Health & WellnessS


Health

Child food poisoning cases rise to 70 in East Siberia


RIA Novosti
Wed, 25 Jun 2008 13:28 UTC
The number of children hit by a relatively uncommon stomach infection in the East Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk since last week has risen to 70, the region's chief sanitary doctor said Wednesday.

A total of 46 children from the Solnechny summer camp were hospitalized on June 20 with the symptoms of yersiniosis, which is a bacterial infection usually contracted through the consumption of undercooked meat, milk, water or vegetables.

Sergei Kurkatov said on Wednesday that 65 children and one adult are currently in hospital while another four children from the same camp are receiving outpatient treatment.
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Evil Rays

Bridgend Suicides Linked to Cell Phone Towers

Lucy Johnston
The Daily Express
Sun, 22 Jun 2008 12:44 UTC
The spate of deaths among young people in Britain's suicide capital could be linked to radio waves from dozens of mobile phone transmitter masts near the victims' homes.
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Info

Switching languages can also switch personality: study


Reuters
Wed, 25 Jun 2008 12:25 UTC
People who are bicultural and speak two languages may unconsciously change their personality when they switch languages, according to a U.S. study.
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Star

Another study shows benefits of sunshine vitamin

Michael Kahn
Reuters
Mon, 23 Jun 2008 12:15 UTC
People with a vitamin D deficiency are likely to die sooner than people whose blood contains higher amounts of the so-called sunshine vitamin, Austrian researchers said on Monday.
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Pills

UK: NHS approves weight-loss drug banned in America over suicide fears

Daniel Martin
The Daily Mail
Wed, 25 Jun 2008 07:35 UTC
A weight-loss drug banned in the U.S. over fears it can heighten the risk of suicide has been given the go-ahead in Britain.

Acomplia will be available to overweight or obese patients who cannot take, or who have had no success with, the two other weight-loss drugs available on the Health Service.

But a series of scientific studies have raised concerns that it can induce suicidal thoughts in those already suffering from depression.

The drug, taken orally as a pill once a day, has not been authorised in the U.S. because of safety fears, although it is available in France and Germany.

obese
©Daily Mail
Obese patients in Britain will be offered Acomplia despite its known unsafe side-effects
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Health

Diabetes Rates Raising With 3 Million More Cases in the US

Anna Boyd
eFluxMedia
Wed, 25 Jun 2008 06:50 UTC
As the number of overweight and obese people is on the rise in the U.S., it is no surprise that there are nearly 24 million people having diabetes, an increase of more than 3 million in two years, the latest statistics from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, based on data from 2007, show. A quarter of people ages 60 and older had diabetes in 2007, the CDC found.

There are also almost 6 million who are unaware they are diabetic. The good news is that the percentage of people in this situation fell from 30 percent to 25 percent, according to the report. And there are at least 57 million people having prediabetes, a condition that puts people at greater risk of the disease.
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Bulb

Drug Addiction: Let Science Replace Ideology

Maggie Mahar and Niko Karvounis
Health Beat Blog
Thu, 12 Jun 2008 05:49 UTC
In 1986, Nancy Reagan made it clear that there is "no moral middle ground" when it comes to drug use. You either don't take drugs - which means you are a "good" person - or you do take drugs, which means you are a "bad" person."

The Reagan-era outlook on drug addiction has dominated our political culture for nearly three decades, though not without sharp criticism. In March, for instance, the writers of "The Wire," the critically-acclaimed HBO series that brought the Realpolitik of Baltimore's war on drugs to the small screen, made it clear what they thought of the Reagan approach: "what once began, perhaps, as a battle against dangerous substances, long ago transformed itself into a venal war on our underclass. Since declaring war on drugs nearly 40 years ago, we've been demonizing our most desperate citizens, isolating and incarcerating them and otherwise denying them a role in the American collective. All to no purpose. The prison population doubles and doubles again; the drugs remain."
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Magic Wand

The art of therapy: kids with emotional, social disabilities express themselves

Patty Fisher
Mercury News
Mon, 16 Jun 2008 16:51 UTC
It seemed like a typical art show opening. Happy people mingling and snacking on cheese and strawberries, scrutinizing each painting and piece of sculpture. Proud artists interpreting their work and explaining their creative processes to admiring family and friends.

But the Spring Art Gallery show at the Children's Health Council in Palo Alto is special. The young artists all struggle with emotional or social disabilities. The nearly 200 paintings, photographs and sculptures were created in art therapy sessions at the Health Council's Esther B. Clark School, where children ages 8-16 who have trouble coping in public schools receive intensive help from teachers and therapists.
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Attention

Flashback Research: correlation between vitamin D supplementation during infancy & increased risk of atopy, allergic rhinitis, and asthma later in life

Amy Proal
Bacteriality
Wed, 28 May 2008 13:19 UTC
This month, researchers from several institutions including the University of Oulu in Finland and the Imperial College in London reported the results of a study which found an association between high-dose vitamin D supplementation in infancy and an increased risk of atopy, allergic rhinitis, and asthma later in life. Atopy, or atopic syndrome, is an allergic hypersensitivity affecting parts of the body not in direct contact with an allergen. It may involve eczema (inflammation of the upper skin layers), allergic conjunctivitis, allergic rhinitis and asthma.
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People

Bahraini woman gives birth to sextuplets


RIA Novosti
Tue, 24 Jun 2008 13:00 UTC
A Bahraini woman has given birth to sextuplets, three boys and three girls, national media reported on Tuesday.

The sextuplets, weighing between 460 and 650 grams, are reportedly in a "stable and good condition." They were delivered on Sunday by caesarean section, with 35 minutes between the first and last baby.
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