Could Colds During Pregnancy Lead To Child Asthma?

Studies suggest that mothers who catch a cold during pregnancy could be more likely to have children who develop asthma, as the bacteria and viruses affect the in-utero environment. Babies who are exposed to the allergens are more likely to become sensitive to them and this could affect them later in life, according to researchers. The new study, which examined the risk of the common cold to unborn children, shows that women who are pregnant should take extra precautions around people who have colds and are sneezing, as it could lead to problems for their children later in life. The mothers infections and bacterial exposure during the pregnancy leads to the environment in the womb being altered. Allergist Dr Mitch Grayson stated that in addition to this, the same children in the study who had early exposure to allergens, including house dust and pet hair, also had increased odds of becoming sensitive by the age of five. When dust mites from the mother and the child’s mattresses were analysed, children with high dust mite exposure yet low bacteria exposure were more likely to develop allergies to dust mites than those with low dust mite exposure and high bacteria exposure.

 

Researchers looked at 513 pregnant women in Germany, and their 526 children. The women completed questionnaires during the pregnancy, when the children were 3 and 12 months old, and then every year up until the children reached five years old. Of the families, 61 per cent of them had a parent with asthma, hay fever or atopic dermatitis. According to the ACAAI, asthma and allergies can be hereditary; if both parents have allergies, the child is as much as 75 per cent more likely to be allergic. If just one parent is allergic, or if a close relative has allergies, then the child has a 30 to 40 per cent chance of developing some form of allergy. This drops to just 10 to 15 per cent if neither parent has an allergy. Researchers claim that they now know for certain that allergies and asthma can develop in the womb, as genetics play an important factor in both diseases. However, this study sheds light on how the environment a mother creates during pregnancy can begin to affect the child before it’s even been born. Asthma is the most common potentially serious medical condition to complicate pregnancy, according to the ACAAI.

 

Asthma affects around 1 in 12 women during their childbearing years, and when women with asthma become pregnant, one third of the patients improve, one third get worse, and one third remain unchanged. Asthma is a serious condition which affects a number of people and has numerous triggers, including house mites, dust, pollen and pollution. As pollution and toxins in the air have increased over the years, the risk of developing respiratory diseases has also increased. There are ways to treat asthma and, depending on the severity of the condition, your child may require medication to maintain it. If you’re concerned about the risk colds and asthma have to your baby, or think your child is developing symptoms of asthma, you should seek advice from your GP as soon as possible. As with any pregnancy, it’s important to stay as healthy as possible, maintain a balanced diet which includes all the nutrients both you and your baby need, and get enough exercise; you should also avoid alcohol and smoking, to maintain good health for both you and your baby.

Categories: Asthma, bacteria exposure, Child, Children, dust mite, Dust Mites, exposure, mite exposure, new study, pregnancy

Can Yoghurt Be Connected To Lower Diabetes Risk?

The media is always claiming that certain ingredients can help us to maintain a healthy lifestyle and improve our wellbeing. The latest headlines state that yoghurt is key to beating diabetes; a claim based on a study which associates dairy with the risk of developing type 2 diabetes. The study found that the risk of diabetes was significantly lowered by as much as 28 per cent in people who ate large amounts of low-fat yoghurt, compared to people who ate none at all. The results were similar in people who ate more of all low-fat fermented products, including cottage cheese and fromage frais. The study was based on people using food diaries to report their dairy intake around the time of eating, which is one of the best ways to gauge the success of a trial rather than asking people to recall what they’ve eaten throughout the day – it tends to be more accurate. The diaries were only used over a seven-day period (which isn’t a long enough to provide an accurate assessment of whether yoghurt can help with diabetes risks). It’s not currently clear whether fermented low-fat dairy products can help to prevent diabetes, but it is a theory researchers are keen to investigate. There are a number of steps you can take to lower your risk of developing diabetes though, such as regular exercise, eating a balanced healthy diet, quitting smoking and lowering your alcohol intake. It’s also important to note the sugar levels in the foods you eat, as these can contribute towards developing not just diabetes but also obesity. If you’re concerned about your diet or weight, it’s important to seek advice as this can contribute to a number of health concerns, in addition to diabetes, such as heart problems and certain cancers.

 

The study was carried out by the University of Cambridge, as part of a larger study funded by the Medical Research Council and Cancer Research UK. Researchers discovered that people who ate the most low-fat fermented products were 24 per cent less likely to develop type 2 diabetes than those who ate the least. The total dairy, high fat dairy, milk and cheese were not associated to the development of diabetes, nor was low-fat dairy. There are several limitations to this study which have led researchers to question whether or not yoghurt can actually help lower the risk of diabetes. Firstly, people’s reported dairy intake was only collected once, at baseline, over a seven-day period, so it’s possible that people’s diets didn’t stay the same during the 11 year follow-up period. Furthermore, the information was self-reported which could affect the reliability. Lastly, researchers didn’t take into account the dairy products included in cooking composite dishes. While there were attempts to take account of other factors, it is always possible that measured and unmeasured factors had an influence on the results. Further studies need to take place in order to know for certain whether fermented products can help to lower the risk of diabetes. The results do suggest that switching sugary snacks and meals for low-fat dairy products could help your overall health, as well as improving your diabetes prospects. Just be sure to choose low sugar varieties and to balance your diet with plenty of fruit and vegetables, grains and lean protein to ensure your body is getting all the nutrients it needs to stay healthy.

Categories: Dairy, dairy intake, dairy products, day period, Diabetes, fermented products, new study, people, products, study, yoghurt

Could Steroid-Dependent Asthma Be Linked To Depression?

People with very severe forms of asthma, who rely on prednisone, are more than three times more likely to be depressed than people with asthma who don’t use prednisone and those with mild to moderate asthma. According to a new study from researchers in The Netherlands, prednisone-dependent asthma patients ‘deserve’ screening for depression and anxiety to both remove the suffering and perhaps improve their physical health through the treatment they would receive for mental health conditions. Often, depression can go unnoticed and can develop into a more severe condition. The connection between depression and asthma is well established. As well as being a chronic illness in itself, there are now strong reports of depression levels being high as well. Prednisone is a steroid anti-inflammatory medication which is used to treat asthma attacks in people with severe asthmatic symptoms. Prior studies have found that steroid use can be connected to depression and other mood disorders, and the links go in both directions with depression and the severity of asthma symptoms. This study took place with 187 participants to examine the depression risk among asthma patients. Among the participants, 67 had severe prednisone-dependent asthma and 47 had severe asthma but were not dependent on prednisone. Another 73 patients had mild to moderate asthma – the people in the three groups were similar but the prednisone-dependent group were, on average, older and had greater limitations to their breathing.

 

All of the patients were asked questions about depression and anxiety, as well as questions regarding their personality traits which could well be a factor in their risk of mood disorders. Researchers discovered that people with severe prednisone-dependent asthma were 3.4 times more likely to be depressed than those with severe, but no prednisone-dependent, asthma. They were also 3.5 times more likely to be depressed than patients with mild to moderate asthma. There were no significant differences in the personality traits of the patients, but there was a 2.5x higher chance of the prednisone-dependent participants developing anxiety than those with mild to moderate symptoms – however, there was no significant difference in those with severe non-prednisone dependent asthma. The increased risk of the depression may well be due to the stress of the treatment, according to researchers, rather than the severity of the illness itself. This could be similar to other chronic illnesses, such as diabetes, which require a complex daily regimen to be treated. Having to maintain the treatment every day reminds you of the illness itself, and that can lead to untreated but long-term depression. The more depressed you are, the less likely you will be able to take care of the responsibility of maintaining your medication. Researchers involved in the study believe that GPs need to be more proactive in screening asthma suffers for depression, anxiety and related disorders, to check early on whether symptoms are present. If you’re concerned about your health or think that you may be suffering with depression, either as an illness itself or as a side effect of your medication, you should speak to your GP as soon as possible so that they can assign you help or medication to treat the condition. The researchers of the study also placed importance on friends, family and caregivers to express their concerns if they believe that they know of someone who is suffering with untreated depression, as often people are either anxious about coming forward with their symptoms or don’t spot them in the same way that people living around them may well do.

Categories: Asthma, asthma patients, dependent asthma, depression, moderate asthma, mood disorders, new study, personality traits, prednisone dependent, severe prednisone

How Can Your Weight Be Improved By Lingonberries?

New studies suggest that lingonberries could prevent weight gain and obesity-related diseases; in a study based on mice, researchers found that these berries helped to prevent obesity. The mice were genetically modified to become obese and develop features of obesity, and in the experiment the mice were fed a high fat diet for 13 weeks as a way of mimicking the fatty western diet. However, there were eight different groups of mice given eight different types of freeze-dried berry alongside the diet of fatty foods to see if the mice were affected in terms of weight gain. Two further control groups were given no berries, one of which ate the same high fat diet and another a low-fat diet. The final result was that all of the mice gained weight but the mice who were given the berries gained less weight. Lingonberries are a wild fruit popular in Scandinavia and, in studies, were the best at showing the lowest increase in body fat, cholesterol and blood sugar of all the high fat groups during the study. Naturally, as the study shows, the lingonberries aren’t an obesity cure which work on their own as a way to remove fat, but they could be an ingredient which could enable you to gain less weight as part of a healthy diet.

 

The research took place using six-week old mice who were engineered to develop obesity and pre-diabetes. The mice were split into 10 groups of 12 mice, and for 13 weeks they underwent the following:

- 8 groups were fed a high fat diet, where 45 per cent of their calories came from fat. This diet was supplemented with eight different freeze-dried berries which were freely available to them.

- 1 control group was fed a calorie-matched high fat diet without the berries.

- 1 control group was fed a low-fat diet, with 10 per cent of their calories from fat without the berries.

 

The body weight and food intake of the mice was monitored weekly, and at the end of the study the blood samples were assessed for sugar, insulin levels, cholesterol and other fats. The researchers also looked at bodily organs, including the spleen and liver, to see how much fat had built up. The energy intake was very much the same across all of the groups, with the exception of those eating blackcurrant and bilberries, who ate more food and calories. But the fasting blood sugar levels were much lower in the lingonberry and blackcurrant groups than the high fat controls. Both of these groups had glucose and insulin resistance levels similar to the mice in the low-fat diet group. Researchers believe that the lingonberries either fully or partially prevent the detrimental metabolic effects of a high fat diet – blackcurrants and bilberries had similar properties but weren’t as effective. The conclusion of the study was that the beneficial metabolic effects of the lingonberries could be helpful in preventing obesity and disorders related to being overweight. As part of a balanced diet and a regular exercise programme, lingonberries could help to maintain a healthy weight and prevent obesity-related disorders from developing. As with any diet, it’s important that you speak to your GP before undertaking any extreme changes to your dietary habits, as it could be detrimental to your health. But there has been no proof that adding lingonberries to your diet can do you any harm, so in moderation they could be the weight loss answer you’ve been looking for.

Categories: Blood Sugar, control group, diet, freeze dried, lingonberries, metabolic effects, Mice, new study, obesity related, prevent obesity, weight gain

Could Depression be Linked to Disease Resistance?

Diseases such as cancer are thought to be best treated using both the body and the mind, in order to boost the immune system in every way. Our immune systems do far more than simply fend off the common cold. Social support, for example, can significantly improve a person’s condition and extend the life of a cancer patient. In studies looking at victims of cancer, researchers found that women who attended support groups lived twice as long as those who didn’t, on average. A study in Los Angeles at the University of California found that patients who had survived cancer for a minimum of five years and attended group therapy lived three times as long as those who didn’t attend any therapy sessions. It seems that relying on others to boost our mood when we’re ill could help us fight conditions and diseases far more effectively. When people are grieving, their T-cells and the natural killer cells in the body, both of which are important for defending the immune system, function far less effectively. By being supported and comforted by friends and family members, this aspect of the immune system may well be bolstered. However, people who are depressed and anxious may suffer the opposite effect.

 

 

In a study involving 4825 healthy individuals, 146 of them were depressed. In those who had been depressed for a minimum of six years, the chances of developing cancer were far higher. This is thought to be because of the fact that this condition kills of the natural ‘killer’ cells, so the body doesn’t fight off diseases. This isn’t to say that depression can cause cancer, but it does signify that depression and related issues such as anxiety can lower one’s immunity to the disease. This makes it not only a risk for cancer, but also other diseases. There are however other theories that suggest that cancer may cause depression, with a study discovering that in 43 liver tumour patients there was a direct link between clinical depression and an immune modulator. The chemical which is released when our immune system fights cancer is the same substance that may trigger depression biologically. Although this may seem like bad news, it is actually the opposite. It provides researchers with new tools for treating cancer – it also highlights the link between the mind and other diseases. Taking the time to meditate and de-stress is important in order to strengthen the immune system, so that we can better fight off illnesses.

Leading a stress-free lifestyle as best you can is one of the best ways to fight off anxiety and depression. This means doing plenty of exercise, which can boost your mood and release endorphins to keep you happy, as well as eating a balanced diet that’s rich in brain-healthy foods. Oily fish, plenty of fruit and vegetables, and omega-rich nuts and seeds will ensure that you’re happy through your food. Take time to meditate and relax at least a few times a week, so that you don’t overload your mind with worries and stress – this can be anything from some alone time each week to spending time with friends and loved ones. Lowering your stress levels and ensuring you lead a healthy lifestyle will not only help to reduce the risk of depression but it will also stave off other health concerns such as heart disease, stroke and certain cancers. If you think you’re at risk of developing depression, or think you’re displaying signs of cancer, speak to your GP as soon as possible for advice on the situation.

Categories: cancer, depression, diseases, Fight, immune, killer cells, natural killer, new study

Is Bacteria As Bad For Our Health As We Claim?

We’re always hearing about the risks and benefits of bacteria in terms of our health, but what do we really know about those microscopic bugs living in our insides? You can barely find a healthcare product these days that doesn’t display its antibacterial properties and there’s no denying that in terms of certain bacteria, this is preferable to a product without. But how harmful is bacteria really, and do we actually need it to stay healthy? Studies suggest we have around three to five pounds worth of microbes living in our bodies, which in the past would have been a cause for concern given the belief that the absence of microbes was preferable for good health. These days, however, we’re learning that bacteria isn’t just a source of disease but also of good health.

Researchers believe that the average person plays host to more than 10,000 species of organisms at any one time, including bacteria, viruses and fungi. These are known collectively as your microbiome. Everyone’s microbiome is unique to them, a product of their genes, diet, lifestyle and the environment in which they live. But it’s possible to have similar microbiomes with people who share your physical and neurological traits. For example, obese people have different microbiomes to lean people; kids with autism have different types of bacteria to those without; people with skin conditions such as eczema will have different organisms living on their skin to people who don’t. The more people scientists map the microbiomes of, the better equipped they’ll be in matching up connections between bacterias and health conditions. This could be hugely beneficial when it comes to serious conditions such as obesity or cancer, but researchers are very much in the early stages of this type of study and much more in-depth research needs to take place before conclusive evidence can be found.

 

We’ve known for a long time that if you upset your natural balance of bacteria, it will make you sick. But new research shows that colon cancer, which is responsible for killing around 50,000 people each year, could be another more serious outcome. People with colorectal cancers have high levels of E.coli bacteria, which is renowned for being a fecal germ guilty of causing food poisoning. Scientists are still looking into what type of role this bacteria is playing in the development of cancer, but increased levels of the bacteria certainly spell trouble. There is hope that by monitoring the bacteria levels in a person who is at risk of the disease, doctors will be able to catch such a condition in the very early stages and increase the chance of survival.

 

This could also be the case with the fight against obesity. Researchers believe that certain drugs can alter the mix of bacteria which can lead to a higher concentration of bugs that extract calories from food. Scientists are still looking into the perfect balance of bacteria for optimal health, but one condition has been incredibly responsive to microbiome intervention. People plagued by a bacterial infection which causes potentially life-threatening diarrhoea could be saved by a faecal transplant – taking the faeces of a healthy person and introducing them to the gut of a sick person. It currently has a 94 per cent success rate, and while it doesn’t sound pleasant  as a cure, there results show why the human microbiome is a ground-breaking element of modern medicine and one which could offer incredible results in terms of our health.

Categories: Bacteria, Early Stages, Environmental Wellness, health, microbiome, new study, people, person

Can You Tell If You"ll Outgrow Your Asthma Condition?

A new study has discovered a way of using genetic testing to determine whether patients with asthma are likely to outgrow the condition, or if they will continue to experience symptoms as they grow older. The report, published in The Lancet Respiratory Medicine, analysed data from a study spanning 40 years. Researchers discovered that children with asthma and higher risk scored including a number of genetic variants associated with asthma were more than 36 percent more likely to develop a life-long condition, whereas those with a lower genetic risk were not. Nearly half of all children with asthma will grow out of it by the time they reach adulthood. There are currently no tests to predict which children will do so, however. This new report could change that and identify those who will suffer with the chronic lung disease for life.

 

Recent genetic studies have found that several variants, including single nucleotide polymorphisms and SNPs, carry a small increased risk of asthma. In this study, researchers wanted to see whether these genetic risks are associated with the onset or severity of asthma, as well as the disruptions to daily life. The findings of the study showed that those with a higher genetic risk score were also more likely to develop atopic, or allergic, asthma, as well as impaired lung function – this is known as airway hyper-responsiveness, or incompletely reversible airflow obstruction. These individuals are more likely to miss school or work, and have an increased risk of hospitalisation due to asthma than those with a lower genetic risk. Researchers are keen to stress that this predictive value of the genotype score was independent of family history. Those with symptoms of asthma are urged to seek medical advice in order to determine if they have the condition.

Categories: Asthma, Children, condition, genetic, genetic risk, increased risk, new study, risk, study

Could the Desire to Cough be a Reflex We"ve Imagined?

A recent study has claimed that the desire to cough can be reduced psychologically, as the irritation may not be just a reflex action. The study, carried out by researchers at the University of Queensland in Australia, made all of the participants in the study breathe in a small amount of capsaicin, which is a throat irritant. They were previously given some inert gas which didn’t impact their need to cough. However, some of the participants were told that the gas wouldn’t be able to help them when it came to coughing, and others were told that they were given liodcaine – a local anesthetic. The results of the study showed that people who were told they had consumed a local anesthetic had a 45 percent lower urge to cough, compared to the other participants. This study shows that the urge to cough can be controlled with psychological willpower, by certain thought centres in the brain.

 

Professor Omer Van den Bergh, from the University of Leuven in Belgium, explained that it is as though the brain has some occasion to control when it needs to cough, and when not to. Other studies show that the brain does respond to placebos, with people suffering from depression or even urinary problems reacting positively to placebo treatments. Sometimes, the effect of counselling or anti-depressant medicines can influence the effect as well. Lead researcher Stuart Mazzone exclaimed that the team were surprised by the effect of placebos in this study – a placebo is generally effecting around 25 to 30 percent where pain reduction is concerned.

 

The study confirms that placebos can be as effective in reducing coughing as some anti-cough medicines can be. While this is the case, researchers are unsure why it is that we respond so well to the placebos when we feel the need to cough. It’s thought that the cough reflex in people is less hard-wired than the pain reflex, as the latter is more necessary for survival. Researchers are keen to analyse this subject further in order to see whether the brain can be made to believe that a substance can soothe a cough.

Categories: Brain, cough, local anesthetic, new study, placebo, placebos, reflex, study

Gender Differences Extend to How We Smoke and Quit

We’ve long been aware that the male and female bodies are affected by things in different ways, but did you know that the way in which we smoke is yet another to add to the list? In 2001, a study at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine found that women and men are affected by smoking, and likewise quitting, differently. After lighting up, women collectively rates their cigarettes as less satisfying than men did. In another study, women who sampled both standard and low-nicotine cigarettes noted less of a difference in their enjoyment and their perceived nicotine intake than male participants did. These are just some of the findings from this research, which suggests that there is a gap between male and female smokers. The research found suggests that men smoke mainly for the nicotine, whereas women tend to care more about the smell and taste, the hand-to-mouth sensation, the boost to their mood and the weight control. Studies show that both sexes have around the same rate of success with smoking cessation drugs, but nicotine replacement therapy (NRT), such as the patch of nicotine gum, reveal surprising differences. NRT seems to help both men and women get through the first few months of difficulty on an equal level, but after six months women tend to slide back into the habit at a higher rate than men do.

These differences between gender in smoking addictions may also account for an interesting exception to the NRT gender gap – the inhaler, which is a small, plastic cigarette-shaped device that provides a dose of vaporised nicotine when you take a drag from it. A study carried out in 2001 found that inhalers were more effective for women than men, in the short term, whereas men had more success with gum, patches and sprays. When women stop smoking, they lose both the nicotine and the sensory cues which can make things difficult for them. Replacing these cues with an inhaler rather than with a patch which doesn’t resolve the issue can help them to cope more easily with giving up.

More than half of female smokers state in such studies that their weight concerns are a major issue when quitting. This isn’t surprising but research suggests that cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) could be well suited to women as it helps them to take the leap over the psychological hurdle, accepting that they may well gain a little weight when they quit.  Women may well benefit from combining CBT with a glance at their menstrual cycles as well. Studies suggest that menstruation has a unique effect on tobacco withdrawal symptoms. Women shouldn’t exacerbate hormonal mood swings with their withdrawal symptoms by trying to quit during the middle of PMS. It’s advised to wait until after the first day after a period starts to quit, so as not to make either problem worse.

If you’re struggling to quit smoking, there are a number of resources available to help you. From helplines to smoking cessation devices, you should be able to find plenty of information on how to quit in a way that suits you. Quitting is always the healthier option – smoking causes a number of health concerns, from increasing your risk of lung cancer and heart disease, to accelerating ageing and causing gum problems. Speak to your GP about ways to quit smoking and cut cigarettes out of your life as soon as possible.

Categories: female smokers, Gender, new study, nicotine, quit, quit smoking, Smoking, smoking cessation, withdrawal symptoms, Women, women tend

What Could the Cold and Chilies Do For Weight Loss?

A new study suggests that we can now burn fat with the combination of cold temperatures and chili peppers, providing effective weight loss. Researchers have found that exposure to low temperatures and the consumption of the chemicals found in chili peppers can increase the number and activity of brown fat cells, which burn energy. The study is the first to prove that the activity of brown fat cells can be induced in people who appear to have very few or no brown fat cells. The participants in the study who were also exposed to the cold also had less ‘bad’ white fat cells by the end of the study. Brown fat cells are currently the subject of intense research as the focus of anti-obesity drugs. In this new study, researchers exposed eight people with few brown fat cells to moderately low temperatures of 63 degrees Fahrenheit for two hours every day for the course of six weeks. Compared to the control subjects, who simply led a normal life, these people had around five per cent less body fat at the end of the study. They also burned more energy when they were exposed to the cold.

The researchers also looked at people who ate capsinoids, which are found in chilies, for six weeks. They found that these people also burned more energy than the control group when they were exposed to the cold temperatures, but they didn’t lose any more white fat than the control group. The experiment couldn’t have continued for long enough to see if there were any white-fat-burning effects on the compounds. The results of this study also help to explain the results of a previous study, which found that people who ate capsinoids had increased levels of fat breakdown. It was previously thought that brown fat, also referred to as brown adipose tissue (BAT), was only ever present in babies. But three independent research groups in 2009 found that brown fat cells do exist in the upper chest and neck of some adults. There is also another type of BAT known as beige fat, which is a subset of brown fat but formed from white fat cells.

Brown fat cells induced by the cold and capsinoids are likely beige fat, because they don’t show up on scans that are used to detect concentrated regions of brown fat cells. The study offers some interesting results because it suggests that chemicals which induce brown fat could be used to fight obesity. They would probably work better at keeping healthy people from becoming fat, rather than working as a diet alternative. However, with a rising obesity crisis, this could offer promising future developments. Capsinoids seem to induce brown fat in the same way as cold temperatures, by capturing the same cellular system that the body’s nervous system uses to create heat in the body. Developers are looking to create a drugs that activates this system, but capsinoids themselves won’t be used as they are a natural product and can’t be patented. The sweet chili peppers that capsinoids come from don’t actually taste hote, but they do produce the same physiological effects, such as making us sweat. Weight loss products are always popular with today’s society, and pharmaceutical companies are hopeful that this study could offer some inspiration for a new product to achieve the same effects in pill form.

Categories: ate capsinoids, brown, cells, chili peppers, chilies, control group, induce brown, new study, people, study, Weight Loss

Does Social Pressure Influence Our Sexual Behaviour?

Young people often look to whether they think their partners are ‘clean’ or ‘unclean’ before embarking on a sexual relationship with them, rather than finding out if there are any health risks. In a recent study, researchers discovered that factors such as this influence a young person’s sexual practices, and the patterns are very similar across the world. As nearly half of new HIV infections across the world occur in people aged 15 to 24 years, the changes in sexual behaviour in this group is vital to stem the spread of disease. The findings of this study could help to guide people to more successful safe-sex practices. The results also offer an insight into why so many HIV programmes haven’t been effective. These programmes usually focus on non-social reasons to explain why teens and young adults don’t use condoms, such as ignorance and barriers to access. As a result, all these programmes offer is advice about sex and condoms, without really looking into the social factors that affect them which is dangerous as it is too generic to factor in everyone and their own views on sex.

Researchers found seven common themes, five of which relate to sexual behaviour in general and two pertaining to condom use. The results could point to possible reasons why a teen would put themselves under risk sexually when they find themselves in such a situation. When it comes to condom use, it’s important that both boys and girls use perception to determine the need for condom protection. There are a number of reasons why people don’t feel the need to use condoms – one man in a study stated ‘depends how easy she is’ as a reason for not always using protection. All of the societies studied had a strikingly similar expectation of sexual behaviour in both genders, with men expected to be extremely heterosexually active and women chaste. Because they fear shameful and embarrassing labels, many women don’t want to say yes immediately to a man’s sexual advances. But researchers state that this ‘no’ is difficult to interpret. For men, there is also the stigma attached to a lack of experience in bed or not going out with a lot of women.

Since the advent of HIV and AIDs, there have been many more studies surrounding sexual behaviour. Many of these have focused on changing sexual practices. While the information gathered in these studies is useful, researchers claim that it isn’t as useful for understanding the reasons for the behaviour itself. Qualitative research helps to describe, they say, as well as find the reasons for it surrounding the social context. The results could explain why a woman would neglect to use a condom despite having plenty of knowledge on the subject as well as access to protection. From the seven themes, policy makers could help to create a local profile of factors that influence sexual behaviours. This could be a great template for briefing public health authorities to see which sexual health campaigns will be most useful. One idea for further research is to look at the sexual behaviour of deviants, who don’t follow the norm when it comes to sexual practices. More research could focus on men who refuse intercourse and why, for example. Or it may look into what makes people who demand condoms even with long-term partners, and what makes them different to their peers. There is much scope for more in-depth safe-sex campaigns.

Categories: behaviour, new study, people, reasons, safe sex, sexual, sexual behaviour, sexual health, sexual practices, social, teens

Could Brain Stents Support Stroke Patients?

A new study suggests that certain stroke patients could benefit from angioplasty and the placement of brain stents to open the arteries.The finding of this most recent study has a focus on ischemic strokes, which are attacks that occur when the blood flow to the brain is blocked, usually by a fatty deposit, leading to blood flow stopping in that area. In brain angioplasty, a balloon-tipped catheter is guided to the area of the blockage and then the balloon is inflated to re-open the blocked vessel. A stent, a mesh tube, is then inserted so that the vessel remains open and the balloon is deflated. In the study, 131 ischemic stroke patients in the Czech Republic were analysed, with an average age of 66. 75 percent of the patients were given a clot-busting drug whereas the rest were not eligible and were given nothing. Because of these limitations, many ischemic stroke patients had no treatments at all.

However, of the patients who received the clot-busting drug, 35 percent of them had a positive outcome within three months after their stroke. Among those patients in which the drug failed to re-open the artery, less than half underwent the brain angioplasty and stent replacement. The rest had no treatment at all. Among the patients who didn’t receive the drug, 31 went on to have an angioplasty and stenting, and 25 had no further treatment. There were favourable outcomes in 45 percent of those who had the stenting and angioplasty.

For patients with this type of blockage, who can’t receive the drug that could benefit them, re-opening the vessel with stents is considered far more beneficial than having no further therapy, according to researchers. Two experts in the US say that the usefuleness of this approach is still being debated, but it offers hope for those undergoing these problems. DR Keith Siller is the medical director for the Comprehensive Stroke Care Centre in NYU Langone Medical Centre, in New York City. He has claimed that although the Czech study clearly found a real benefit to patients who had an ischemic stroke, another trial which is referred to by the acronym SAMMPRIS concluded that patients with a recent stroke from long-standing blockages in the brain arteries had a worse outcome from angioplasty and stenting than those using normal medications, such as aspirin and statin when combined with aggressive risk-factor modification, such as diet and exercise.

 

However, Siller stated that the Czech trial used similar stents but focused on a different and less easily managed subset of patients, who were already kown to have the worst outcomes if their arteries remained blocked. He believes that these patients the angioplasty and stenting led to a far better clinical outcome and less hemorrhagic complications with results that were far superior to the patients in SAMMPRIS. Siller claims that the benefits for angioplasty and stenting could play an important role for worst-case patients, but there is still little proof in less urgent cases where the goal is simply to limit it happening again. Based on this study, the stenting process in the acute stroke setting could well be an option for patients who have contraindications for clot-busting drugs, according to DR Rafael Ortiz who is the director for the Centre fro Stroke and Neuro-Endovascular Surgery and Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City. Further studies and more in-depth information needs to take place in order to make final recommendations about the safety of the therapy in other patients.

Categories: blood flow, Brain, brain angioplasty, brain stents, busting drug, clot busting, ischemic stroke, new study, Patients, stroke, stroke patients, york city

Could HIV Meds Prevent the Spread of the Virus?

New research has suggested that HIV treatments could be used to prevent the spread of disease in healthy people as well as those already infected. In a previous trial, targeting women in the commercial sex trade who are particularly at risk of contracting the virus, interesting information was gathered. The researchers conducting the study found that despite counselling the women on the dangers of unsafe sex practices, providing them with condoms and providing them with regular HIV testing, the women still became infected at a higher risk than most people. With the treatments for HIV as advanced as they could be at the time, there was little that could be done. There was good news to come though. In 2001, the US Food and Drug Administration approved a new anti-HIV drug known as tenofovir, which had advantages over other drugs on the market for this condition. It offered fewer side effects and was a daily pill. It was believed that it could not only treat HIV but also prevent it – it seems that that belief was well founded. The drugs used to counter the symptoms of HIV have proven to be effective in treating it in healthy people as well.

Many people believed the concept of giving the medication to people who were healthy and uninfected, as well as potentially risking their health in the process. But it has worked, and offers the most valuable theory that researchers have had in the entire fight against the HIV epidemic. The evolution of the HIV epidemic saw a turning point where the thinking behind treatment and prevention sees a vital shift. Researchers believe that they have finally begun to see the light at the end of the tunnel in the bid to combat AIDs – 30 years after the human immunodeficiency virus was first identified. According to the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV-AIDS, we have now reached record levels for people living with HIV. This is owing in a large part to the great advances in better drugs and treatments, as well as better ways of getting drugs to people who need them most. However, it isn’t possible to treat every infected person, and the potential for the number of infected who act as a reservoir for the disease keeps the disease alive. There are still areas of health care and sexual health risks that remain unresolved. There is still much that needs to be done in the fight against HIV and AIDs, but researchers feel that this news is promising and offers real hope for the hopefully not-too-distant future.

HIV is something that still remains a threat in people who are sexually active – the lack of urgency that has permeated the modern world has taken the edge off the importance, but it remains a serious health concern. If you are sexually active, you should always use protection and get checked for sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV, regularly. The more of an interest people take in the prevention of HIV, the closer researchers can get to combating the condition and putting an end to the spread of this virus. The plan for routine HIV checks could also work in conjunction with this new prevention method, to help people most at risk to maintain good health. For the first time in its history, researchers could be on the cusp of genuine treatments and methods – this is a promising turn of events that could save millions of people from life-long treatments and health risks.

Categories: drugs, health, Health Risks, healthy people, HIV, hiv epidemic, new study, people, Researchers, sexual health, sexually active, Treatments

Huntington"s Disease - Can Mice Be The Cure?

Huntington’s disease is a genetic disorder which generally affects people in their 40s or 50s, and primarily affects the brain – it results in a gradual loss of control of movement, memory and general mental ability. This condition is also linked to personality changes and depression, as well as some other mental illnesses. While there is no current treatment for HD, researchers have discovered many avenues for hope which could improve the quality of life for sufferers and their carers. This is an inherited condition which usually occurs in people who have a family history of the disease, and it is caused by a faulty gene on chromosome 4. In rare cases, there may not be a family history of the condition – in these cases, there may be a lack of diagnoses in the family or the condition being misdiagnosed as a mental illness with fidgetiness. Around 8 in every 100,000 people in the UK have HD, which accounts for around 4,800 people.  The chromosomes are where the body stores our genetic information, in the form of DNA, so HD affects both genders equally – this means that you can inherit it from your mother or father in equal measure. The symptoms begin to show in middle age, but some reports have shown that there is a link to developing the condition in early age and inheriting it from the father, as opposed to the mother.

 

There are a number of brain activities affected by HD and the symptoms become more apparent between 30 and 50 years of age. The early signs of the condition include uncontrollable muscular movements, memory problems, a change in mood and stumbling. The mood alterations are one of the earliest signs of the disease, which are then followed by issues with memory and abnormal movements. Death usually occurs 15 to 20 years after the first symptoms appear, usually as a result of other sedentary illnesses such as pneumonia or specific causes such as difficulty swallowing which leads to choking.

 

Having Huntington’s disease is a difficult disease to cope with, and one of the more common side effects in sufferers is depression. It’s difficult for researchers to know if this is caused by circumstance or if it is because of the brain that HD causes. Researchers believe that mice who have been genetically engineered to have a mutated human HD gene may become depressed, which could offer a huge insight into the condition and how it affects our mood. Unfortunately, researchers need to adapt an animals DNA in order to research how they deal with HD, as they get it naturally in contrast to humans. Having carried out basic behaviour tests in mice, they can tell which of the mice are ‘depressed’ by how apathetic they are, in the same way that humans become apathetic when they’re depressed. In the mice, when the mutant Huntington’s disease gene was turned off in the hypothalamus, the mice showed less depression during the behavioural test. This study is still in the early stages but shows that certain areas of the brain may contribute to depression in HD – follow-up studies may show how a dysfunctional hypothalamus could lead to depression. The research does mean that whole-brain approaches to treatment may be very effective in terms of HD. Those which target just the hypothalamus could be lacking in strength and may not be enough to control depression caused by the disease. This could be beneficial for researchers working on treatments such as gene silencing which could mean treatments are injected into specific brain areas.

Categories: Brain, condition, depression, Disease, family history, Huntington's disease, Mental Health, Mice, new study

How Does Your Body Cope With Fad Diets?

It’s the same for the majority of people – at some stage or another, you’ll begin a diet in a bid to shift that extra weight that’s gathered after the festive season or a month or two of heavy indulgence. Many people opt for fad diets in these situations, which seem to offer a quick fix for a problem which generally takes a few months to resolve. These diets aren’t a safe choice though, as they deprive your body of vital nutrients and healthy fats rather than advising you of which foods are good for your body.

Popular diets are easy to digest – vegetarians avoid meat, vegans avoid animal products, and those following raw food diets don’t eat anything heated above 115 degrees Fahrenheit. But how do you know which diets to choose with so many on offer? The studies we gather this information from are based on controlled situations which include many variables, set timescales and artificial scenarios. They don’t, of course, take into account, how one would cope on them for a lifetime period. Real life isn’t as controlled as those diets you read about, so you can’t account for the different situations that we encounter such as genetics or lifestyle.

If you want to lose weight, many medical professionals will agree that it’s better for your body to simply eat a balanced diet and increase the amount of exercise you do. This will ensure you lose weight slowly but steadily, without putting strain on your body. When you lose weight too quickly, it causes your organs to strain and puts unnecessary stress on them. It also deprives your body of vital nutrients which it needs for everyday functions. if you’re struggling to lose weight and need advice, you should speak to your GP who can offer you advice on how to lose weight safely for your body and medical needs.

How Does Your Body Cope With Fad Diets?

Categories: diet, new study, Weight Loss

Are you Lying About Sex to Meet Expectations?

Recent research suggests that both men and women lie about their sexual behaviour in order to meet cultural expectations, even though they wouldn’t be dishonest about other gender-related behaviours. In a study concerning sexual behaviour, it was discovered that men are more willing to admit when they’ve engaged in behaviours seen by college students, such as writing poetry, which are generally associated with women. Likewise, women were open about their love of obscene jokes or other ‘male-oriented’ activities. But with regards to sex, men wanted to appear more masculine and be seen to have had many sexual experiences. Women, in accordance with this theory, wanted to be seen to have had less experience, to be in keeping with the expectations of women. Sexuality seems to be unique in that people are more willing to adhere to stereotypes.

 

Sexuality seems to be the one area where people feel concerned if they don’t meet what people expect of them in accordance for their gender. In this most recent study, women reported to have had more sexual partners than men when they were connected to a lie-detector test and believed they needed to be truthful. The study shows that people feel an obligation to meet stereotypes when it comes to sexual activity. The study involved 293 students aged between 18 and 25. Researchers found that in an earlier study back in 2003, the female participants rose from having fewer sexual partners (when not connected to a lie detector machine) to being even with men, when hooked up to a lie detector. Cultural expectations are still prominent even with something as taboo as discussing sex, showing what an influence the media has on our conventions and attitudes. Where women normally take pride in being equal to men, it seems that where sex is concerned, women still feel the need to conform to a stereotype.

Categories: new study, sexual health, stereotype

How can you tell Someone May be at Risk of Suicide?

Research shows that people attempt suicide because they don’t feel able to cope with the psychological pain they’re experiencing, and doubt that it will ever get better. Though it may sound intuitive, new studies show that this reasoning could be more accurate than it simply being a cry for help, as previous research has suggested. There were two motivations brought to the fore on this study, being the unbearable psychological pain and feelings of hopelessness that things would ever improve. The study was carried out by psychologists at the University of British Columbia in Canada. The findings of the study could be of extreme importance when it comes to identifying which patients are most at risk of suicide. Past research has focused more on the demographics or how genetics play a role in suicide risks, such as the theory that children with autism are at a higher risk of suicide. Depression has also been connected with suicide – however, such a broad generalisation could mean that researchers are overlooking the key factors which could help patients in the future.

 

Researchers need to gain a more in-depth understanding of what makes people attempt suicide, in order to improve treatments and diagnoses. To do this, researchers developed a questionnaire which helped experts clarify what motivations people tended towards when they attempted suicide. It was given to 120 people who had attempted suicide in the last three years in British Columbia. Over half of the people were from the general public and had an average age of 38. The other half of the group consisted of undergraduates with an average age of 21 – most had attempted suicide between one and three times, with one participant attempting suicide 15 times. Most people cited unbearable psychological distress and hopelessness as their reasoning for suicide – most had also claimed to have considered suicide for years.

 

The research shows that measures such as installing nets under bridges can help to prevent suicides because they provide enough time for one’s mental attitude to improve enough to get them out of the suicidal mindset. Over this time, their mental health incrementally improves until they can bear the pain long enough to seek help. There could also be some importance in separating those who think about suicide and those who act on it – studies suggest that people suffering with depression who don’t attempt suicide may be just as unhappy and hopeless, but simply more scared, than those who do.

Categories: depression, new study, suicide

How Does Emotional Abuse Affect the Brain?

A new study has found that childhood emotional and sexual abuse mark women’s brains in distinctive patterns, with emotional affecting regions which are involved in self-awareness and sexual abuse linked to areas involved in genital sensation. In research involving 51 women in Atlanta, twenty-eight of the participants had previously been involved in maltreatment as children. This involved various combinations of neglect and emotional, sexual and physical abuse. The other 23 women had received either none or nearly no abuse – the average age was 27. The participants were given a questionnaire on childhood trauma in order to assess the early childhood experiences – their brains were then scanned to measure the thickness in different areas of the cortex. The cortical thickness is associated with brain development – the thicker areas generally tend to imply healthier growth. If the regions have been ‘exercised’, this is signified in their size, as brains are like muscles and develop with use.

 

Abuse, researchers have found, can interfere with the development of these regions. In order to cope with extreme distress, the brain can alter its signalling patterns which can leave regions underdeveloped from reduced input. If a child has been raped, for example, the brain may react by reducing the connectivity to regions which have been hurt. Researchers have found that with sexual abuse, there were changes in the somatosensory cortex, which processes the input from the body to create sensations and perceptions.

 

Emotional abuse, however, leaves a different type of scar. Here, researchers found that the regions associated with understanding and controlling emotions were altered. There were thinner areas in regions which were connected to self-awareness and emotional regulation, in the prefrontal cortex and medial temporal lobe. Emotional abuse can leave victims more susceptible to depression, extreme or dulled emotional responses and moodiness. It doesn’t mean that recovery is impossible though, with most survivors not developing symptoms in this way. Research has shown that the brain can significantly change when offered the right support and emotional nourishment.

Categories: depression, emotional abuse, new study

How is the Treatment for Rheumatoid Arthritis Changing?

A new study carried out by Leiden University Medical Centre (LUMC) and INOVA Diagnostics has resulted in the completion of a worldwide license agreement for new technology which could detect antibodies to carbamylated proteins (anti-CarP). For Rheumatoid Arthritis sufferers, this could be a fantastic advancement that could help with diagnoses in the future. Researchers agree that the detection of auto-antibodies in Rheumatoid Arthritis patients could help to provide an important insight into the processes which initiate and progress the condition. Since the anti-CarP antibodies can also be detected in patients who no longer have serological markers, researchers are confident that this new insight could be hugely beneficial.

 

New treatment options mean that it’s now possible to apply early and aggressive treatments to this condition, and understanding which patients would benefit most from those interventions could help to boost the efficiency of them. In trying to understand the disease, researchers hope to unravel how the presence of auto-antibodies like anti-CarP contribute to the condition and how novel strategies can help to prevent the onset of Rheumatoid Arthritis. Experts believe that anti-CarP technologies represent a significant advancement in the diagnosis of RA, which helps to close the serological gap which currently exists with biomarkers.

 

A study published last year by the team at LUMC highlighted that IgG and IgA antibodies recognising carbanylated antigens were present in nearly half of the RA patients tested. In addition to this, anti-CarP antibodies were discovered to be predictive of a more severe course of the disease when measured by a radiological progression in ACPA negative RA patients. Rheumatoid Arthritis is a debilitating disease which affects millions of people each day – a new technology which could help identify the problem earlier could be a huge benefit to many people.

Categories: new study, Rheumatoid Arthritis, technology

New Alzheimer"s Disease Vaccine Being Created

In recent years, brain research has undergone many improvements and seen vast progress. However, more needs to be done, according to Alzheimer’s Disease International who recently issued their report on the Global Economic Impact of Dementia. They stated that if dementia were a country, it would be the world’s 18th largest economy – this example highlights the state of the problem. There are hopes of significant breakthroughs for medical research where Alzheimer’s disease is concerned, as this condition is irreversible and can cause intellectual impairment. The MIMOVAX team is hoping to develop a vaccination which will ensure safe and effective treatment for this condition, with the result being a significant halt to the disease’s progression.

 

MIMOVAX is a project which targets truncated peptides derived from the Amyloid Precursor Protein, or APP. The team is focused on using immune reactions to fight beta amyloid proteins, which are believed to cause the condition. The project was initially running for three years by Austrian company AFFiRiS AG. During MIMOVAXs course, various vaccine candidates were identified which could have the ability to reduce amyloid plaque and help to improve spatial memory and learning. The results of the tests are currently being evaluated, but researchers are confident that they could have a vaccine available within the next twelve months.

 

Alzheimer’s disease and dementia are conditions which are becoming increasingly common, with symptoms being forgetfulness and disorientation. This degenerative disease requires more research in order for an effective treatment to be developed. If you think that someone you know is showing signs of Alzheimer’s disease, you should seek medical advice from your GP as soon as possible. Though Alzheimer’s disease is not treatable, it is possible to prevent the condition from developing more quickly through early intervention.

Categories: Alzheimer's Disease, new study, Vaccine