Fear of nuts creating hysteria

Measures imposed to reduce exposure to nuts are often based on irrational fears of nut allergies and are becoming increasingly sensationalist, according to a doctor on bmj.com – Measures to control nuts are instead making things worse in a cycle of over-reaction and increasing sensitisation, to the point where the responses bear many of the hallmarks of mass psychogenic illness.

Radiologists diagnose and treat self embedding disorder in teens

US Radiologists are in better position to diagnose and treat self embedding disorder in teens, as some teens are wounding themselves and embedding objects such as paper clips and glass to cope with disturbed thoughts and feelings. – Minimally invasive, image-guided treatment is a safe and precise method for removal of self-inflicted foreign objects from the body, according to the first report on “self-embedding disorder,” or self-injury and self-inflicted foreign body insertion in adolescents.

Heart may help power pacemakers, defibrillators in heart patients

Heart’s surplus energy may help power pacemakers and defibrillators implanted in cardiac patients. – Surplus energy generated by the heart may one day help power pacemakers and defibrillators implanted in cardiac patients, according to research presented at the American Heart Association’s Scientific Sessions 2008.

Arthroscopy may not help osteoarthritis patients

A landmark study conducted in London, Canada at The University of Western Ontario and Lawson Health Research Institute shows that a routinely practiced knee surgery is ineffective at reducing joint pain or improving joint function for sufferers of osteoarthritis. – Arthroscopic surgery for osteoarthritis of the knee provides no additional benefit to optimized physical and medical therapy, revealed by researchers in a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) issue of Sept. 11, 2008.

Running slows the aging

Vigorous exercise (running) at middle and older ages is associated with reduced disability in later life and a notable survival advantage. – Regular running slows the effects of aging, according to a new study from Stanford University School of Medicine that has tracked 500 older runners for more than 20 years. Elderly runners have fewer disabilities, a longer span of active life and are half as likely as aging nonrunners to die early deaths, the research found.

Diving related injuries common among children

A new study conducted by researchers at the Center for Injury Research and Policy (CIRP) of The Research Institute at Nationwide Children?s Hospital, found that an estimated 111,000 diving-related injuries to persons under the age of 19 were treated in emergency departments from 1990 through 2006. – The thrill of flipping and jumping into water has become common practice among children and adolescents as they dive into more than eight million swimming pools across the United States.

Stem cell therapy may prove valuable in paralysis

An Australian man who was paralysed by a rugby injury has reportedly made dramatic steps towards recovery after receiving injections of embryonic stem cells from an Indian doctor Geeta Shroff in New Delhi. – An amazing recovery noticed in an Australian Perry Cross who is quadriplegic, after regular injections of embryonic stem cells. Perry Cross was a rugby player and he got the paralysis of all his limbs in 1994 when he was 19 years old. Since then he was on ventilator to breath.

Pregnant women should use seatbelt

Pregnant women should buckle up every single time they?re in a vehicle. Proper seatbelt use by pregnant women would save 200 fetuses a year. – Proper seatbelt use by pregnant women would save 200 fetuses a year, University of Michigan study finds. This new study could have a profound effect on fetal deaths and injuries caused by car crashes.

Protein Robo4 may reverse macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy

Two major eye diseases and leading causes of blindness?age-related macular degeneration and diabetic retinopathy?can be reversed or even prevented by drugs that activate a protein found in blood vessel cells. – Two major eye diseases and leading causes of blindness-age-related macular degeneration and diabetic retinopathy-can be reversed or even prevented by drugs that activate a protein found in blood vessel cells, researchers at the University of Utah School of Medicine and several other institutions have announced in a new study.

Schistosomiasis more debilitating than estimated

The health effects of one strain of schistosomiasis, a parasitic disease common in developing countries, are seven to 46 times greater than previously estimated, according to new Brown University research. – The health effects of one strain of schistosomiasis, a parasitic disease common in developing countries, are seven to 46 times greater than previously estimated, according to new Brown University research.

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