Millions of smokers will receive an extra push to stub out their cigarettes, thanks to a new initiative launched on this year’s No Smoking Day (Wednesday 8 March, 2006)
A team at Sheffield Hallam University has joined up with local primary care trusts to produce a unique toolkit, which aims to give health workers such as pharmacists, nurses and GPs’ receptionists across the UK the knowledge to help smokers break the deadly cycle.
Just weeks after MPs voted to ban sm
The dissociation in the visual system between two separate functions – one that enables us to identify objects and the other to interact with them – has been clearly demonstrated for the first time in healthy humans by researchers at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
These separate vision-related actions have been documented from the beginning of the 20th century in patients who suffered damage to the visual system as a result of illness or injuries in which one or the othe
Anxiety restricts blood flow in some patients
The fear of public speaking might cause some people to do more than just break out in a cold sweat and battle stomach-churning butterflies – it could prove to have consequences for their heart health.
University of Florida cardiologists have identified a group of heart disease patients who appear especially vulnerable to the physical effects of mental stress.
Chronic anxiety, depression or anger are widely recognize
Jacqueline Kim Dale, Ph.D., formerly a Senior Research Associate at the Stowers Institute for Medical Research, and Olivier Pourquié, Ph.D., Stowers Institute Investigator and an investigator with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, have demonstrated that the long-studied family of transcription factors called Snail is expressed in a cyclic fashion during the formation of the vertebral precursors in the mouse and chick embryo.
The findings, which were published in the March 7 issue
The dissociation in the visual system between two separate functions – one that enables us to identify objects and the other to interact with them – has been clearly demonstrated for the first time in healthy humans by researchers at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
These separate vision-related actions have been documented from the beginning of the 20th century in patients who suffered damage to the visual system as a result of illness or injuries in which one or the other func
In a surprising finding, patients with coronary artery disease who take commonly used antidepressant drugs may be at significantly higher risk of death, Duke University Medical Center researchers have found.
Even after controlling for such factors as age, degree of heart disease and severity of depression, the researchers found that heart patients taking antidepressant medications had a 55 percent higher risk of dying. Previously, Duke researchers reported that the presence of
New research into public perceptions of MMR has shown that more than a third of parents distrust government health advice but are more likely to trust the advice of their own doctor.
Research led by Dr Rachel Casiday, based in the School for Health at Durham University’s Queen’s Campus, Stockton found that the public’s confidence in the MMR vaccine has been shaken, with 20% of parents believing the government would not withdraw the vaccine even if it was found to be har
Only seven per cent of drug applications for treating people with rare diseases were approved in Europe between 2000 and 2004, despite the fact that there are currently more than 5,000 conditions needing medication.
Yet during the same period, more than 79 per cent of the other drug applications submitted to the European Agency for the Evaluation of Medicinal Products (EMEA) were approved, according to research published in the latest British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology.
A five-year push to blanket a Dutch community with healthy heart programs and education curtailed three major risk factors for heart disease: body mass index, waist circumference and blood pressure.
The cardiovascular disease prevention plan targeted residents of Limburg, a province on the southern edge of the Netherlands. The campaign, dubbed Hartslag Limburg — Dutch for Heartbeat Limburg — included nearly 800 programs from bicycling clubs and supermarket education tours to pam
In an article published in the Journal of Correctional Health Care, researchers from the National Development and Research Institutes, Inc. (NDRI) reported on an evaluation of an intervention program within a prison system addressing Hepatitis C virus (HCV). Findings include recommendations for increasing Hepatitis C education and staff training, and expanding peer educators programming.
Hepatitis C virus is the most common chronic blood transmitted infectious disease in the United State
Newly diagnosed cancer patients who use the Internet to gather information about their disease have a more positive outlook and are more active participants in their treatment, according to a new Temple University study published in the March 2006 issue of the Journal of Health Communication.
“This is the first study to look at the relationship between Internet use and patient behaviors,” said principal investigator and public health professor Sarah Bass, Ph.D. “We wanted to see
One of the most powerful antioxidants is truly a double-edged sword, say researchers at Ohio State University who studied how two forms of vitamin E act once they are inside animal cells.
In the past couple of decades, a slough of studies has looked at the benefits of vitamin E and other antioxidants. While a considerable amount of this research touts the advantages of consuming antioxidants, some of the studies have found that in certain cases, antioxidants, including vitamin E, may ac
Findings may explain link between lifestyle and heart disease
A less active brain serotonin system is associated with early hardening of the arteries, according to a study presented today by University of Pittsburgh researchers at the 64th Annual Scientific Conference of the American Psychosomatic Society in Denver. These findings, which are the first to establish a link between serotonin messages in the brain and atherosclerosis, could lead to an entirely new strategy for preven
Both nature and nurture — genetic makeup and the environment experienced through life — combine to influence health and well-being, Duke University Medical Center researchers and their colleagues have determined in four new studies. The researchers showed that people’s genes play a key role in how they respond both biologically and psychologically to stress in their environment.
The researchers presented four studies that examine genetics and the environment on Thursday, March 2, 20
Salmon is rich in essential fatty acids, in particular the Omega-3 family of fatty acids. The description ’essential’ means that the body cannot synthesise or can only synthesise limited amounts of the substance in question.
The long-chain fatty acids in the Omega-3 family include the parent alpha-linolenic acid, eicosapentaenoic acid and docosahexaenoic acid. Oil-rich fish and supplements such as fish oil and cod liver oil are the richest and most readily available die
Pre-eclampsia is a complication in pregnancy occurring in approximately eight percent of all pregnancies. It is characterised by elevated blood pressure and protein in the urine. It generally develops after 20 weeks of pregnancy.
Medical doctor and researcher Bjoern Egil Vikse from the Department of Medicine at University of Bergeb is the first author of an upcoming article in the March issue of the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology.
Vikse explains that ther
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