Kids eat more fruits, vegetables

One of the major contributing factors to the high rate of overweight children in the United States is that they do not consume the daily recommended servings of fruits and vegetables.
– A new UCLA study has found that elementary schools can significantly increase the frequency of fruit and vegetable consumption among low-income students by providing a lunch salad bar.

White matter disease affects treatment in Alzheimer’s disease patients

There may be a difference in response to treatment in Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) patients with and without white matter disease in selective areas of the brain.
– Researchers at Sunnybrook have shown that there may be a difference in response to treatment in Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) patients with and without white matter disease in selective areas of the brain.

Diesel exhaust fumes affect people with asthma

This is the first study to investigate in a real-life setting, outside of the laboratory, if traffic fumes make symptoms worse for people with asthma. Two thirds of people with asthma believe this to be the case.
– Diesel exhaust fumes on polluted streets have a measurable effect on people with asthma, according to the first study looking at exhausts and asthma in a real-life setting, published on 6 December in the New England Journal of Medicine.

India to share experience in controlling avian flu

India is committed to share the experience of control and containment of the outbreak of influenza in poultry.
– The Indian Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh has said that India is committed to share the experience of control and containment of the outbreak of influenza in poultry. He was speaking at a three-day International Ministerial Conference on Avian and Pandemic Influenza, here.

Living embryonic heart cells prevent cardiac arrhythmias

Researchers implant embryonic cells into damaged hearts and prevent life-threatening heart arrhythmias.
– When researchers at Cornell, the University of Bonn and the University of Pittsburgh transplanted living embryonic heart cells into cardiac tissue of mice that had suffered heart attacks, the mice became resistant to cardiac arrhythmias, thereby avoiding one of the most dangerous and fatal consequences of heart attacks.

Aging brain failures to communicate

Cognitive decline in aging may be linked to disruption of communication between different regions of the brain.
– A team of Howard Hughes Medical Institute researchers has shown that normal aging disrupts communication between different regions of the brain. The new research, which used advanced medical imaging techniques to look at the brain function of 93 healthy individuals from 18 to 93 years old, shows that this decline happens even in the absence of serious pathologies like Alzheimer’s disease.

Treatment of HIV associated Lipodystrophy Syndrome

The HIV/HAART-associated Lipodystrophy Syndrome is a common side-effect of antiretroviral medications to treat HIV infection.
– Researchers in Montreal and Boston have identified a potential new treatment for the HIV/HAART*-associated Lipodystrophy Syndrome. This syndrome is a common side-effect of anti-retroviral medications to treat HIV infection.

Gene identified that influences alcohol consumption

Researchers applied a variety of genetic and analytic techniques to identify a chromosomal region, and ultimately a gene, associated with alcohol preference.
– A variant of a gene involved in communication among brain cells has a direct influence on alcohol consumption in mice, according to a new study by scientists supported by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and the U.S. Army.

Asacol found effective in ulcerative colitis, proctitis

Study data show Asacol (Mesalamine) is effective in treating all extents of ulcerative colitis including isolated proctitis. Findings reinforce the benefits of Asacol for ulcerative colitis patients.
– Data from two Phase III clinical trials support that Asacol, an oral, non-steroidal medication that belongs to the class of agents known as 5-aminosalicylic acids (5-ASAs), is an effective and well-tolerated treatment for patients with all extents of ulcerative colitis (UC), including isolated proctitis.

Colon cancer screenings could pose harm to some

R. Scott Braithwaite, M.D., and his colleagues developed a new method of evaluating medical screening tests like colonoscopy, called the “payoff time,” which is the minimum amount of time it takes for the benefits from a test to exceed its harms (i.e., its complications and side effects).
– Even though current guidelines advocate colorectal cancer screenings for those with severe illnesses, they may bring little benefit and may actually pose harm, according to a recent study by Yale School of Medicine researchers published in the Archives of Internal Medicine.

Health Newstrack