Study Shows Possible Health Risks in Kids From Chemicals Used to Make Nonstick Cookware By Salynn Boyles Sept. 7, 2010 — Exposure to chemicals used in the manufacture of nonstick cookware and waterproof and stain-resistant products could be raising cholesterol levels in children, a new study suggests. Researchers analyzed blood levels of the chemicals perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluoroctanesulfonate (PFOS) in more than 12,000 kids living in West Virginia and Ohio. Those with the highest blood levels of the chemicals were also more likely to have abnormally high total cholesterol...

Company seeks approval to sell farmed fish that grows twice as fast as Atlantic salmon Using a gene from a Chinook salmon and DNA from a pout fish, a U.S.-based firm has engineered an Atlantic salmon that grows twice as fast as farmed salmon, and it’s headed to your dinner plate. The Center for Veterinary Medicine of the Food and Drug Administration has agreed to discuss and decide whether to approve the fish, which has been in development by Aqua Bounty Technologies Inc. for nearly 15 years. If it is approved, it will be the first genetically altered animal sold as food to people. Ron Stotish,...

OTTAWA — High levels of the stress hormone cortisol in hair may be a strong predictor of heart attacks months in advance, said Canadian researchers in the journal Stress. Issues such as jobs, marital or financial problems are linked to an increased risk for developing cardiovascular disease, including heart attacks. But until now a biological marker was not available to measure chronic stress and so predict — several months in advance — who may be most at risk of a heart attack. Read more…

(Reuters Health) – An antidepressant drug delivered through a patch on the skin is no better than placebo for helping smokers kick the habit, new research shows. Eldepryl (generic name selegiline) is used to treat Parkinson’s disease, depression, and dementia, in both pill and patch form. Nicotine craving is a major hurdle for smokers trying to abstain, and selegiline can help maintain levels of brain chemicals like dopamine that are reduced in the absence of nicotine. “That’s why we hoped that selegiline might reduce the cravings and urges associated with quitting and...

By Corey Binns Since last April, 19 cancer patients whose liver tumors hadn’t responded to chemotherapy have taken an experimental drug. Within weeks of the first dose, it appeared to work, by preventing tumors from making proteins they need to survive. The results are preliminary yet encouraging. With a slight redesign, the drug might work for hundreds of diseases, fulfilling the promise that wonder cures like stem cells and gene therapy have failed to deliver. The biotech company Alnylam announced in June that its drug ALN-VSP cut off blood flow to 62 percent of liver-cancer tumors in those...

You will be able to “grow your own transplant liver in a lab within just five years,” says the Daily Mail. This news story is based on research that demonstrated a method to develop skin cells into stem cells, which were then matured into liver cells. The researchers used this technique to develop lab-grown liver cells from patients with inherited liver diseases, which they hope might aid future research into diseases. They found that the new liver cells shared a number of characteristics with the patients’ liver cells. The method developed in this research looks likely to be an invaluable...

The lives of 10,000 patients could be saved each year by a “breakthrough pill”, according to the Daily Express. The news story comes from a study that looked at whether a drug called ivabradine could help prevent deaths or hospital admissions due to chronic heart failure. This relatively common condition occurs when the heart is no longer able to pump enough blood to meet the demands of the body. The study found that over an average of 23 months, patients taking the drug experienced fewer cardiovascular deaths or hospital admissions with worsening heart failure than people taking an inactive...

If you are worried about garlic breath, drink a glass of milk, say scientists who claim it can stop the lingering odour. In tests with raw and cooked cloves, milk “significantly reduced” levels of the sulphur compounds that give garlic its flavour and pungent smell. The authors told the Journal of Food Science it is the water and fat in milk that deodorises the breath. For optimum effect, sip the milk as you eat the garlic, they say. Mixing milk with garlic in the mouth before swallowing had a higher odour neutralising effect than drinking milk after eating the garlic in the trial. And...

For years, the myth has been spread that chocolate is a diet buster and absolutely has to be removed from your diet to lose weight. Whether you’re a chocoholic or just indulge from time to time, you should know that today’s research into chocolate is now connecting its consumption to lower weight. While moderation is still key, eating dark chocolate on a daily basis is more likely to result in weight loss than weight gain. Those conducting the studies still don’t have conclusive answers for “why” chocolate helps, but here are three theories that might explain. People Have a Sweet...

LOS ANGELES – Michael Douglas said Tuesday he felt optimistic about recovering from throat cancer but drew gasps when he told a television audience he had the most advanced stage. The 65-year-old “Wall Street” actor told TV talk-show host David Letterman that a biopsy indicated that his cancer was at stage 4, which he described as “intense, and so they’ve got to go at it …” Letterman asked whether stage 4 was a good diagnosis. “Um no,” Douglas replied, according to a transcript provided by CBS’ “Late Show with David Letterman.” Read more…