According to Xinhua News Agency, Chinese Health Minister Chen Zhu calls the hospitals for serious measures in health concerns regarding bird flu epidemic. He says for prevention and control of human bird flu cases, China faces a ‘grim’ situation.

Three deaths have been reported in the past two weeks. Four were infected with bird flu. Chen Zhu emphasizes on cooperation between health ministry and agriculture authorities. He says that precise diagnose and treatment is required.

Recent deaths included a toddler’s mother who was not checked for the causes of death. She was said to have severe pneumonia, but no further investigations were done to check whether it was bird flu or not.

The Chinese news paper that reported the death, mentions that she was in contact with poultry before her death. Her death without much investigations have raised many concerns, but vice director of virus control and prevention with the National Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Shu Yuelong says, “The current cases are separate cases. There’s no connection.”

Read the rest of this entry »

Almost 75 percent patients hospitalized for cardiac arrest showed normal cholesterol levels, far away from the risk of cardiovascular trouble, a nationwide study reported.

The finding indicate towards the need to change the current threshold value of the cholesterol level, said study author Dr. Gregg C. Fonarow

“The LDL cholesterol level at which people have heart attacks shouldn’t be considered as normal,” Fonarow said. Yardstick

LDL cholesterol, in other words “bad” cholesterol, accumulates to form plaques that ultimately block arteries. Values evaluated by U.S. National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute are 130 milligrams per deciliter for healthy people and 70 milligram per deciliter for those who have high risk factors such as obesity, smoking and hypertension and diabetes.

But the collected data of 137,000 cardiac arrest patients, from 2000 to 2006, showed that, about three-quarter had bad cholesterol level below 130 at the time of hospitalization, while 17.6 percent had LDL levels below 70.

Read the rest of this entry »

Mutant gene, responsible for the heart disease among, ten of millions of people from the subcontinent has been isolated, according to a study.

The guilty gene, found in more than1.5 billion people only in South Asia, is definite to create heart trouble, usually in later life, the researchers said.

Scientists have already concluded that the India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and to some extend Bangladesh, have a giant share in the global burden of cardiovascular diseases. According to the previous study, India alone will account for sixty percent of global heart issues, due to genetics and lifestyle, at the end of this year.

“The gene mutation induces the synthesis of an abnormal protein,” said the lead researcher. These include elevated high blood pressure and weakening of the heart muscles called cardiomyopathy, and finally death due to sudden heart attack.

In two side by side clinical trials, researchers perform the tests to check the mutation in 800 cardiac patients and 699 healthy persons across India.

The relation between the genetic defect and heart disease “were almost off the scale,” and confirming that the gene mutation played a key part in causing heart problems.

These findings raise a shocking question: if the mutation in the specific gene is so dangerous, what is the cause of its widespread?

Read the rest of this entry »

Adding some cheese to simple diet can make it the special one in taste, but while eating such food, which is rich in heavenly taste we can also eat up bacteria, stomach lining of mammals and pure fat.

In the preparation of chess and its flavor, bacteria are freely injected and tarnished into the substance. But not all have been accounted for, a new research finds.

Researchers of England, at Newcastle University, have discovered eight microorganisms on the French, brie-like cheese known as Reblochon. The health benefits of these new bacteria are still not identified.

Cheese contains flourishing microbes in every bite (though the freezing temperature ceases the growth but don’t kill them). Enzymes and microbes extracted from the stomach lining of any slaughtered mammal are added to make curt from milk.

Read the rest of this entry »

The most widespread type of flu this season has become resistant to the widely used antiviral drug Tamiflu, but there is no need to get worry, government health officials announced.

Especially this season flu cases are far lower than the previous year, and other antiviral drugs are working well against this particular flu virus and health officials are attentive to the current situation.

The cause of the mutation, which has made this virus resistance to that particular drug is still unknown, experts though, it occurred by the extensive use of Tamiflu in most of the country to treat RTIs (Respiratory Tract infections).

Last year, certain types of flu H1N1 viruses were get resistant to oseltamivir. Cases were reported from Europe and other countries.

This year, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was bewared for flu resistance to Tamiflu in the U.S and were expecting the resistance of virus to Tamiflu. Furthermore, the ratio of the resistant strain has grown up to 10 percent than the previous year to all of the H1N1 strains this year.

Read the rest of this entry »

National Safety Council, which is a leading customer safety organization in the US, has urged countrywide ban for using cell phones and other such devices while driving.

At present, there are only few local and state laws which ban use of mobile phones and other hand-held devices while driving and according to National Safety Council, it’s time to make this law undisputed.

The National Safety Council is planning for lobbying for laws to ban cell phone use while driving in 50 American states as well as in Washington D.C. They are also planning to develop other incentive programs as well as sanctions while working with the Govt.

Janet Froetscher, who is president of National Safety Council, says in this connection, “It has really become a large scale problem and now this problem is getting worse. Now it is not hidden to anyone that cell phone use while driving is quite risky.”

Read the rest of this entry »

According to a new study, it can work a lot for employers if they encourage their workers for workout.

In this company sponsored program, the participants (who were Home Depot employees) were supported to set their workout goals .The researchers found that it had considerably increased their levels of physical activity.

The study is expected to be published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, February issue.

The participants were assigned some personal as well as team physical activity goals that they followed for three months. Nearly half of these 1,442 participants were asked to have 30-minute moderate and 20-minute vigorous exercise session every week.

Read the rest of this entry »

The conversation between physicians and adolescents about health behaviors is very poor, far away from the recommendations, study concluded.

“Preventive measure is the most important part of quality primary care for adolescents,” Dr. Sally Adams said. Most of the diseases, which cause death in adolescents, can be prevented. In addition, “the health and lifestyle behaviors established during youth have long-lasting health effects through out the entire lifespan,” the researchers indicated.

Strategies have already been made by national agencies and professional organizations that recommend “all adolescents must have a confidential visit annually in which primary doctor screen and counsel teenagers’ for multiple risk behaviors.”

Read the rest of this entry »

According to U.K researchers, aerobic exercise can prove more helpful to suppress appetite than some non-aerobic activity.

In this study, 11 university students (male) were involved who took part in three kinds of sessions. In the first session, they were asked to run on a treadmill for 60min, and then took rest for seven hrs. In the other session, the participants were asked to do weight training for 90min and then took rest for 6.5 hrs. In the last session, the participants didn’t perform any exercise.

In every session, these students got two meals and they were also asked to report hunger levels at different points in every session. Then the researchers noted the levels of ghrelin and peptide YY—two basic appetite hormones—among the participants.

Read the rest of this entry »

There may be some noticeable skin conditions in a new born and most of them do not affect them much later in life.

Here is the list of skin changes that may occur in your young infant matures:

1. There is often a soft, fine hair called lanugo cover the baby’s skin, however, this covering should disappear after a few weeks.
2. A newborn’s skin can be peeling, cracking or splotchy, but it’s normal for the baby and improves with the passage of time. Read the rest of this entry »

UK researchers suggest that early childhood injuries relate to later diagnosis of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

The results of the study, which included 62,000 children, show head and burn injuries before two years of age may double the risk of ADHD diagnosis by 10 year of age.

The study suggests that usually injuries are an early sign of ADHD behavior. Some experts say that the study may help GPs to find children who need specialist referral.

Another previous study has already suggested that mild brain injury has links with behavioral changes in children.

Though there is a link between ADHD and head injury, it’s not clear which comes first, the researchers say.

Read the rest of this entry »

Pregnancy rates are greatly higher in those teens who watch numerous TV program with sexual dialogue and behavior. First innovative research of its own kind suggests.

This is the first study which links viewing habits with teen pregnancy, said lead author Anita Chandra, a behavioral scientist. Teens who regularly watched sexually explicit shows were more likely to become pregnant as those who watched such programs off and on.

Previous research had already concluded that, watching profuse sex on TV can manipulate teens to have sex in immaturity.

Shows, that propagate sexual behavior without the risks can direct teens to have vulnerable sex “before they’re ready to make responsible and informed decisions,” Chandra said.

The study involved 2,003, 12 to 17 year-old girls and boys nationwide, inquired by telephone about their favorite TV programs in 2001. Teens were re-interviewed twice, the last time in 2004, and asked about pregnancy. Among girls, 58 became pregnant during the follow-up, and among boys, 33 said they had gotten a girl pregnant.

Read the rest of this entry »