Health & Food

A drug commonly used to control high blood pressure may also help prevent the onset of type 1 diabetes in up to 60 per cent of those at risk for the disease, a study has found. The drug, methyldopa, has been used for over 50 years to treat high blood pressure in pregnant women and children, according to the study published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation. It is on the World Health...

Boston, Feb 15: Drinking one or more sugar-sweetened beverages every day by either partner may reduce the couple's chances of pregnancy, a study has warned. "We found positive associations between intake of sugar-sweetened beverages and lower fertility, which were consistent after controlling for many other factors, including obesity, caffeine intake, alcohol, smoking, and overall diet quality,"...

Feb 14: Chemicals used in food wrappers, non-stick pan coatings and clothing may boost body weight by interfering with metabolism, especially in women, US researchers said Tuesday. These chemicals -- known as perfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) -- have previously been linked with cancer, hormone disruption, immune dysfunction, high cholesterol, and obesity. "Now, for the first time, our findings...

London, Feb 12: People who frequently crack jokes about themselves to gain approval of others have greater levels of psychological well-being, a study has found. The findings, published in the journal Personality and Individual Differences, contradict some of the research carried out to date in the psychology of humour. Up until now, a significant deal of the research literature has suggested that...

Feb 10: Scientists have found that autism, schizophrenia and bipolar disorder share some physical characteristics at the molecular level, specifically, patterns of gene expression in the brain. Gene expression is the process by which instructions in DNA are converted into a product, such as a protein, according to a study published in the journal Science. "These findings provide a molecular...

New Delhi, Feb 9: This week, the first commercially available freeze-free vaccine carrier will begin introductory field trials in Nepal. This follows the World Health Organisation (WHO) announcement that the Indian-made carrier using PATH's "Freeze-Safe" reference design passed WHO Performance, Quality, and Safety (PQS) laboratory tests for User Independent Freeze Prevention, which prequalifies it...

Exposure to air pollution, even imaginative, may lead to unethical behaviour such as crime and cheating, according to a study conducted on adults in India and the US. The findings published in the journal Psychological Science suggest that this association may be due, at least in part, to increased anxiety. "This research reveals that air pollution may have potential ethical costs that go beyond...

Meditation has a limited role in making you a better person, scientists said today, contradicting the popular belief that meditation can change how we behave towards others and make us more compassionate. Scientists, including those at Coventry University in the UK, reviewed more than 20 studies that investigated the effect of various types of meditation, such as mindfulness and loving-kindness...

Toronto, Feb 2: Pregnant women at the age of 40 and above are at an increased risk of delivering preterm babies, a study warns. Maternal age at pregnancy has been increasing worldwide and so has the risk for preterm birth. However, the association between maternal age and preterm birth remains a topic of ongoing research. For the study, published in the journal PLOS ONE, researchers from CHU...

New York, Jan 28: Your grandmother's insistence that you receive more bug bites because you are 'sweeter' may not be that far-fetched as a study claims that mosquitoes can rapidly learn and remember the smells of hosts. Researchers at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in the US said dopamine is a key mediator of this process. Mosquitoes use this information and incorporate it...