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Passive
Smoking Linked with Diabetes for First Time
April
7, 2006
Breathing
in other people's smoke boosts the risk of developing diabetes, a new study
suggests. US researchers examined more than 4500 men and women. The volunteers'
health and smoking habits were first assessed in 1985, and again 15 years later.
The investigators found that during this time, 22 percent of smokers developed
glucose intolerance. This is the precursor to diabetes, when the body can no
longer produce enough of the hormone insulin, which regulates blood sugar. Those
who had never smoked, but who were frequently exposed to second-hand smoke came
next, with 17 percent developing glucose intolerance. This was higher than the
14 percent risk rate in the group of people who had previously smoked and then
given up the habit.
Source:
New Scientist.com
World
Health Day 2006: Spotlight on Health Workforce Crisis
7
April 2006
An
acute shortage of health workers is having a devastating impact on many
countries' ability to fight disease and improve health, according to The world
health report 2006 published today, World Health Day. The report outlines the
need for more investment in the health workforce and sets out a 10-year plan to
address the crisis.
Source:
World Health Organization
Scientists
Play Down Fears over Spread of Disease in UK
April
8, 2006
The
Government's chief scientist sought to reassure the public about the threat from
avian flu yesterday as tests were carried out on birds across Britain following
the outbreak of the disease's most deadly form.
Source:
Independent.co.uk
Weak
Brain Links 'Explain Autism'
April
9, 2006
The
difficulties people with autism have in relating to others could be due to poor
communication between brain areas, scientists suggest. It may explain why they
do not interact well, as the weak links mean they benefit less from social
situations. It had been thought that their lack of social skills was due to
abnormalities in particular brain areas.
Source:
BBC News
Music
Fingerprinting System Is Fastest Yet
April
10, 2006
A
digital music identification system that can search through 17 million songs in
under 1 second has been launched in the US. The system can recognize a song from
its audio "fingerprint" in a fraction of a second. This allows users
to rapidly organize their music collection, discover more about a particular
track or get new recommendations, through connected databases, regardless of the
format of the audio file.
Source:
New Scientist.com
Cocaine-Triggered
Brain Changes Reversed in Rodents
April
11, 2006
A
strategy to reverse some of the brain changes triggered by cocaine, which lead
to addiction, may have been uncovered by Swiss scientists. The team injected a
chemical that selectively blocked the receptor switch in cocaine-treated mice.
While mice that did not receive the chemical continued to show strong excitation
in the brain to cocaine, the drug's effect was reversed in treated mice.
Source:
New Scientist.com
Scientists
Breed Rice to Defy Climate Change
April
12, 2006
Scientists
are developing new flood and drought-prone rice varieties to combat the threat
of global warming to Asia's food staple but more work is needed, the
International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) said. Three billion people, many of
them in Asia, rely on rice to feed themselves and the IRRI is hoping a
vitamin-enriched variety would improve nutritional standards.
Source:
Environmental News Network
Procedure
Helps Women Avoid Incontinence
April
12, 2006
Four
extra stitches can help prevent a lifetime of bladder problems in tens of
thousands of women each year who have surgery to fix sagging internal organs, a
new study suggests. The procedure involves placing four permanent stitches, two
on either side, from the vagina to a pelvic ligament. The stitches form a
hammock that keeps a urinary control muscle supported.
Source:
Abc news
Girl,
12, Has Her Heart Returned after 10 Years With Replacement
April
13, 2006
A
12-year-old girl from South Wales is believed to have become the first heart
transplant patient in the UK to have her donor organ removed and her own heart
brought reinvigorated. Both operations have saved her life. Aged two, she had
cardiomyopathy, which doubled the size of her heart and made it likely to give
out. The replacement worked until November when a routine visit to a
cardiologist revealed that her body was rejecting it. She was told she could
spend months in intensive care but was out within five days - all the more
impressive considering she has been battling lymph cancer and successfully
underwent chemotherapy in January.
Source:
Independent.co.uk
Natural
Light to Reinvent Bulbs
April
13, 2006
A
natural light source that could put the traditional light bulb in the shade has
been invented by US scientists. The organic light-emitting diode (OLED) emits a
brilliant white light when attached to an electricity supply. The OLEDs do not
heat up like today's light bulbs and so are far more energy efficient and should
last longer.
Source:
BBC News
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