Health & WellnessS


People

Study: Humans' DNA Not Quite So Similar

People are less alike than scientists had thought when it comes to the billions of building blocks that make up each individual's DNA, according to a new analysis.

Attention

Study links attention problems to early TV viewing

Watching television more than two hours a day early in life can lead to attention problems later in adolescence, according to a study released on Tuesday.

The roughly 40 percent increase in attention problems among heavy TV viewers was observed in both boys and girls, and was independent of whether a diagnosis of attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder was made prior to adolescence.


The link was established by a long-term study of the habits and behaviors of more than 1,000 children born in Dunedin, New Zealand, between April 1972 and March 1973.

The children aged 5 to 11 watched an average of 2.05 hours of weekday television. From age 13 to 15, time spent in front of the tube rose to an average of 3.1 hours a day.

Comment: Our children are having attention problems? No problem! We can give them Ritaline, and they can continue watching TV. Nothing like a nice dosage of amphetamine and TV to turn children's brain into jelly.


Attention

Mentally ill 'suffering neglect'

Mentally ill people in the developing world are being badly neglected, according to a study published in the Lancet medical journal.

The authors say mental illness makes up about 14% of global disease, more than cancer or heart disease.

Up to 800,000 people commit suicide each year, mostly in poorer countries.

Despite this, the authors say, 90% of sufferers in developing countries receive no care - and in some cases are chained to trees or kept in cages.

Ambulance

WHO confirms five human bird flu cases in Vietnam

The World Health Organization (WHO) has confirmed five human bird flu cases in Vietnam, four of them fatal, the U.N. agency said in a statement.

The four, including two women, died between June 21 and August 3 while a fifth person, a 29-year-old man, had recovered, it said.

Magic Wand

A baby's conception and birth can influence dream content in new moms

The conception and birth of a child are emotional events that influence the dreams of most new mothers. In a surprisingly high number of cases, this influence reflects negative aspects of maternal responsibility, depicting the new infant in dreamed situations of danger and provoking anxiety in the mother that often spills over into wakefulness. Furthermore, these kinds of dreams are also accompanied by complex behaviors by new moms such as motor activity, speaking and expressing emotion, according to a study published in the September 1 issue of the journal SLEEP.

The study, authored by Tore Nielsen, PhD, of the Sleep Research Centre at the Hфpital du Hôpital du Sacré-Cœur de Montréal in Montréal, Québec, Canada, focused on 273 women, who were divided into three groups: postpartum, pregnant, and null gravida. The subjects completed questionnaires about pregnancy and birth factors, personality and sleep, and participated in interviews concerning the prevalence of recent infant dreams and nightmares, associated behaviors, anxiety, depression and other psychopathologic factors.

Stop

New Zealand smokers turning to antidepressants to quit

New Zealand's high rate of antidepressant prescriptions is being boosted by people using the drugs to help them quit smoking.

The trend became clear after the release last week of new smoking cessation guidelines. Health Ministry figures show antidepressant use has nearly doubled in the past decade, with almost two million prescriptions written for the drugs each year.

Health

Report links power lines to cancer

Researchers from the University of Tasmania and Britain's Bristol University looked at a database of 850 patients in Tasmania diagnosed with lymphatic and bone marrow cancers between 1972 and 1980, and found that living for a prolonged period near high-voltage power lines may increase the risk of leukemia, lymphoma and related conditions later in life.

Those who lived within 328 yards of a power line up to age 5 were five times more likely to develop cancer, while those who lived that close to a power line at any point during their first 15 years were three times more likely to develop cancer as an adult, the newspaper said.

Health

Can moonbeams heal? Tucson's moonbeam reflector

Conventional wisdom says that whenever there's a full moon, strange things happen.

©Unknown
A full moon over the Arizona desert.

Question

US Report Alleges Human to Human Bird Flu Spead

A mathematical analysis has confirmed that H5N1 avian influenza spread from person to person in Indonesia in April, U.S. researchers reported on Tuesday.

Evil Rays

Mind-Control Alert! UK Smokers to face graphic picture warnings

Gruesome images highlighting the harmful effects of smoking will be printed on all cigarette packets sold in the UK from next year, the government said today.

The graphic images, which include pictures of diseased lungs, must be printed on all tobacco products made in the UK by the end of 2009, under the new regulations.

After public consultation 15 images have been chosen to accompany text warnings about smoking related diseases, including lung cancer and heart disease.