Stroke details.
HEART DISEASE
The heart pumps blood around the body carrying oxygen and other nutrients to the areas that need it. When this process is interrupted, or does not work properly, serious illness and even death can result.
The risk of heart disease is greater for people with poor diet, who smoke and do not exercise, and men are more likely to suffer from it than women.
A range of tests and treatments, including drugs, heart bypass surgery and transplants, exist to alleviate symptoms or save the lives of sufferers.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/static/in_depth/health/2000/heart_disease/heart_disease.stm
Tag: Drugs
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Heart Disease-2 -BBC
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Heart disease-1-BBC
Series of articles in BBC ;very useful.
INTRODUCTION
The UK has one of the highest rates of death from heart disease in the world – one British adult dies from the disease every three minutes – and stroke is the country’s third biggest killer, claiming 70,000 lives each year.
Heart attacks occur when blood flow is blocked, often by a blood clot, while strokes are caused either by blocked or burst blood vessels in the brain. A range of other conditions, including heart failure, when blood is not pumped properly around the body, and congenital heart defects can also cause long term problems, and even death, for sufferers.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/static/in_depth/health/2000/heart_disease/default.stm -
Infection-allergy link questioned
Is this not questioning the fundamentals of vaccine?
Story:
The notion of exposing young children to infections in a bid to protect them from later allergies is wrong, latest research suggests.
The decades-old “hygiene hypothesis” holds that early exposure to microbes somehow challenges the immune system and strengthens it against allergies.
Studies have shown children exposed to bugs by older siblings or attending nursery cut their future allergy risk.
But new work published by the American Thoracic Society casts doubt on this.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/8241774.stm -
Dirt can be good for children, say scientists
Very true.Our obsession with cleanliness and rushing to Doctor even for small ailments is not healthy.Our system’s defense mechanism gets weakened to fight disease and use of antibiotics help the the disease inducing agents to become immune, they mutate and more violent forms are created for which we need to go in for still heavier dosage of medicine and these medicines more than curing disease creates serious side effects.
Best is to wait for sometime excepting in the case of high fever and allow the system to take care.
Story:
Children should be allowed to get dirty, according to scientists who have found being too clean can impair the skin’s ability to heal.
Normal bacteria living on the skin trigger a pathway that helps prevent inflammation when we get hurt, the US team discovered.
The bugs dampen down overactive immune responses that can cause cuts and grazes to swell, they say.
Their work is published in the online edition of Nature Medicine.
Experts said the findings provided an explanation for the “hygiene hypothesis”, which holds that exposure to germs during early childhood primes the body against allergies.
Many believe our obsession with cleanliness is to blame for the recent boom in allergies in developed countries.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/8373690.stm -
Food Packaging and Breast Cancer.
Perils of packaged foods.
Story:
Bisphenol ABisphenol A (BPA) is one of the most pervasive chemicals in modern life. More than 2 billion pounds of BPA are produced in the United States each year. As the building block of polycarbonate plastic and a component of epoxy resins, BPA is used in thousands of consumer products, including food packaging.
Research suggests that BPA exposure may contribute to the epidemic of breast cancer now and in the future. Furthermore, BPA exposure has been shown to interfere with chemotherapy treatment for breast cancer.
BPA: A Synthetic Estrogen
BPA was developed in the 1930s as a synthetic estrogen (also called xenoestrogen) so it is not surprising that it acts like an estrogen in humans, increasing the risk of breast cancer. Decades of research have shown that extensive exposure to estrogens, both natural and synthetic, increases breast cancer risk. Reducing exposure to estrogens appears to reduce the risk of breast cancer. For example, experts attribute the recent decline in breast cancer incidence to decreased use of postmenopausal hormone replacement therapy (HRT), following the major study that implicated HRT in increased risk of breast cancer.
Studies of human breast cancer cells in culture show that BPA acts through the same response pathways as natural estrogen (estradiol), and induces cell growth and proliferation. In addition, BPA has been shown to mimic natural estrogen (estradiol) in causing direct damage to the DNA of cultured human breast cancer cells.
Principal Route of Exposure to BPA: Food Packaging
BPA is found in the lining of metal food cans and in some plastic food containers, including some baby bottles, water bottles, microwave ovenware and eating utensils. Because BPA is an unstable polymer and is lipophilic (fat-seeking), it can leach into infant formula and other food products, especially when heated. Once in food, BPA can move quickly into people—a real concern for women of childbearing age and for young children.
Exposure to BPA Begins in the Womb
Exposure to BPA is ubiquitous in the United States and other developed countries, and the exposure begins before birth, when the risk of harm is greatest. BPA has been found in blood samples from developing fetuses as well as in placental tissue and the surrounding amniotic fluid, in umbilical cord blood of newborn infants and in human breast milk. Finding BPA in breast milk confirms the presence of this environmental estrogen in the target organ for breast cancer.
A number of animal studies show that prenatal and early life exposure to extremely low levels of BPA alters development of the mammary gland in ways that predispose the animals to cancer in adult life. Exposure also increases sensitivity to estrogen at puberty. Early exposure to BPA also leads to abnormalities in mammary tissue that can be seen during gestation.
Animal studies implicate BPA in childhood obesity, which raises the risk of early puberty, a known risk factor for breast cancer. Formula feeding (BPA lined containers and/or baby bottles) rather than breastfeeding is also linked with childhood obesity.
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