Health & WellnessS


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Hand-Grip Strength Associated With Poor Survival


ScienceDaily
Mon, 08 Feb 2010 10:00 UTC
Poor or declining handgrip strength in the oldest old is associated with poor survival and may be used as a tool to assess mortality, found an article in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal). The fastest growing segment of the elderly population is the group older than 85 years, classified as the oldest old.

Low handgrip strength has been consistently linked to premature mortality, disability and other health complications in middle-aged and older people. Handgrip strength, a simple bedside tool, can be an alternative way of measuring overall muscular strength.

This study included 555 individuals from the Leiden 85-plus survey of all 85 year olds in Leiden, The Netherlands. Their handgrip strength was measured at 85 years and then again at 89. The CMAJ study, led by researchers from The Netherlands, found that low handgrip strength, both at 85 and 89 years, and a greater decline in strength over time are associated with increased all-cause mortality. The researchers also found that handgrip strength has a greater impact on mortality as people age.
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Mice Shed New Light on Causes of Childhood Deafness


ScienceDaily
Mon, 08 Feb 2010 12:00 UTC
Deafness is the most common disorder of the senses. Tragically, it commonly strikes in early childhood, severely damaging an affected child's ability to learn speech and language. In many cases, children gradually lose their hearing to become profoundly deaf over a long period of months to years, but scientists know very little about how this progressive loss happens, making prospects for prevention and cure very slim.

Over half the cases of childhood deafness are estimated to be due to defects in just one gene passed from either the mother or father, and many of these deafness genes have been identified. However, as the way we hear is so complicated, it has been really difficult to work out exactly how these genes cause such wholesale effects.

Dr John Oghalai, of Baylor College of Medicine in Texas, has been wrestling with this problem for his whole career. His work as a clinician, directing a busy team performing cochlear implants and corrective surgery on the ear and cranium, has armed him with crucial clinical insights which inform his laboratory's research into the causes and treatment of deafness. Together with a team spearheaded by postdoctoral fellow Anping Xia, he has now created mice which carry a mutation in one of the genes, called alpha tectorin, known to cause progressive childhood deafness.
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UK: You Really Can Be "Bored to Death," Study Shows

Heidi Blake
The Daily Telegraph
Mon, 08 Feb 2010 05:39 UTC
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© CorbisYounger employees and those with menial jobs were more likely to feel bored.
It really is possible to be bored to death, scientists have found, after research showed those who live tedious lives are twice as likely to die young.

People who complain of "high levels" of boredom in their lives are at double the risk of dying from from heart disease or a stroke than those who find life entertaining, researchers at University College London found.

Of more than 7,000 civil servants who were monitored over 25 years, those who said they were bored were nearly 40 per cent more likely to have died by the end of the study than those who did not.

People who are bored are more likely to turn to unhealthy habits like drinking and smoking, which can cut their life-expectancy, the scientists said.
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Family

UK: More People "Fear Losing Independence in Old Age than Death," Survey Says

Andrew Hough
The Daily Telegraph
Mon, 08 Feb 2010 01:30 UTC
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© Getty ImagesPeople still wanted to remain independent in old age rather than be moved in to a care home, the study found.
More people are afraid of losing their independence in old age and being forced to move into a nursing home than they are of dying, a survey has found.

As elderly care becomes more expensive, more than two in three Britons fear becoming a burden on friends or family in their old age, it found.

While three in four people said they feared getting ill in their old age, just 29 per cent said they feared dying, according to the survey.

The research, from the national Disabled Living Foundation charity, also found almost half of people feared moving into an aged care facility.

The government has previously warned the health care system was facing a "time bomb" due to Britain's ageing population.
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"Scandalous Abuse" of the Elderly Being Killed With Psychiatric Medications

David Gutierrez
NaturalNews
Mon, 08 Feb 2010 00:00 UTC
Elderly dementia patients are being subjected to "scandalous abuse" by being drugged with dangerous antipsychotic drugs, according to a letter by ten influential health organizations, published in The Daily Telegraph.
"[One hundred thousand] people with dementia in care homes are being inappropriately prescribed a damaging chemical cosh of antipsychotic drugs and new research suggests that there is a significant problem in hospitals too," the letter reads. "Antipsychotics should only ever be a last resort. This over prescription is abuse and it must stop. ... We cannot stand by while this scandalous abuse of vulnerable citizens continues."
Although antipsychotic drugs are intended for people with medical conditions such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder and are not approved for the treatment of dementia, studies show that nursing homes and hospitals regularly prescribe them to these patients as sedatives, in order to make them easier for doctors and nurses to handle.
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Family

UK: Primary Schoolgirls Getting Pregnant Aged 10

Aislinn Laing
The Daily Telegraph
Mon, 08 Feb 2010 04:53 UTC
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© AlamyAround 300 girls aged 13 or under get pregnant every year in England and Wales.
Primary schoolgirls as young as 10 are getting pregnant, according to new figures released under the Freedom of Information Act.

Since 2002, a total of 15 ten year olds and 39 aged 11 have fallen pregnant in England and Wales.

The figures come as a shock as until now the UK's youngest known mother, from Scotland, was 11 when she conceived and 12 when she gave birth.

And they could be higher still since the number of illegal abortions and miscarriages - more prevalent among very young women - are not known. Government statistics show 60 per cent of under-age pregnant girls have an abortion.

Around 300 girls aged 13 or under become pregnant every year in England and Wales.
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Soft Drink Consumption May Increase Risk of Pancreatic Cancer


PhysOrg
Mon, 08 Feb 2010 06:00 UTC
Consuming two or more soft drinks per week increased the risk of developing pancreatic cancer by nearly twofold compared to individuals who did not consume soft drinks, according to a report in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.

Although relatively rare, pancreatic cancer remains one of the most deadly, and only 5 percent of people who are diagnosed are alive five years later.

Mark Pereira, Ph.D., senior author on the study and associate professor in the School of Public Health at the University of Minnesota, said people who consume soft drinks on a regular basis, defined as primarily carbonated sugar-sweetened beverages, tend to have a poor behavioral profile overall.

However, the effect of these drinks on pancreatic cancer may be unique.
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Warning: Your Cell Phone and Wi-Fi Are Hazardous to Your Health

Christopher Ketcham
GQ.com
Sun, 07 Feb 2010 21:17 UTC
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Ever worry that that gadget you spend hours holding next to your head might be damaging your brain? Well, the evidence is starting to pour in, and it's not pretty. So why isn't anyone in America doing anything about it?

Earlier this winter, I met an investment banker who was diagnosed with a brain tumor five years ago. He's a managing director at a top Wall Street firm, and I was put in touch with him through a colleague who knew I was writing a story about the potential dangers of cell-phone radiation. He agreed to talk with me only if his name wasn't used, so I'll call him Jim. He explained that the tumor was located just behind his right ear and was not immediately fatal - the five-year survival rate is about 70 percent. He was 35 years old at the time of his diagnosis and immediately suspected it was the result of his intense cell-phone usage. "Not for nothing," he said, "but in investment banking we've been using cell phones since 1992, back when they were the Gordon-Gekko-on-the-beach kind of phone." When Jim asked his neurosurgeon, who was on the staff of a major medical center in Manhattan, about the possibility of a cell-phone-induced tumor, the doctor responded that in fact he was seeing more and more of such cases - young, relatively healthy businessmen who had long used their phones obsessively. He said he believed the industry had discredited studies showing there is a risk from cell phones. "I got a sense that he was pissed off," Jim told me. A handful of Jim's colleagues had already died from brain cancer; the more reports he encountered of young finance guys developing tumors, the more certain he felt that it wasn't a coincidence. "I knew four or five people just at my firm who got tumors," Jim says. "Each time, people ask the question. I hear it in the hallways."
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Footprints

Cancer and Pesticides: Victims Fight for Justice

Diana Smith
The Ecologist
Thu, 04 Feb 2010 20:47 UTC
After long battles, three farmers in France have won legal claims that their cases of cancer and Parkinson's disease were caused by working with pesticides. Now they want to help others fight similar cases

Paul François says he is lucky to be alive. In April 2004, he went to clean out what he thought was the empty tank in his agricultural spraying machine. When he opened the cap, noxious fumes of some remaining pesticides escaped. He was not wearing a mask and therefore breathed in a lungful. Immediately admitted to hospital, he fell into a coma.

Since then his illness continues to affect his kidneys and nervous system and he has again fallen into comas on several occasions. Today, he is working on his case against Monsanto, the company that produced Lasso, the culprit pesticide that was taken off the market in 2007.
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Bell

Huge Range of Salt Found in Processed Foods


msnbc.com
Mon, 25 Jan 2010 20:14 UTC
New York - Many processed foods contain too much salt, and sauces, spreads, and processed meats are the top offenders, new research shows.

People who consume lots of salt are more likely to see their blood pressure rise as they get older, with a corresponding increase in their heart disease risk.

Public health officials are increasingly looking to the food industry for help in cutting people's salt intake; the United Kingdom and France, for example, have been able to achieve significant reductions in salt consumption through industry collaborations, while New York City has just launched a campaign to cut U.S. salt intake by 25 percent over the next five years.
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