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Drishya Nair
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Maternal Smoking May Affect Reading Skills in Children: Study
By Drishya Nair | Nov 19, 2012 06:23 AM ESTSmoking is harmful to anyone. But the ill effects of maternal smoking are particularly severe, as the consequences and harm to the unborn child may last for a lifetime. A new research by scientists from Yale School of Medicine reveals that children born to mothers who smoked more than one pack per day during pregnancy have trouble in reading and comprehension. A test conducted by the researchers showed that such children did not score well on tests designed to measure how accurately a child reads aloud and comprehends what they read, Yale News reported.
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Feeding Infants Fish May Reduce Their Chance of Contracting Asthma: Study
By Drishya Nair | Nov 19, 2012 02:24 AM ESTA new study by Dutch researchers suggests that if children are fed fish in the first year of their life, it reduces their chances of contracting asthma in the future. The study was released Friday. Asthma affects over 40 million people around the world. "Asthma is a disorder that causes the airways of the lungs to swell and narrow, leading to wheezing, shortness of breath, chest tightness, and coughing," the U.S. Public Health Med website states.
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Is Your Child's Daycare Making him Fat?
By Drishya Nair | Nov 19, 2012 02:05 AM ESTWith the rising number of obese children and increasing evidence of obesity causing health issues in children, scientists around the world are constantly working to find the various factors that may be responsible for childhood obesity. A new study by researchers at the University of Montreal and the CHU Sainte-Justine Hospital Research Centre suggests that children left at daycare on a regular basis are 50 percent more likely to be overweight as compared to those who stayed at home with their parents.
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Vitamin C Deficiency During Pregnancy May Cause Irreversible Brain Damage in Children
By Drishya Nair | Nov 17, 2012 06:39 AM ESTA new study suggests that a deficiency of vitamin C in women during pregnancy could harm the foetal brain and once the damage is done, it cannot be reversed with vitamin C supplements after the birth. The research by scientists at the University of Copenhagen warns women of omitting the daily vitamin pills. "Even marginal vitamin C deficiency in the mother stunts the foetal hippocampus, the important memory centre, by 10-15 per cent, preventing the brain from optimal development," says Professor Jens Lykkesfeldt. He heads the group of scientists that reached this conclusion by studying pregnant guinea pigs and their pups, Medical Xpress reports.
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Health Ministry in Cyprus to Launch Anti-Smoking Campaign
By Drishya Nair | Nov 17, 2012 05:45 AM ESTLatest statistics which reveal that up to one in three secondary school students in Cyprus are smokers have pushed the health ministry and the police to launching an anti-smoking campaign. "Smoking is the only cause of death that is preventable in the world today. It kills six million people a year, 600,000 of which have only been exposed to passive smoking. Unless urgent action is taken, tobacco will kill more than one billion people this century," said health minister Androulla Agrotou.
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A Child's Fear of the dentist May Have Come From Parents: Study
By Drishya Nair | Nov 17, 2012 05:42 AM ESTIt is not uncommon to see children starting to cry at the very mention of visiting a dentist. According to a new study, the fear of visiting a dentist may have been passed on to the child by the family members and the study analyzes the different roles that mothers and fathers might play in such kind of an emotional transmission. The study conducted by scientists at the Rey Juan Carlos University of Madrid emphasizes on the significant role played by parents in the transmission of dentist fear in their family.
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Children With Non-Cardiac Chest Pain May Have Anxiety
By Drishya Nair | Nov 17, 2012 05:40 AM ESTA study by researchers from University of Georgia has found that children who complain of chest pain could have psychological factors affecting them. The university psychologists have discovered that children who are diagnosed with a noncardiac chest pain have higher levels of anxiety and depression than those who are diagnosed with innocent heart murmurs-the noise of normal turbulent blood flow in a structurally normal heart, Medical Xpress reported.
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Elders Residing In High Air Pollution Area May Suffer from Decreased Cognitive Functionality
By Drishya Nair | Nov 17, 2012 05:34 AM ESTA new study, presented at The Gerontological Society of America's 65th Annual Scientific Meeting, San Diego reveals that elders who live in areas with high air pollution may have a decreased cognitive functionality. "As a result of age-related declines in health and functioning, older adults are particularly vulnerable to the hazards of exposure to unhealthy air," Jennifer Ailshire, PhD, a National Institute on Aging postdoctoral fellow in the Center for Biodemography and Population Health and the Andrus Gerontology Center at the University of Southern California, said.
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Children Who Learn to Swim Early are Smarter: Study
By Drishya Nair | Nov 17, 2012 02:24 AM ESTA new study suggests that children who learn to swim at a young age are smarter and more skilled than others. A research by scientists from the Griffith Institute for Educational Research, which surveyed parents of 7000 children from Australia, New Zealand and the US revealed the findings. The children in the study were all below five years of age and the study lasted for a span of three years.
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Moving to Better Neighborhoods Boosts Physical and Mental Health
By Drishya Nair | Nov 17, 2012 02:01 AM ESTResearchers at the University of Chicago claim that moving from adverse living conditions to a slightly better environment may have long-term physical and mental benefits in low-income adults. The move may also make them happy though their economic status will not improve. Researchers found that moving from a high poverty area to a low poverty one, without any increase in the income of the families impacted their happiness equivalent to an increase of $13000 in the annual family income.
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Music May Help Children with ADHD Concentrate Better
By Drishya Nair | Nov 06, 2012 08:31 AM ESTA new study has revealed that music may have similar effects as medication for children with ADHD. The study, led by FIU Center for Children and Families Director William E. Pelham Jr., aimed at examining how distractions such as music and television affect children with ADHD.
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Frail Elderly More Likely to Have 'Food Insufficiency': Study
By Drishya Nair | Nov 06, 2012 08:26 AM ESTA national study of the elderly in America reveals that "frail" citizens with limited mobility and low physical activity are more likely to report having a "food insufficiency" when compared to those who are not frail. According to the study which is nationally representative and involved 4700 older citizens, frail elderly are five times more likely to report lack of food than others. People included in the study were 60 years and above and the data used for the study was from the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.
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Women's Body Concerns Rooted in Their Friends
By Drishya Nair | Nov 06, 2012 08:19 AM ESTWomen are always chasing that perfect figure, thanks to the media's definition of "beauty." From being anorexic to undergoing several surgeries, women take extreme steps to look their best. On similar grounds, a new study suggests that what women think their friends feel about their body, influences their own body concerns. The study, by Dr. Louise Wasylkiw and Molly Williamson from Mount Alison University in Canada, examines the role played by friends in the concerns that young women have about their bodies. The study shows that friends play a great role in how young women and girls feel about themselves, including their perception about their own body weight, shape and size.
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Encourage Children to Eat at Home for Lower Calories and Higher Nutrient Intake: Study
By Drishya Nair | Nov 06, 2012 06:31 AM ESTMeals cooked at home are the best, for they are low on calories and high in their nutrient content. A new study reveals that those eating food outside tend to consume more calories than those who stick to home-cooked food. Since children and adolescents, compared to adults, are more likely to eat outside at either fast food or full-service restaurants, they are more likely to have poorer nutrient-intake, a new study suggests. Researchers from the University of Illinois at Chicago in their study examined calorie intake, diet quality and consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages, particularly soda, on days when youngsters ate out as compared to days they did not.
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People with Healthy Hearts Live 14 Years Longer
By Drishya Nair | Nov 06, 2012 02:01 AM ESTA new research suggests that one can add up to 14 years to their life if only they possess a healthy heart by the time they reach middle age. According to a new Northwestern Medicine study, when compared to people who are at risk of two or more cardiovascular disease (CVD) factors, those with a heart free of such risk may actually live longer. "We found that many people develop cardiovascular disease as they live into old age, but those with optimal risk factor levels live disease-free longer," said John T. Wilkins, M.D., first author of the study. "We need to do everything we can to maintain optimal risk factors so that we reduce the chances of developing cardiovascular disease and increase the chances that we'll live longer and healthier."
