Health & WellnessS


Syringe

Fewer Children Outgrowing Allergies to Milk, Eggs

Childhood milk and egg allergies may be more persistent and harder to outgrow than they were a generation ago, U.S. researchers report.

Comment: Given the rapid rise in the past 20 years of the number of vaccines given the over-vaccinated US public and the link between the pertussis vaccine and asthma, the Hib vaccine and diabetes, thimerosal, a vaccine preservative, and autism, it wouldn't be surprising that there's a vaccine related link to milk and egg allergies.


Health

Radio ablation cuts need for heart shocks

Treating heart attack victims with radio waves helps reduce the likelihood that implantable defibrillators will need to jolt ailing hearts into beating properly, researchers reported on Wednesday.

The radiowave technique involves sending a probe into the heart, finding scar tissue from an earlier heart attack, and using radio waves to destroy the portion of that scar that can catastrophically disrupt the heartbeat.

Health

Bayer recalls Contour test strips for diabetes

A unit of Bayer AG recalled diabetes test strips used with its Contour TS Blood Glucose Meter because they may result in 5 to 17 percent higher blood glucose readings, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said on Wednesday.

The test strips are used by diabetic patients to monitor their daily blood sugar levels.

Bayer Diabetes Care said the recalled test strips were produced on new manufacturing equipment and that it has fixed the problem.

Some 53 production lots were affected by the recall, totaling 230,000 bottles of strips, a Bayer spokeswoman said. Each bottle typically contains 25 to 50 strips.

Pills

Slimming pill could go on sale in Britain next year

The first over-the-counter slimming pill to go on sale in Britain could be available in pharmacies as early as next year. The drug, which has been marketed in the US under the name Alli since June, is a half-strength version of a pill called Xenical that is currently only available in Britain under prescription for treating obesity.

Magnify

Mutation may cause inherited neuropathy

Mutations in a protein called dynein, required for the proper functioning of sensory nerve cells, can cause defects in mice that may provide crucial clues leading to better treatments for a human nerve disorder known as peripheral neuropathy, which affects about three percent of all those over age 60.

Syringe

Flashback New fears over MMR link to autism

Fresh fears over a possible link between the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine and autism have been raised after a new study found that almost double the number of children could have the condition than previously thought.

Syringe

Nurse gave four-year-old autism-linked MMR vaccine against wishes of parents

A nurse disregarded the wishes of a four-year-old's parents by giving her the MMR jab.

Attention

Ransom-Note Ads About Children's Health Are Canceled

The Child Study Center at New York University said on Wednesday that it would halt an advertising campaign aimed at raising awareness of children's mental and neurological disorders after the effort drew a strongly negative reaction.

©New York Times
Disorders like autism, depression, bulimia and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder were the focus of the pro bono campaign.

Roses

One person out of every thousand has synaesthesia - smell sounds or hear colours

Most of these people are not aware they are synaesthetes and feel certain about the way they perceive things: they think the way they experience the world is normal. But, when they realize that something is not quite right, they become disappointed.

- The research field has grown from grapheme-colour synaesthesia to include other forms of synaesthesia in which flavours are evoked by music or words (lexical-gustatory synaesthesia), space structures by time units, colours by music, etc.

- Experts on Experimental Psychology from the University of Granada (Universidad de Granada) are studying this phenomenon. The results of this research have been published by the following scientific journals, among others: Cortex, Experimental Brain Research and Consciousness and Cognition.

Bulb

Brain imaging and genetic studies link thinking patterns to addiction

Scientists have for the first time identified brain sites that fire up more when people make impulsive decisions. In a study comparing brain activity of sober alcoholics and non-addicted people making financial decisions, the group of sober alcoholics showed significantly more "impulsive" neural activity.

The researchers also discovered that a specific gene mutation boosted activity in these brain regions when people made impulsive choices. The mutation was already known to reduce brain levels of the neurotransmitter dopamine. The newly found link involving the gene, impulsive behavior and brain activity suggests that raising dopamine levels may be an effective treatment for addiction, the scientists say.

The research is reported in the Dec. 26, 2007 issue of the "Journal of Neuroscience."