Body of Wealth

It seems now you can eliminate the risk of giving birth to babies with breast cancer genes. The technique, called preimplantation diagnosis (PGD), is used to screen human embryos for breast cancer genes called BRCA-1 and BRCA 2. The screening is conducted on In Vitro fertilized embryos. The embryos without the defective genes are identified and implanted in the womb of the mother. In this way the mother conceives a baby free from the breast cancer causing gene. PGD proved to be a very successful method in eliminating the occurrence of genetically inherited breast cancer from the lineage of a couple from London. They produced 11 embryos. Screening tests were conducted on the embryos by removing a single cell when they were three days old.

In a discovery that could help obese people and those afflicted with diabetes, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies has devised a new tablet that could help people reduce and burn fat. This, however, has openly been tested on mice and sedentary mice that took the tablet burned more fat and ran 44% farther and 23% longer than mice that didn’t. A second drug was also tried that gave better results and the mice could run 68% longer and 70% farther. The drugs may contain Resveratol, which is already being studied for anti-aging effects. The new drugs basically increase muscle endurance and thus increase metabolism as well. The drug, which is called the AICAR, might not only protect you against high-fat diet but also treat obesity. It might take a while before its efficacy and safety on humans is confirmed and could pave way for a new drug to help those who are obese. The researchers still insist exercise is always a better option than any tablet.

Image

Via: HuffingtonPost

Viagra, the drug which has changed the lives of lots of men and their women is under the limelight again. It is now debated whether this drug can boost the athletic ability of aspiring sportspersons. Most of us know a drug called paracetamol; it is commonly used for fever and decreases the body temperature. What happens if the same drug is taken by a normal person? Well, it has no effect! These drugs work only on a diseased body. It is the same with sildenafil (Viagra). It is a drug which dilates the blood vessels and allows more blood to certain body parts, which are not functioning optimally. Consequently, only those men who suffer from erectile dysfunction are most benefited by this drug. All others who take in this drug, even though they have a normal body function, may feel potentiated only due to the placebo effect. These second category men are ones who require a little psychological boost for their activities.

It is amazing, but it is a fact. Scientists have come up with a wonder drug that can create a kind of confidence in a human and can spread the sense of love and care within his mind and body.
According to Professor Zak, a professor of neuroscience at California’s Claremont Graduate University,

We’ve seen that it makes you care about the other person. It also increases your generosity towards that person. That’s why (the hormone) facilitates social interaction.

Many dreams of being a father have been made true by the process of replenishing ‘nurse-maid’ Sertoli cells; by researchers in Australia. The initiatives taken by researchers like Dr. Sarah Meachem, of Prince Henry’s Institute of Medical Research in Victoria and Professor Richard Sharpe, of the Medical Research Council’s human reproductive sciences unit in Edinburgh have discovered that the ‘nurse-maid’ Sertoli cells in the testes are sometimes absent in men; depriving them from being a father.

Parents are always panicky about the right kind of diet for their children and select the perfect one based on the nutritive qualities that provide strength and boost mental growth. Medical journals are scanned to get the healthiest food options which are immediately included in the diet. It is this fad that has got the parents to include more of oily fishes in the children’s diet to help increase their memory and fare better in examinations.

However, for a change this inclusion is actually nutritious and tasty. Fish, especially the oily one is said to be high in the Omega-3 fatty acids that provide the body with the essential antioxidants that slow up the ageing process and boost memory. The sale of Omega-3 capsules has seen a major surge in the recent years which can be attributed to the increased awareness about its role in memory enhancement. But the parents have found a cheaper and more organic alternative to these capsules in the oily fishes which is its main source.

A paraglider fails to control his chute and falls to the ground. The lower bones of his leg came through the knee and thighs. The man should have been screaming with pain or fainted from it. But no! Danny Penman had learnt hypnotism before and he psyched himself to believe that he was in a garden of flowers. He felt no pain after that.

This is a true tale. Hypnotism can be used as anaesthesia! Many doctors in Europe are using it. The benefits are obvious. It is cheap and it has no side effects. Some doctors use a local aesthetic while cutting the skin during surgery and nothing more. The patients are hypnotized during the operation and feel no pain.

For many of us, the day begins with a steaming cup of coffee. We get over our sleep hangovers and get geared for the day after tasting that special caffeine ambrosia. But now a research published in the June 25th issue of Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry implies that one can get over the stress caused due to lack of sleep by just smelling coffee!

Ageing is often related to degenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, but now a breakthrough is achieved in the research for treating these. Scientists have found a way of giving old and tired muscles, responsible for degeneration, a new lease of life.

An experiment was conducted on mice by tweaking its biochemical signals to increase the ability of its stem cells to restore the youthful vigor. Conducted by the University of California, Berkeley the study was published in the journal Nature. The study stated that adult stem cells play an important role in helping to repair the mature and differentiated cells which constitutes the body’s tissues. It identified two key regulatory pathways that could control the working of the adult stem cells thus, tricking them into making the repair work faster. The experiment revived the muscle tissue in the old mice making it as vigorous as its younger counterparts. This will also solve the ethical question in the use of stem cells derived from embryos as they make use of the individual’s own stem cells. According to one of the researcher Dr Morgan Carlson,

We are one step closer to having a point of intervention where we can rejuvenate the body’s own stem cells so we don’t have to suffer from some of the debilitating diseases associated with ageing.

The research now aims at finding the cell regeneration capacity of the young to adjust it when older, thus, avoiding muscle degeneration in older age.

Via: BBC

Image Credit: Wellcome

Cosmetic surgery, also known as plastic surgery, is the method of remolding the original physical features to acquire a look that is approved and appreciated by the society. The surgery was earlier recommended for those suffering with major burns or deformities to correct their looks, however, with time people have started using it to enhance their looks the way they want.

According to a new study published by the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS), the predicted number of people going under the knife would be well over 55 millions by 2015. This amounts to approximately one cosmetic surgery for every five Americans, including children. The most favored surgeries for women are breast augmentations, liposuctions and eyelid enhancements while that for men are liposuctions, eyelid enhancements and nose reshaping. In the non surgical category, however, Botox remains the favorite for both the genders.