If you, or someone in your family, smokes and you have children, then it is important to ensure that they are not the recipients of , which is classified as a known human (Group A) carcinogen by the U.S.

Environmental Protection Agency. Secondhand smoke is scientifically correlated with a range of illnesses from asthma to cancer to heart disease, and it is even more damaging to children whose lungs and immune systems are still developing. Given the statistics, the less exposure your kids have, the better. Read the rest of this entry »

Many of us have a phobia – an extreme or irrational fear – of something. Most of the time we can live with such fears, but in some cases they can take over a person’s life. Luckily, help is at hand.

What is a phobia?

A phobia is an intense fear or feeling of anxiety that occurs only in a particular situation that frightens you. Read the rest of this entry »

US researchers writing in a leading journal concluded that a new form of pelleted tobacco product that in some cases looks like candy could poison children and lure young people into nicotine addiction.

You can read about the study, by researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH), the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Northern Ohio Poison Control Center and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), online in the 19 April ahead of print issue of Pediatrics. Read the rest of this entry »

If more women quit smoking before they became pregnant, it would save infant lives, concludes a new study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Despite a decline over the past decade in the number of women who smoke during pregnancy, smoking is still a major cause of newborn deaths, early births and babies born with low birth weight. Read the rest of this entry »

Allopurinol has been available for the last 40 years to treat gout

A drug commonly used to treat gout can also relieve angina, researchers say.

Allopurinol is inexpensive compared with some other angina drugs and appears to work by reducing the energy needs of the heart, the Lancet reports.

The severe chest pain of angina occurs when the heart muscle is deprived of blood – and therefore oxygen. Read the rest of this entry »

American scientists say they have developed a vaccine which has prevented breast cancer from developing in mice.

The researchers – whose findings are published in the journal, Nature Medicine – are now planning to conduct trials of the drug in humans. Read the rest of this entry »

THE UK’s first national sleep survey has found that Aberdeen is bottom of the league when it comes to getting a good night’s rest.

The Great British Sleep Survey, conducted by Professor Colin Espie, director of the University of Glasgow Sleep Centre, found the average sleep satisfaction score for Aberdonians was only 62 per cent. Read the rest of this entry »