A cheap and quick drugs test which allows parents to check whether their children have been using cocaine or cannabis has been developed by British scientists. Researchers have unveiled the £1.50 test, which takes five minutes and detects other illegal substances. The disposable drugs test analyses a droplet of saliva for any trace of drugs in a person’s system. Scientists say it has been proven to highlight the smallest amount of a drug such as a metabolite (small molecules) of cocaine. Suspicious parents can screen their children for the drugs by taking a swab of their saliva and placing...

Girls are starting puberty earlier, studies show, and some researchers speculate that rising obesity rates might be a factor. A new study finds there may be a link between early puberty and girls living in higher-income households without a biological father. The study, published this week in the Journal of Adolescent Health, looked at data on 444 ethnically diverse girls age 6 to 8, 80 of whom had no biological father living at home at the time of the study. Researchers noted the girls’ onset of puberty (breast and pubic hair development), body mass index, ethnicity and income. Among the...

Before you hunker down in your panic room, take a closer look at what the latest “superbug” really is. THE GIST A new gene gives bacteria resistance to almost every antibiotic there is. The drug-resistant gene can jump between completely unrelated types of bacteria. The public health threat is probably small in the United States, but the worldwide threat could be quite large. Bacteria have developed a new way to resist a sweeping array of antibiotics, raising alarms about the spread of infections that might defy nearly all treatments. Three Americans were recently diagnosed with the...

By Kate Kelland, Health and Science Correspondent (Reuters) – Patients who cross borders in search of cheaper, more available fertility treatment can now choose from more than 100 countries but may be putting themselves and their babies at risk, experts said Tuesday. The European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology (ESHRE) and the International Federation of Fertility Societies (IFFS) said a survey of reproductive services showed wide disparities between laws and practice in many countries. As a result, patients returning home may face legal or medical problems. “Although in...

Gene makes them superbugs BOSTON | An infectious-disease nightmare is unfolding: A new gene that can turn many types of bacteria into superbugs resistant to nearly all antibiotics has sickened people in three states and is popping up all over the world, health officials reported Monday. The U.S. cases and two others in Canada all involve people who recently received medical care in India, where the problem is widespread. A British medical journal revealed the risk last month in an article describing dozens of cases in Britain in people who had gone to India for medical procedures. How many deaths...

(Reuters) – Even seemingly gentle antibiotics may severely disrupt the balance of microbes living in the gut, with unforeseen health consequences, U.S. researchers reported on Monday. An intimate study of three women given ciprofloxacin showed the drug suppressed entire populations of beneficial bacteria, and at least one woman took months to recover. The study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, supports the common wisdom that antibiotics can damage the “good” germs living in the body. It may also support the idea behind the development of so-called...

The most detailed microscopic crystallography image ever created By Rebecca Boyle After more than a decade of work, scientists have completed a 3-D atomic-scale map of a virus that causes the common cold. It’s the largest virus ever mapped. The map could help scientists re-engineer the virus for gene therapy, as well as to create possible treatments for cancer and other ailments. Robotic systems, an advanced x-ray, and years of patience made it possible. The human adenovirus family, which is responsible for a host of ailments ranging from colds to gastrointestinal disorders, is quite good...

The newest craze in Toronto, Canada is ganja yoga. About a dozen yoga enthusiasts gather to smoke marijuana and then do yoga. Dee Dussault, who runs the sessions from her home, nicknamed ‘Follow Your Bliss’, say “When you’re high, you can focus on your breath”. Ganja yoga follows other new trends in yoga, such as ‘hot yoga’. ‘circus yoga’ and ‘hip-hop yoga’. Dussault adds that there are benefits to smoking cannabis before doing yoga. “For some people, it makes them uninhibited and open to the idea of the heart chakra, for example.” Chakras are part of Indian medicine....

A new study has revealed that high levels of the stress hormone cortisol strongly predict cardiovascular death among both persons with and without pre-existing cardiovascular disease. In stressful situations, the body responds by producing the hormone cortisol. The effects of cortisol are intended to help the body recover from stress and regain a status of homeostasis, however chronically elevated cortisol levels have been associated with cardiovascular risk factors, such as the metabolic syndrome and accelerated atherosclerosis. “Previous studies have suggested that cortisol might increase...

By Chris Brooke A retired teacher has astonished doctors after his body rid itself of cancer without treatment. Peter Crane, 60, was diagnosed with a form of leukaemia 18 months ago. He was was warned that the disease cannot usually be cured but told that chemotherapy could help. However, Mr Crane did not start the treatment straight away because the cancer had not reached the stage where it would be most effective. In the meantime, it appears the cancer simply vanished. Blood tests have shown his body is free of the disease and he is now officially in remission. Experts said Mr Crane was a very...