Category: News Archive

A new study published in the journal Circulation found that eating vegetable oils rich in alpha-linolenic acid (ALA) was linked with a clearly lower risk of non-fatal heart attacks. ALA is a medium-length polyunsaturated omega-3 fatty acid. It is often overlooked in favour of the long-chain omega-3s EPA and DHA, found in fish oils. ALA […]

A study published in The FASEB Journal found plenty of evidence that choosing the right foods could raise intelligence and mental abilities, at least in animals. "I hope the human brain responds like the animals' brains in these experiments, in which a particular treatment increased the number of nerve connections (synapses) and so improved memory […]

There are more than 3 million infertile couples in the United States, and 40% of cases are due to infertility in the man. A new procedure treats the most common cause of male infertility and raises the chances of pregnancy. Women often get varicose veins in their legs; men can get them in the scrotum, […]

"Several factors make people with coeliac disease prone to severe infections," says Dr Jonas Ludvigsson. The researchers used hospital records to study the risk of sepsis (blood infection) in people with coeliac disease. They identified 15,325 people with coeliac disease and 14,494 hospital controls, and found a higher risk of sepsis in people with coeliac […]

We know our health depends on what we eat, and scientists say it also depends on how we eat. People who eat at irregular times are more likely to develop insulin resistance, part of the metabolic syndrome, according to a study at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden. Metabolic syndrome is a cluster of risk factors […]

According to a report in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, 75% of children allergic to milk can tolerate milk that has been extensively heated. Children who develop milk allergy usually have IgE antibodies against certain structures in milk proteins. Because some of these structures are destroyed by high heat, well-heated milk may be […]

The US Food and Drug Administration has reminded doctors of the precautions needed with mitoxantrone hydrochloride, sold as Novantrone. In patients treated with it, the heart's pumping strength (left ventricular ejection fraction) should be measured before treatment starts and before every dose, and patients should be watched afterwards for delayed heart damage. Patients with multiple […]

The Leeds Dental Institute in the UK, one of the leading dental schools, is looking for new ways to improve dental treatment and remove the fear many patients feel. "Our lab is looking for safe new ways to control dental plaque that don't rely on toothpaste," says Professor Jennifer Kirkham. "We see patients who can't […]

By 2040 about 81 million people worldwide will have Alzheimer's disease. Researchers at Emory University and Georgia Tech have developed a new tool that can detect it early, so it can be treated sooner. Called DETECT, the device is a helmet with a built-in computer screen and eye-level display, in which the patient takes a […]

All children having spine surgery should receive preventive antibiotics within the 60 minutes before surgery to lower the risk of deep wound infection, according to a report in the Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal. The study looked at 989 children up to 18 years old who had spine surgery at Johns Hopkins Hospital between 2000 and […]

Lowering blood pressure reduces strokes and heart attacks, and a researcher at Imperial College London says there is an extra benefit: treatment may also reduce the chances of dementia. A study of older people with high blood pressure examined whether their treatment lowered the chance of developing any type of dementia. One in four people […]

People with allergies, such as asthma and hay fever, have a surprising advantage, according to research at the University of New South Wales (UNSW). In a report presented at an international conference in Sydney last week, people with an allergic disease were 25% less likely to develop the most common type of non-Hodgkin lymphoma (a […]