Archive for September, 2008
Researchers from university of Alabama find that statins may hinder the body’s ability to repair muscles. It is worth mentioning that millions of people take statins to lower cholesterol.
Fatigue is considered the most frequently reported side effect of statin therapy with 9 percent of patients reporting muscle pain. The effects become more pronounced as the doses of the medication and physical activity are increased. These side effects are quite common in people who use statins.
Lead researcher Anna Thalacker-Mercer stated: “The research is based on preliminary data and more research is definitely required to find out the more precise link. However, the results indicate that statins cause some serious side effects that alter the ability of skeletal muscle to repair.”
The European Commission has announced a ban on imports of Chinese baby food that has any traces of milk and other imported foods from china will also undergo tests.
These measures were taken after a health scare in China over dairy products contamination with the chemical melamine. The toxic milk became the cause of several infants’ deaths in China.
According to the commission, all imported products from China that contain more than 15% milk powder will have to undergo tests and the random testing of the products that are on sale in the EU will also be done. Read the rest of this entry
Bone loss often occurs as a side effect in men who receive hormone-deprivation therapy for their advanced prostate cancer.
However, according to a new study, bone-strengthening drugs Fosamax may help to avoid the damage.
Earlier it was found that the drug prevent bone loss in patients on hormone-deprivation therapy. And now the current follow-up shows that two years of the drug offers even greater protection to men.
Dr. Neil M. Resnick, who is a professor of medicine in the department of geriatrics in Pittsburg University, says that: “In aging population, the risk of age related diseases is greatly increasing and prostate cancer is one of the commonest among these risks.” Read the rest of this entry
CHICAGO – Brisk walking provide trivial improvement on mental tests for older people with memory difficulties, considered as the first meticulous test of exercise on the aging brain. Study published on Wednesday’s Journal of the American Medical Association.
The results were only modest of this small Australian study. But they support observational studies establishing potential mental benefits from physical activity.
The effects of exercise were not better but good enough than those, seen with drugs approved to aid brain function in Alzheimer’s disease, according to experts.
A study says that daily use of chamomile tea may prove helpful to avoid the complications of type2 diabetes including nerve, vision and kidney damage.
The researchers form UK and Japan gave a chamomile extract to diabetic rats and they found that the extract seemed to reduce blood sugar levels and hampered the activity of an enzyme that was linked with diabetic complications.
But Charity Diabetes UK warned the patients against acting on the findings until the results of further study. Read the rest of this entry
