Health (General) – Newsletter for December 28, 2010

Our immune system has back-up to fight infection

WASHINGTON – Our immune system has an effective backup plan to protect the body from infection when its “master switch” fails, says a new study.

Our immune system protects the body against infections caused by bugs and viruses, but also causes inflammation which, when uncontrolled, can trigger chronic illnesses such as heart disease, arthritis, …. Original source  : Our immune system has back-up to fight infection.

Health chip to provide instant diagnoses

LONDON – Your family doctor will no longer have to send blood or cancer cell samples to the lab. A little chip will give him test results on the spot.

A blood sample today needs to be submitted to a central lab for analysis, and weeks may pass before results are provided. The same thing … Read this article on Gaea Times at : Health chip to provide instant diagnoses.

A medical tourism company – with end-to-end solutions

CHANDIGARH – With Punjab and its capital Chandigarh attracting an increasing number of overseas patients, most of them NRIs, a group of doctors has floated a medical tourism company to provide end-to-end solutions — including pick-ups from the airport and doctors’ appointments.

Touted to be the first of its kind medical tourism company in northern … Original source on Gaea Times at : A medical tourism company – with end-to-end solutions.

Feeling guilty about eating too much butter? Don’t – it’s good for you

LONDON – It’s holiday season and that means rich and butter-laden food – cookies, pudding, cakes – almost every other dish; so should you feel guilty every time you take a bite?

Contrary to what health Nazis say about butter, it’s actually good for you, say some health experts.

While it is true that we sometimes … Original source on Gaea Times at : Feeling guilty about eating too much butter? Don’t – it’s good for you.

‘Miracle’ diet drug ‘linked to deaths of thousands’ in France

LONDON – A new official report has revealed that a ‘miracle’ diet drug prescribed to French people may have killed thousands.

Since its launch in 1979, Mediator was prescribed to up to five million people until it was banned last year. It was also used as an appetite-suppressing drug by thousands of healthy men and …. Source article  : ‘Miracle’ diet drug ‘linked to deaths of thousands’ in France.

DNA test urged to determine if Lincoln’s assassin escaped death

LONDON – Descendants of John Wilkes Booth have agreed to exhume his body for DNA testing in an attempt to determine whether the assassin of President Abraham Lincoln escaped his well-recorded shooting death and lived for 40 years in Texas and Oklahoma.

Booth killed the 16th President of the United States on April 14, 1865, just …. Original article  : DNA test urged to determine if Lincoln’s assassin escaped death.

Over 2,700 dead in Haiti from cholera

Port-au-Prince, Dec 28 (IANS/EFE) At least 2,707 people have died in Haiti in the cholera epidemic that has affected the impoverished country since mid-October, according to figures released Monday by the public health ministry.

The bulletin said that another 128,251 people have been affected by the disease, of whom 68,764 were hospitalised, though 66,876 of …. Source article  : Over 2,700 dead in Haiti from cholera.

Indian girl, 6, is world’s youngest yoga trainer!

LONDON – An Indian girl, Shruti Pandey, who is just six years old, has become the youngest yoga trainer in the world.

The bendy youngster has been teaching adults at an ashram, in northern India, for the last two years.

Her trainer, Hari Chetan, 67, set up the ashram 35 years ago and as soon as little …. Original source  : Indian girl, 6, is world’s youngest yoga trainer!.

Warming up before training improves athletic performance

SAARBRUECKEN – Athletes who warm up before training perform better and are less likely to injure themselves, notes Sven Fikenzer, a sport scientist at the German University of Applied Sciences for Prevention and Health Management.

He said that warming up the body loosens tense muscles and increased both blood supply to tendons and lubrication of …. Original article  : Warming up before training improves athletic performance.

New method for testing foetus genes could end miscarriage risks

HONG KONG – For decades doctors and pregnant women have relied on amniocentesis – taking a sample of DNA from the amniotic fluid – to diagnose certain disorders in unborn babies, despite the risk of triggering a miscarriage.

Now scientists in Hong Kong have made a groundbreaking discovery which will make it possible for doctors …. Source  : Gaea News Network.