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A 61-year-old woman from Rhodope, northern Greece, who died last Tuesday after suffering a high fever, had been bitten by a tick carrying a bacteria that also led to the death of a 49-year-old woman from Alexandroupolis last month, doctors said yesterday. The Rhodope woman had been admitted to the hospital three times this month after suffering from insomnia, a heavy cough and high fever, but had not told doctors about the tick bite. Doctors determined that the woman had been infected by Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever once they had been told about the bite by the victim's relative.
An investigation by the Associated Press (AP) has revealed that the drinking water of at least 41 million people in the United States is contaminated with pharmaceutical drugs. It has long been known that drugs are not wholly absorbed or broken down by the human body. Significant amounts of any medication taken eventually pass out of the body, primarily through the urine.
"People think that if they take a medication, their body absorbs it and it disappears, but of course that's not the case," EPA scientist Christian Daughton said.
"People think that if they take a medication, their body absorbs it and it disappears, but of course that's not the case," EPA scientist Christian Daughton said.
Growing up with a pet dog could increase your chances of being a snorer later in life, claims a Swedish study. This is not just a potential annoyance - heavy snoring has been linked to early death, heart disease and stroke.
The University Hospital Umea research, published in the BioMed Central, found being exposed to a dog as a newborn boosted the risk of snoring by 26%. They suggested allergic swelling could alter the shape of a person's airways for life.
The University Hospital Umea research, published in the BioMed Central, found being exposed to a dog as a newborn boosted the risk of snoring by 26%. They suggested allergic swelling could alter the shape of a person's airways for life.
Long-term back pain can be relieved through encouraging sufferers to adopt good posture through the Alexander technique, say UK researchers. The technique teaches patients how to sit, stand and walk in a way that relieves pain by focusing on their coordination and posture.
Until now there had been little evidence of the therapy's long term effectiveness. The latest work is published in the British Medical Journal.
Until now there had been little evidence of the therapy's long term effectiveness. The latest work is published in the British Medical Journal.
Women who have a positive outlook may decrease their chances of developing breast cancer, say Israeli researchers. The small study, published in the BioMed Central journal, also found that getting divorced, or being bereaved could increase the risk.
But the researchers admitted that women were questioned after their diagnosis, which might significantly change their outlook on life. UK experts said it was hard to compare different women's emotional stresses.
But the researchers admitted that women were questioned after their diagnosis, which might significantly change their outlook on life. UK experts said it was hard to compare different women's emotional stresses.
Pregnant women who endure the psychological stress of being in a war zone are more likely to give birth to a child who develops schizophrenia. Research published today in the open access journal BMC Psychiatry supports a growing body of literature that attributes maternal exposure to severe stress during the early months of pregnancy to an increased susceptibility to schizophrenia in the offspring.
According to Dolores Malaspina from NYU School of Medicine and lead author of the study, "The stresses in question are those that would be experienced in a natural disaster such as an earthquake or hurricane, a terrorist attack, or a sudden bereavement".
According to Dolores Malaspina from NYU School of Medicine and lead author of the study, "The stresses in question are those that would be experienced in a natural disaster such as an earthquake or hurricane, a terrorist attack, or a sudden bereavement".
Scores of college presidents, including the head of Maryland's public university system and the president of Johns Hopkins University, have an unexpected request for legislators: Please, lower the drinking age.
The Amethyst Initiative, launched in July, is a coalition of college presidents who say that the legal drinking age of 21 encourages binge drinking on campuses. William Kirwan, chancellor of the University System of Maryland, William Brody, president of Johns Hopkins, C.D. Mote Jr. of the University of Maryland and the presidents of Washington and Lee, Sweet Briar, Towson, Randolph-Macon, Duke, Tufts, Dartmouth and others have signed on to the effort.
The Amethyst Initiative, launched in July, is a coalition of college presidents who say that the legal drinking age of 21 encourages binge drinking on campuses. William Kirwan, chancellor of the University System of Maryland, William Brody, president of Johns Hopkins, C.D. Mote Jr. of the University of Maryland and the presidents of Washington and Lee, Sweet Briar, Towson, Randolph-Macon, Duke, Tufts, Dartmouth and others have signed on to the effort.
Smoking helps you think straight
The Hindu
February 17, 2008
New Delhi: Tobacco will now be used for manufacturing cancer and cardiac drugs with the Central Tobacco Research Institute (CTRI) bagging the patent for 'solanesol' -- a medicinal substance extracted from tobacco.
Solanesol, a white crystalline powder derived from tobacco's green leaf, has curative effects against cardiac insufficiency, muscular dystrophy, anaemia, cancer, diabetes, high blood pressure, asthma and liver injury. "Many pharmaceutical companies have approached us for carrying out clinical trials for the usage of solanesol as anti-cancer and anti-diabetic drugs," CTRI Director V Krishna Murthy told PTI.
Solanesol is rich in Coenzyme Q10 -- a physiologically active substance with high pharmaceutical value. "Solanesol has excellent prospects in future as drug and CTRI would soon distribute the rights for production of drugs in the market," Murthy said. A letter granting the patent for solanesol was received by CTRI in October last year from Controller of Patents.
The project of deriving solanesol from tobacco was a collaborative programme between CTRI and Central Drug Research Institute (CDRI), Lucknow. CTRI used chewing tobacco variety Abirmani grown in Tamil Nadu and HDBRG tobacco cultivated in black soils of Guntur in Andhra Pradesh for extracting solanesol
Neuroscientist James A. Joseph is one of those lucky people who gets to have his cake and eat it, too. At the Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University (Medford, Massachusetts), Joseph revels in his research demonstrating that dark-hued fruits and vegetables, especially blueberries, are just about the best foods you could consume for inoculating brain and body against the ravages of time.
Yoga can reduce hot flashes and night sweats among women going through menopause, and also appears to sharpen their mental function, researchers from India report.
