Health News

Canadian Obesity Experts Calling For Restrictions On Food And Beverage Marketing Aimed At Children

Date: Mar-26-2013
Researchers from the University of Alberta are leading a charge among Canada's obesity experts and calling on the federal government to ban food and beverage ads that target children. Kim Raine, a professor with the Centre for Health Promotion Studies in the School of Public Health at the U of A, says governments need to take action to stem the rising obesity epidemic. The only exception to a proposed food and beverage marketing ban would be for approved public health campaigns that promote healthy eating...

Diagnosis & Management Of Osteoporosis In Postmenopausal Women: Newly Published European Guidance

Date: Mar-26-2013
New ESCEO and IOF Guidance highlights new risk assessment and treatment strategies; points to high prevalence of fractures and low rates of diagnosis and treatment in Europe A new Guidance recently published by the European Society for Clinical and Economic Aspects of Osteoporosis (ESCEO) and the International Osteoporosis Foundation (IOF) reflects the most current advances in the diagnosis and management of osteoporosis, the 'silent disease' which affects up to one in two postmenopausal women...

Carmustine Decreases Amyloid β Plaques In Mouse Model Of Alzheimer's Disease

Date: Mar-26-2013
Long term treatment by carmustine, a chemical relative of mustard gas and already used to treat some types of brain cancer, can decrease the amount of amyloid β and number of amyloid plaques in a mouse model of Alzheimer's disease. The research is published in Biomed Central's open access journal BMC Medicine. Alzheimer's disease progressively destroys memory, language, and judgement of affected people. While deaths due to heart disease, stroke and cancer may be decreasing, the number of deaths each year due to Alzheimer's disease is on the increase...

Taking Time To Get Pregnant Associated With Child's Neurological Development

Date: Mar-26-2013
Taking a long time to get pregnant may be associated with minor neurodevelopmental issues in the child, according to a new study published in Fetal & Neonatal Edition of Archives of Disease in Childhood. This implies that weakened fertility, defined as not becoming pregnant after 12 months, instead of the fertility treatment, could be a significant factor in any developmental issues that occur in the child...

Potential New Anti-Malaria Drug

Date: Mar-26-2013
An international study, involving researchers from Griffith University's Eskitis Institute, has discovered a molecule which could form the basis of powerful new anti-malaria drugs. Professor Vicky Avery from Griffith University's Eskitis Institute is co-author of the paper "Quinolone-3-Diarylethers: a new class of drugs for a new era of malaria eradication" which has been published in the journal Science Translational Medicine. "The 4(1H)-quinolone-3- diarylethers are selective potent inhibitors of the parasite mitochondrial cytochrome bc1 complex," Professor Avery said...

Physical Activity Does Not Slow Muscle Aging

Date: Mar-25-2013
Contrary to the long-held belief, the link between exercise and slower muscle aging is "implausible", according to new genetic research from the UK. Jamie Timmons, professor of Systems Biology in the School of Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences at Loughborough University, and colleagues, write about their study, which offers new insights on the aging process in humans, in the 21 March issue of PLOS Genetics. In a press statement, Timmons explains that their evidence turns many long-held assumptions about aging upside down...

J&J Recalling All OneTouch® Verio®IQ Blood Glucose Meters

Date: Mar-25-2013
Johnson and Johnson's LifeScan, Inc. unit is recalling all OneTouch® Verio®IQ blood glucose meters following reports that the device is failing to provide accurate readings at very high blood glucose levels.  The company said it will be recalling and replacing more than 2 million of the units worldwide. At very high blood glucose levels above 1024 mg/dL, the meter fails to provide a warning and shuts itself off, which can lead to improper or delayed treatment...

Young Adult Cancer Deaths Cut In Half In The U.K.

Date: Mar-25-2013
The number of deaths among teenagers and young adults due to cancer in the UK has been cut in half since the 1970s, according to new data from Cancer Research UK. The number of deaths among children and young adults dropped from close to 580 annually in 1975-1977 to 300 in 2008-2010. The largest reduction was in young patients with leukemia. Although these numbers are noteworthy, they disguise the lack of drug development and clinical trial access in several cancers that are present in this age group...

Children With Mentally Ill Parents Lack Support, UK

Date: Mar-25-2013
The Care Quality Commission (CQC) and Ofsted have issued a recommendation to the UK government to make it compulsory that mental health services gather data about children who have parents or carers with mental health problems. The report, titled "What about the children?", was published by the two bodies as a joint survey, it brought to light the need to identify children living with parents/guardians who have mental health problems, considering many of them are not receiving the help they need...

Many Moms Switch Their Babies To Solid Foods Too Early

Date: Mar-25-2013
Many moms switch their babies to solid foods much earlier than they should. The finding, published in Pediatrics, came from a new report by the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) which showed that over 40% of parents were giving solid foods to their infants before they were 4 months old. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, children should not be introduced to solid foods until they are between the ages of 4 and 6 months...