One News

The University of East Anglia is about to begin a study on the effect of chocolate in reducing heart disease in women with type 2 diabetes. 150 women will be needed to eat chocolate daily for a whole year.

Now don’t go out a start buying up chocolate bars just yet because the chocolate off the shelf has all the goodness processed out of it. A Belgian chocolatier has developed a flavanoid rich chocolate for the study and 27 grams will be eaten daily.

Women that have been through menopause will be selected to eat the chocolate daily and still carry on with their cholesterol lowering medication. The chocolate will have added soy compounds as well. .
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The fourth outbreak of the bird flu has been confirmed by the South Korean government, following rumors that have been circulating over the last several days.

Despite having millions of poultry slaughtered and many areas under isolation, the outbreak was confirmed at a farm about 235 miles southwest of Seoul. Following preathvious outbreaks between 2006 & 2007, officials had been better prepared.

Several measures have been taken to ensure that the outbreak doesn’t spread, with shipments of birds being put on stand-by and the destruction of eggs. The Bird Flu so far had caused the deaths of 238 people around the world since 2003.
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Researchers at the Institute for Neurological Research at the University of California have announced that they have discovered a revolutionary new way of reducing the symptoms of Alzheimer’s by injecting patients with anti-arthritic drugs.

The scientists say the treatment reduces the symptoms of the disease in a matter of minutes and gave a 90 per cent respond rate to their trials using 50 patients in a private clinic.

The Alzheimer’s Society’s helpline phone lines were jammed within minutes of the BBC reporting the news by people demanding details of the treatment. Experts have urged caution saying more tests are needed before drawing conclusions.
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Australian men are in denial about being overweight according to new research. More than 60% of men have a Body Mass Index over 30 which makes them clinically overweight, but only 34% consider themselves fat.

Dr Katrina Giskes and Jessica Siu, from the Queensland University of Technology said”Men tend to underestimate their weight status, whereas overestimation was much more common among women,”This makes unhealthy male weight hard to deal with.

Professor Ian Caterson an obesity expert from the University of Sydney said”Australian men think a beer belly is normal as you age, and their female partners seems to say ‘that’s OK on him, he’s a man. Men still think that bigger is better.”
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Middlesbrough: A 31-year-old woman has been jailed for 4 years for child cruelty and administering a noxious substance after she convinced doctors her normal son needed a medication for a fictitious condition and kept him in a wheelchair for 5 years.

Authorities were contacted after she accidentally overdosed her son on the medication. She told a psychiatrist that she invented medical problems for her son so that he would depend on her and never leave home. She was found not to be mentally ill.

“She succeeded in engendering in him the belief that he needed a wheelchair… for 5

Pakistan has fallen victim to human-to-human bird flu transmission for the first time, with various members of the one family being killed by the virus late last year. The incident, and the way the flu was transmitted, was confirmed by the WHO.

The region was hit by the avian flu virus last year and officials took drastic measures to control the spread of the virus, culling thousands of birds. The father in the family in question was a poultry worker who seems to have passed on the virus.

While he survived, three of his brothers fell victim for the disease. He was the only person in the family to have been in contact with birds.
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Resistant hypertension is a condition which can be fatal and requires specialist treatment. If the patient has this type of blood pressure usually three or more medications are being taken and the problem still persists.

The American Heart Association states in it’s guidelines that high blood pressure afflicts 30% of people. About 1 billion people are affected globally by high blood pressure. Causes may be due to high salt intake and sleep apnea.

Resistant Hypertension may also have a hormonal underlying cause and kidney problems and diabetes may also be likely culprits. Dr. Calhoun of Alabama’s University says specialist tailored treatment is the best option.
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New methods of contraception were presented at “Future of male Contraception” conference, held in Seattle.

Men will be able to use non-hormonal pills, sperm blockers, testosterone-like pills and home sperm tests for contraception.

Among men, more than half agreed to use male contraception. Read more »

South Africa, a country still rife with sexual taboo, has hosted its first sex fair. The fair is based on one that has been running in Australia for over a decade. During arpatheid, there was a ban on pornography and erotica in South Africa.

At the fall of white minority rule, the sex industry in South Africa boomed, with sex shops and strip clubs opening across the country. However, sex is still not openly discussed in a country that is home to one of the worst AIDS epidemics.

According to organiser Silas Howarth said the Johannesburg “Sexpo SA” attracted some 40,000 people and he plans to hold fairs in Cape Town and Durban. Read more »

Ladies’ lives could be transformed by a new super pill being tested right now.
The pill called Lybrel is designed to be taken daily, and for woman at work this could be a real breakthrough.

This little pill could be the end of women being put in the disposition of sudden mood changes, bulging stomachs, pain and periods altogether. Skeptics oppose it as they are concerned that it could induce breast cancer.

Eric Hester, of Family and Youth Concern, said: “Being a teenager is complicated enough without having something like this tampering with hormones.” Read more »