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Washington:
Scientists from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the University
of Southern California (USC) have outright rejected the popular notion
that certain visual processes cause the spelling and reading woes commonly
suffered by dyslexics. Scientists have said that a problem more generic
in nature may be at the root of the learning disorder in dyslexics.
The report appears in the journal Nature Neuroscience. Researchers have
said that misfiring neurons make it difficult for dyslexics to pick
out relevant visual and auditory cues from the expanse of surrounding
sounds and patterns, or "noise". This, the researchers claim hampers
their reading abilities also. For their study, Sperling studied 28 dyslexic
and 27 non-dyslexic children, and showed them a pattern on a computer
screen showing alternating light and dark bars. Experiments revealed
that dyslexic children were as able as their peers to pick out both
displays, but when the patterns were partially obscured with patches
of "noise," or television static- like bright and dark spots, the dyslexic
children found it difficult to isolate the patterns. Researchers further
say that while dyslexic children suffer little from spoken languages,
they do suffer a great deal from in their reading abilities. "For some
reason dyslexic children are not developing knowledge of phonemes. This
has little impact on their spoken language, but really interferes with
learning to read," the journal quoted Mark Seidenberg, a UW-Madison
psychology professor, and co-author of the study as saying. Researchers
say that the basic aim of their study is to understand the happenings
at the neurological level related to reading problem. "We really want
to understand what is going on at the neurological level that's leading
to reading problems. We think that if a child has a hard time ignoring
'noise,' it could distort speech perception and complicate [the recognition]
of sound segments, which is essential for learning how to read," the
journal quoted Anne Sperling, the lead author of the study as saying.
Experts believe that this study will help them to better understand
dyslexic children and also enable teachers to build categories for better
helping them. Ibuprofen linked to increased breast cancer risk (Go To Top) London:
Women who regularly take the painkiller ibuprofen are at a greater
risk of developing breast cancer, according to scientists. The researchers
were shocked by study findings showing a small but significantly increased
danger because until now a lesser risk was expected as ibuprofen is
a non-steroidal, anti- inflammatory drug of a type previously thought
to suppress the cancer-causing gene Cox-2. The study followed more than
114,000 women aged 22-85, all free from breast cancer at the start of
the trials. During the six- year survey in California, 2,391 of the
women contracted breast cancer. The study report, in the Journal of
the National Cancer Institute, says, "We observed a statistically significant
increased risk of breast cancer, especially non-localised breast cancer,
in long-term daily users of ibuprofen." "The development of breast cancer
is closely linked to hormone levels and their fluctuations, which can
be affected by a range of things, including drugs," Prof John Toy, medical
director of Cancer Research UK, said. "Most drugs reach the market place
without the benefit of long- term trials on humans, so problems may
take years to emerge," he added. Depression linked to increase in brain fatty acid (Go To Top) Washington:
A new study by a team of researchers from Israel has revealed that
depression is linked to fatty acids found in the brain. According to
the study published in the Journal of Lipid Research, the researchers
discovered that rats exhibiting the signs of depression increase levels
of the omega-6 fatty acid, arachidonic acid, in their brains. During
recent years, omega-3 fatty acids have become popular as numerous studies
have shown that supplementing diets with fish oil reduces the risk of
heart disease and prevents arthritis. There is also evidence that depression
may be associated with a dietary deficiency in omega-3 fatty acids.
"The 'phospholipid hypothesis' of depression postulates that decreased
omega-3 fatty acid intake, and hence, perhaps decreased brain omega-3
fatty acid content, could be responsible for the disease," said Dr.
Pnina Green of Tel Aviv University. "In humans, because of high dietary
variability and the obvious inability to examine brain tissue, the theory
is backed up mainly by indirect evidence. The availability of the Flinders
Sensitive Line rat, an animal model of depression, overcomes both these
obstacles," he said. The researchers used the Flinders Sensitive Line
rats to investigate the link between omega-3 fatty acids and depression.
They examined the brains of the depressed rats and compared them with
brains from normal rats and found that the main difference between the
two types of rats was in omega-6 fatty acid levels and not omega-3 fatty
acid levels. Brains from rats with depression had higher concentrations
of arachidonic acid, a long-chain unsaturated metabolite of omega-6
fatty acid. "The finding that in the depressive rats the omega-3 fatty
acid levels were not decreased, but arachidonic acid was substantially
increased as compared to controls is somewhat unexpected. But the finding
lends itself nicely to the theory that increased omega-3 fatty acid
intake may shift the balance between the two fatty acid families in
the brain, since it has been demonstrated in animal studies that increased
omega-3 fatty acid intake may result in decreased brain arachidonic
acid," said Dr. Green. Student's exam performance depends on month of birth! (Go To Top) London:
A recent research has revealed that children's performance in exams
depends a lot on the month of their birth. Exam board Edexcel has in
its study found that students born late in the school year are at a
disadvantage because of being 'young for their year', to the extent
of making the difference between passing and failing. The study of 300,000
GCSE maths and English grades has revealed that those born in September
were 20 percent more likely to receive an A grade compared to those
who were born in August, that is those who were younger by nearly an
year in the same school batch. Statistics revealed that 9.1 per cent
of pupils born in September were awarded the top grade in maths GCSE,
compared with just 7.5 per cent of those born in August. The trend was
not only repeated with the crucial B and C grades, but also revealed
identical results for exams taken even in the summer of 2003, reports
the Daily Mail. Education experts however opine, that children are being
disadvantaged by the way the school year is structured, where pupils
born in September are the oldest in the class while August children
are the youngest, putting them at a disadvantage in terms of confidence
and physical development. Aspirin may not be good for elderly people (Go To Top) Washington:
All that glitters may not be necessarily gold, this saying may have
indeed been pushing researchers to rethink about the big claims of Aspirin.
As the actual benefits of giving low dose of this pill to healthy people
above 70 years of age, to prevent heart disease, are offset by increased
cases of serious bleeding, says a study. In a population of 20,000 men
and women, within the age group of 70-74, with no cardiovascular disease,
the researchers simulated the broad implications of routine use of aspirin.
The study was published online by the British Medical Journal. The derived
statistics also indicate that the overall balance of advantages and
disadvantages could tip either way. Therefore, the temptation to blindly
implement low dose aspirin for prevention of heart disease in elderly
people must be resisted, say the authors of the study. These findings
reinforce the need for a clinical trial to establish the actual benefit
or harm of aspirin in elderly people, and underscore the importance
of targeting preventive treatment to those who are likely to benefit
most, the authors said in their concluding remarks. Human cells may hold the key to silencing HIV genes (Go To Top) Washington:
In a breakthrough research scientists have found that humans use
an immune defense mechanism common in plants and invertebrates to battle
a virus. The new finding that human cells can silence an essential part
of HIV's genetic make- up, could have important implications for the
treatment of people infected with HIV. Led by Kuan-Teh Jeang, M.D, Ph.D.,
of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID),
part the National Institutes of Health, the researchers published their
findings in this week's issue of the journal Immunity. "This research
suggests that a novel approach to HIV therapy targeting a stable component
of HIV might be feasible," says NIAID Director Anthony S. Fauci, M.D.
The phenomenon, called RNA silencing, was detected first in plants and
later in insects. Although plants and insects lack the sophisticated
immune defenses of higher organisms, they nevertheless successfully
battle viruses by detecting, and then silencing, viral genetic material.
The most unexpected finding, according to Dr. Jeang, was the way HIV
uses one of its proteins, called Tat, to suppress the silencing efforts
of the cell. HIV is well known for evading drugs by quickly mutating
its genes. However, the virus could not evade the newly discovered sequence-specific
siRNA attack by mutation. Instead, HIV required a virally encoded protein
to blunt the assault. Dr. Jeang believes that Tat may be shielding a
rare HIV Achilles' heel, a genetic sequence that, for functional reasons,
the virus cannot change in order to escape siRNA attack. This novel
siRNA sequence discovered by the team may lead to the development of
new RNAi-based drugs to which HIV would not be able to develop resistance
by simple mutation. Grapefruit extract can cure stomach ulcers (Go To Top) Washington:
Extracts of grapefruit have strong antioxidant properties that can
have healing effects on stomach ulcers, according to a new study. Grapefruit
seed extract (GSE) contains nutrients with antioxidant properties that
maintain digestive health. While grapefruit is often associated with
acidity and gastric irritation, grape fruit extract actually possesses
antibacterial and antioxidative properties that calm the gastric tract.
Researchers from Jagiellonian University Medical College in Poland examined
the beneficial healing effects of the extract on pre-existing gastric
ulcers. Researchers concluded that treatment with GSE does accelerate
ulcer healing via a mechanism involving COX-1 and COX-2 activity, combined
with effects on gastric acid, gastric blood flow at the ulcer margin
and release of gastrin, which promotes ulcer healing. "Because grapefruit
is acidic in nature, people with ulcers might assume that they should
not include the fruit in their diet," said Thomas Brzozowski M.D., Ph.D.,
of the Jagiellonian University Medical College and lead author of the
study. "However, this research suggests the exact opposite. The antioxidant
properties found in grapefruit and the ability of this fruit extract
to limit oxidative stress in the ulcerative gastric mucosa have therapeutic
properties that, when combined with additional therapies, can be especially
beneficial for healing of gastric ulcers," he added. A medicine that prevents traveller's diarrhoea (Go To Top) Washington:
At last there is an antibiotic which can be safely used to prevent
attacks of diarrhea that remain the biggest worry of millions of vacationers
and business travellers around the globe. "Our findings show that rifaximin
is an ideal drug for prevention of traveler's diarrhoea, an illness
that affects an estimated 20 million international travellers each year,"
said Herbert Dupoint, the lead author and a director of Center for Infectious
Diseases at the University of Texas School of Public Health of Houston
and chief of internal medicine at St.Luke's Episcopal Hospital. This
medication's effectiveness, lack of side effects, and its ability to
avoid development of resistant strains of bacteria will allow us to
change the way we manage this disease," DuPont added. The clinical trial
followed 210 U.S. students studying Spanish in Mexico during the summer
of 2003. Only 14.74 percent of those, who took a daily dose of rifaximin
for two weeks, suffered from diarrhoea, while 53.7 percent of those
who took placebos came down with the illness. This also included nausea,
vomiting and stomach pain. The study was reported in the Annals of Internal
Medicine by University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston. Traveller's
diarrhea has been treated for years by antibiotics because it is caused
by bacteria found mainly in local food. DuPont's group previously showed
that rifaximin is safe and effective therapy for the illness, in their
studies carried out in India, Mexico, Peru, and Kenya. "If it is found
that this drug prevents irritable bowel syndrome, then rifaximin prevention
of travelers' diarrhea will go from a good idea to a critical health
safeguard," DuPont said. References: Dyslexia sound, Ibuprofen breast cancer, depression brain fatty acid, exam performance birth, aspirin elderly people, HIV genes, stomach ulcers grapefruit extract, traveller's diarrhoea, Science, Research, Science News, India, India News, Newspaper, Indian, News, Travel News, India Travel Times, Travel,Tourism, Tour, Tourist, India, Times, News, Hotels, Airlines, Ayurveda, Yoga, Hindu, Taj Mahal, Cuisine, Festival, Temple, Trekking, Hindu, Bharatanatyam, Kathakali, Odissi, Dance, Shimla,Varanasi, Kullu, Manali, Dehra Dun, Mussourie, Mussoorie, Haridwar, Hardwar, Rishikesh, Nainital, Delhi, Goa, Kovalam, Darjeeling, Bodh Gaya, Kancheepuram, Kanchipuram, Thekkady, Badrinath, Amar Nath,Vaishno Devi, Tirupati, Sabarimala, Guruvayoor, Kanyakumari, Kodaikanal, Ooty, Chennai, |
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