Girls who frequently consume sugary drinks tend to start their menstrual periods earlier than girls who do not, according to new research published online Jan 28 in Human Reproduction.
This effect was independent of the girls' body mass index (BMI), height, total food intake and other lifestyle factors such as physical activity. The findings are important not only because of the growing problem of childhood obesity in a number of developed countries, but also because starting periods earlier is…
Driven by the evidence, not by rhetoric or anecdote, we describe what the reality of research actually shows to be true. Myth 1: Cancer is a man-made, modern disease While it’s certainly true that global lifestyle-related diseases like cancer are on the rise, the biggest risk factor for cancer is age. Myth 2: Superfoods prevent cancer Blueberries, beetroot, broccoli, garlic, green tea… the list goes on. Despite thousands of websites claiming otherwise, there’s no such thing…
Nytol, Benadryl, Ditropan and Piriton among the medications identified by scientists as raising likelihood of dementia A report published online this week in JAMA Internal Medicine offers compelling evidence of a link between long-term use of anticholinergic medications like Benadryl and dementia. Anticholinergic drugs block the action of acetylcholine. This substance transmits messages in the nervous system. In the brain, acetylcholine is involved in learning and memory. In the…
Despite known risks for older people, use of benzodiazepines—a class of sedative and anti-anxiety medications—remains common in this group. The findings raise questions about why so many prescriptions are written for older adults when there are often safer alternatives. Benzodiazepines include the medications alprazolam (Xanax), diazepam (Valium), and lorazepam (Ativan). These drugs are widely prescribed to treat anxiety and sleep problems. But while effective, they have serious…
The development and widespread adoption of so-called “antibiotics”—drugs that kill bacteria and thereby reduce infection—has helped billions of people live longer, healthier lives. However, the more we rely on antibiotics, the more bacteria develop resistance to them, which makes treating infections that much more challenging. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), overuse of antibiotics by humans—such as for the mistreatment of viral infections—means these…
The latest innovation, described in the journal Science, is an implant that moves with the body and provides both chemical and electrical stimulation. When it was tested on paralysed rats, they moved again. One of the scientists, Prof Stephanie Lacour, told the BBC: "The implant is soft but also fully elastic to accommodate the movement of the nervous system. "The brain pulsates with blood so it moves a lot, the spinal cord expands and retracts many times a day, think about bending…
The experimental drug, which was isolated from a sample of New Englanddirt, is called teixobactin. It hasn’t yet been tested in people, though it cured all mice infected with antibiotic-resistant staphylococci bacteria that usually kills 90 percent of the animals, according to a study published today in the journal Nature. Bacteria appear to have a particularly difficult time developing resistance to the drug, potentially overcoming a major problem with existing antibiotics…
Triple-negative breast cancer is one of the most deadly forms of the disease, does not respond to hormonal therapies such as tamoxifen, or targeted drugs like Herceptin and nearly one quarter of patients diagnosed will not survive for more than five years. Now researchers at Cambridge University and the Wellcome Trust’s Sanger Institute have found that the BCL11A gene is overactive in eight out of ten patients. The study opens the door for therapies which suppress the gene and…
According to the World Allergy Organization, almost 40% of the globe's population is genetically prone to severe allergic reactions. In an effort to understand the intensity of the allergy pattern in India, a clinical laboratory conducted a comprehensive study in 2014. 15.7% of people had allergy. While 43.93% of those tested positive suffered from dust allergy, 20.6% were allergic to pollens, 10.5 % to fungus and 10.3% to animal dander. "Such a high number clearly indicates that immunity…
