Health & WellnessS

Light Saber

Battling Inflammation, Disease Through Food

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Though it's an emerging field, proponents of anti-inflammatory diets point to growing evidence that foods like vegetables and fish can ease an overactive immune system.

Eye 2

Psychopaths' brains are differently wired

The brain wiring of psychopaths is quite different from that of ordinary people, according to a study.

The finding by British scientists could promise new approaches to diagnosing and treating the disorder.

The scientists used advanced brain-scanning techniques, and revealed that a critical connection between two regions of the brain appears to be abnormal in psychopaths.

Cell Phone

Study Says Rise of Gadget Use May Be Causing Teen Sleeplessness

Technology can be a wonderful thing - so long as it's used in moderation. But so many young Americans have forgotten what "moderation" is and have become transfixed by its convenience. So much so, it's costing them their health.

That's what researchers from the University of Arizona in Tucson have found. In their study, presented on June 9th at the 23rd Annual Meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies, they found that an increasing number of adolescents are lacking in sleep. No surprise there, as many schools around the country are considering starting school later next year to avoid traffic accidents that students have gotten involved in due to a lack of sleep.

Attention

Swine flu vaccinations put patients at risk

Swine flu vaccination jabs could put patients at risk of a killer nerve disease, it was warned yesterday.

The Health Protection Agency has asked doctors to look out for a rise in a brain disorder called Guillain-Barrรฉ Syndrome.

Experts fear a possible repeat of an outbreak of GBS in America in 1976 which followed swine flu jabs.

Family

Study: Babies cared for in another home become heavier toddlers

When infants attend day care in someone else's home, they're more likely to be heavier than average by the time they're toddlers, new research suggests.

Harvard researchers report in the August issue of Pediatrics that babies aged 6 months and younger who were cared for in someone else's home, rather than in their own home or at a day-care center, were more likely to weigh more in relation to their height at the ages of 1 and 3.

"An infant who was in child care in someone else's home in the first six months of life was 5 or so percentage points higher [on growth charts] at 1 or 3 years old than an infant who started at the same point but was cared for at home by another provider or at a center," said study author Sara Benjamin, a postdoctoral research fellow in the department of population medicine at Harvard Medical School in Boston.

Pills

A Pill for Every ill: Two Million Brits Have Become Addicted to Prescription Drugs

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Mark Lawton is addicted to morphine. He says: 'I was in agonising pain and I started eating the Sevredol tablets like toffees'
Britain has a new drug problem: two million of us are addicted to tranquillizers, while countless thousands abuse over-the-counter painkillers. How has this unchecked culture of legal drug addiction been allowed to flourish, asks Nina Lakhani?

What do Michael Jackson, Heath Ledger, Marilyn Monroe and Elvis Presley have in common? They were all taking tranquillizers - prescription drugs for insomnia, depression, anxiety - at the time of their deaths. The results of toxicology tests undertaken after Jackson's death in June are expected to reveal the presence of drugs to alleviate pain, depression and anxiety, and will inevitably reignite the debate about the benefits and human costs of drugs that are prescribed by doctors or bought over the counter in vast quantities the world over.

Health

MRI May Cause More Harm Than Good In Newly Diagnosed Early Breast Cancer

A new review says using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) before surgery to assess the extent of early breast cancer has not been shown to improve surgical planning, reduce follow-up surgery, or reduce the risk of local recurrences.

The review, appearing early online in CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians, says evidence shows that MRI increases the chances of more extensive surgery over conservative approaches, with no evidence that it improves surgical care or prognosis.

Family

Your Baby Is Smarter Than You Think

Generations of psychologists and philosophers have believed that babies and young children were basically defective adults - irrational, egocentric and unable to think logically. The philosopher John Locke saw a baby's mind as a blank slate, and the psychologist William James thought they lived in a "blooming, buzzing confusion." Even today, a cursory look at babies and young children leads many to conclude that there is not much going on.

New studies, however, demonstrate that babies and very young children know, observe, explore, imagine and learn more than we would ever have thought possible. In some ways, they are smarter than adults.

People

Rich, poor see similar cognitive decline in old age: study

Socioeconomic status seems to make no difference in mental decline among rich and poor people after the age of 70, according to a new study.

The study challenges previous claims that economic status and background have an impact on cognitive functioning among the elderly.

Rates of cognitive decline among people aged 70 and older depended on other factors and were similar across socioeconomic and racial/ethnic groups, according to the study conducted by researchers at the University of California in Los Angeles (UCLA).

Wine

Mediterranean-style diet good for health, studies show

Mediterranean-style diets -- ones rich in fruits, vegetables, olive and canola oils, nuts, red wine and fish and low in red meat and saturated fats -- have been linked in population studies to many potential health benefits. Here are some examples.