Health & WellnessS


Pills

Anti-Smoking Drug Chantix May Pose Psychiatric Risks

Washington - Government regulators said Friday the connection between Pfizer's anti-smoking drug Chantix and serious psychiatric problems is "increasingly likely."

Health

Flashback Bad blood: Is DDT the remedy for malaria in Africa?



©Remi Benali

In Africa, Malaria Kills A Million Children A Year. So What's The Remedy? New Drug Cocktails? Free Bed Nets? Community Education? A Breakthrough Vaccine? A Return To DDT? Or All Of The Above?

Bomb

Brain rewards aggression much like it does sex, food, drugs

New research from Vanderbilt University shows for the first time that the brain processes aggression as a reward - much like sex, food and drugs - offering insights into our propensity to fight and our fascination with violent sports like boxing and football.

Bulb

Intellectual disability: Scientists achieve major genetics breakthrough

University of Adelaide geneticist Dr Jozef Gecz and a team of Belgium and UK scientists have achieved a major breakthrough in discovering the causes of intellectual disability.

Dr Gecz, a senior researcher who is based at the Women's and Children's Hospital in Adelaide, has collaborated with an international research team to reveal that various mutations of a small part of the X chromosome lead to mental retardation.

Bulb

Research suggests why scratching is so relieving

In the first study to use imaging technology to see what goes on in the brain when we scratch, researchers at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center have uncovered new clues about why scratching may be so relieving - and why it can be hard to stop. The work is reported online in the Journal of Investigative Dermatology and will appear in a future print issue.

"Our study shows for the first time how scratching may relieve itch," said lead author Gil Yosipovitch, M.D., a dermatologist who specializes in itch. "It's important to understand the mechanism of relief so we can develop more effective treatments. For some people, itch is a chronic condition that affects overall health."

The study involved 13 healthy participants who underwent testing with functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technology that highlights areas of the brain activated during an activity. Participants were scratched on the lower leg with a small brush. The scratching went on for 30 seconds and was then stopped for 30 seconds - for a total of about five minutes.

Health

Diabetes makes it hard for blood vessels to relax

One way diabetes is bad for your blood vessels is by creating too much competition for an amino acid that helps blood vessels relax, researchers say.

That amino acid, L-arginine, is broken down by the enzyme arginase to urea, which helps the body eliminate toxins resulting from the proteins we eat. Diabetics have a lot of arginase activity, which means they use a lot more L-arginine, says Dr. Maritza Romero, postdoctoral fellow at the Medical College of Georgia and lead author of the paper published in the current issue of Circulation Research.

It also means too little L-arginine is available to help nitric oxide synthase make nitric oxide, the powerful vasodilator that helps blood vessels relax, says Dr. Romero, who works in the lab of Dr. R. William Caldwell, chair of the MCG Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology and the study's corresponding author.

Evil Rays

Undercover Video Shows Abuse Of Sick Cows

Undercover video shows sickened cows, too weak to walk, being jabbed with forklift blades, kicked, shocked and even sprayed in the face with powerful jets of water by workers at the Hallmark Meat Packing Company in Chino, California.

Bandaid

I.Q . Testing Damages Self -Worth of Test-takers and Reduces their Opportunity for Success

I.Q. testing not only damages the self-worth of many test-takers but it has denied millions of them the opportunity to better their educational and economic lot, a new book asserts.

Syringe

Blatant Damage Control! Mercury From Vaccines Disappears Quickly

Chicago - Mercury from vaccines seems to disappear rapidly from the blood, returning to pre-vaccination levels in one month, according to a small study of children in Argentina.

Info

Vending Machines Dispense Pot in LA

Los Angeles - The city that popularized the fast food drive-thru has a new innovation: 24-hour medical marijuana vending machines.