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Japanese women live longest 2007-07-27 05:38:00 Japanese girls born last year can expect to live to an average age of 85.8 years, making them the longest-lived in the world, according to figures released by the Japanese government on Thursday. AdvertisementTheir male counterparts fare less well, with a life expectancy of 79 years, second to Icelandic men at 79.4 years, the Health Ministry said. Japan's women have topped the world's longevity ranks for 22 years, something researchers have attributed to their healthy diet and tight social ties, among other factors. Record highsImproved treatment of the ageing population's three biggest killers - cancer, heart disease and stroke - has helped push life expectancy to record highs, a ministry official said. After the Japanese, Taiwanese women are the world's second longest-lived at 84.6 years, then Spanish and Swiss women at 83.9 years, the report said. The Guinness Book of World Records lists Japan's 114-year-old Yone Minagawa and 111-year-old Tomoji Tanabe, as the world's oldest Read more:Japanese
Drinkers short on omega-3 2007-07-27 05:23:00 Men who binge drink have lower levels of disease-fighting omega-3 fatty acids than their peers, a new study finds. This lack of a key essential fatty acid suggests that men who drink alcohol heavily also make poor dietary choices and could benefit from more fish in their diet, the researchers reported in the August issue of Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research.Advertisement"Essential fatty acids (EFAs) are important building blocks of living cells, making up a substantial part of cell walls," Norman Salem Jr., chief of the Laboratory of Membrane Biochemistry & Biophysics at the US National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, said in a prepared statement. "EFAs also have many biological functions, and a lack of them leads to loss of growth and development, infertility, and a host of physiological and biochemical abnormalities," he noted. In the study, Salem's group pored over data comparing the EFA levels and alcohol intake of almost 4 200 adults. The data was collec
Gels alone may control acne 2007-07-27 05:08:00 Patients suffering from acne who are treated with a combination of antibiotics and topical gels may be able to keep their acne at bay using the gels alone
, two new studies find. "What both these studies show is that we can stop the antibiotic if patients are continued on a topical retinoid like adapalene or tazarotene," said Dr Diane M. Thiboutot, of the Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine and the Milton S. Hershey Medical Centre, who was involved in both studies. "This can change the way we treat acne." Both reports appear in the May issue of the Archives of Dermatology. Gels often used with antibioticsSevere acne is a recurring disease often treated with a combination of oral antibiotics and topical medication. But because acne can return, so-called "maintenance" therapy is often necessary. However, due to reduced sensitivity of acne to certain antibiotics, some experts now recommend that antibiotics be used for only three months. In the first study, Thiboutot's team l
Lavender giving boys breasts 2007-07-27 04:30:00 Dr Clifford Bloch, a paediatric endocrinologist at the University of Colourado, encountered three unusual patients last year: young boys who were growing breasts.Aside from their gynecomastia, as the condition is called, there seemed to be nothing else unusual about the boys, who were 10, 7 and 4 years old.AdvertisementBut Bloch soon picked up a common thread. All were using products containing lavender or tea tree oil -a "healing balm" in one case, lavender-scented skin lotions and soap in another, and shampoo and hairstyling gel containing lavender oil in the third.Bloch was "sharp enough to pick up on the idiopathic [unusual] nature of the condition," said Kenneth Korach, chief of laboratory reproductive and developmental toxicology at the US National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. Korach also worked on the three cases and is an author of a report on the boys in the February 1 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.Results of the study were first reported last Ju Read more:Lavender
Tennis may hurt young spines 2007-07-27 04:25:00 Tennis has joined the likes of rugby and cricket on the list of sports that puts young
athletes at a significant risk of getting injured. The intensive training often given to young tennis players could wind up damaging their spines, according to research to be published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.Researchers at the UK's Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital took MRI scans of 33 players ages 16 to 23 with no symptoms of pain. They found "a variety of spinal abnormalities in the lower back, some of which were irreparable," the journal said in a prepared statement.The problems included disc degeneration, herniated discs, and spinal fractures, the journal said.The study authors recommended modifying training techniques to "minimise the risk of progressive musculoskeletal damage. Read more:Tennis
Chronic stress may cause obesity 2007-07-27 04:19:00 Chronic stress
may cause obesity
An international team of researchers say a biological switch may promote obesity in chronically stressed people, the Washington Post reported.Scientists led by researchers at Georgetown University, in Washington, D.C., say they've identified a neurochemical pathway in mice that triggers fat growth among animals that eat a high-fat, high sugar diet. Blocking signals to this pathway could prevent fat from accumulating and actually shrink existing fat deposits, the researchers said."There is a lot of uncontrollable stress right now in our societies," Mary Dallman at the University of California, San Francisco, wrote in a commentary accompanying the research. "This could help explain the obesity epidemic."The researchers cautioned that their findings need to be replicated in people, the Post reported. Human testing could begin within two years, they added.Results of the research are published online in the journal Nature Medicine
Fat tax will save lives 2007-07-27 04:15:00 A 17.5 percent tax on fatty, sugary or salty foods would prevent more than 3 000 fatal heart attacks and strokes a year in the UK, a decline of 1.7 percent, says an Oxford University study.The authors of the study, published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, said their findings demonstrate that the time is right to debate a "fat tax" in the UK, BBC News reported."The other thing which would have to be done is to look at the possibility of subsidies for healthier foods, rather than simply looking at increases in tax," said researcher Dr Mike Rayner.For this study, Rayner and his colleagues used economic data to predict how a tax would reduce consumption of unhealthy foods.The British Heart Foundation does not yet support the idea of taxing unhealthy foods, spokeswoman Maura Gillespie told BBC News."The debate on unhealthy diets is important as it is estimated that 30 percent of deaths from coronary heart disease are caused by unhealthy diets," Gillespie said. "Furthe
First-born kids are smarter 2007-07-27 03:57:00 First
-born children possess IQs that are 2.3 points higher, on average, than their younger siblings, a new study contends.This finding held true even when first-born children didn't survive and a younger child was reared as the eldest, scuttling the idea that genetics determines the difference in IQ among siblings, according to the Norwegian researchers who authored the report, published in the June 22 issue of the journal Scienc"This study really puts to an end a debate that's been going on for more than 70 years," said Frank J. Sulloway, a visiting scholar at the University of California, Berkeley, Institute of Personality and Social Research, and the author of an accompanying commentary in the journal."The theory of biological differences is pretty much dead as a doornail."While a 2.3 IQ point difference doesn't seem large, it translates into about a 30 percent increased chance of a child getting into an Ivy League university, Sulloway said.However, study lead researcher Dr Pett
Mouth-to-mouth no help? 2007-07-27 03:49:00 Adding mouth-to-mouth resuscitation to chest compression hurt, rather than helped, the survival of people who suffered cardiac arrest, a Japanese study found.The study examined more than 4 000 adults who got emergency treatment from bystanders when they collapsed because their hearts stopped beating. The result: better neurological function in 10.1 percent of those who had only chest compression that started within four minutes of cardiac arrest, compared to 5.1 percent of those who also were given mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.Similar benefits for chest compression alone were found for people who suffered abnormal heart rhythms and those with the breathing difficulty called apnoea.No better with mouth-to-mouth"However, there was no evidence of any benefit from the addition of mouth-to-mouth ventilation in any subgroup," the researchers reported.The findings are published in the March 17 issue of the British journal The Lancet.The report could lead to a further change in American Heart
Sex makes teens feel older? 2007-07-27 03:41:00 Teens who have sex, drink or use drugs feel "older
for their age" than their less-experienced peers, a new study finds.But it's not clear if feeling older makes
teens more likely to engage in sex or try substances or if these experiences themselves make adolescents feel older, the researchers say. "It could be a bi-directional relationship," Kelly J. Arbeau of the University of Alberta in Edmonton, the study's lead author, told Reuters Health.Studies have suggested that adolescence is the only time in life when people consistently feel older than their actual age, she and her colleagues note in the Journal of Adolescence. During the 20s, the difference between actual age and experienced age shrinks, and by the 30s, people feel younger than their real age, a difference that continues into old age. Subjective experience of ageArbeau and her team looked at the concept of "subjective experience of age" in 664 boys and girls between 12 and 19 years old to determine how it compared with t
Smoke hurts baby’s lungs 2007-07-27 03:25:00 Full-term babies with a low birth weight (2.5 kilograms) have a significantly increased risk of developing respiratory symptoms such as coughing, wheezing and pulmonary infections up to age five, and that risk is even greater if these children are exposed to second-hand smoke, says a Dutch studyThe association between birth weight and respiratory symptoms decreased after age five and was not significant by age seven.Researchers analysed data on more than 3 600 full-term, low-birth-weight babies. They found that during the first seven years of life, almost 39 percent of them had at least one wheezing episode, close to 52 percent had cough at night, and more than 37 percent had a lower respiratory infection."Overall, 70 percent of the cohort had reported at least one respiratory symptom at some point in the first seven years of life," Dr Johan C. de Jongste, a professor in the department of paediatric respiratory medicine at Erasmus MC/Sophia Children's Hospital, said in a prepared sta Read more:Smoke
Pilates: How To Tone Your Arms 2007-07-31 04:21:00 With Pilates
, discover an easy, body-friendly way of attaining long, lean, sculpted arms in the comfort of your own home or in the gym.
Fluctuations in sexual desire 2007-07-31 04:07:00 Beginning in perimenopause, some women may experience a gradual decline in sexual desire (libido). However, 60 percent of women experience no change in libido, 20 percent experience a decrease and in 20 percent of cases, the libido improves.Although no correlation has been found between oestrogen levels and libido, it appears that another hormone, androgen, may affect libido.Other factors which may lead to changes in sexual function include:Painful intercourse due to vaginal dryness (atrophy) A woman’s perception of her changing body Incontinence which could lead to sexual avoidanceSleep disturbances from night sweats Depression, stress and anxiety Many medications including some anti-depressants Reduced libido and impotence in male sexual partners What to doOpen communication with your sexual partner is of utmost importance to prevent resentment or feelings of rejection. It is also important for you to explore other ways in which you could be intimate. If insomnia due to night swea
Married men live longer 2007-07-31 03:37:00 The single life has its charms and freedoms, but adults who never marry may not live as long as their wedded peers, new research suggests.While the protective effect of marriage on health and longevity has been pointed out before, newer research is zeroing in on the never-married folks. Staying single all your life may not be good for your health or your lifespan, University of California, Los Angeles researchers have found.AdvertisementThe team looked at the 1997 US National Death Index and the 1989 National Health Interview Survey. In 1989, almost half of the people surveyed were married; about 10 percent were widowed; 12 percent divorced; 3 percent separated; 5 percent living with someone; and 20 percent had never married.Significantly higher risk of dyingCompared with married people, those who had never been married were 58 percent more likely to have died at the end of the study's eight-year follow up period.By comparison, those who were widowed were nearly 40 percent more likel
Bird flu vaccine trials 2007-07-31 02:21:00 Vietnam plans to start its first human trial of a locally-made H5N1 bird flu vaccine
as early as next month, using 20 to 30 volunteers, said health officials in the communist country.The drug trial, to be carried out with US government technical assistance, will be the latest of several global efforts to develop a vaccine for mass production, with research also going on in the United States, Europe and Asia.The news comes as a new wave of bird flu sweeping Vietnam has killed a 20-year-old man, infected four other people and triggered more than 100 poultry outbreaks nationwide since last month."Preparations for the clinical test of a human vaccine have been basically completed," said Nguyen Tran Hien, director of the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology (NIHE) in Hanoi."Twenty to 30 volunteers will be chosen to test an H5N1 vaccine produced in Vietnam."Hien said he expected testing to start as early as next month, pending health ministry approval, with the trial expected to wr Read more:Bird flu
Workouts up good cholesterol 2007-07-31 02:08:00 Regular exercise seems to help boost levels of high-density lipoprotein (HDL), the "good" cholesterol, say Japanese researchers. A low level of HDL cholesterol is an independent risk factor for cardiovascular disease.AdvertisementThe analysis, which reviewed 25 studies published between 1966 and 2005, assessed the effects of aerobic exercise on HDL cholesterol in a total of more than 1,400 adults ranging in age from 23 to 75. The studies lasted an average of 27.4 weeks. On average, participants exercised 3.7 sessions per week for 40.5 minutes each session, burning an average of 1,019 calories per week.The combined findings showed that exercise resulted in an average increase in HDL cholesterol of 2.53 milligrams per decilitre. The minimum amount of exercise required to change HDL cholesterol levels was 120 minutes a week or 900 calories burned. Exercise had a greater impact in people with a higher total cholesterol level (220 milligrams per decilitre or greater) and in people with a bo
Calcium may keep weight down 2007-07-31 02:02:00 Postmenopausal women who take supplements with calcium and vitamin D gain slightly less weight than women not taking the supplements, researchers report.While the effect on weight was small, it's another reason women should be taking calcium and vitamin D, which can help prevent osteoporosis, the study authors said.A small effect"There was a small effect in the prevention of weight gain, approximately 5 percent," said lead researcher Bette Caan, a senior research scientist at Kaiser Permanente Northern California, in Oakland. "The effect was greatest at three years among women who had been taking less than the daily recommend amount [of calcium] before the trial. They were also more likely to stay stable or lose weight," she said.For the study, Caan's team collected data on 36 282 postmenopausal women, ages 50 to 79. The women were part of the Women's Health Initiative clinical trial. In the trial, 18 176 women were randomly selected to receive a daily dose of 1 000 milligrams of c Read more:Calcium
Vitamin B3 helps to battle MS 2007-07-31 00:56:00 Multiple sclerosis (MS) results in damage to nerve fibers, causing fatigue, difficulty walking, pain and other problems. Most people with MS eventually enter a chronic progressive phase of the disease for which there is currently no good treatment. AdvertisementNew research published in the Sept. 20 issue of the Journal of Neuroscience studied the effects of injecting nicotinamide - a form of vitamin B3 - under the skin of mice that had an MS-like disease.The researchers, from the Neurobiology Program in Children's Hospital Boston, found the injections protected nerve fibers in the mice from degeneration - even in the nerve cells that had already been damaged. The higher the dose of nicotinamide, the more protective the effect, the study found.On a scale of one to five, with one indicating the least nerve damage and five indicating the most, the mice receiving the highest doses of nicotinamide had neurologic scores of one to two, and those receiving no nicotinamide had scores between Read more:Vitamin
Antidepros bad for the bones? 2007-07-31 00:48:00 Older men and women who take the class of antidepressants known as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors may have an increased rate of bone loss. But the studies documenting this finding are preliminary and shouldn't be seen as a reason to change medications, the authors stressed. Advertisement"People currently on SSRIs should not stop their medicines based on these findings," said Dr Susan Diem, lead author of the study looking at women, and assistant professor of medicine at the University of Minnesota School of Medicine. "These findings are preliminary, and further research is needed before any firm conclusions can be drawn." The results of both studies are published in the June 25 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine.Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, or SSRIs, are widely prescribed to treat depression and other disorders. The drugs work by inhibiting the protein that transports serotonin, a neurotransmitter involved in both depression and sleep. The medications include
Tooth enamel grown in lab 2007-07-31 00:43:00 A Japanese team says they've used cultured cells to grow new tooth enamel.The breakthrough should boost efforts to produce tissue that can replace damaged or missing enamel, and possibly, even regenerate whole teeth, the researchers say.AdvertisementTooth
enamel is unable to regenerate because it's formed by a layer of cells that are lost by the time the tooth appears in the mouth. That means that wear, damage and decay take a toll on enamel over the years.A team at the Institute of Medical Science at the University of Tokyo created a new technique of culturing cells with the capacity to produce enamel.They found that epithelial cells taken from the developing teeth of six-month-old pigs continued to proliferate when the cells were cultured on top of special "feeder" layers of cells.How it was doneThe scientists placed the dental epithelial cells, along with cells from the middle of the tooth (dental mesenchymal cells) on miniature collagen sponge scaffolds. The scaffolds were then
Chronic pain stuck in brain? 2007-07-31 00:39:00 Even after their injuries have healed, some people continue to suffer chronic pain that can't be totally relieved through traditional analgesic drugs, such as aspirin and morphine derivatives.Scientists have long tried to uncover the reasons for this kind of serious pain and to find effective treatments for it. Memory traces lingerNow, a new study by a researcher at Northwestern University School of Medicine suggests that a main cause of this form of chronic pain may be old "memory traces" that get stuck in the brain's prefrontal cortex, which controls emotion and learning. As a result, the brain seems to remember the injury as if it were fresh, even long after it's healed. Vania Apkarian, a professor of physiology and anaesthesiology, says his findings from research with rats indicates there may be an abnormal cognitive memory and emotional component in the brain that causes the chronic pain.He also identified a drug - D-Cycloserine - that controls persistent nerve pain by targetin
Talcum powder can be toxic 2007-07-31 00:24:00 Many families may have talcum powder in their homes, but they may not know that it's poisonous if swallowed.According to Duke University Medical Center, some effects of talcum poisoning can be fever, twitching of facial muscles, convulsions and decreased urine output. Other symptoms may include cough, difficulty breathing, jaundice, blisters, vomiting and low blood pressure. A severe side effect may be coma.AdvertisementIf talcum powder is inhaled or ingested, call a physician immediately for treatment. Before calling a doctor or ambulance, it's helpful to have handy the patient's age, weight and condition, the name of the product, and the time and amount swallowed. – (HealthDayNews) Read more:toxic
Better Facial reconstruction 2007-07-30 09:44:00 A simple new measurement technique could improve outcomes after facial reconstruction
surgery, researchers report. The calibration method measures the distance between the top of the external ear canal (porion) and the most prominent point on the chin (pogonion) on patient photographs. This calibration helps facial plastic surgeons use computer imaging software to achieve good results, concluded a US study in the March/April issue of the journal Archives of Facial Plastic Surgery. Advertisement"For surgeons who use computer imaging software, analysis of profile photographs is the most valuable tool," said a team from the University of California, Davis, Medical Centre in Sacramento. "Even when preoperative and postoperative photographs are of different sizes, relative distance comparisons are possible with a new calibration technique using the constant facial landmarks ... The porion-pogonion distance is a simple reproducible measurement that can be used along with established soft ti
Alcohol may alter child's brain 2007-07-30 09:31:00 Being exposed to alcohol before birth may lead to behavioural problems later on, U.S. researchers report.Heavy prenatal alcohol exposure does not always lead to foetal alcohol syndrome, noted a team reporting in the August issue of Alcohol
ism: Clinical & Experimental Research. In some cases, it can cause cognitive and behavioural problems without the facial features characteristic of foetal alcohol syndrome.AdvertisementIn their study, researchers at San Diego State University (SDSU) examined 22 child
ren and adolescents (ages 8 to 18 years) - 13 with and 9 without histories of heavy prenatal alcohol exposure. The participants were part of a larger study at the Center for Behavioural Teratology, SDSU.The participants who were exposed to heavy alcohol before birth had altered responses in the frontal-striatal areas of the brain."We found two regions within the prefrontal cortex where the youth with alcohol-exposure histories had increased brain activation and one area in the subcort
Fish oil may help prostate 2007-07-30 09:24:00 A new study with mice suggests that diets high in omega-3 fatty acids from fish might help slow prostate cancer. The comparable levels of dietary omega-3s used in the study "are much higher than the average Western diet, but they are not unachievable," said senior researcher Yong Chen, a professor of cancer biology at Wake Forest University School of Medicine in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.AdvertisementOmega-3 fatty acids - especially the "long-chain" forms found in oily fish - have become the latest nutrition superstars, with studies suggesting they can help prevent heart disease and even cancer Mechanism still unclearThe exact mechanism driving the purported anti-cancer effect is still unclear, Chen said. One leading theory contends that specific cellular enzymes metabolise omega-3s in ways that retard malignancy. However, Chen's team is investigating a much lesser-known mechanism."It turns out that [long-chain] omega-3 fatty acids might modulate apoptosis - a form of cell death,"
Nigeria sues drug giant 2007-07-30 08:26:00 The government of Nigeria
is suing Pfizer, charging that the world's largest pharmaceutical company conducted improper trials of the anti-meningitis drug Trovan in children.The Nigerian government wants $7 billion in damages for the families of children who allegedly died or suffered serious side effects after being given the experimental antibiotic, BBC News reported. A few years ago, the Nigerian state of Kano filed a separate lawsuit against Pfizer seeking $2.7 billion in damages. That suit is still working its way through the legal system.AdvertisementPfizer tested Trovan in children during a meningitis outbreak in Kano in 1996. About 200 children died and others suffered mental and physical problems. In its lawsuit, the Nigerian government says Trovan caused the deaths and injuries and that the children were injected with the drug without approval from the country's regulatory agencies, BBC News reported.Pfizer has steadfastly denied any wrongdoing and says the trials were cond Read more:giant
Sex dolls replacing humans? 2007-07-30 08:09:00 Real love is hard to find for one Japanese man, who has transferred his affection and desires to dozens of plastic sex dolls.When the 45-year-old, who uses a pseudonym of Ta-Bo, returns home, it's not a wife or girlfriend who await him, but a row of dolls lined up neatly on his sofa.Each has a name. Ta-Bo often watches television with his toys before bathing them, powdering them so that their skin feels more human, dressing them in lingerie and then taking them to bed."A human girl can cheat on you or betray you sometimes, but these dolls never do those things. They belong to me 100 percent," says the engineer who has spent more than 2 million yen (about R110 000) over the past decade on the dolls.Just a click away"Sometimes it takes too much time before I can have sex with the person I meet. But with these dolls, it's just a matter of a click of the mouse. With one click, they are delivered to you."The man, who says he has had sex with five women but prefers the dolls, is one of a Read more:humans
All-clear for hair relaxers 2007-07-30 07:48:00 Black women who routinely use hair relaxers can relax: The products will not increase their risk of breast cancer, a new study finds. According to researchers reporting in the May issue of Cancer Epidemiology Biomarkers and Prevention, millions of women use hair relaxers. However, no research had yet been done as to whether the products may boost cancer risk. This is the first such study to examine the issue. In the study, a team led by Lynn Rosenberg, of Boston University's Slone Epidemiology Centre, analysed 1997-2003 data from the Black Women's Health Study. That trial included 59 000 black women across the United States. No associations found"In the present study of African-American women, increases in breast cancer risk were not associated with any categories of duration of hair relaxer use, frequency of use, age at first us, number of burns experienced during use, or type of relaxer used," Rosenberg noted. "The findings provide empirical evidence that hair relaxers are not carc
insomnia hard on night owls 2007-07-30 07:35:00 Insomnia's effects may depend on just when a person prefers to hit the sack.According to new research, "night owls" suffer more from insomnia than those who try and get their z's earlier on.AdvertisementNight owls also tended to be more concerned about their insomnia than the early-to-bed folks, despite the fact that they actually spent relatively more time in bed and got more sleep overall, the researchers found."We suspected that there may be more severe symptoms among night owl insomniacs," said the lead author, Jason C. Ong, an instructor of psychiatry in the Sleep Disorders Clinic at Stanford University in Palo Alto, California."But we also found they exhibited much more distress about their sleep, in terms of attitude. They felt they needed eight hours of sleep, and they're not getting it, and that was associated with feelings of depression and irritability and that kind of thing."Ong and his colleagues published their findings in the April 15 issue of the Journal of Clinical
Smoking brings on menopause 2007-07-30 07:25:00 Women who smoke are more likely to begin menopause before the age of 45 years, which puts them at increased risk of osteoporosis and heart disease, Norwegian researchers report.Among a group of 2 123 women 59 to 60 years old, those who currently smoked were 59 percent more likely than non-smokers to have undergone early menopause, Dr Thea F. Mikkelsen of the University of Oslo and her colleagues found. For the heaviest smokers, the risk of early menopause was nearly doubled.Quitting can helpAdvertisementHowever, women who were smokers, but quit at least 10 years before menopause, were substantially less likely than current smokers to have stopped menstruating before age 45.There is evidence that smoking later in life makes a woman more likely to have early menopause, while smokers who quit before middle age may not be affected, Mikkelsen and her team note in the online journal BMC Public Health. They investigated the relationship further and determined if exposure to second-hand smoke Read more:Smoking
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