Adelphi, Maryland - With varying degrees of enthusiasm, a Food and Drug Administration advisory committee Wednesday concluded that three newer antipsychotic drugs already widely used "off-label" in children and teens are "acceptably safe" and effective in treating them for schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.

However, because of the risks involved with the drugs - mainly weight gain, sleepiness and increases in blood fats and sugars - several panel members expressed concerns about their inappropriate use in pediatric patients who don't have schizophrenia or bipolar disorder or are younger than the age range studied.

The World Health Organization is "very, very close" to declaring an official swine flu pandemic, after a sharp spike in cases in several countries, including Australia.

The WHO has so far left its six-level pandemic alert scale unchanged at phase five, signalling that a pandemic is "imminent." But a swift increase in cases in the southeastern Australian state of Victoria could prompt the organisation to declare its first pandemic in four decades.

The country has recorded 1,211 infections, with 1,011 in Victoria, the fourth highest number of infections in the world. Less than a month ago Australia had only a handful of cases of the H1N1 virus but its spread has been rapid.

Patients recovering from heart surgery who were given music to listen to through headphones while they were still asleep and on ventilators, spent about three and a half hours less in an American intensive care unit (ICU) than patients receiving normal post-operative care, according to recent research.

"The music-listening patients also reduced their sedative medication by 10 per cent," said Dr Fred Schwartz, anaesthesiologist at the Piedmont Hospital, Atlanta, Georgia, who presented the study, Music and the Heart, at the first meeting of the International Association for Music and Medicine at University of Limerick at the weekend.

Your cookware and cleaning supplies could make it harder for you to have a baby.

Researchers have found that chemicals called perfluorinated compounds (PFCs) might be linked to delays in getting pregnant. PFCs are everywhere -- in Teflon cookware, shampoos, floor wax, food wrapping, carpet treatments and other cleaning products. PFCs are also present in air and water in the form of industrial waste from chemical plants.

The new study looked at more than 1,200 women when they were six to 12 weeks pregnant. If they reported that it took them longer than 12 months to get pregnant or if they used drugs designed to increase their chances of conceiving, they were considered to have infertility -- this is a generally accepted definition of infertility by experts in the field.

One kind of PFC, called PFOS, increased the odds of infertility anywhere from 70 to 134 percent. Another PFC called PFOA was linked to a 60 to 154 percent increase in the chance of infertility.

A federal court has dismissed a group of consolidated cases against chemical and housewares company DuPont. The 22 suits alleged DuPont knew for more than 20 years that cookware containing the company's non-stick coating, popularly known as Teflon, could make consumers sick, but concealed the evidence.

As far as health foods go there aren't many that are as versatile or that pack the same nutritional punch as tahini. Tahini is a thick paste made from ground up sesame seeds and is used predominantly in Middle Eastern dishes such as hummus. Because the seeds are ground in to a paste tahini is very easy to digest, and many of its nutrients find their way in to the blood stream within about half an hour of consumption.

Tahini's versatility has made it very popular all throughout the Middle East. In Turkey they mix tahini with pekmez, a jam like substance made from grapes, figs or mulberries. They usually prepare this mixture for breakfast, and it is especially popular during the winter time. In Iraq tahini is mixed with a date syrup and spread over bread as a sweet treat. But here in the west tahini is becoming ever more popular in pre packed sandwiches and as a substitute for peanut butter. But the best thing about tahini is its extremely high nutritional content.

Children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder might appear rowdy and indisciplined, but they are actually trying to cope with a faulty perception of time.

What to most of us seems like a short stretch of time would drag unbearably for someone with ADHD, says Katya Rubia of the Institute of Psychiatry at King's College London. Her team's research, reported this week, adds to a growing body of evidence for the importance of time perception in a wide range of psychological disorders.

ADHD affects around 5 per cent of children globally, most of them boys. Studies relating to the disorder have focused on patients' short attention spans and impulsive behaviour. But ADHD is characterised by a shortage of dopamine, which is known to affect time perception, so Rubia and her colleagues wanted to know if this was the source of the kids' problems.

The researchers used MRI scans to show that 12 boys with ADHD had less activity than usual in the frontal lobe, the basal ganglia and the cerebellum, all areas of the brain known to be crucial for time perception. These boys were also worse than 12 other boys at estimating how long circles appeared on a screen before vanishing.

Black pepper does a whole lot more than hang around with salt. Researchers have recently found that black pepper can reduce the perception of pain, reduce inflammation, and combat arthritis. These discoveries follow other studies showing black pepper can block complications from diabetes, act as a powerful antioxidant and fight off colon cancer. Black pepper has been shown to substantially increase the bioavailability of nutrients from food and supplements, providing more nutrients for each dollar spent. All this makes sprinkling black pepper on food one of the easiest and most economical interventions people can make to boost their overall health status.

Piperine, the active phenolic compound in black pepper extract, was studied to determine its anti-inflammatory and anti-arthritic effects as well as its ability to reduce the perception of pain. Piperine inhibited the expression of pro-inflammatory interleukin 6, and MMP13, a gene involved in the promotion of arthritis and metastasis. It reduced the production of a pro-inflammatory prostaglandin, even at a very low dose. When given to arthritic rats, piperine significantly reduced perception of pain and arthritis symptoms. Histological examination showed that piperine significantly reduced the inflammation in their joints. (Arthritis Research and Therapy, March 30)

Protein glycation is a process in which sugar molecules bond to protein molecules without enzymatic control. The result is the accumulation of end products that speed aging and the degeneration caused by diabetes. Scientists from the National Institute of Nutrition in India evaluated the ability of extracts from various plant-based foods to prevent the accumulation of advanced glycation end products. Black pepper, ginger, cumin, cinnamon, and green tea where the only extracts tested what showed significant ability to inhibit these end products. (British Journal of Nutrition, November 6, 2008)

The next time you feel angry, stressed or anxious, pay attention to your breathing. You may notice your breaths become short and shallow when you experience negative emotions. While this is a normal response to stressful conditions, poor breathing actually compounds the negative effects stress has on the body. On the other hand, practicing deep breathing exercises can help you recover from stress more quickly, which will improve the health of your mind and body.

When you experience negative emotions or physical pain, the body responds in a similar way every time. You may experience a rapid heartbeat, tightening muscles, dilated pupils and perspiration in addition to short, quick breaths. This is not just an instinctual reaction, but a habit the body has developed over time in response to stressful situations. Any time you feel a twinge of anger or anxiety coming on, the body starts pumping out the juices that fuel this response once again.

This kind of physical reaction is tied to health problems like cardiovascular disease, insomnia, hypertension (high blood pressure), indigestion, increased infections and autoimmune disease. It also contributes to depression, severe anxiety and other mental health issues.

A schoolgirl has been forced to lead a severely restricted lifestyle because she is effectively allergic to the 21st Century.

Molly Harrad, from Herne Bay, Kent, cannot wear normal shoes, socks or clothing or even come into contact with carpet.

She has to eat a specially selected packed lunch under supervision at school in case she encounters foods which trigger a reaction.