Health is a unity and harmony within the mind, body and spirit which is unique to each person, and is as defined by that person. The level of wellness or health is, in part, determined by the ability to deal with and defend against stress. Health is determined by physiological, psychological, socio-cultural, spiritual, and developmental stage variables.
Ebola haemorrhagic fever in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, says WHO. – The Ministry of Health (MoH) of the Democratic Republic of the Congo declared on 25 December an outbreak of Ebola haemorrhagic fever in Mweka District, Kasai Occidental province based on laboratory results from the Centre International de Recherches M?dicales de Franceville (CIRMF) in Gabon.
Allergan Announces U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Approval of LATISSE(TM) — First and Only Treatment Approved by the FDA for Hypotrichosis of Eyelashes. New Prescription Product Increases Length, Thickness and Darkness of Eyelashes. – Allergan, Inc. (NYSE: AGN) announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved LATISSE(TM) (bimatoprost ophthalmic solution) 0.03% as a novel treatment for hypotrichosis of the eyelashes.
Diet Coke Plus violating US FDA food safety law. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) reviewed the label for Diet Coke Plus 20 FL OZ (1.25 PT) 591ml, and concluded that this product is in violation of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. – The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) reviewed the label for Diet Coke Plus 20 FL OZ (1.25 PT) 591ml. Based on the review, FDA concluded that this product is in violation of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (the Act).
Older adults at high risk for drug interactions. More attention needed for non-prescription meds. – At least one in 25 older adults, about 2.2 million people in the United States, take multiple drugs in combinations that can produce a harmful drug-drug interaction, and half of these interactions involve a non-prescription medication, researchers from the University of Chicago Medical Center report in the Dec. 24/31, 2008, issue of JAMA.
Blind man walking: With no visual awareness, man navigates obstacle course flawlessly – Researchers have demonstrated for the first time that people can successfully navigate an obstacle course even after brain damage has left them with no awareness of the ability to see and no activity in the visual cortex, a region of the brain’s cortex that is primarily responsible for processing visual inputs.
US researchers watched genetic diseases unfolding in the laboratory after finding a way to make large numbers of affected cells. – When neurons started dying in Clive Svendsen’s lab dishes, he couldn’t have been more pleased. The dying cells ? the same type lost in patients with the devastating neurological disease spinal muscular atrophy ? confirmed that the University of Wisconsin-Madison stem cell biologist had recreated the hallmarks of a genetic disorder in the lab, using stem cells derived from a patient.
Breathing life into injured lungs: World-first technique will expand lung donor organ pool – For the first time in the world, transplant surgeons at Toronto General Hospital, University Health Network used a new technique to repair an injured donor lung that was unsuitable for transplant, and then successfully transplanted it into a patient.
Flour batch believed linked to Salmonella outbreak in New Zealand, reported by New Zealand Food Safety Authority. – Investigations into the outbreak of Salmonella typhimurium phage type 42 have found one detection of the bacteria in samples of flour taken from the home of one of the affected people.
The Environmental Risk Management Authority (ERMA) in New Zealand ruled that endosulfan would be banned from use as an insecticide on crops and turf. – Endosulfan – a chemical used as an insecticide on crops and turf – use prohibited in New Zealand.
EPA should pursue cumulative risk assessment of phthalates and other chemicals – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency should examine whether combined exposures to chemicals known as phthalates could cause adverse health effects in humans, says a new report from the National Research Council.
