Here are some of the facts recap about swine flu from WHO’s website:

What is the new influenza A(H1N1)?

This is a new influenza A(H1N1) virus that has never before circulated among humans. This virus is not related to previous or current human seasonal influenza viruses.
How do people become infected with the virus?

The virus is spread from person-to-person. It is transmitted as easily as the normal seasonal flu and can be passed to other people by exposure to infected droplets expelled by coughing or sneezing that can be inhaled, or that can contaminate hands or surfaces.

To prevent spread, people who are ill should cover their mouth and nose when coughing or sneezing, stay home when they are unwell, clean their hands regularly, and keep some distance from healthy people, as much as possible.

There are no known instances of people getting infected by exposure to pigs or other animals.

The place of origin of the virus is unknown.
What are the signs and symptoms of infection?

Signs of influenza A(H1N1) are flu-like, including fever, cough, headache, muscle and joint pain, sore throat and runny nose, and sometimes vomiting and diarrhoea.
Why are we so worried about this flu when hundreds of thousands die every year from seasonal epidemics?

A screening technique can double the chance of IVF success, giving hope to tens of thousands of women struggling to have children, say experts.

The test boosts the odds of success

Doctors at an annual US fertility meeting heard for the second year running of the merits of a test that screens embryos for genetic faults.

So far more than 20 babies have been born using the technique.

The UK researchers say they are now able to back the method with “great confidence”.

They hope it will eventually be available to all. Currently, it is offered in a few private UK clinics.

Doctors believe the £2,000 test, called comparative genomic hybridisation or CGH, will be particularly useful to older women, whose embryos have a greater risk of carrying genetic errors that cause conditions like Down’s syndrome.

The screening checks chromosomes in the developing embryo when it is a few days old, meaning only those embryos with the best chance of success are used in fertility treatment.

Dr Dagan Wells from Oxford University, who led the study, described the latest results on 115 women – six times as many as last year – as “astonishing”.

The results are particularly impressive as many of the women were on their “last chance” at IVF – they were typically aged 39 with two failed IVF cycles behind them. Read more….

BBC News

Scientists have pinpointed a gene linked to more than half of all breast cancers.

The gene plays a role in many cases of breast cancer

The gene, NRG1 (neuregulin-1), is also thought to play a role in many bowel, prostate, ovarian and bladder tumours.

The University of Cambridge team said the breakthrough should provide “vital information” about how cancer spreads.

Experts agreed the finding, published in the journal Oncogene, could represent a very significant advance in the fight against cancer.

The Cambridge team showed that the gene – which helps to suppress the growth of cancer – is located on chromosome 8.

Cancerous cells are known often to miss part of that chromosome, and when the researchers analysed breast cancer samples they found that at least part of the key gene had often been lost.

Everybody is born with an intact NRG1 but it seems that in some cases it can become damaged – leaving the way open for cancer to thrive.

Lead researcher Dr Paul Edwards said: “I believe NRG1 could be the most important tumour suppresser gene discovery in the last 20 years as it gives us vital information about a new mechanism that causes breast cancer.Read more…

Top ACS Official’s Statements on Some Cancer Tests Has Docs Locked in Debate

By PEGGY PECK
MedPage Today Executive Editor
Abc News

A firestorm of controversy erupted today when a top official with the American Cancer Society let slip that the benefits of breast cancer and prostate cancer screening may have been oversold.

The epicenter of the controversy is statement by Dr. Otis Brawley, chief medical officer of the ACS. Brawley made the statement in an interview with the New York Times about a Journal of the American Medical Association analysis of breast and prostate cancer screening, which raised questions about claims that screening saves lives.

Brawley said the questions raised in the journal article were legitimate, and he said the ACS was in the process of reworking its message on breast and prostate cancer screening. According to the Times report, he said the benefits of screening had been “exaggerated.”

When ABC News contacted the ACS for an interview with Brawley, it was told that he was attending a family funeral and was not available for comment.

The ACS did, however, release a prepared statement under Brawley’s name: “While the advantages of screening for some cancers have been overstated, there are advantages, especially in the case of breast, colon and cervical cancers. Mammography is effective – mammograms work and women should continue get them… The American Cancer Society stands by its recommendation that women age 40 and over should receive annual mammography, and women at high risk should talk with their doctors about when screening should begin based on their family history.”Read more…

Top ACS Official’s Statements on Some Cancer Tests Has Docs Locked in Debate

By PEGGY PECK
MedPage Today Executive Editor
Abc News

A firestorm of controversy erupted today when a top official with the American Cancer Society let slip that the benefits of breast cancer and prostate cancer screening may have been oversold.

The epicenter of the controversy is statement by Dr. Otis Brawley, chief medical officer of the ACS. Brawley made the statement in an interview with the New York Times about a Journal of the American Medical Association analysis of breast and prostate cancer screening, which raised questions about claims that screening saves lives.

Brawley said the questions raised in the journal article were legitimate, and he said the ACS was in the process of reworking its message on breast and prostate cancer screening. According to the Times report, he said the benefits of screening had been “exaggerated.”

When ABC News contacted the ACS for an interview with Brawley, it was told that he was attending a family funeral and was not available for comment.

The ACS did, however, release a prepared statement under Brawley’s name: “While the advantages of screening for some cancers have been overstated, there are advantages, especially in the case of breast, colon and cervical cancers. Mammography is effective – mammograms work and women should continue get them… The American Cancer Society stands by its recommendation that women age 40 and over should receive annual mammography, and women at high risk should talk with their doctors about when screening should begin based on their family history.”Read more…

Gross Foods from the Blog and Book, ‘This Is Why You’re Fat’

By SARAH SARGENTI
Abc News

A hot dog on a stick — encrusted in French Fries? Or, perhaps, a peanut butter, banana and bacon donut? Do these offerings sound tasty, or just too ridiculous? Regardless, they’re just a couple of the creations that define what some have termed the “gross-food movement.”

The phrase comes from Gourmet magazine, in an article published in June.

“The Gross-Food Movement, as I hereby christen it, is a grassroots embrace of all things deep-fried, bacon-wrapped, and cheese-slathered,” wrote Robert Ashley in the article.

Jessica Amason, author of the blog and book, “This Is Why You’re Fat,” noticed a trend in crazy food items and developed the website around the idea. The book will be released on Oct. 27, and it goes into more depth than the blog, including recipes and stories from the creators of these items.

“The items are really disgusting, enticing and hilarious,” said Amason. “And people actually take the time and energy to make these things.

“It made sense that there be a one-stop-shop site for all of these gross items where users could submit their own [food creations],” she added. “The title was sort of just a cheeky joke.”Read more…

Gross Foods from the Blog and Book, ‘This Is Why You’re Fat’

By SARAH SARGENTI
Abc News

A hot dog on a stick — encrusted in French Fries? Or, perhaps, a peanut butter, banana and bacon donut? Do these offerings sound tasty, or just too ridiculous? Regardless, they’re just a couple of the creations that define what some have termed the “gross-food movement.”

The phrase comes from Gourmet magazine, in an article published in June.

“The Gross-Food Movement, as I hereby christen it, is a grassroots embrace of all things deep-fried, bacon-wrapped, and cheese-slathered,” wrote Robert Ashley in the article.

Jessica Amason, author of the blog and book, “This Is Why You’re Fat,” noticed a trend in crazy food items and developed the website around the idea. The book will be released on Oct. 27, and it goes into more depth than the blog, including recipes and stories from the creators of these items.

“The items are really disgusting, enticing and hilarious,” said Amason. “And people actually take the time and energy to make these things.

“It made sense that there be a one-stop-shop site for all of these gross items where users could submit their own [food creations],” she added. “The title was sort of just a cheeky joke.”Read more…

Ear acupuncture Points alleviates back pain in pregnant women.

Ear acupuncture can help ease lower back and pelvic pain, a complaint frequently reported in pregnant women, a new study finds.

According to the study published in the American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology pregnant women who had pressure needles held with tape at three acupuncture points in their ears for one week are less likely to experience lower back and pelvic pain.

While the pain-free phase was confined to one or two weeks, these women reported an improved ability to function following the treatment course.

Temporary tenderness in the ear area was the only side effect reported in these women.

Scientists are optimistic that their findings will lead to the development of more sustained pain relief strategies in pregnant women in the near future.

Source Link: – http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=108910&sectionid=3510210

BBC News

US researchers have found a way to dramatically increase the harvest of stem cells from adult tissue.

The research was done using fibroblast skin cells

It is a practical step forward in techniques to produce large numbers of stem cells without using embryos.

Using three drug-like chemicals, the team made the procedure 200 times more efficient and twice as fast, the Nature Methods journal reported.

It is hoped stem cells could one day be widely used to repair damaged tissue in diseases and after injuries.

Much of the work on stem cells has focused on those taken from embryos as they have an unlimited capacity to become any of the 220 types of cell in the human body – a so-called pluripotent state.

But this has proven controversial and some campaigners have objected to their use on the grounds that it is unethical to destroy embryos in the name of science.

The creation of stem cells from human adult skin cells was first reported in 2007 by Japanese and US researchers, opening the way for new sources of stem cells. Read more…

BBC news

The Mediterranean diet, already thought to protect against heart disease and cancer, may also help to prevent depression, Spanish researchers say.

The monounsaturated fats in olive oil are an important part of the diet

They found depression was more than 30% less likely to develop in people who followed a diet high in vegetables, fruit and cereals, and low in red meat.

They studied 10,094 healthy adults over four years, the Journal of the American Medical Association reports.

However, the team stressed additional, larger-scale studies were required.

Researchers at the Universities of Las Palmas and Navarra recruited university graduates to take part.

Dietary patterns

They completed questionnaires and the researchers calculated their adherence to the Mediterranean dietary pattern (MDP) for an average of four-and-a-half years.

Participants who had a strong adherence to the MDP tended to be male, ex-smokers, married and older individuals.

They were more active physically and showed a higher total energy intake.

The researchers identified 480 new cases of depression during the follow-up period – 156 in men and 324 in women.

They found that those with the highest adherence to the MDP were more than 30% less likely to develop depression. Read more…