is all this really necessary? To start with, swine flu is far milder than we first feared, so the case for vaccinating millions of healthy adults against a disease that is no more unpleasant than a bad cold is questionable. There is a stronger argument for vaccinating those at greater risk, such as those with lung, heart or kidney disease, those with suppressed immune systems (such as those on cancer treatment), pregnant women and children under 5 - but only if the vaccine works and is safe. But there are serious doubts about this.
Rushing the vaccine on to the market means we will have no idea how effective it is, although we do have a body of research on the effectiveness of flu vaccines in general, which gives some idea of what we might expect from the swine flu vaccine. Provided that we have matched the vaccine well with the virus, it is likely to be up to 80 per cent effective in healthy adults, the group at least risk from the virus.
Swine flu vaccine makers may rely on a U.S. emergency declaration to use experimental additives made by GlaxoSmithKline Plc and Novartis AG to boost a limited supply of shots that will be available to fight the pandemic.
The ingredients, known as adjuvants, may be added for the first time to flu shots in the U.S. Health officials today are meeting to discuss the additives at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, and to recommend who should receive the limited amount of vaccines drugmakers say they will begin delivering in September or October.
The U.S. Health and Human Services Department declared a public health emergency over swine flu in April, and the Food and Drug Administration has the power to allow the use of unapproved medical products during such a crisis. The U.S. has been slow to approve the use of adjuvants because of safety concerns, and for fear of giving Americans an excuse to avoid getting the shots, said John Treanor, a University of Rochester researcher.
The ingredients, known as adjuvants, may be added for the first time to flu shots in the U.S. Health officials today are meeting to discuss the additives at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, and to recommend who should receive the limited amount of vaccines drugmakers say they will begin delivering in September or October.
The U.S. Health and Human Services Department declared a public health emergency over swine flu in April, and the Food and Drug Administration has the power to allow the use of unapproved medical products during such a crisis. The U.S. has been slow to approve the use of adjuvants because of safety concerns, and for fear of giving Americans an excuse to avoid getting the shots, said John Treanor, a University of Rochester researcher.
© SNAP / Rex Features
Lilianne Mujica-Parodi, a cognitive neuroscientist at Stony Brook University in New York and colleagues collected sweat from the armpits of first-time tandem skydivers as they hurtled towards the earth.
The smell of their sweat was wafted under the noses of volunteers as they lay in an fMRI scanner. Even though they had no idea what they were inhaling, two separate sets of volunteers showed activation of the amygdala - the area of the brain responsible for emotion-processing, plus areas involved in vision, motor control and goal-directed behaviour. Sweat produced under non-stressed conditions didn't produce this reaction.
What's more, in behavioural tests, the "stress sweat" seemed to heighten people's awareness of threat, making them 43 per cent more accurate in judging whether a face was neutral or threatening.
Comment: The end result of the study is the justification of pushing a new, poorly studied and generally unsafe vaccine onto an already vulnerable sub-population.