Health & Food

Melbourne, Dec 23: Taking folic acid in late pregnancy may increase the risk of allergies in offspring affected by intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR), a study warns. Folic acid, a type of B vitamin, has been shown to prevent defects in the neural tube - the precursor to the central nervous system - in a developing foetus. The neural tube develops in the first month of pregnancy; medical...

Dec 21: Eating one serving of leafy greens per day may stave off memory loss in old age and keep the brain more youthful, according to new research. The difference found between elderly people who ate greens and those who did not was stunning: the equivalent of being 11 years younger in age, said the study, published in the journal Neurology. While the research was based on survey responses and...

Dec 20: Brain lesions can make people prone to committing crimes if they occur within the network responsible for morality and value-based decision-making, a study has found. The study, published in the journal PNAS, is the first systemic mapping of brain lesions associated with criminal behaviour - a medical phenomena referred to as acquired sociopathy. Famous cases of acquired sociopathy include...

Los Angeles, Dec 15: Drinking a cup of hot tea at least once a day may significantly lower risk of developing glaucoma - a serious eye condition, a study suggests. However, drinking decaffeinated and caffeinated coffee, decaffeinated tea, iced tea and soft drinks do not seem to make any difference to glaucoma risk, said researchers from the University of California in the US. Glaucoma causes fluid...

New York Dec 15: An estimated 15.6 million abortions took place in India in 2015, with the majority of women taking pills at home without adequate counselling, according to a study which found that about half of the pregnancies in the country were unintended. Published in The Lancet Global Health, the first national study of the incidence of abortion and unintended pregnancy in India found that 15...

Mumbai, Dec 13: Fifty one per cent mobile users in India glance at their phones at least every ten minutes without being prompted by a notification, a survey has revealed. The KPMG survey report titled 'Me, My Life, My Wallet: A New Customer Engagement Framework', also said that almost 57 per cent people in the country would rather lose their phone than their wallet compared to 61 per cent in UK...

Dec 12: A new study adds to growing evidence that exposure to air pollution before conception or even during the first month during pregnancy increases the risk of birth defects in children. Although the increased risk is modest, the potential impact on a population basis is noteworthy because all pregnant women have some amount of exposure. "The most susceptible time of exposure appears to be the...

A University of Cincinnati (UC) long-term study shows a marked reduction in risky sex and substance abuse in troubled 18- to 24-year-olds after several months of participating in mindful yoga and positive coping strategies, according to a report published in UC Magazine. “We found that many of these youths who had endured stressful life events and otherwise would have fallen into the risky...

Jerusalem, Dec 10: People who live in cold regions may be at an increased risk of developing cancer, a study has found. According to the study, populations living in very low temperatures, like in Denmark and Norway, had among the highest incidences of cancer in the world. In the study published in the journal Molecular Biology and Evolution, researchers suggest that there is an evolutionary...

Washington, Dec 9: Losing weight can help reduce the risk of breast cancer by up to a third, a study has found. Excess weight raises the risk of breast cancer as fat cells produce hormones that help drive tumours. However, whether the risk could be reduced by a successful diet was not known till now. Researchers tracked more than 61,000 women aged between 50 and 79 for 11 years. "Relatively modest...