Health and Lifestyle

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

Toronto, Jan 13: The sex of a baby may be predicted by the mother's blood pressure, according to a new study which found that women with lower BP before pregnancy are more likely to give birth to a girl. Researchers led by Dr Ravi Retnakaran, endocrinologist at Mount Sinai Hospital in Canada found that while higher blood pressure was an indication that a boy was more likely to be conceived, women

London, Jan 12: People with heightened activity in the amygdala - a region of the brain involved in stress - may have a greater risk of heart disease and stroke, according to a study published in The Lancet journal today that may lead to new treatments for stress-related cardiovascular problems. The study provides new insights into the possible mechanism by which stress can lead to cardiovascular