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Dieting Keeps Diabetes at Bay

A period of careful eating and regular exercise can stave off diabetes for a decade, a study suggests. US researchers followed up nearly 3,000 overweight people who had taken part in a three year diabetes prevention program.

The US-based Diabetes Prevention Program Research Group had shown a diet aimed at achieving 7% weight loss, combined with half an hour of exercise five days a week, reduced the risk of developing Type 2 diabetes by 58%.

Tomorrow, October 31, is Halloween in America. Halloween marks a week of over eating chocolate bars and candy. Sugar, sugar and more sugar. I guess we will have to start our diabetes prevention diet next week.

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Aura Migraines at Risk for Strokes

Young women who have migraines with auras are twice as likely to have a stroke, researchers have confirmed.

Auras are notable sensory or visual disturbances that occur before the onset of a migraine headache.

Based on available evidence, the risk is greater if the woman is under 45, smokes and is on the contraceptive pill, say international experts.

But a migraine charity said most sufferers did not have auras and the absolute risk of a stroke was small. Women concerned should make changes that can reduce their risks. Migraines affect between 10-20% of people and are four times as common in women compared to men.

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There are hundreds of varieties of pumpkins. They belong to the Curcurbita family.
Americans use the pumpkin as a symbol of Halloween which is on October 31.

This green pumpkin is still growing on the vine. As it ripens, it will turn orange. After a child picks it or buys it from the store or a farm, it will probably be carved into a Jack-O-Lantern then smashed in the middle of the street by teenagers.

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WHITE OAK IS A LARGE TREE, GROWING UP TO 100 FEET TALL. ITS TRUNK CAN GET UP TO FOUR FEET ACROSS. WHITE OAKS USUALLY GROW IN FORESTS WITH OTHER OAKS BUT CAN ALSO BE FOUND ON EDGES OF LAKES PONDS AND STREAMS.

WHITE OAK LEAVES TURN RED OR BROWN IN THE FALL AND WILL OFTEN STAY ON THE BRANCHES OF YOUNGER TREES IN THE WINTER.

WHITE OAK LEAVES, Quercus alba.

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HIV vaccine trial was significant

A review of a trial of a HIV vaccine in Thailand has concluded that it does show real signs of a protective effect.

Scientists announced last month that a combination of vaccines gave a 31% level of protection in trials among 16,000 heterosexuals aged 18-30. Doubts had been raised about whether the finding was significant.

But new data published at a conference in Paris indicates that, while small scale, the findings are robust and statistically significant.

However, the scientists say they do not understand what is causing the effect, and it seems to offer less protection to those most at risk.

Despite these drawbacks, Colonel Nelson Michael from the US military HIV research program says "It is still a small step in the right direction."

He said: "It's important that people understand that this is a scientific advance, a scientific breakthrough." He also points out that there is not a vaccine that is around the corner. "We now, after 26 years of trying, believe that we can go down that road with confidence that we will be able to develop a vaccine that is globally effective."

Bono, take note. 10 more years of your good work is needed with your organization JoinRed.

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Womb Transplants A Step Closer

The first successful human womb transplant could take place within two years, British scientists have said.

London-based experts say they have worked out how to transplant a womb with a regular blood supply so it will last long enough to carry a pregnancy. A transplanted womb would not be permanent.

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Condoms Prove Guys are Still Stupid

The condom has now caught up with the pill as women's preferred method of contraception, latest figures suggest. A quarter of the 1,093 women under 50 surveyed opted for condoms, which is identical to the proportion who opted for the oral contraceptive pill.

Almost half of the condom users cited STDs (sexually transmitted disease) as their motive for using them.

And half of the 2,557 people surveyed in England, Scotland and Wales said TV programs and advertisements had been their main source of information about STDs.

However, more than half the men interviewed who said they were not in a long-term exclusive relationship, but had had a sexual relationship in the last year, said information on HIV and other sexually transmitted infections had no effect on their behavior. Which means men choose to ignore warnings about STDs and how easy it is to get an infection.

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White Wines Bad for the Teeth

Wines vary in acidity, but whites tend to be worse. Enjoying a glass of white wine on a frequent basis can damage the teeth, something many wine makers and tasters will know first-hand, experts say.

White wines erode enamel far more than red wine, Nutrition Research reports.

It is not the wine's vintage, origin or alcohol that are key but its pH and duration of contact with the teeth. Eating cheese at the same time could counter the effects, because it is rich in calcium, the German researchers say.

It is the calcium in teeth that the wine attacks. If you're going to have a glass of wine do so with your meal and leave a break of at least 30 minutes afterwards before you brush your teeth and go to bed.

In the lab, adult teeth soaked in white wine for a day had a loss of both calcium and another mineral called phosphorus to depths of up to 60 micrometers in the enamel surface, which the researchers say is significant.

Riesling wines tended to have the greatest impact, having the lowest pH.

A "kinder" tooth choice would be a rich red like a Rioja or a Pinot noir, the Johannes Gutenberg University team found.

And for years we were told red wines were bad due to the staining. You just can't win. Oh well, enjoy.

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Why is 2009 H1N1 virus sometimes called “swine flu”?

This virus was originally referred to as “swine flu” because laboratory testing showed that many of the genes in this new virus were very similar to influenza viruses that normally occur in pigs (swine) in North America.

But further study has shown that this new virus is very different from what normally circulates in North American pigs. It has two genes from flu viruses that normally circulate in pigs in Europe and Asia and bird (avian) genes and human genes. Scientists call this a "quadruple reassortant" virus.

Wash your hands!

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Alternative Ways to Avoid Obesity

The United States National Center for Health Statistics released a report in 2008 indicating that almost 73% of Americans are overweight, obese, or extremely obese. Even more disturbing are results showing that the percentage of overweight or obese Americans 20 years and older rose from 23% to 34% between 1980 and 2006. The NCHS has announced a new objective to reduce U.S. obesity to 15% by 2010. Engaging in sports and incorporating physical activity into your lifestyle can help diminish the prevalence of obesity and help the NCHS reach its goal. The following list includes fun indoor and outdoor activities to avoid weight gain without having to go to the gym, according to the weather.

Cold Weather Activities Calories Burned per hour*
Snow shoeing 563
Ice skating 493
Cross-country skiing 563
Downhill skiing 422
Shoveling snow 422

Warm Weather Activities
Kayaking 352
Swimming 422
Gardening 352
Tennis 493

Anytime Activities
Take the stairs instead of the elevator 563

Fun activities for a healthy lifestyle
Rock climbing 700
Yoga 298
or you can set up an exercise program on the Wii Fit

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Will Your Nurse be Made in China Too?

Health care agencies have been using foreign nurses to supplement domestic nursing workforce for decades. The majority of foreign nurses in the United States come from the Philippines, Britain, India, Nigeria, and Ireland.

At present, foreign nurses account for about 4% of the 2.2 million nurses in the US

The pool of qualified foreign nurses is limited, relative to the American unmet needs. However, with the new CGFNS test center in Beijing, Chinese nurses are likely to dramatically change the demographics of foreign nurses in this country in the near future.

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Intracytoplasmic sperm injection, known as ICSI for short, is an in vitro fertilization procedure in which a single sperm is injected directly into an egg. This procedure is most commonly used to overcome male infertility problems, although it may also be used where eggs cannot easily be penetrated by sperm, and occasionally as a method of in vitro fertilization, especially that associated with sperm donation.

The technique was developed by Gianpiero Palermo around 1991 at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel, in the Center for Reproductive Medicine headed by Paul Devroey and Andre Van Steirteghem.

Ya, dank you.

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Surtsey, Iceland, is a volcanic island off the southern coast of Iceland. It is also the southernmost point of Iceland. It was formed in a volcanic eruption which began 426 feet below sea level, and reached the surface on 14 November 1963. The eruption lasted until 5 June 1967, when the island reached its maximum size of 1 square mile.

Since then, wind and wave erosion have caused the island to steadily diminish in size: as of 2002, its surface area was around a half square mile.

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Coeliac Bone Loss Link Uncovered

People with coeliac disease may be more susceptible to osteoporosis because their own immune system attacks their bone tissue, a study suggests. Osteoporosis is a known risk of coeliac disease and has been explained by a failure to absorb calcium or vitamin D.

But a study in the New England Journal of Medicine suggests coeliac patients produce antibodies which attack a key protein that maintains bone health. They could easily be treated with drugs to prevent bone loss, researchers say.

It also explains why osteoporosis in those with the digestive disorder may not respond to calcium and vitamin D.

Coeliac disease is caused by a reaction to gluten, a protein found in wheat, which damage the small finger-like villi that line the small intestine and play a key role in digestion. When damaged and inflamed, the villi are unable to absorb food properly, causing diarrhea and malnutrition.

It affects one in 100 people, and of these a significant proportion may go on to develop osteoporosis - a disease of bone that leads to an increased risk of painful and disabling fractures.

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Warning on Liquor ice in Pregnancy

Eating 100g of pure liquorish a week could affect a child's development

Pregnant women who eat large amounts of liquorish could negatively affect their child's intelligence and behavior, according to research.

Experts from Edinburgh and Helsinki universities studied eight-year-olds born in Finland, where consumption of liquorish among young women is common. The children of women who ate a lot of liquorish when pregnant did not perform as well as other youngsters in tests.

Researchers said a component in liquorish may impair the placenta. They said the component - glycyrrhizin - may allow stress hormones to cross from the mother to the baby.

High levels of such hormones, known as glucocorticoids, are thought to affect fetal brain development and have been linked to behavioral disorders in children in previous studies.

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Med-style Diet Battles the Depression Blues

The monounsaturated fats in olive oil are an important part of the diet. Now even more so.

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

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.

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The first production model T Ford was assembled at the Piquette Avenue plant in Detroit on October 1, 1908. Over the next 19 years ford would build 15,000,000 automobiles with the Model T engine the longest run of any single model apart from the Volkswagen Beetle.

Henry Ford was the first man to make a car that regular people could afford. He did this by using an assembly line to make them and paying his workers well so that competition was difficult.

Wow, how things have changed over 101 years.

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