Science & Health

Want to quit smoking? Do it gradually

New Delhi, Jan 29 (ANI): If you made a new year resolution to no longer take those tobacco puffs, tweak your plans a bit as a new study says that it's better to quit smoking gradually rather than at once.Though smoking is harmful in almost every respect, and causes hoard of health related issues like cancer, stroke, and other cardiovascular diseases, a new research suggests that smoking initially increases brain activity.Brain scans suggest that regular smokers experience an almost dementia-like condition in the early hours after quitting, which can be quite an unpleasant experience, and is probably one of the reasons why it can be very difficult to quit smoking once and for all.Habitual smokers seemingly need to continue smoking just to keep their brain functioning normally. With time, they may become less dependent on smoking, but the researchers still do not know how long it takes before the brain of a former smoker has regained its normal energy consumption and blood flow.

Jan 29, 2015

Swine Flu Claims 4 More Lives in Hyderabad; 22 Test Positive

Including the four people who succumbed to the viral infection on Wednesday, the city has lost 32 within one month.

Jan 29, 2015

Is Mumbai's Bottled Drinking Water Toxic? BARC Says it Contains High Levels of Carcinogens

Of the many samples tested by Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, five of them had four times more bromate than WHO's permissible limit.

Jan 29, 2015

Ancient Solar System with Five Earth-like Planets Found [VIDEO]

Discovery of a new solar system that has five Earth-sized planets orbiting around an ancient star suggests life existed long before than it was previously believed.

Jan 29, 2015

Chewing Gum Eliminates about 100 Million Bacteria in 10 Minutes

In a study published in PLOS ONE, chewing of gum helped eliminate about 100 million oral bacteria in 10 minutes.

Jan 29, 2015

Ebola Death Toll Nears 8,800, Says WHO

The deadly virus, so far, has infected 22,057 people across the whole world, mainly in three West African countries Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea.

Jan 28, 2015

Swine Flu Outbreak Takes its Toll in India; 75 Killed in 1 Month, 70 Fresh Cases Reported

Delhi, Telangana, Rajasthan and Haryana are among the worst-hit states.

Jan 28, 2015

Medics See Red Over Govt Move to Give Priority to Indians in Organ Transplants

The doctors of MCI feel that the organ transplantation policy needs to be re-framed in a manner that no discrimination between patients takes place.

Jan 28, 2015

Study Links Sugary Drinks to Earlier Menstruation

Girls who consumed 1.5 servings of sugary drinks daily attained puberty 2.7 months before girls who limited their sugary intake to two or less a week.

Jan 28, 2015

Mega Blizzard Juno Neither 'Epic' Nor 'Historic'; Hilarious Responses of New Yorkers [PHOTOS]

New York's blizzard of 2015, dubbed as "snowmageddon", failed to live up to the hype.

Jan 28, 2015

New Research on Dementia Warns against Common Medicines like Benadryl

In a study published in JAMA Internal Medicine, the damages caused by the so-called anticholinergic medications remained permanent and didn't get repaired even after people stopped using them.

Jan 28, 2015

Do Not Take Heartburn Lightly; Could be Early Sign of Stomach Cancer: Experts

A cancer campaign organised by Public Health England on Monday urged people to seek medical help if they get heartburn continuously for three weeks and also experience difficulty swallowing food.

Jan 27, 2015

How what you eat can impact your brain health

New Delhi, 27 Jan (ANI): A new study describes that what we eat are responsible for our gut bacteria which has a significant impact on behavior and brain health. The study presents the most up-to-date understanding of the relationship between the proteins produced by intestinal bacteria and the human central nervous system and explores the various mechanisms through which the microbiome can influence the brain: by stimulating and over-stimulating the immune system, releasing hormones identical to those made by the human body, or through stimulation that sends signals to the brain. The new study describes many ways gut bacteria could impact normal brain activity and development, affect sleep and stress responses, play a role in a variety of diseases, and be modified through diet for therapeutic use.

Jan 27, 2015

New Technology to Unboil Boiled Eggs; Expected to Help Cancer Treatment

The ground-breaking innovation, which involves refolding of proteins, is expected to help reduce costs involved in cancer treatments and reutilize valuable molecular proteins that often go wasted today.

Jan 27, 2015

Historic Blizzard Juno in New York; 'City that Never Sleeps' Takes a Break [PHOTOS]

U.S. Northeast corridor states likely to be hit by around two feet of snow and frigid temperature, marking Juno a historic blizzard.

Jan 27, 2015