Obesity is one of the greatest health problems in the world. The latest researches demonstrate that fat reaches our waist just three hours after having a meal. According to scientific studies weight gain happens faster than we thought. Experts from the Oxford University shed light on the fact that food is turned into tissue around the most delicate sections of the body within no more than 3 hours.

In large meals which contain about 30g of fat about 2-3 teaspoons of the nutrients will be stored in fat around out waist. Then if we keep eating the fat will target the rear, hips and thighs. Fredrik Karpe and Keith Frayne discovered that fat enters the bloodstream about 1 hour after the consumption of the meal.

According to the interview from Telegraph.co.uk, “By the time three or four hours has passed, they found, most of it had been incorporated into the adipose tissue, much of which lies in the short-term fat stores in the waist.”. Previously nutritional experts though that the process of weight gain is much slower and fat storing happens gradually. However, this research reveals that fat doesn’t circulate in the body instead, it is trapped in various sections of the body. Fredrik Karpe claimed that, “The process is very fast. The cells in the adipose tissue around the waist catch the fat droplets as the blood carries them and incorporates them into the cells for storage. [...]If you eat too much, you don’t get into this phase of starting to mobilise it. There will just be constant accumulation and you will start to put on weight.”.

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The first drug shown to prevent HIV infection among high risk groups is on the way to be approved as a panel of federal advisers endorsed it on Thursday. FDA panel advisers recommended approval of the  Truvada  drug which has been marketed by Gilead Sciences Inc since 2004 as a treatment for people infected with the virus.

Truvada is a combination of Emtriva and Viread, two older HIV drugs which are part of the cocktail doctors prescribe for suppressing the virus. The drug is recommended for daily use by people who are at a high risk of contracting the virus such as gay and bisexual men and heterosexual couples with one HIV-positive partner.

A three year study found that the drug was more effective in protecting men than women. During the study, it was discovered that daily doses cut the risk of infection in healthy gay and bisexual men by 42 percent, when accompanied by condoms and counseling. More impressive results were found last year when it was discovered that the drug reduced infection by 75 percent in heterosexual couples in which one partner was infected with HIV.

Concerns about the drug have already began to emerge despite the fact that a final decision will only be made on June 15. Most concerns are related to the fact that the pill needs to be taken daily to have an effect and following through with this recommendation might prove unrealistic.

The long waiting list when it comes to receiving new organs can be extremely demoralizing and transplant failure means missing a chance to help someone in need since the unsuitable organ is thrown away. But this might all change if unsuitable organs undergo a recycling process. The seemingly unusual idea might become a more frequent procedure in the future saving countless of lives in the process.

While  cases where organs  from failed transplants are used for someone else in need have been done before, all of these implied the first recipient dying up until now. In a U.S  medical  first,  a kidney that was rejected by the first recipient was transplanted to another patient while the new donor was still alive.  Thew new recipient was surgeon who understood the risks and the benefits the procedure implied and his decision proved to be a ticket to a normal life.

Though the surgery was a success, since this is believed to be the first time the procedure was performed, there is very little data on the long term effects of the procedure. And then, it’s always the problem of ethics and ensuring both the donor and the recipient understand the risks involved and neither is coerced into making the decision.

Numerous scientists claimed that avocados an keep us young and healthy. According to the latest researched avocado oil has the power to combat damaging free radicals in our organism. This ingredient could be used as the secret weapon against bad molecules responsible for cancer, heart disease and aging. We also find out that antioxidants from avocados can penetrate the mitochondria which is actually the part of our cells in which food is turned into energy.

The American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology’s annual conference heard. Researcher Christian Cortes-Rojo stated that, “The problem is that the antioxidants in [other] substances are unable to enter mitochondria.[...]So free radicals go on damaging mitochondria, causing energy production to stop and the cell to collapse and die. [..]An analogy would be that, during an oil spill, if we cleaned only the spilled oil instead of fixing the perforation where oil is escaping, then the oil would go on spilling, and fish would die anyway.”.

There are a number of factors which increase the number of free radicals in our organism. Smoking, radiation and pollution are only some of the most important factors to mention. Researchers also revealed that avocado oil “The researchers found avocado oil allowed yeast cells to survive exposure to high concentrations of iron – an element that produces ‘huge amounts’ of free radicals”.(DailyMail).
Mr Cortes-Rojo, from the University Michoacana de San Nicolas de Hidalgo  in Mexico also added that “We’ll need to confirm that what has been observed in yeasts could occur in higher organisms, such as humans,”. Moreover we also know from earlier researches that with the regular consumption of avocado we could reduce the levels of cholesterol.

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Tattoos should be forever, however things don’t always work out that way. Countless tattoos done without too much consideration beforehand end up being regretted and the long process of ink removal begins. An innovation in the tattoo removal technique is setting up to change all that and making erasing a mistake quicker. The new procedure is called R20 and it cuts the tattoo removal time by shortening the time between procedures.

While in the conventional method the laser is passed through the skin just once and the skin is left to heal for about six weeks before a new session, with the new method the waiting times is reduced to 20 minutes. Furthermore, the laser is passed 4 times on the tattooed area instead of just once. Scarring is another important aspect to consider for those who might want to try this technique. Though the initial scarring is stronger compared to the traditional method when the amount of ink removed was factored in and compared to the traditional method in one session, the results were in the new method’s favor.

In fact, according to Dr. Mitchell Chasin, director of The Reflections Center for Skin and Body in Livingston, N.J., the benefits extend beyond reduced removal time: “It is not only a way to decrease the number of treatments but to improve the appearance of skin after removal”. With the new improvements, it comes as no surprise that the procedure doesn’t come cheap. The price tag of one such session is set at about $600.

According to the latest health news lack of sleeping and rest can trigger severe changes in our organism. Recent studies demonstrated that shift workers are exposed to diabetes risks. Researchers claim that many of the workers who plan their nap time for the worst period of the day could later on suffer from obesity and diabetes. Shift working can be really exhausting, therefore, specialists try to find a few methods to reduce the impact of this type of labor on the human body. Experts analyzed the life of no less than 21 people. The research tackled factors like sleeping habits and nutrition.

The results of these intriguing studies were published in Science Translational Medicine. The research revealed that an unconventional sleeping regime prevents our body from controlling sugar levels. During the research a few individuals developed some of the most common symptoms of type 2 diabetes. Experts tested the participants who were allowed to sleep no more than 6.5 hours during the extended days which lasted for 28 hours and 5.6 hours during the normal days. The results shed light on the fact that the organism slowed down during fasting and the extended days which can also lead to weight gain.

The team stated that, “The 8% drop in resting metabolic rate that we measured in our participants… translates into a 12.5-pound increase in weight over a single year,”. Dr Orfeu Buxton, the lead researcher of the project claimed that, “We think these results support the findings from studies showing that, in people with a pre-diabetic condition, shift workers who stay awake at night are much more likely to progress to full-on diabetes than day workers.[...]Since night workers often have a hard time sleeping during the day, they can face both circadian [body clock] disruption working at night and insufficient sleep during the day.[...] The evidence is clear that getting enough sleep is important for health, and that sleep should be at night for best effect.”.

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Analia Bouter delivered her baby pre-term in a hospital in Resistencia, Argentina, on April 3rd, 2012, at 26 weeks and to her despair the baby was pronounced stillborn at birth. The medical staff saw no vital signs when the baby was delivered and concluded to pronounce the baby a stillborn. However, after leaving the hospital with nothing but a death certificate the parents decided to return to the hospital only 12 hours later to see their child at the morgue and have the baby’s picture taken for memory. When the morgue worker opened the door to the refrigerated area the baby was placed in, the parents received the shock of their lives as the baby was crying and stretching.

According to Argentina’s Clarin newspaper, the mother declared that she fell to her knees when she saw her baby stretching. She added that:

“My baby was born at 10.24 am and at 11.05 am was already in the drawer. She spent 12 hours in the freezing cold of that morgue. I saw for myself the ice on her body.”

The hospital’s director declared that they have no explanation for what happened as the baby was consulted by three physicians, all of which concluded the baby girl was a stillborn.
Despite the fact that there could be a serious medical error behind the case, which attracted a generous amount of media attention as well as an investigation, the baby’s mother says that she doesn’t know who to blame, but she believes that a miracle has brought her baby girl back to life. She said:

“At first the doctors said that she was born dead, then said she had died shortly after birth because she was too small to survive. I don’t know who is to blame, and I’m not thinking about it at this moment. The joy of knowing she’s alive is covering every other feeling. I’m a Christian, and I believe this was a miracle of God.”

The results of the latest scientific researches are simply amazing. According to studies the height of women is linked to ovarian cancer. Besides severely obese women taller ones also have more chances to struggle with ovarian cancer. A recent study published in PloS Medicine concentrated on no less than 47 epidemiological studies in 14 states all over the world. The research analyzed the condition of 80,000 women without ovarian cancer and 25,000 having this severe disorder.

Prof Valerie Beral of the Oxford University Epidemiology Unit as the lead researcher in this research project revealed to BBC that, “By bringing together the worldwide evidence, it became clear that height is a risk factor.[...]Ovarian cancer can clearly be added to the list [of cancers linked to obesity]”.

Health information officer at Cancer Research UK, Sarah Williams claimed that this study is important to line up all the important factors which could have an impact on a woman’s risk of suffering from ovarian cancer. She also added that, “Women can reduce their risk of this and many other diseases by keeping to a healthy weight,[...]For women trying to lose weight, the best method is to eat healthily, eat smaller amounts and be more physically active.”.

A quick response to the study came from a reader in cancer epidemiology at the University of Cambridge, Dr Paul Pharoah, “If we compare a woman who is 5ft tall with a woman who is 5ft 6in tall, there is a relative difference in ovarian cancer risk of 23%. [...]But the absolute risk difference is small. The shorter woman will have a lifetime risk of about 16-in-a-1000 which increases to 20-in-a-1000 for the taller woman.[...]A similar difference in absolute risk would be seen when comparing a slim woman with a body mass index of 20 to a slightly overweight woman with a body mass index of 30.”.

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Among the causes of autism, it was always suspected that genetics played a part. Now, a team of researchers are aiming to shed some light on the subject and uncover some of the genes that might contribute to the development of the disease. Mutations in three genes, CHD8, SNC2A, and KATNAL2 seem to have a significant role, according to investigators from Autism Sequencing Consortium (ASC). The genes were found through an advanced genomics technology known as exome sequencing which analyzed proteins that make up the genome.

Though genetic mutations account only for a small percentage of children with autism, the findings are an extremely important part in understanding the biological causes of the disease. It appears that the previous hypothesis stating if the father is over the age of 35 the risks are higher has also been confirmed.

Dr. Buxbaum, who founded the research explains the relevance of the current findings: ”When the same mutations are found in multiple affected children and none are found in children without autism, we believe that we have identified mutations that collectively affect a higher proportion of individuals with autism. Our studies revealed that the proteins encoded by the mutated genes interact with each other far more than expected, demonstrating significantly greater connectivity than would be expected.”

It seems that a widely prescribed medicine, simvastatin, a cholesterol-lowering drug, could actually help fight early stages of Alzheimer’s. The drug works by improving the function of the blood vessels and could possibly  help improve learning and memory, researchers suggest.

One study performed on mice by researchers at McGill University, Montreal, showed that low-doses of simvastatin improved blood vessel function but not the memory. Another study performed on mice with Alzherimer’s, mice who presented a build-up of amyloid-beta protein in the brain, revealed that no effects emerged after the administration of simvastatin. However in a more recent study, the results of a high dose of  simvastatin treatment given to mice with ages between 6 months and 1 year old, mice suffering from Alzheimer’s disease, on a period of three to six months, revealed that the drug did help improve blood vessel function at brain level and that the young mice showed improvements in learning and memory testing, which could mean that an early treatment with simvastatin could have an impact on early Alzheimer’s stages.

According to DailyMail, Dr Edith Hamel said regarding the study that:
“This study shows that simvastatin can protect against some of the damaging effects of Alzheimer’s disease on nerve cells involved in memory, if administered early in the disease process.”

Dr Ling Li, an expert on Alzheimer’s disease from University of Minnesota said that:
“This joins an increasing number of pre-clinical studies demonstrating that statins, in particular simvastatin – which easily penetrates the brain – can counteract some aspects of Alzheimer’s disease, despite seeing no effects on amyloid-beta protein. The key now is to figure out how to translate these exciting findings from bench to bedside.”

Experts say that the studies suggest that simvastatin administration does not help people who are suffering from dementia, but that they do suggest that the timing of the drug administration could be vital and that the pressure should be placed of early detection of the disease in order for patients to be able to receive treatment from as early as possible.

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