Health News

External Qigong Therapy May Reduce Cocaine Cravings In Early Addiction Recovery

Date: Feb-27-2013
Cocaine is one of the most addictive drugs of abuse. Few effective treatments are available to help control cravings and withdrawal symptoms among individuals undergoing therapy to overcome cocaine abuse. Promising results from a study of qigong therapy are published in The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers. The article is available on the Journal website...

Levels Of Certain Small Molecules In The Blood Altered By Radiation Exposure, Offering A Possible Measure Of Damage To The Body

Date: Feb-27-2013
Ohio State University cancer researchers have identified molecules in the bloodstream that might accurately gauge the likelihood of radiation illness after exposure to ionizing radiation. The animal study, led by researchers at The Ohio State Comprehensive Cancer Center - Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute (OSUCCC - James), shows that X-rays or gamma rays alter the levels of certain molecules called microRNA in the blood in a predictable way...

New Strategies Needed To Promote CPR Education In High-Risk Neighborhoods

Date: Feb-27-2013
Targeting CPR education in high-risk neighborhoods could increase the number of bystanders giving CPR and decrease deaths from cardiac arrest, according to a new American Heart Association scientific statement published in its journal Circulation. Survival rates for out-of-hospital cardiac arrest vary widely in the United States, from 0.2 percent in Detroit, Mich., to 16 percent in Seattle, Wash. The variance is due in part to whether a bystander does CPR. For every 30 bystanders who do, one life is saved, researchers said...

Omega-3 Supplements May Prevent Skin Cancer

Date: Feb-27-2013
Consuming omega-3 fish oils can help to prevent skin cancer, according to the first clinical trial exploring the influence of fish oils on the skin immunity of humans. The study was conducted by a team of researchers from the University of Manchester and funded by the Association for International Cancer Research, and examined the effect of taking omega-3 on 79 healthy participants. Findings of the study, published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, revealed that consuming regular doses of fish oils increases immunity to sunlight...

Drug Treating Sexual Pain Among Postmenopausal Women Approved By FDA

Date: Feb-27-2013
The drug Osphena (ospemifene) has just been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of moderate to severe dyspareunia, a symptom of vulvar and vaginal atrophy (VVA) that causes pain during sexual intercourse in postmenopausal women.  Dyspareunia occurs during menopause when estrogen levels drop to a level that causes vaginal atrophy, which is essentially the inflammation of the vagina due to shrinking and thinning of vaginal tissue. As a result, when women with vaginal atrophy engage in sexual intercourse it can be very painful and troublesome...

C-Section Babies 5 Times More Likely To Develop Allergies

Date: Feb-27-2013
C-section babies are five times more likely to develop allergies by age two than those born naturally. The finding came from a new study conducted by researchers from Henry Ford Hospital and was presented at the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology yearly meeting in San Antonio. The findings coincide with previous research which demonstrated that babies born by c-section are more likely to have asthma than babies delivered naturally...

Several Toxic Metals Found At A Higher Level In Children With Autism

Date: Feb-27-2013
In a recently published study in the journal Biological Trace Element Research, Arizona State University researchers report that children with autism had higher levels of several toxic metals in their blood and urine compared to typical children. The study involved 55 children with autism ages 5 -16 years compared to 44 controls of similar age and gender. The autism group had significantly higher levels of lead in their red blood cells (+41 percent) and significantly higher urinary levels of lead (+74 percent), thallium (+77 percent), tin (+115 percent), and tungsten (+44 percent)...

Stem Cells Identified In A Human Parasite

Date: Feb-27-2013
From the point of view of its ultimate (human) host, the parasitic flatworm Schistosoma mansoni has a gruesome way of life. It hatches in feces-tainted water, grows into a larva in the body of a snail and then burrows through human skin to take up residence in the veins. Once there, it grows into an adult, mates and, if it's female, starts laying eggs. It can remain in the body for decades. A new study offers insight into the cellular operations that give this flatworm its extraordinary staying power. The researchers, from the University of Illinois, demonstrated for the first time that S...

Study Identifies Possible Therapeutic Target To Treat Asthma And COPD

Date: Feb-27-2013
New research examines the role of PKC in airway smooth muscle contraction and raises the possibility that this enzyme could be a therapeutic target for treating asthma, COPD, and other lung diseases. In the lungs, pathological increases in the contraction of the smooth muscle cells (SMCs) lining airway walls - a process that decreases airflow - contribute to the chain of events leading to asthma and COPD, two common lung diseases...

Babies Slow To Grow Should Not Have Their Calories Increased, Most Catch Up By Early Teens

Date: Feb-27-2013
New parents are pleased when their baby gains weight as expected, but if the rate of weight gain is slow parents can become worried and concerned about their child's future size. New research from the Children of the 90s study at the University of Bristol shows that most babies who are slow to put on weight in the first nine months of life have caught up to within the normal range by the age of 13, but remain lighter and shorter than many of their peers. There are significant differences in the pattern of 'catchup', depending on the infant's age when the slow weight gain occurs...