Health & WellnessS


People

Your neighborhood can affect your health

Research shows middle-aged and elderly people in poor neighborhoods 'significantly more likely' to suffer mobility and cognitive problems.

Research carried out at the Peninsula Medical School, South West England, has found strong links between neighbourhood deprivation and the physical and intellectual health of older people.

Two studies were conducted, both using data on participants in the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA).

Health

Singapore fears its worst-ever dengue fever epidemic

Dengue fever infections are mounting alarmingly in Singapore due to a change to a more deadly strain of the disease, sparking fears of the city-state's potentially worst epidemic yet, news reports said Tuesday.

Unless the trend of infections is halted, health officials warn that the number of sick people could hit record levels within three years.

The number of infections from January through March is already 60 per cent higher than during the first quarter of 2007, said figures published in The Straits Times.

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Parkinson's trigger identified by scientists

The brain cells responsible for triggering Parkinson's disease have been identified by scientists who believe the discovery could lead to new ways to treat the condition.

The "mother cells" which have been identified produce and use the chemical dopamine to transmit messages in the brain.

It is a depletion of these cells - so-called "dopaminergic neurons" - and the associated lack of dopamine which causes chronic and progressive symptoms including tremors, stiff muscles and slow movement in sufferers.

People

Depressed People More Prone to Alzheimer's, Study Says

People with depression are more likely to later develop Alzheimer's disease, according to two studies published on Monday, and one team said that chronic stress may damage their brains.

"What we think it suggests is that depression truly is a risk factor for Alzheimer's disease, and not simply a sign that the disease is developing," Dr. Robert Wilson, a neuropsychologist at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago who led one study, said in a telephone interview.

Health

Toronto health agency investigating outbreak of four measles cases

Toronto's public health agency is investigating a measles outbreak of four cases, but officials are emphasizing the risk of infection is considered low.

Toronto Public Health is focusing on one person who may have exposed other people to measles by visiting Toronto East General Hospital, a community health centre and a Wal-Mart last week.

The health agency says the risk to the general public is low because most people are immune to measles as a result of past illness and Canada's high immunization rates.

Health

US: Allergies and kidney stones plague Central Texas

Allergies, insect bites and kidney stones seem to be plaguing Central Texas.

Dr. John Villacis with the Austin Diagnostic Center on North Mopac said oak allergy season is definately here, so if you have tree allergies, try to stay indoors and take some allergy medicine.

Villacis also sees a lot of stinging insect bites this time of year, especially bees and wasps. If you are allergic to these insects, be careful.

Central Texas is in the middle of the stone belt, an area that stretches through the southeastern states where kidney stone cases are high. It is something to watch out for, especially if you love to work out outdoors.

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US, Ohio: Area suicide rate on rise

The suicide rate in Crawford County has steadily increased the past few years.

"We went from about 300 calls per year to 500 calls per year. During the past three months, we have had 115 calls for people at-risk of suicide," said Jonathan Suter, public relations officer for Community Counseling.

According to Ed Kirkpatrick, director of crisis intervention at the agency, the common denominator is always depression or a depressed mood.
"Contributing factors can be alcohol or drug use, the economic situation in the county such as loss of jobs, financial stress or the increase in costs of everything and relationship problems or divorce," Kirkpatrick said.

The agency helps people in distress.

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US, California: Shasta county suicide rate troubling

The suicide rate in Shasta County remained alarmingly high in 2007, despite a slight dip in the number of people who killed themselves compared to the previous year.

Forty-two Shasta County residents killed themselves in 2007 - a drop from 49 in 2006, according to annual preliminary cause of-death statistics released last week by the Shasta County Public Health department. Even with the slight drop, Shasta County's residents are more than twice as likely to kill themselves as other areas in the state.

Info

'It was tough': Woman's struggle with strange symptoms leads to Cushing's diagnosis

As a dietician, Mississippi native and Orangeburg resident Rebecca Sibley was conscious of her food intake and caring properly for her body. So it was of great concern to her in 1986 when she began experiencing uncontrollable weight gain, among other symptoms.

"I had the moon face, the buffalo hump on the back of my neck, thin skin, I bruised real easily, and I had depression," Sibley said. "I knew something was wrong, being a dietician, but I just didn't know what was wrong. I knew I wasn't eating enough to be gaining the weight I was gaining."

Health

What Ails You: The mysterious, painful frozen shoulder

"Frozen Shoulder" is the common name for "adhesive capsulitis," a chronic and debilitating condition affecting mostly, but not exclusively, women.

Frozen shoulder describes a shoulder which has become so stiff that the patient can no longer raise their his or her arm above shoulder level. Women can no longer fasten their bra in back while men have difficulty tucking in their shirts and reaching their wallet out of their back pocket. It's hard to reach across your body to scrub under the opposite arm and combing your hair or putting the glasses away on the upper shelf has become impossible.