Health & Food

Washington, Feb 25: The amount and quality of food and not a persons genetics will lead to weight loss, a US study has found. It has been suggested that variations in genetic makeup make it easier for some people to lose weight than others on certain diets. To test this theory researchers at Stanford University conducted a randomised control trial involving 609 overweight adults, who all underwent...

Scientists have identified a drug that extends egg viability in worms and could theoretically extend womens fertility by three to six years. "As early as the mid-30s, women start to experience declines in fertility, increased rates of miscarriage and maternal age-related birth defects," said Coleen Murphy from the Princeton University in the US. "All of these problems are thought to be caused by...

Washington, Feb 21: A new study has found excessive calcium levels in the brain are behind Parkinson's disease. The findings of the international team, led by the University of Cambridge, represent another step towards understanding how and why people develop Parkinson's. They found that calcium can mediate the interaction between small membranous structures inside nerve endings, which are...

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...