A stressful job has a direct biological impact on the body, raising the risk of heart disease, research has indicated. – New research has produced strong evidence of how work stress is linked to the biological mechanisms involved in the onset of heart disease. The research published in Europe’s leading cardiology journal, the European Heart Journal.
A new study gives the strongest evidence yet that obesity surgery can cure diabetes. Gastric banding is a medical procedure where a band is placed around a patient’s stomach to reduce appetite and food intake. – A new world-first study by Monash University researchers has found gastric banding surgery has a profound impact on one of society’s biggest health issues – diabetes. Obese patients with Type 2 diabetes who underwent gastric banding were five times more likely to have their diabetes go into long term remission, compared with patients who engaged in conventional weight loss therapies, such as a controlled calorie diet and exercise.
A single strain of an evolving bacterium has been responsible for most of the community-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (CA-MRSA) infections. – Community-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (CA-MRSA) infections are caused primarily by a single strain-USA300-of an evolving bacterium that has spread with “extraordinary transmissibility” throughout the United States during the past five years, according to a new study led by National Institutes of Health (NIH) scientists. CA-MRSA, an emerging public health concern, typically causes readily treatable soft-tissue infections such as boils, but also can lead to life-threatening conditions that are difficult to treat.
Sleep’s main function is to keep our brains and all its synapses lean and efficient. Brain is more strong during waking hours, weaken during sleep. – Most people know it from experience: After so many hours of being awake, your brain feels unable to absorb any more, and several hours of sleep will refresh it. Now new research from the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health clarifies this phenomenon, supporting the idea that sleep plays a critical role in the brain’s ability to change in response to its environment. This ability, called plasticity, is at the heart of learning.
Ebola virus ranks among the most feared of exotic pathogens, due to its virulent nature, and because no vaccines or treatments are available. – The deadly Ebola virus, an emerging public health concern in Africa and a potential biological weapon, ranks among the most feared of exotic pathogens. Due to its virulent nature, and because no vaccines or treatments are available, scientists studying the agent have had to work under the most stringent biocontainment protocols, limiting research to a few highly specialized labs and hampering the ability of scientists to develop countermeasures.
If you are pregnant and need caffeine to get you going, try keeping it to one cup or less a day. Avoiding it may be even better. – High doses of daily caffeine during pregnancy ? whether from coffee, tea, caffeinated soda or hot chocolate ? cause an increased risk of miscarriage, according a new study by the Kaiser Permanente Division of Research. The study controlled, for the first time, pregnancy-related symptoms of nausea, vomiting and caffeine aversion that tended to interfere with the determination of caffeine’s true effect on miscarriage risk.
Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center leads first study designed to evaluate the association between combined HRT use and the risk of lobular breast cancers. – Postmenopausal women who take combined estrogen/progestin hormone-replacement therapy for three years or more face a fourfold increased risk of developing various forms of lobular breast cancer, according to new findings by researchers.
US FDA strongly recommends that over-the-counter (OTC) cough and cold products should not be used for infants and children under 2 years of age because serious and potentially life-threatening side effects could occur. – US health agency FDA is recommending that over-the-counter (OTC) cough and cold products should not be used to treat infants and children less than 2 years of age because serious and potentially life-threatening side effects can occur from such use. OTC cough and cold products include decongestants, expectorants, antihistamines, and antitussives (cough suppressants) for the treatment of colds.
Maternal distress in early life plays a role in the development of childhood asthma, especially if distress continues beyond the postpartum period. – Evidence is emerging that exposure to maternal distress in early life plays a causal role in the development of childhood asthma. Children whose mothers are chronically stressed during their early years have a higher asthma rate than their peers, regardless of their income, gender or other known asthma risk factors.
Contrary to recent reports, oral osteoporosis medications that inhibit bone breakdown reduce the risk of jaw problems, based on an analysis of medical claims. – Some doctors and dentists had advised patients who take oral osteoporosis medications such as Fosamax and Boniva to postpone dental work, fearing that tooth extractions and other procedures would exacerbate jaw problems purportedly linked to the medication. But the new findings refute the link and suggest the benefits of dentistry likely outweigh the risks for many of these patients.
