Health Glance
Researchers from the University of Pennsylvania have found that antidepressant drugs do little to nothing for people with mild to moderate depression. Countering the belief that medication helps everyone with depression, Robert DeRubeis and his colleagues found that only in very severe cases of depression do antidepressants offer any sort of perceived benefit.
Antidepressants simply don't work on most patients, study finds
GM crops cause liver and kidney damage
A report published in the International Journal of Microbiology has verified once again that Monsanto's genetically modified (GM) crops are causing severe health problems. A legal challenge issued against Monsanto forced the multi-national agriculture giant to release raw data revealing that animals fed its patented GM corn suffered liver and kidney damage within just three months.
Environmental Protection Agency will list Bisphenol 'chemical of concern'
The Environmental Protection Agency announced Monday that it is formally listing Bisphenol A -- a chemical found widely in consumer goods -- as a "chemical of concern."The chemical is added to plastics to harden them, and has been used in soda cans, baby bottles and food containers. It is so widespread that 90 percent of Americans show traces of it in their urine. But, in recent years, studies have linked BPA to heart disease and cancer in humans, and to abnormal development in animals.
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Junk food 'is as addictive as heroin and cigarettes'
Juunk food may be as addictive as heroin and tobacco, a study has shown.
Obesity researchers found fatty and sugary snacks trigger the same 'pleasure centres' in the brain that drive people into drug addiction - making them binge on unhealthy food.
The findings could partly explain the soaring obesity rates in Britain and the success of fast food outlets. Experts studied rats fed on cheesecake, bacon and sausages. Soon after the experiments began the animals began to bulk up and show signs of addiction.
'It presents the most thorough and compelling evidence that drug addiction and obesity are based on the same underlying neurobiological mechanisms,' Professor Paul Kenny said.
Texas newborn denied health insurance over pre-existing condition
New federal legislation that will prevent insurance companies from denying children coverage based on a pre-existing condition comes too late for the Tracys. The legislation, passed by Congress and signed by President Barack Obama this week, won't go into effect until September.
Without surgery, babies with this condition often die soon after birth, although some may live as long as a year, said Dr. Steve Muyskens, a pediatric cardiologist.
No more daily jabs or endless blood tests... The 30-minute op to give diabetics their lives back
We can also offer a pancreas transplant, as the pancreas contains the insulin-making cells, but this is major surgery with a three-to-six month recovery time.
But with islet cell transplantation we transplant just the islet cells which make insulin, instead of the entire pancreas.
There are risks - the patient needs to take immunosuppressants for life, to stop the body rejecting the donor cells, leaving them vulnerable to anaemia, infection and cancer.
The transplant revolution
A 10-year-old boy has undergone pioneering surgery in which his own body worked as a "bioreactor" to help a donated windpipe, seeded with his own stem cells, grow into a fully functioning organ.
The boy, who is British, is the first child in the world to undergo the revolutionary transplantation. The development takes transplant surgery a step closer to the goal of replacing damaged or worn-out organs with functioning replacements that are not rejected by the body, which are in increasing demand as life expectancy grows.
It also opens up the prospect of treating damaged organs with stem cells to stimulate self-repair, potentially avoiding the need for a transplant.
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