soul and body

Global patterns in mortality in young people
Researchers at the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute in Melbourne have published a first ever study of global child and adolescent health and they looked particularly at death rates and causes of death.

The effect of weight gain in the first 3 months of life
Researchers from Holland suggest that rapid weight gain in the first 3 months of life is associated with heart disease and type 2 diabetes in early adulthood.

Rise in caesarean sections
According to some people there seems to be an alarming increase in the rate of caesarean births. Researchers at Cambridge University in the UK have investigated this increase in caesarean sections and its possible effects on the mothers.

The fight against antibiotic resistance
New research from NYU School of Medicine gives a ray of hope in the fight against antibiotic resistance. Researchers there have found that the chemical Nitric Oxide plays a key role in protecting bacteria against antibiotics, and that inhibiting Nitric Oxide production increases the effectiveness of antibiotics, even against resistant bacteria.

Pain in the knees
Being overweight or obese contributes to the risk for developing knee pain. A recent trial in the UK has looked at comparing weight loss and knee exercises.

Exposure to low-dose ionizing radiation from medical imaging
Imaging procedures associated with radiation exposure are increasing in the population and researchers in the US have investigated the effects of this exposure, which is raising concerns.

Obesity research
Professor Robert Kushner heads the Northwestern Comprehensive Center for Obesity at the Northwestern University School of Medicine in Chicago. He talks about their research into obesity.

Mysterious viruses
Just when you’re beginning to relax about pandemic influenza, you’re going to hear about relatively mysterious viruses which come and go for no reason, but when they re-appear and infect humans, up to 80% of them die. We have some of these viruses here too on our doorstep. And if you thought Ebola virus just occurred somewhere in Africa, well an Ebola virus has been coming and going in the Philippines, and again we don’t know why. Plus an exotic sounding virus that’s spreading around the world — and Australian mosquitoes are the door through which it will come.

Antidepressants and suicidal behaviour
Researchers from the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research at the US Food and Drug Administration investigated a possible link between antidepressant medication and the risk of suicidal behaviour.

The health of Australian Vietnam veterans
The first results of a 15-year-old Australian follow-up study of the health of Vietnam veterans have recently been published in the American Journal of Epidemiology.

Repairing damaged spinal cords
Many scientists are trying to find ways to help people who are para- or quadriplegic. One of the world’s leading researchers in this field, Professor James Fawcett of the University of Cambridge, talks about his research in this area.

Brain research
Dr Pierre-Marie Lledo leads the Perception and Memory Laboratory at the Pasteur Institute and talks about some fascinating research into brain functions and nerve cell regeneration.

Research into addiction
The definitions of addiction have changed over the years, according to Barry Everitt, Professor of Neuroscience at the University of Cambridge. He and his colleagues have done research into addiction, identifying the kind of person who is more likely than others to become addicted to substances, and they have looked at new ways to help people overcome their addictions.

Treatment for osteoporotic vertebral fractures
One of the treatment options for vertebral fractures is a procedure called vertebroplasty, where a cement is injected directly into the fracture with the aim to provide immediate stability and pain relief. Researchers have undertaken a trial to find out how successful this procedure is.

Labelling of medications dispensed by pharmacists
Health consumer advocates have uncovered what they feel might be an unacceptable level of pharmacists dispensing medications with ‘use as directed’ or equivalent on the label. They argue that this is dangerous and should not happen.

Proposed changes to death certificates
Leading Australian public health and cancer researchers propose that questions about the smoking status of a deceased person should be added to a revised death notification form.

The origins of HIV
Since its discovery, there’s been a lot of debate about how old HIV is. Researchers from Oxford University suggest that the origins of HIV go back millions of years.

HIV transmission between mother and baby
Dr Elisabeth Menu from l’Institut Pasteur in Paris talks about the work she and her laboratory team have undertaken to find out how HIV passes from mother to child, or not, in some cases.

The Heimlich manoeuvre
In the early 1970s a new procedure for treating choking victims burst on to the scene in the United States and soon it was famous around the world. The procedure was called the Heimlich manoeuvre, named after the man who created it—Dr Henry Heimlich. It has never been used in Australia. Despite the claims of the extremely charismatic Dr Heimlich, Australian resuscitation experts believe that there isn’t enough scientific evidence to support its use. So how does a medical procedure become so widely adopted without any serious scientific evidence? Australian doctors are not alone in their criticism of Dr Heimlich’s methods. The most surprising and vocal critic of all turns out to be Dr Heimlich’s very own son, Peter Heimlich.

Natural weight loss supplements are defined as those developed from natural or plant sources that have not been overly processed and contain no dangerous drugs or chemicals that would cause danger to the dieters. These dietary supplements are intended for the purpose of gently adjusting your bodily process so as to improve the likelihood of […]

Dreams about the person you love are very clear, even though most dreams are not comprehensible to your conscience. The unconscious mind that produces your dreams uses a symbolic language in order to show you what is happening inside you and many things more.
Why is this language so strange? Because you have inside you a […]