Health & Food

Washington, Jan 30: Modifying shape of a protein that controls inflammation may reduce progression of inflammatory bowel disease and colon cancer, according to a new study that may pave the way for therapies against the conditions. The altered protein - IRAK-M - causes the immune system to become supercharged, clearing out the bacteria before they can do any damage. "When we tested mice with the...

Washington, Jan 27: Ladies, take note! Regular intake of anti-inflammatory diets - high in vegetables, fruits, fish and whole grains - may boost your bone health and prevent fractures, a first-of-its-kind study has claimed. Researchers at Ohio State University in the US compared levels of inflammatory elements in the diet to bone mineral density and fractures and found new associations between...

Washington, Jan 25: A steady stream of nicotine normalises genetically-induced impairments in brain activity associated with schizophrenia, according to a new study that could lead to new non-addictive, nicotine-based treatments for the 51 million people worldwide who suffer from the disease. The finding sheds light on what causes the disease and why those who have it tend to smoke heavily. It...

Jan 24: Middle-aged women suffering from hot flashes may not experience good sleep, even after engaging in interventions such as yoga and aerobic exercises, a study has found. Previously both yoga and aerobic exercises were known to improve sleep among middle-aged women. The findings showed that neither yoga nor aerobic exercises had a statistically significant effect on objective measures of...

New Delhi, Jan 19: Consumers can soon find out the nutritional value of their food while ordering it from a restaurant or dining at home as the Union Health Ministry is set to launch a mobile app to provide this information. The proposed app will be linked to the revised Indian Food Composition Tables-2017, which was unveiled today by Union Health Minister J P Nadda, who termed it a "historic"...

Los Angeles, Jan 18: Scientists have found why human hair is incredibly strong and resistant to breaking, a finding that may lead to new generation of materials for body armours and even help create better hair care products. Hair has a strength to weight ratio comparable to steel. It can be stretched up to one and a half times its original length before breaking, researchers said. "We wanted to...

Los Angeles, Jan 17: Onset of high blood pressure later in life, especially at age 80 or older, is associated with lower dementia risk after 90, a new study has found. High blood pressure and other heart health risk factors are generally thought to increase dementia risk. Researchers challenge this idea and add to scientist's understanding of hypertension and dementia risk over a person's life...

Washington, Jan 16: A woman in the US died after being infected by a superbug during her visit to India, say doctors who found that the "nightmare" bacteria was resistant to all available antibiotics. The infection was caused by carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE), a multidrug-resistant organism associated with high mortality. While CRE are not new to the US, what was new in this case is...

London, Jan 15: Parents, take note! Telling your children that they are overweight may make them gain weight as they grow up, new research has warned. The findings indicate that children whose parents identified them as being overweight perceived their own body size more negatively and were more likely to attempt to lose weight, factors that partly accounted for their weight gain. "Although...

Washington, Jan 14: Eating blue corn may help protect against metabolic syndrome, cardiovascular disease, diabetes and cancer, a new study carried in rats suggests. In the study, a rat model of metabolic syndrome fed a high-sugar and high-cholesterol diet and given blue maize extract showed significant improvement in systolic blood pressure, high density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, and...