Health News

Non-significant reduction in the amount of candida in women who were taking oral garlic tablets

Date: Dec-22-2013
In a world-first study, led by the University of Melbourne and the Royal Women's Hospital, researchers have found garlic does not significantly reduce vaginal candida (thrush).Led by University of Melbourne PhD candidate Cathy Watson also of the Royal Women's Hospital, the findings were published online in the British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology.This study is the first to investigate the effect of oral garlic on vaginal colonisation of candida and provides another link in the chain of investigation of complementary and alternative therapies.

Small rewards encourage children to eat fruit and veg

Date: Dec-22-2013
The good news: Research suggests that a new federal rule has prompted the nation's schools to serve an extra $5.4 million worth of fruits and vegetables each day.The bad news: The nation's children throw about $3.8 million of that in the garbage each day.Researchers from Brigham Young University and Cornell observed three schools adjust to new school lunch standards that require a serving of fruits or vegetables on every student's tray - whether the child intends to eat it or not.

Spaceflight has profound effects on fungal pathogen

Date: Dec-22-2013
At Arizona State University's Biodesign Institute, Cheryl Nickerson and her team have been investigating the intriguing effects of spaceflight on microbial pathogens.In a new paper appearing in the journal PLOS ONE, the team reports their recent work examining spaceflight-induced responses in and infectious disease potential of the fungal pathogen, Candida albicans.

'Superbugs' found breeding in sewage plants

Date: Dec-22-2013
Tests at two wastewater treatment plants in northern China revealed antibiotic-resistant bacteria were not only escaping purification but also breeding and spreading their dangerous cargo.Joint research by scientists from Rice, Nankai and Tianjin universities found "superbugs" carrying New Delhi Metallo-beta-lactamase (NDM-1), a multidrug-resistant gene first identified in India in 2010, in wastewater disinfected by chlorination. They found significant levels of NDM-1 in the effluent released to the environment and even higher levels in dewatered sludge applied to soils.

Smoking changes our genes

Date: Dec-22-2013
The fact that smoking means a considerable health risk is nowadays commonly accepted. New research findings from Uppsala University and Uppsala Clinical Research Center show that smoking alters several genes that can be associated with health problems for smokers, such as increased risk for cancer and diabetes.We inherit our genes from our parents at birth. Later in life the genetic material can be changed by epigenetic modifications, i.e. chemical alterations of the DNA the affect the activity of the genes.

Predicting developmental delays in preterm infants through brain chemical ratios

Date: Dec-22-2013
Researchers have identified a potential biomarker for predicting whether a premature infant is at high risk for motor development problems, according to a study published online in the journal Radiology."We are living in an era in which survival of premature birth is more common," said Giles S. Kendall, Ph.D., consultant for the neonatal intensive care unit at University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and honorary senior lecturer of neonatal neuroimaging and neuroprotection at the University College London.

Gene involved in adolescent brain development may play a role in mental health vulnerability

Date: Dec-22-2013
As many parents of mentally ill adults will confirm anecdotally, the first symptoms of "something not quite right" with their children begin to appear during the teen years. It is known that during this teenaged phase of brain development, adolescents are particularly vulnerable to psychiatric disorders, including schizophrenia, depression and drug addiction.Researchers at the Douglas Institute Research Centre, affiliated with McGill University, have isolated a gene, DCC, which is responsible for dopamine connectivity in the medial prefrontal cortex during adolescence.

Skin bacteria helped MRSA strain gain dominance

Date: Dec-22-2013
Scientists believe they have an explanation for how the most common strain of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) rapidly rose to prominence. Research published in mBio®, the online open-access journal of the American Society for Microbiology, suggests that the strain recently acquired a number of genes from common skin bacteria that allow it to grow and thrive on the skin where other strains of MRSA cannot."Over the past 15 years, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus has become a major public health problem.

Patients in vegetative state able to recognize loved ones' faces

Date: Dec-22-2013
New research suggests that the brains of patients in a vegetative state - meaning patients are awake with no signs of awareness - may be able to recognize photographs of friends and family, and make emotional connections. This is according to a study published in the journal PLOS One.Traditional belief is that when a person is in a vegetative state, they are completely unaware of what is around them. They are no longer able to think, relate to their surrounding environment, recognize the presence of loved ones, or experience emotion or discomfort.

Hyperactive neurons hold key to tinnitus treatments

Date: Dec-22-2013
Tinnitus, the perception of noise in the ears or head when there is no external source, affects millions of Americans. For some, the symptoms are intermittent, but for others, they are constant, with ringing, buzzing, hissing or humming sounds continuously playing a private symphony in the sufferer's head. Although the noises are not real, the debilitating and life-altering effects can be, but researchers from the University of Michigan Medical School claim to be a step closer to understanding what is going on inside these "unquiet brains.