• More Sugar in Food Supply = More Diabetes

    Added On : 4th March 2013

    It's a common belief that type 2 diabetes is caused by eating too much sugar. While it's not nearly that simple, a new study bolsters the connection between the disorder and sugar consumption.

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  • Doc Declares Living Woman Dead...

    Added On : 3rd March 2013

    Doc Declares Living Woman Dead, Refuses Treatment

    JEDDAH — A doctor at a private hospital incorrectly diagnosed a woman as dead and refused to admit her to the emergency unit.

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  • Skin Cancer 'Able to Fight Off Body's Immune System'

    Added On : 3rd March 2013

    A deadly form of skin cancer is able to fend off the body's immune system, UK researchers have found.

    Analysis of tumour and blood samples shows that melanoma knocks out the body's best immune defence.

    A potential test could work out which patients are likely to respond to treatment, the Journal of Clinical Investigation reports.

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  • Brain Stimulation Plus Drug May Fight Depression

    Added On : 3rd March 2013

    Treating major depression safely and affordably is a challenge. Now, Brazilian researchers have found that two techniques often used individually produce better results when used together.

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  • Sana’a Medical City Named After King Abdullah

    Added On : 2nd March 2013

    RIYADH — Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah has given his approval to name after him a medical city being built in the Yemeni capital Sana’a with Saudi aid.

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  • Generation X-Large: Fatter Children Force...

    Added On : 2nd March 2013

    Generation X-Large: Fatter Children Force Stores to Revamp Sizing

    Clothing chains have been forced to rip up their sizing system for children to reflect the fact youngsters are now taller, wider and heavier.

    A new template for those aged four to 16 has been devised for retailers to reflect major changes to body shapes over the last 35 years.

    Girls of 11 are an average of four inches wider around the waist, while boys are generally bigger through the waist and chest.

    he figures add to evidence that decades of fast food, a couch-potato culture and a decline in school sport have remodelled the nation’s youth.

    Six of the country’s biggest children’s fashion chains – Marks & Spencer, Next, George at Asda, Tesco, Monsoon and the Shop Direct group – will use the new guidelines.

    Full body 3D scans were carried out on 2,885 youngsters across the country to produce the updated size regime.

    The last time a comprehensive survey of children’s shapes was carried out was by the British Standards Institution in 1978.

    Since then, girls of 11 have plumped up to the extent that the waist is an average of just over 10cm – around four inches – wider at 70.2cm (27.6in).

    At a time when many youngsters are going through puberty at an earlier age, the average chest measurement for the 11-year-old girl is up by 7.09cm (2.8in) to 78.4cm(30.8in).

    The average boy’s chest is now 9.69cm (3.8in) bigger at 78.35cm (30.8in), while the waist is up by 8.53cm (3.4in).

    The figures were compiled by Shape GB, a collaboration between retailers, several academic bodies, clothing size experts Alvanon and scanner experts.

    Alvanon president, Ed Gribbin, said official sizing standards were ‘quite outdated’, leading to ‘significant inconsistency in sizing and fit across clothing brands and retailers’.

    ‘This creates confusion and frustration for shoppers, not to mention a high percentages of returns which adds cost to retailers that may get passed on to consumers.’

    He added: ‘Most studies, including the World Health Organisation, cite two main reasons for the fact that children in developed countries are getting larger.

    ‘The first is sedentary lifestyles, as children are more in tune with their computers than they are an active lifestyle.

     The second is the higher sugar content in many diets. Processed and fast foods are all contributing factors.’

    The scanning was run by Select Research. Its managing director, Richard Barnes, said the information could be used to find ways to tackle childhood obesity.

    The six retailers which participated in the project sell 48 per cent of children’s clothes in the UK.
    Other stores are expected to take up the new guidelines.

     

     

    Sean Poulter - MailOnline

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  • Asthma May Raise Risk of COPD, Emphysema

    Added On : 2nd March 2013

    Asthma Patients May Be Up to 17 Times More Likely to Develop Incurable Lung Diseases

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  • Al-Qurayyat Hospital Hands Over Wrong Baby

    Added On : 1st March 2013

    TURAIF — A nurse at Al-Qurayyat General Hospital accidentally handed over a newborn baby girl to the wrong parents, Al-Watan daily reported on Thursday.

    The incident happened several months after two babies were swapped by mistake at a Turaif hospital, which was criticized by the Northern Borders Health Affairs.

    Several hours after Thamer Al-Sharari and his family left the hospital with the baby girl, the hospital administration realized their error and contacted them.

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  • Video Games May Boost Focus...

    Added On : 1st March 2013

    Video Games May Boost Focus in Kids With Dyslexia

    Here's one possible treatment for dyslexia that kids won't complain about: video games.

    Italian researchers report that they found that children with the reading disability scored better on tests after they played an action video game for hours, possibly because their minds temporarily became more focused.

    It's not clear if video games directly improved the dyslexia in the kids. If it did, no one knows how long the effect might last or whether the strategy is a better approach than traditional treatments. In other words, dyslexic children shouldn't necessarily play a couple of video games and call their reading specialist in the morning.

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  • Higher Indoor Humidity Levels Might Slow Flu

    Added On : 1st March 2013

    As the flu season continues to pack a punch for some Americans, new research suggests there might be a simple way to reduce the risk for infection in an indoor setting: hike up humidity levels.

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