Health & WellnessS


Sherlock

Impairments in Language Development Can Be Detected in Infants as Young as Three Months

Uncover how the brains of infants distinguish differences in sounds and it may become possible to correct language problems even before children start to speak, sparing them the difficulties that come from struggling with language.

New studies conducted by Professor of Neuroscience April Benasich and her Infancy Studies Laboratory at Rutgers University in Newark are revealing new and exciting clues about how infant brains begin to acquire language and paving the way for correcting language difficulties at a time when the brain is most able to change.

Benasich and her lab were the first to determine that how efficiently a baby processes differences between rapidly occurring sounds is the best predictor of future language problems. Using methods developed by Benasich and her lab, it can be determined as early as three to six months whether a baby will struggle with language development.

Magnify

Virginia health officials investigate brain disorder

Richmond, Va. - State health officials are investigating a possible case of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, a rare brain disorder.

Magic Wand

Cleaning 'improves mental health'

Working up a sweat while performing household chores may not just improve the cleanliness of your home, but your mental health too, a survey suggests. Just 20 minutes of sustained exercise a week - from cleaning to jogging - can impact upon depression, the British Journal of Sports Medicine study found.

Smiley

Europe-wide food colour ban call

A food safety watchdog has called for a Europe-wide ban on six artificial food colourings after research found a link with hyperactivity in children. A total ban on the use of the colours would have to be agreed by the EU.

So the Foods Standard Agency wants UK ministers to push for voluntary removal of the colours by next year. In September 2007, a UK study reported children behaved impulsively and lost concentration after consuming a drink containing additives.

X

Aspartame Can Mess Up Your Body and Brain

The artificial sweetener aspartame is a food ingredient that is perhaps the most controversial of all: Its manufacturers and official bodies claim it's safe, but a stack of anecdotal evidence and a fair degree of science says it's not.

equal
©Louise Valentine/The Epoch Times
Equal is one brand of aspartame

Comment: Read also: Does Aspartame Cause Human Brain Cancer? (Hint: Yes!)


Question

4 get cancer from teen's donated organs

GARDEN CITY, N.Y. - Alex Koehne had a love for life, and always wanted to help people.

So when his parents were told that their 15-year-old son was dying of bacterial meningitis, the couple didn't hesitate in donating his organs to desperately ill transplant recipients.

Health

Video: How You Have Been Fooled By Good and Bad Cholesterol

Dr. Ron Rosedale talks about common cholesterol myths, and exposes the deceptions and misconceptions that most people have been told.


Beer

Boy, 6, treated for alcoholism

UK - A child was admitted to hospital with a drink problem - at the age of just six.

The youngster, who has not been identified, was one of nearly 175 underage drinkers treated at Hull Royal Infirmary last year for drink-related illnesses.

The six-year-old joins a host of other young boozers who were treated for problems including acute alcohol excess, acute alcohol intoxication, alcohol withdrawal and alcoholism by the hospital.

Pills

Scientists take drugs to boost brain power

Twenty percent of scientists admit to using performance-enhancing prescription drugs for non-medical reasons, according to a survey released Wednesday by Nature, Britain's top science journal.

The overwhelming majority of these med-taking brainiacs said they indulged in order to "improve concentration," and 60 percent said they did so on a daily or weekly basis.

Syringe

Mumps Outbreak Blamed On Failure Of Vaccination

Most of the college students who got the mumps in a big outbreak in 2006 had received the recommended two vaccine shots, according to a study that raises questions about whether a new vaccine or another booster shot is needed. The outbreak was the biggest in the U.S. since shortly before states began requiring a second shot for youngsters in 1990.