Health and Lifestyle

Dec 15: Nuts to you! No, that’s not an insult. It’s a recommendation to add nuts to your diet for the sake of health and longevity. Consistent evidence for the health benefits of nuts has been accumulating since the early 1990s. Frequent nut consumption has been linked to a reduced risk of major chronic diseases, including heart and blood vessel disorders and Type 2 diabetes. The newest and most

Jerusalem, Dec 6: Your choice of coffee or beer can not only affect your mood, but also influence a part of DNA linked to ageing and cancer, a new study claims. Working with a kind of yeast that shares many important genetic similarities with humans, the researchers from the Tel Aviv University found that caffeine shortens and alcohol lengthens telomeres - the end points of chromosomal DNA

Dec 6: A bulging stomach is a problem area for most mortals. Even those who are naturally thin tend to develop a paunch as they step into their 30s. Our stomachs store fat for a number of reasons; these reasons range from the genetic to plain abuse of food and drink, with little to no exercise. Often, those who invest heavily in exercise and diet to banish the bulging stomach, do so with a vague

Washington, Dec 2: In a first, an Indian-origin doctor in the US has performed a unique "life-saving" heart procedure - that involves injecting the patient's own stem cells into the organ - on Hollywood actor Ernie Lively. Amit Patel from the University of Utah performed the historic procedure on Lively - 'Gossip girl' actress Blake Lively's father - using new technique of retrograde gene therapy

Washington, Nov 23: In the study of Icelanders, researchers uncovered an intricate pathway involving the interspersed DNA sequence, or non-coding region, of a gene that is among a few dozen associated with human pigmentation traits. It is more common to find people with ancestors from geographic locations farther from the equator, such as Iceland, who have less pigment in their skin, hair and eyes

When John Castellano feels like a smoke, he simply heads to the break room at Kraft Foods’s factory in Garland, Texas. The technician has been able to indulge his habit in common areas at work since he started using electronic cigarettes, which emit vapor rather than smoke. E-cigarettes are “very liberating,” said Castellano, 39, who used to join the other cigarette addicts at the factory’s

Washington, Nov 4: The force of downward pull caused by the gravity on the scalp may be key contributor to the events leading to progressive hair loss in male pattern baldness, a new study claims. The effects of gravity may explain the apparently paradoxical effects of testosterone in male pattern baldness, or androgenic alopecia (AGA), researchers said. "The new theory's unparallelled ability to

High long-chain omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid content in blood could cut small brain infarcts' risk and other brain abnormalities in elderly people, a new study has suggested. In the Cardiovascular Health Study in the USA, 3,660 people aged 65 and older underwent brain scans to detect so called silent brain infarcts, or small lesions in the brain that can cause loss of thinking skills

Jane E Brody, Oct 7: At a party I recently attended, a woman in her 60s proudly announced that her periodic facial treatments “have made me look 10 years younger.” A man of similar vintage said he was considering “facial tucks” to raise his sagging jowls. Some days it seems everyone I meet is afraid of getting old - or at least of looking as old as they are. Occasionally, I see women who have had

New research has found that yoga can help menopausal women sleep better. Researchers at Group Health Research Institute found that women who took a 12-week yoga class and practiced at home had lower risk of insomnia. However hot flashes persisted. Yoga is quite popular in the U.S and is among the top ten complementary exercises practiced by Americans. About 6 percent of the U.S population reported