Health & WellnessS


Evil Rays

How Television Affects Your Brain Chemistry -- And That's Not All!

Dr. Mercola
Mercola.com
Sat, 20 Oct 2007 15:39 UTC
Many of you believe watching TV is a harmless, entertaining activity worthy of your attention, but the video below will give you some eye-opening things to consider.

In just under four minutes you'll learn why television is essentially a platform for elite advertisers to peddle their wares, and how the steady stream of images could be making your life in reality seem dull and slow in comparison.

If you watch TV, you owe it to yourself to watch this video.

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Magic Wand

Feeling sleepy is all in your genes


BioMed Central
Sat, 20 Oct 2007 12:13 UTC
Genes responsible for our 24 hour body clock influence not only the timing of sleep, but also appear to be central to the actual restorative process of sleep, according to research published in the online open access journal BMC Neuroscience. The study identified changes in the brain that lead to the increased desire and need for sleep during time spent awake.

"We still do not know why we benefit from sleep, or why we feel tired when we are 'lacking' sleep, but it seems likely that sleep serves some basic biological function for the brain such as energy restoration for brain cells or memory consolidation." Explains Dr Bruce O'Hara of the University of Kentucky, one of the neuroscientists who conducted the research. "We have found that clock gene expression in the brain is highly correlated to the build-up of sleep debt, while previous findings have linked these genes to energy metabolism. Together, this supports the idea that one function of sleep is related to energy metabolism."
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Crusader

Ability to handle stress, depression linked to variations in brain structure and function


UTSouthwestern
Sat, 20 Oct 2007 12:05 UTC
Researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have found in mice that the ability or inability to cope with stress is linked to specific differences in the way brain cells communicate with each other.

Understanding these mechanisms - which are also present in people - may aid scientists in developing methods for humans to boost resilience to stress and depression.

"One of the major insights provided by this work is that resilience to stress is an active process," said Dr. Eric Nestler, chairman of psychiatry and senior author of the study, which appears in today's issue of Cell.
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Coffee

Patients should ask surgeons about using honey to heal wounds


Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
Sat, 20 Oct 2007 12:02 UTC
Surgeons are being advised to consider the supermarket as well as the drugs cupboard when it comes to effective wound healing, according to a research review published in the October issue of IJCP, the International Journal of Clinical Practice.

And patients who've undergone surgery should ask their doctors whether they should apply honey to their wounds to speed up healing and reduce infection.

"Honey is one of the oldest foods in existence and was an ancient remedy for wound healing" explains lead author Dr Fasal Rauf Khan from North West Wales NHS Trust in Bangor. "It was found in the tomb of King Tutankhamun and was still edible as it never spoils."

Honey is enjoying a revival as more reports of its effectiveness are published, he adds.

"Researchers started to document the wound healing properties of honey in the early 20th century, but the introduction of antibiotics in 1940 temporarily halted its use.
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Health

Scientists find predisposition to bronchiolitis in some babies


University of Liverpool
Sat, 20 Oct 2007 09:32 UTC
Scientists have found that a large proportion of infants who suffer from bronchiolitis have an inherent pre-disposition to the disease.

The disease is the most prevalent acute wheezing disorder in infants and is the most common cause of admission to hospital in the first year of life in the developed world. Around 25 in every 1,000 babies are admitted to hospital for bronchiolitis - needing oxygen and help with feeding - and of these, 10% need the support of a ventilator.

Bronchiolitis frequently develops in infants suffering from respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection. Although most infants infected with RSV have only mild symptoms such as a cough and wheeze some develop potentially life-threatening bronchiolitis. Babies born prematurely are particularly susceptible to the condition but what has puzzled scientists is that the majority of babies admitted to hospital are previously healthy and have not had an obvious reason for becoming so ill.
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Syringe

US: Maine Middle School to Offer Full Range of Contraception


Associated Press
Wed, 17 Oct 2007 07:28 UTC
Pupils at a city middle school will be able to get birth control pills and patches at their student health center after the local school board approved the proposal Wednesday evening.

The plan, offered by city health officials, makes King Middle School the first middle school in Maine to make a full range of contraception available to students in grades 6 through 8, according to the state Department of Health and Human Services.

There are no national figures on how many middle schools, where most students range in age from 11 to 13, provide such services.
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Snowman

FDA Advisers: No Cold Meds for the Young

Andrew Bridges
Live Science/Associated Press
Fri, 19 Oct 2007 06:29 UTC
WASHINGTON - Cold and cough medicines don't work in children and shouldn't be used in those younger than 6, federal health advisers recommended Friday.

The over-the-counter medicines should be studied further, even after decades in which children have received billions of doses a year, the outside experts told the Food and Drug Administration. The FDA isn't required to follow the advice of its panels of outside experts but does so most of the time.
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Monkey Wrench

'Patients treat themselves' as NHS dentists dwindle

John Bingham, PA
The Independent
Mon, 15 Oct 2007 21:11 UTC
Falling numbers of NHS dentists are forcing many patients to go without treatment or even try pulling out their own teeth, a study found today.
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Health

Watchdog condemns 'shocking' levels of salt in fast-food meals

Martin Hickman
The Independent
Fri, 19 Oct 2007 21:02 UTC
Many meals in fast-food restaurants contain "shockingly" high levels of salt, with Pizza Hut the worst offender, according to a report by campaigners.
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Health

Greece is letting its health slide, new study finds


eKathimerini
Wed, 17 Oct 2007 11:22 UTC
Greece's failure to adopt an effective illness prevention program, combined with unhealthy eating practices and high rates of smoking among others, have led to the life expectancy of Greeks to slide down the European scale over the last 10 years, according to a study released yesterday.
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