Medicine News

Scientists of University of Toronto have proved for the first time that our mood changes color images of visual system literally. So, our mood is capable to change color perception of a brain.


Positive or sad emotions influence work of a visual bark in a brain: when we rejoice, the visual bark incorporates more of the color information and when are afflicted - less, neurologists speak.





Experts used a method of a functional magnetic resonance to study, how the visual bark supervises processes of the touch information in a brain at various moods. The good mood did the world visually more brightly while negative - is dimmer.
To see a life in pink color - this phrase can become now a biological reality.


Positive emotions allow a brain to process visually larger number of visible objects; however researchers notice that this potential can lead to impossibility to concentrate attention.


According to the Canadian psychotherapists, the good mood expands horizons of the visible world, allowing to perceive a reality more globally, with integration prospect.


Side effects of such ability consist in derivation from the important problems demanding a narrow orientation: for example, work with the dangerous equipment or check of luggage of passengers at the airport. However the bad mood focuses our attention more narrowly, disturbing processing of the wide information.

Already France, Hong Kong, New Zealand and Spain have reported about potential new cases in which people had been infected with swine flu and Canada confirmed several new cases. In the U.S., where 20 such infections have been confirmed, federal health officials declared a public-health emergency and are preparing to distribute to state and local agenciesa quarter of the country's 50 million-dose stockpile of antiviral drugs. Time.com reported. Meanwhile, in hard-hit Mexico, where more than 80 people have died from what is believed to be swine flu, the government closed all public schools and canceled hundreds of public events in Mexico City.



First of all is this a flu pandemic?


The influenza virus is constantly mutating. That's why we can't get full immunity to the flu, the way we can to diseases like chicken pox, because there are multiple strains of the flu virus and they change from year to year. However, even though the virus makes us sick, our immune systems can usually muster enough of a response so that the flu is rarely fatal for healthy people.


But every once in awhile, the virus shifts its genetic structure so much that our immune systems offer no protection whatsoever. (This usually happens when a flu virus found in animals - like the avian flu still circulating in Asia - swaps genes with other viruses in a process called reassortment, and jumps to human beings.) A flu pandemic occurs when a new flu virus emerges for which humans have little or no immunity and then spreads easily from person to person around the world. In the 20th century we had two mild flu pandemics, in 1968 and 1957, and the severe "Spanish flu" pandemic of 1918, which killed an estimated 40 to 50 million people worldwide.


The WHO has the responsibility of declaring when a new flu pandemic is underway, and to simplify the process, the U.N. body has established six pandemic phases. Thanks to H5N1 avian flu, which has killed 257 people since 2003 but doesn't spread very well from one human to another, we're currently at phase 3. If the WHO upgraded that status to phase 4, which is marked by a new virus that begins to pass easily enough from person to person that we can detect community-sized outbreaks, such a move would effectively mean that we've got a pandemic on our hands.



The truth is that every outbreak is unpredictable, and there's a lot we don't know yet about the new swine flu. There hasn't been a flu pandemic for more than a generation, and there hasn't been a truly virulent pandemic since long before the arrival of mass air transit. We're in terra incognito here. Panic would be counterproductive - especially if it results in knee-jerk reactions like closing international borders, which would only complicate the public-health response. But neither should we downplay our very real vulnerabilities. As Napolitano put it: "This will be a marathon, not a sprint." Be prepared.


Outside of Mexico, the swine flu hasn't looked too serious yet - unlike during the SARS outbreaks of 2003, when an entirely new virus with no obvious treatment took the world by surprise. In the U.S., the normal flu season is winding down, which should make it easier for public-health officials to pick out swine flu cases from run-of-the-mill respiratory disease. And there are simple things that people can do to protect themselves, like practicing better hygiene (wash hands frequently and cover mouth and nose when sneezing) and staying away from public places or traveling if they feel sick. "There's a role for everyone to play when an outbreak is ongoing," said Besser.

But the truth is that every outbreak is unpredictable, and there's a lot we don't know yet about the new swine flu. There hasn't been a flu pandemic for more than a generation, and there hasn't been a truly virulent pandemic since long before the arrival of mass air transit. We're in terra incognito here. Panic would be counterproductive - especially if it results in knee-jerk reactions like closing international borders, which would only complicate the public-health response. But neither should we downplay our very real vulnerabilities. As Napolitano put it: "This will be a marathon, not a sprint." Be prepared.

via Time.com

According World Health Organisation the United States Government has reported seven confirmed human cases of Swine Influenza A/H1N1 in the USA (five in California and two in Texas) and nine suspect cases. All seven confirmed cases had mild Influenza-Like Illness (ILI), with only one requiring brief hospitalization. No deaths have been reported.



A strain of flu never seen before has killed up to 60 people in Mexico and also appeared in the United States.

Mexico's government said at least 20 people have died of the flu and it may also be responsible for 40 other deaths.

It shut down schools and canceled major public events in Mexico City to try to prevent more deaths in the sprawling, overcrowded capital. Authorities said they had enough antiviral medicine to treat about 1,000 suspected cases reported so far.

The World Health Organization said tests showed the virus from 12 of the Mexican patients was the same genetically as a new strain of swine flu, designated H1N1, seen in eight people in California and Texas.


Wikipadia wxplanes H1N1 virus as a subtype of the species Influenza A virus. The "H" refers to the Hemagglutinin protein, and the "N" refers to the Neuraminidase protein. H1N1 has mutated into various strains including the Spanish Flu strain (now extinct in the wild), mild human flu strains, endemic pig strains, and various strains found in birds. A variant of H1N1 was responsible for the Spanish flu pandemic that killed some 50 million to 100 million people worldwide from 1918 to 1919.[1] A different variant exists in pig populations.

There are everyday actions people can take to stay healthy.

Cover your nose and mouth with a tissue when you cough or sneeze. Throw the tissue in the trash after you use it.
Wash your hands often with soap and water, especially after you cough or sneeze. Alcohol-based hands cleaners are also effective.
Avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth. Germs spread that way.
Try to avoid close contact with sick people.

Influenza is thought to spread mainly person-to-person through coughing or sneezing of infected people.
If you get sick, CDC recommends that you stay home from work or school and limit contact with others to keep from infecting them.

Man's brain starts to decline in late 20s, studies say. Yeas, a new study on aging indicates that reasoning, speed of thought and spatial visualization begin to decline in that age, the BBC reports.
Professor Timothy Salthouse of Virginia University, who worked on the research, said: "Results converge on a conclusion that some aspects of age-related cognitive decline begin in healthy, educated adults when they are in their 20s and 30s."



In the study, the BBC says, Salthouse had his subjects solve puzzles, recall words and details of stories, and spot patterns in letters and symbols. In nine out of 12 tests, the BBC says, 22 was the average age for peak performance. Marked decline began at 27.

It means that just the findings could mean that therapies designed to slow or reverse the aging process may need to start much earlier.

A controversial Italian doctor Severino Antinori says he has successfully cloned three babies that are now alive and well in eastern Europe, Daily New reported.

"I helped give birth to three children with the human cloning technique," said gynocologist Severino Antinori in an interview with the Italian publication Oggi weekly. "It involved two boys and a girl who are nine years old today.

They were born healthy and they are in excellent health now," he said.



Italian doctor Severino Antinori known for his work allowing post-menopausal women to have children has claimed that in an interview to Oggi weekly (Roma).

He did not provide proof of his claims, but said cells from the three fathers, who were sterile, allowed the cloning to be carried out.

The women's egg cells were impregnated in a laboratory through a method called “nuclear transfer,” he said.

Antinori, who became famous after allowing a 63-year-old woman to have a child in 1994, said “respect for the families' privacy does not allow me to go further.”

He added that the method used was “an improvement” over the technique used to clone Dolly the sheep in 1996.

Reminded by the journalist that such cloning is prohibited in heavily Catholic Italy, the doctor said he preferred to “speak of innovative therapies” or “genetic recoding” rather than cloning.

Alexandra Burt, PhD, of Michigan State University asserts that "The idea is that your genes predispose you to certain behaviors, and those behaviors elicit different kinds of social reactions from others," Burt said in a news release. "And so what's happening is your genes are to some extent driving your social experiences."



Studies of a gene that affects brain levels of the chemical messenger serotonin (the 5HT2A serotonin-receptor gene) are supporting this theory.

Sightist assembled more than 200 college men with an average age of 19 into two groups. One group met together to plan a party on a strict budget; the other met to plan a party for which the sky was the limit. Immediately after the planning session, individuals rated their peers on popularity. They also gave a DNA sample.

"So the gene predisposed them to rule-breaking behavior, and their rule-breaking behavior made them more popular," Burt says.

Last researches have showed that a genetic test might determine which sports, like sprinting or football, or endurance sports like distance running, or a combination of the two, maximally suit the talents of your 2 ½-year-old kids?



“I could see how some people might think the test would pigeonhole your child into doing fewer sports or being exposed to fewer things, but I still think it’s good to match them with the right activity,” Ms. Campiglia, 36, said as she watched a toddler class at Boulder Indoor Soccer in which Noah struggled to take direction from the coach between juice and potty breaks.

“I think it would prevent a lot of parental frustration,” she said.

It was discovered the link between ACTN3 and athletics. Actually the process of testing is very easy. Dr. Roth called ACTN3 “one of the most exciting and eyebrow-raising genes out there in the sports-performance arena,” but he said that any test for the gene would be best used only on top athletes looking to tailor workouts to their body types.

As I see there are several the most popular diets in the world today. First of all this is Atkins Diet Weight Loss Program with low-carb dieting of course. Using the diet you can eat all the protein and fat you want and still shed pounds.

The Zone diet is based on specific food groups: 40 percent carbs, 30 percent fat, 30 percent protein. As a former scientist, Sears devotes considerable time to discussion of the science on which he based his theory. Put simply, the Zone is a "metabolic state in which the body works at peak efficiency," and that state is created by eating a set ratio of carbohydrates, protein, and fat.

The Perricone Prescription diet is a total plan for weight management, youthful looking skin, energy and a clear mind.


The Life Choice Diet is a low-fat vegetarian way of eating with less than 10% calories from fat, this way of eating is very different from the typical American diet.


Weight Watchers diet is the way with its innovative Points system, supportive meetings, online program and new plans. Actually you can eat anything you want, but must stay inside your daily point limit.



Macrobiotic diet includes ten progressively restrictive stages. The last stage of Ohsawa's macrobiotic diet consisted only of brown rice and water. Due to its extreme restriction, Ohsawa's version of the macrobiotic diet is no longer recommended by macrobiotic diet counselors.

You can easely find any information about each of them to try to change yourself. Just be careful take your doctor advice before you start to.

Developed over 20 years ago, Laser Eye surgery has become a widely performed operation in the last few years. With technology advancing, people have more confidence in what was once an experimental procedure.

Laser eye surgery is performed on unanesthetized patients, and is entirely painless. Any discomfort should pass within six hours of receiving the treatment. With a 99% success rate, it is obvious why Laser Eye Surgery Melbourne is one of the premier locations for this type of surgery. LASIK surgery is becoming a popular way to correct eyesight. Patients are able to be completely free of glasses or contact lenses, and the change is usually permanent.

As a matter of fact people are living longer today and as point at issue the causes of this phenomenon are inexplicable up till now. A long healthy life is real gift based on right genes and good habits. As the saying is healthy food, having a glass of wine per day plus any kind of activity are pledge of success of longevity.

Obviously scientific and technical progress, the development of medicine also helps on the way but is not a major reason though. However if you want to be health you should pay for your quality medical care. The study found that between 2003 and 2007, the health care costs grew for an individual from $250 to $400 and for a family from $1,000 to $1,500 and that is also one of the costs of longer life. Often medical debt issues become critical for many of us. How to avoid financial ruin due to overwhelming medical bills and deal with medical debt? How to dispute medical bills? All these and many others questions have definite answers. Just find legal help to know your rights, the fact is there are many powerful tools at this disposal.