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Sleeping in Your Contacts May Fix Farsightedness, says Spanish Optometrist

Shue — Sat, 24 Apr 2010 20:00:04 +0000

According to a Spanish Optometrist, it is possible to to sleep with a vision problem and wake up with a crystal-clear view of the world. According to him, wearing his patented contact lenses, designed to achieve the same effect of corneal reshaping surgery, can correct vision defects like myopia (nearsightedness) and stigmatism – and now hyperopia (farsightedness) – without taking sharp instruments or lasers to your eyes.
Usually, reshaping the cornea is a tricky procedure and generally requires a surgical procedure to permanently fix the problem. But Jaume Paune’s corrective lenses don’t aim to permanently reshape the corneas at all. They are designed to temporarily reshape them each night while you sleep.
In reality, every cornea deformation is a bit different, so there’s no one-size-fits-all approach to fixing the problem. That is why there is need for surgery if a patient doesn’t want to be stuck with glasses or contacts. But Paune’s system involves custom designing a pair of rigid, gas-permeable contact lenses for each patient based on his or her particular deformities, a process known as orthokeratology or ortho-k.
The cost of the system might sway patients back toward surgery though – $1,350 up front to custom-design the lenses, plus another $550 or so each year thereafter to replace them.

Find out more from the main article.

Three Embryo Babies Created By Newcastle Scientists

Shue — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 19:12:43 +0000

Scientists at Newcastle University in Britain have succeeded in creating human embryos by merging DNA from two fertilized eggs. This technique could prove to be critical in preventing genetic disorders in children. It is possible that babies from three biological parents could become a reality in 3 years time.
The main aim of this experiment is to correct faulty “cellular batteries” – mitochondria – which can cause fatal heart, liver, neurological and muscle conditions. This can be made possible by replacing them with healthy ones from a donated embryo.
Through this procedure, a child would inherit genetic material from three parents. The mother and father would supply 99.8 per cent of its DNA, with a small amount from another woman, the mitochondrial donor.
Doug Turnbull, who led the research, said that it could potentially help families at risk from mitochondrial diseases to have healthy children in as little as three years, although follow-up studies are still needed.
Alison Murdoch, another leader of the team, said: “I don’t think we have the information yet to go to the Secretary of State. But we think the time is right to enter discussions about what information will be required for the Secretary of State to make that provision.”

For more visit the main site.

Study Finds Pig’s Blood in Cigarettes

Shue — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 18:56:10 +0000

An Australian academic has pointed out that the discovery of the presence of pig’s blood in cigarette’s filters may be found ‘very offensive’ to certain religious groups.
University of Sydney Professor Simon Chapman pointed out to recent Dutch research which identified 185 different industrial uses of a pig – including the use of its hemoglobin in cigarette filters and was concerned about the reaction in devout Muslim and Jew communities.
Religious texts at the core of both of these faiths specifically ban the consumption of pork.
“I think that there would be some particularly devout groups who would find the idea that there were pig products in cigarettes to be very offensive,” Prof Chapman said today.
“The Jewish community certainly takes these matters extremely seriously and the Islamic community certainly do as well, as would many vegetarians.”
“It just puts into hard relief the problem that the tobacco industry is not required to declare the ingredients of cigarettes … they say ‘that’s our business’ and a trade secret.”
The Dutch research found pig hemoglobin – a blood protein – was being used to make cigarette filters more effective at trapping harmful chemicals before they could enter a smoker’s lungs.

“Love” Hormone Helps Autism Symptoms, Say Researchers

Shue — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 16:07:30 +0000

French researchers have found that bonding between mothers and their babies may foster social behavior in some adults with autism.
According to the study, some patients who were given oxytocin to inhale paid more attention to expressions when looking at pictures of faces and were more likely to understand social cues in a game simulation.
Angela Sirigu of the Center of Cognitive Neuroscience in Lyon, who led the study, said the hormone has a therapeutic potential in adults as well as in children with autism.
“For instance, if oxytocin is administered early when the diagnosis is made, we can perhaps change very early the impaired social development of autistic patients,” Sirigu said in an email.
Sirigu said the study focused on oxytocin because it was known to help breast-feeding mothers bond with their infants and because earlier research has shown that some children with autism have low levels of the hormone.
“Eye contact can be considered the first step of social approach,” Sirigu said. But people with autism often avoid looking at others.
“In our study we show that oxytocin enhances eye contact because patients spent more time looking at the eyes,” she said.

‘Nanobubbles’ Kill Cancer Cells

Shue — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 10:28:03 +0000

Scientists at Rice University have discovered a new and highly advanced technique of singling out and destroying individual cells diseased with cancer using lasers and nano particles. The scientists zapped gold nanoparticles inside the cancerous cells to create ‘nanobubbles’ with the help of lasers. Two types of bubbles were produced. They could create small, bright bubbles that were visible, but essentially harmless. On the other hand, they could also create large bubbles that exploded and destroyed the cell. “The bubbles work like a jackhammer,” Lapotko said.
“Single-cell targeting is one of the most touted advantages of nanomedicine, and our approach delivers on that promise with a localized effect inside an individual cell,” said Rice physicist Dmitri Lapotko, the lead researcher on the project. “The idea is to spot and treat unhealthy cells early, before a disease progresses to the point of making people extremely ill.”
Jason Hafner, associate professor of physics and astronomy and of chemistry and colleague of Lapotko, said, “The mechanical and optical properties of the bubbles offer unique advantages in localizing the biomedical applications to the individual cell level, or perhaps even to work within cells.”
The research is published online in the journal ‘Nanotechnology’.

Low Antibody Levels the Highest Risk Factor for Stroke

Shue — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 14:10:44 +0000

Stroke, which results from the formation of a blood clot or bursting of a blood vessel in the brain, is a life threatening disease which often claims the lives of sufferers, especially where help is delayed. For a long time now, the disease has been associated with risk factors such as sex, age, cholesterol, smoking, blood pressure, weight, and diabetes.

Stroke mostly afflicts people who are advanced in age, although other factors have made it common in middle aged persons as well. People with pre-existing conditions such as diabetes and high blood pressure have higher chances of suffering from stroke. Overweight people as well as those with high levels of cholesterol are more likely to get stroke. Some people get stroke while having sex, a factor linked to cholesterol.

A more shattering revelation is that people with very low levels of natural antibodies had the highest risk of stroke. These PC antibodies form part of the immune system and are produced in the body. It was found that people with less than 30% of the antibodies stood a higher chance of getting stroke.

With this insight, doctors are working towards developing a vaccine that can stimulate the body’s own defense against stroke and arteriosclerosis. Get more information from main site.

Parents Should Be Healthy Role Models to Teenagers

Shue — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 13:46:30 +0000

Up until the age of 10, parents, more specifically mothers, are always in control of what their kids eat, and will always make sure that their kids get to eat breakfast, arguably the most important meal of the day. However, once the kids get to secondary school, they tend to make their own decisions on the foods to take and which not to.

At such a stage, parental advice becomes very maddening and kids, especially teenage girls, will be seen copying what their peers are eating or doing in regards to food as well as the media celebrities. Note however that girls need a healthy and nutritious well balanced diet at this stage more than any other stage of their life. This is because they require sufficient supply of iron as they will start menstruating and calcium to ensure long-term dental care among other nutrients and vitamins.

Sadly, this comes at the same time when teenage girls start to worry about their appearance. Parents should however ensure that there is sufficient supply of healthy foods at home. Equally, parents should be healthy role models to their daughters so that the girls will not end up rushing to the fast food stores.

E-Cigarettes May Not Be Safe

Shue — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 19:46:02 +0000

E-cigarettes have gained immense popularity among smokers in recent times. Smokers inhibited by smoking laws now enforced in more and more places in the country and the world cherished the smoking alternative that allowed them to get their nicotine kick without actually lighting up. The Electronic Cigarette, or the e-cigarette as it is commonly known, looks like a real cigarette, but is a metal cylinder that delivers nicotine hits in a fine vapor when ‘lit’. It is considered a healthy alternative to smoking, especially because it makes it possible for the smoker to get nicotine hits without also inhaling tobacco, tar or carbon monoxide.
But, even as e-cigarettes are becoming very popular among consumers, experts are warning about the safety of using them. The biggest concern is that enough research hasn’t been conducted on the e-cigarette to verify whether or not it does more good than harm. Experts suggest that consumers should stop using the devices until ongoing safety studies reported back within the next year.
Andreas Flouris and Dimitris Oikonomou, from the Institute of Human Performance and Rehabilitation in Greece have authored this report that appears in the British Medical Journal.

Stay Healthy with Vitamin D3

Shue — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 14:29:35 +0000

Many people take supplements to stay healthy as they find that their regular diet is not able to supply all the vitamins and minerals needed by the body. Vitamin D is considered to be an important vitamin and it is used by the body to convert calcium to bone mass. Vitamin D will give you healthy bones and strong teeth and nails. An important form of Vitamin D is Cholecalciferol or Vitamin D3.

Vitamin D3 is an important nutrient and the best part is its ready bioavailability. You do not need to take any pills or powder, and you just need to expose your body to sunlight. Many health experts are now suggesting sunbathing as a way of improving health. A good level of Vitamin D3 in the body is known to promote the immune system and also gives the person healthy bones, nails and skin. Most experts feel that a full body exposure to sunlight for at least 20 minutes in a day should be the bare minimum. Deficiency in Vitamin D3 is known to cause problems like osteoporosis, cancer, obesity, depression and many more.

For more details go to the main article.