Body

The first phase of a caloric restriction study in human subjects found evidence that calorie-restricted diets differing substantially in glycemic load can result in comparable long-term weight loss. In other words, calories matter more than carbohydrates.

Green tea may help protect against autoimmune disease, Medical College of Georgia researchers say.

Researchers studied an animal model for type I diabetes and primary Sjogren's Syndrome, which damages the glands that produce tears and saliva.

They found significantly less salivary gland damage in a group treated with green tea extract, suggesting a reduction of the Sjogren's symptom commonly referred to as dry mouth. Dry mouth can also be caused by certain drugs, radiation and other diseases.

In the U.S. more than $20 billion was spent on dietary supplements in 2005. Over $7 billion was spent on plant-based herbal dietary supplements such as grape seed extract, St. John's wort, ginseng and biloba extract.

Researcher Dr. Susanne Mertens-Talcott of Texas A&M University is looking into how useful plant-based phytochemicals, including antioxidants and herbal supplements, can be in the promotion of health and prevention of chronic diseases.

This device, called HeartLander, can be inserted using minimally invasive keyhole surgery. Once in place, it will attach itself to the heart and begin inching its way across the outside of the organ, injecting drugs or attaching medical devices. In tests on live pigs, the HeartLander has fitted pacemaker leads and injected dye into the heart.

Despite the fact that they both infect the liver, the hepatitis A and hepatitis C viruses actually have very little in common. The two are far apart genetically, are transmitted differently, and produce very different diseases. Hepatitis A spreads through the consumption of fecal particles from an infected person (in pollution-contaminated food or water, for example), but hepatitis C is generally transmitted only by direct contact with infected blood.

Ethanol is widely touted as an eco-friendly, clean-burning fuel. But if every vehicle in the United States ran on fuel made primarily from ethanol instead of pure gasoline, the number of respiratory-related deaths and hospitalizations would likely increase, according to a new study by Stanford University atmospheric scientist Mark Z. Jacobson.

Climate model simulations for the 21st century indicate a robust increase in wind shear in the tropical Atlantic due to global warming, which may inhibit hurricane development and intensification. Historically, increased wind shear has been associated with reduced hurricane activity and intensity.

There will be 10 million workers in nanotechnology related jobs by 2014, according to Andrew Maynard and Robert Aitken. Measuring the health of these workers, and their exposure to airborne engineered nanomaterials, is vital.

Maynard is chief science advisor at the Wilson Center's Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies and Aitken is director of strategic consulting at the Institute of Occupational Medicine in Edinburgh.

According to a new review of studies, women who received an advance supply of birth control pills for emergency contraception had the same chance of becoming pregnant as women who did not have early access to the pills.

Contrary to the fears of critics, the study says, the presence of Plan B does not provoke riskier sexual behavior but advance access to emergency contraception is also no antidote for the national problem of unintended pregnancy.

The review draws conclusions from eight studies of more than 6,000 women in the United States, India and China.

Temporal sequence represents the main principle underlying episodic memory. The storage of temporal sequence information is thought to involve hippocampus-dependent memory systems, preserving temporal structure possibly via chaining of sequence elements in heteroassociative networks.

Trials lasting 4 to 8 weeks indicate that including wholegrain oats in your diet may lower total and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol.

Coronary heart disease (CHD) is a major cause of death and ill health. One of the risk factors for CHD is elevated blood levels of total cholesterol and of low density lipoprotein cholesterol. Existing observational studies indicate that wholegrain cereals may reduce the risk of CHD, possibly by reducing cholesterol levels.

Women who have unprotected sexual intercourse or experience contraceptive failure can seek emergency contraception to reduce their chance of unintended pregnancy. Emergency contraception is a safe medication, and to be effective, must be taken within five days of unprotected intercourse. Several barriers can discourage use of emergency contraception, including an inability to obtain the medication fast enough. One proposed solution is to let women have a set of the tablets that they can keep for immediate use should it be needed.

A Cochrane Systematic Review of the use of electronic mosquito repellents (EMRs) failed to find any evidence that they work. The researchers therefore say that there is no reason for recommending their use, and that there is no reason for even trying to do more research with the devices.

Malaria is transmitted when a person is bitten by an infected female mosquito. Manufacturers of electronic mosquito repellents (EMRs) claim that the high pitch sound they emit repels female mosquitoes, and therefore protects people in the vicinity from bites and disease.

Using Chinese herbs either alone or in conjunction with chemotherapy may help protect a breast cancer patient's bone marrow and immune system, as well as improving the woman's overall quality of life.

Sixty per cent of women undergoing chemotherapy for breast cancer experience a range of significant short term side effects. These include nausea, vomiting and fatigue, as well as inflammation of the gut lining, decreased numbers of red and white blood cells and decreased numbers of blood platelets.

Chemicals in cruciferous vegetables, such as broccoli, watercress, cabbage and cauliflower, appear to not only stop human prostate cancer cells from growing in mice but also may cut off the formation of blood vessels that "feed" tumors, says a University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute study.