“My name is Lisa Ray, and I’m a cancer survivor,” the actress introduced herself, before going to talk about her association with a newly opened cancer treatment centre here.

At the inauguration of the centre in the city, Lisa Ray gave an inspiring account of her battle with the disease.

Last year, near about this time, actress Lisa Ray had to prep herself up for the red carpet at the Toronto Film Festival.

She looked through her wardrobe and intermittently at herself in the mirror as well, trying to think up a way to face the world.

Talking to the journalists here she said, “Cancer is not just a physiological disorder. It has a strong psychological component to it.”

She said further, “Having survived the disease, I can look back and say it has opened my life in ways that I could never have imagined.”

The actress had been diagnosed with multiple myeloma, an incurable cancer of white blood cells earlier in the year, and was well into treatment for it.

The medication bloated her up by 40 pounds.

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This Thursday, Kolkata witnessed 9 more deaths resulting from Swine flu thereby taking Bengal’s toll to 91. The most current victim was an old man aged 66 years.

He was admitted to Apollo Hospital on 28th July, 2010 as he was suffering from metabolic acidosis and hypertension. His throat swab showed positive results of H1N1 virus. He did not survive as his was a last stage.

Doctors gave their 100% but could not succeed in saving his life. With swine flu cases on the rise, all private nursing homes and hospitals are made alert.

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Maintenance of exercise behavior and physically active lifestyle after discharge of physical therapy improves the long-term effectiveness of exercise therapy in patients with knee or hip OA, claims the study which will be published in the August print issue of Arthritis Care & Research, a journal of the American College of Rheumatology.

Individuals with OA of the hip or knee experience pain, reduced muscle strength, decreased range of joint motion, and joint instability, the study found.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO) OA is one of the ten most disabling diseases in developed countries. Often OA patients are referred to physical therapy in order to reduce impairments and improve overall physical function to meet demands of daily living.

To reach the conclusion, researchers conducted an observational follow-up study on 150 patients with OA of the hip and/or knee who were receiving exercise therapy. The study subjects were followed for 60 months to assess adherence to self-directed exercise (during and after prescribed physical therapy treatment period) on patient outcomes of pain, physical function, and self-perceived effect.

Three forms of adherence, which is defined as the subject’’s behavior that corresponds to agreed recommendations by his or her physical therapist, were measured—adherence to home exercises, home activities, and increased physical activity. Researchers used a self-report questionnaire to measure participants” adherence to home exercise (e.g. muscle strengthening exercises) and activity (e.g. walking or cycling). Assessment of adherence started at baseline, and then took place again at 3, 15, and 60 months.

Patient outcomes of pain and physical function were measured using the Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC) score. The WOMAC scale ranges from best to worst, meaning lower scores represent less pain and improved physical function. Participants” physical performance was measured by the time (in seconds) it took to walk the distance of 5 meters with improvement in performance noted by a reduction in time to complete the walk.

Results show at the 3-month follow-up 57.8 percent of study subjects adhered to the recommended exercises and 53.8 percent to recommended activities. Adherence to exercise was significantly associated with a decrease in pain, and improvements in self-reported physical function and physical performance. “Better adherence to home exercises and being more physically active improves the long-term effectiveness of exercise therapy in patients with OA of the hip and/or knee,” said lead study author, Martijn Pisters, M.Sc., PT.

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The study from Ben-Gurion University also found that teenage boys are three to four times more likely to develop high blood pressure in early adulthood than girls.

“It is increasing along with the obesity epidemic, but regrettably, young adults who are otherwise healthy frequently are not screened for becoming hypertensive,” explains researcher Dr. Assaf Rudich, an associate professor in the Department of Clinical Biochemistry at BGU.

The study revealed that in boys, there is a strong correlation between blood pressure and BMI at age 17 – implying that BMI is an important factor in progression of hypertension despite ‘normal’ blood pressure.

For girls, obesity increased the risk of hypertension, but researchers believe that estrogen may protect against it.

“For the individual person, a ”normal value” may still be associated with a significant elevated risk of disease when the BMI and sex of the patient is also considered,” explains Dr. Iris Shai, an associate professor in the Department of Epidemiology in the Faculty of Health and Sciences.

The study is published in Hypertension: Journal of the American Heart Association.

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This is the first time that this effect has been shown in humans. The study also showed that alcohol consumption reduces the risk of developing the disease.

The study looked at 873 patients with rheumatoid arthritis and compared them with 1004 people without RA (the control group).

The researchers, led by Gerry Wilson, Professor of Rheumatology at the University of Sheffield (Sheffield, UK), asked the two groups how frequently they had drunk alcohol in the month preceding their inclusion in the study.

The study participants completed a detailed questionnaire, had x-rays and blood tests, and an experienced research nurse examined their joints.

The first author of the study, Dr James Maxwell, a consultant rheumatologist at the Rotherham Foundation NHS Trust and an honorary senior clinical lecturer in the Academic Rheumatology Group at the University of Sheffield, said: “We found that patients who had drunk alcohol most frequently had symptoms that were less severe than those who had never drunk alcohol or only drunk it infrequently. X-rays showed there was less damage to joints, blood tests showed lower levels of inflammation, and there was less joint pain, swelling and disability. This is the first time that a dose dependent inverse association between frequency of alcohol consumption and severity of RA has been shown in humans.”

Maxwell and his colleagues also found that non-drinkers were four times more likely to develop RA than people who drank alcohol on more than ten days a month.

“This finding agrees with the results from previous studies that have shown a decreased susceptibility to developing RA among alcohol drinkers,” said Maxwell.

Writing in their paper, the study authors concluded: “While there are a number of limitations to the methodology of this study, the results do suggest that the consumption of alcohol may modify RA, influencing both risk and severity.”

The study has been published online in the journal Rheumatology.

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The research was conducted by University of Illinois at Chicago and by researcher Dr. Judith Hibbard and colleagues from the Consortium on Safe Labor.

“Even at 37 weeks, babies were three times more likely to have respiratory distress syndrome compared to babies born at 39- or 40 weeks,” said Hibbard, UIC professor of obstetrics and gynecology and lead author of the study.

Data were collected from electronic medical records on 233,844 deliveries at 19 hospitals across the U.S. between 2002 and 2008.

Hibbard said respiratory illnesses such as RDS, transient tachypnea, pneumonia and respiratory failure can lead to other problems such as longer hospitalization, the need for a ventilator or antibiotics, and issues with feeding and failure to gain weight.

Using a statistical model, the researchers examined infant respiratory illnesses at each gestational week, controlling for factors that influence respiratory outcomes including maternal medical conditions, length of labor and mode of delivery, and birth weight.

The study found that late preterm births accounted for 9 percent of all deliveries. Thirty-seven percent of late preterm infants were admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit, compared with 7 percent of term infants.

RDS was the most common respiratory illness, occurring in 11 percent of 34-week deliveries. Only 0.3 percent of 40-week deliveries had RDS.

Transient tachypnea, also called “wet lungs,” was the second most common respiratory illness, occurring in 6.4 percent of 34-week deliveries, and decreasing to 0.3 percent at 39 weeks.

“The OB community needs to assess indications for induction of labor,” said Hibbard, who hopes that this study will help clinicians to counsel their patients about the importance of not requesting medically unnecessary inductions.

The study is published in the July 28 issue of JAMA.

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The study by Environmental Working Group found the plastic component BPA on 40 percent of receipts from McDonald’’s, CVS, KFC, Whole Foods, Wal-Mart, Safeway and other businesses.

Animal tests have shown that BPA can induce abnormal reproductive system development, diminished intellectual capacity and behavioural abnormalities.

It can set the stage for other serious conditions, such as reproductive system cancer, obesity, diabetes, early puberty, resistance to chemotherapy, asthma and cardiovascular system disorders.

“Consumers are being exposed to BPA at the point of sale once they”re handed a receipt,” AOL News quoted senior scientist Dr. Anila Jacob as saying.

Piling up in purses month after month, these receipts could easily contaminate fingers, which then can result in oral or dermal exposure, the physician explained.

The Zurich Official Food Control Authority reported that BPA from register receipts can “enter the skin to such a depth that it can no longer be washed off.”

The find is especially crucial for cans for processed food, baby bottles and infant formula.

And not just consumers, millions of people who staff cash registers and bag groceries at tens of thousands of retailers across the country are also at a high risk.

The risk from handling BPA-laden receipts can be significant, Jacob said, and added that eliminating exposure to this ubiquitous yet toxic substance should remain the first priority of U.S. lawmakers.

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According to the Daily Mail, just logging in the numbers doesn’t take into account that some high-calorie foods are worth eating.

For instance, both eggs and nuts may be high in calories, but they are filling and nutritious. Eliminating them from your diet could be detrimental.

A US survey has revealed that more than 60pct of people have no idea how many calories they should consume per day, and just 12pct have somewhat of an accurate idea.

Calorie requirements vary depending on a person’s weight and age, and can range from 1,200 for a small, sedentary woman to more than 4,000 for an athlete who’s training—and that’s just to maintain weight, not to lose it.

“For dieters, it’’s crucial to look at overall lifestyle changes, eating fruit and vegetables and having a balanced diet,” the New York Daily News quoted Jayne Brocklehurst, a dietitian for the weight loss surgery clinic Gravitas, as saying.

“Otherwise, people tend to get bogged down in calorie-counting. That way, you might lose weight, but your diet can still be unhealthily high in fat,” added Brocklehurst.

One way to get control of calories—keep a food diary, recommends the British Dietetic Association’s Sian Porter.

Most people eat a lot more calories than they think.

“”Portion size is crucial, and average serving sizes have crept up over time — in restaurants and at home. People think they can afford to have a slice of pie, say, but the slice is bigger than it used to be,” said Porter.

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The research team, being led by Dr Qibo Zhang, from the University of Liverpool, believes kids could benefit from the spray, which is based on tackling the bacteria pneumococcus.

There are more than 90 known pneumococcal types, which can cause deadly illnesses including pneumonia, blood poisoning and meningitis.

The bacteria also causes middle ear infection and sinusitis and every year across the world up to one million under-fives die because of pneumococcus.

The novel vaccine will contain a substance called D4Ply, a fragment of a protein produced by nearly all the different types of pneumococcus.

If experiments prove successful, the vaccine could therefore protect against most strains.

Experiments will focus on cells taken from the adenoids of around 30 youngsters under five to see if the vaccine is effective as a nasal spray.

Researchers believe that the vaccine could be much cheaper to produce than those already available in the market.

“Current vaccines are complex and expensive to produce, they do not protect against all of the 90 or so different types of this bacterium and they are not all effective in very young children. Better vaccines are needed,” the Scotsman quoted Zhang as saying.

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While some researchers have argued hitting puberty early in life makes a person prone metabolic syndrome and diabetes, Emily Walvoord has found such diseases are not linked to early puberty, but obesity.

“Early puberty is one of the many outcomes of obesity,” said Walvoord of

Indiana University School of Medicine.

“There are clearly other factors we don’t understand that have affected the timing,” she added.

While childhood obesity is a growing epidemic, she suggested other factors include a possible increase in hormone-disrupting chemicals in the environment and more chronic stress in children’s homes.

“It’s very hard really to scientifically scrutinize the timing of puberty just by looking at these studies,” Walvoord said.

She said many unanswered questions exist, none more troubling than that of the psychological impact. The long-term effect on adolescents is still unclear.

Girls who reach puberty early are more likely to experience negative body image, depression and other mental disorders.

Jane Mendle of University of Oregon said those in her field know the psychological effects of early puberty well.

“Whether or not that knowledge has been translated in the way it could or should be to the general population, I’m not sure.”

Mendle said girls who mature earlier tend to land in social situations they are not psychologically prepared to handle. Because of that, they might develop psychological issues during puberty.

The findings were published in the Journal of Adolescent Health.

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