Several factors such as a drop in body temperature, decreased level of vitamin D in the body and an increase of blood viscosity may heighten the risk of cardio-vascular diseases during the winter season, an expert said on Tuesday. Besides a sudden dip in temperature during winter, high winds and rain often reduce body temperature, due to which there is a sudden spike in the blood pressure leading…

New York: Older people suffering from arthritis can remain fit by engaging in 45 minutes of moderate physical activity such as brisk walking a week, says a study. According to US federal guidelines, achieving 150 minutes of moderate activity per week helps in preventing premature death and serious illness. However, only one in 10 older adults with arthritis meet these guidelines. The team from Northwestern…

Consuming a high-fiber diet may significantly induce the action of gut bacteria to help reduce inflammation associated with gout and possibly help the treatment of arthritis, researchers have found. Gout is a metabolic disease in which monosodium urate crystals of uric acid — a waste product in the blood — form in the body’s tissues or joints, causing inflammation and pain. The study…

Los Angeles: Your shoulder pain may not just be a result of excessive physical strain, say scientists who warn that the condition could point to an increased risk of heart disease, reports PTI. A new study led by researchers from the University of Utah in the US found that individuals with symptoms that put them at increased risk for heart disease could be more likely to have shoulder problems, including…

New Delhi: Scientists have discovered what they are calling a new human organ that exists in the digestive system. Named as mesentery, the organ was previously thought to consist of fragmented and disparate structures. However, researchers found that it is one continuous organ and outlined evidence to classify it. The discovery, made by researcher J. Calvin Coffey, has been published in The Lancet…

Health experts said premature birth is the main cause for the high death rate of newborns in Bangladesh, reports BSS. The rate of preterm birth, which is associated with some risk factors including adolescence pregnancy, short spacing between pregnancies, hypertension and obesity, is very high in the country, they told BSS. Dr Sayed Rubayet, director of Saving Newborn Lives (SNL) programme at Save…

Hanoi: Vietnamese doctors removed a pair of scissors lodged in a man’s stomach for 18 years, authorities said. The Vietnamese man was completely oblivious to the scissors until December, when he suffered a road accident and was given an x-ray which revealed their presence, Efe news agency reported. Doctors retrieved the rusty 15 centimetre (6 inches) long scissors from his stomach on Saturday…

Scientists have for the first time identified a mechanism that regulates rhythmic brain waves that play a key role in making our memories permanent. Memories undergo a consolidation process which stabilises and makes them become stronger -- a process where brain waves play an important role, the study said. The study revealed that one of the brain waves -- sharp wave ripples (SWRs) -- needed for consolidating…

New York: Pre-existing depression or anxiety disorders and the use of psychoactive drugs may increase an individual’s risk of long-term use of opioid pain medication, a study has found. “We found that pre-existing psychiatric and behavioural conditions and psychoactive medications were associated with subsequent claims for prescription opioids,” said Patrick D. Quinn from Indiana…

Pregnant women who take certain omega-3 fatty acid supplements can reduce by one-third the risk that their offspring will develop asthma, according to a new study. The investigation, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, found that women who received 2.4 grams of long-chain omega-3 supplements in the last three months of pregnancy reduced their child's risk of asthma by 31 percent.…

At least 38 people have died of an unknown disease in remote villages in two townships in Myanmar’s northwestern Sagaing region, an official report said on Monday. The Htankhawlama village in Lahel township, where 25 people out of 38 have died, is located 64 km from Lahel. Health workers said the symptoms include fever, coughing, headache, stomach ache and rash, adding that the most vulnerable…

Three-quarters of the world’s adults with hypertension live in lower and middle-income countries and may lack access to proper care, says a study.  The researchers found that more than 30 per cent of adults worldwide live with high blood pressure, and 75 per cent of those adults live in lower and middle-income countries. The findings, published in the American Heart Association’s…

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control warned pregnant women Monday not to travel to an area in the southeastern state of Florida where new cases of Zika virus infections have been identified. Florida officials have discovered ten more cases of the Zika virus, increasing the total there to 14 and prompting Governor Rick Scott to ask for federal help to fight the spread of the virus. “A team is…