Nervecentre

Early bird flu warning for Dutch

BBC1 broadcasted a two-part documentary  on Panorama, (the concluding part is next week), about a  recent disturbing brush with bird flu in the Netherlands. You can find out more about it here;

Early bird flu warning for Dutch

And there are also lessons to be learned from Vietnam.

Pig Fever

Oh
Dear

"There's nothing to see here people. Move along now. Move along. Everything's under control. There's nothing to worry about".

All sounds a bit familiar, doesn't it?

Aspirin, Vitamin E Don't Protect Against Cancer: Study

The findings of a study that lasted 12 years and involved 40,000 US women has shown that regular, low doses of aspirin do not generally prevent cancer, and that vitamin E is ineffective in warding off heart disease and cancer.

One surprising finding showed anecdotal evidence for a potential protective effect against lung cancer from aspirin. More research is needed to confirm this.

Earlier results from the study, released in March, showed that the aspirin therapy reduced the risk of stroke by 17% and in women older than 65 it reduced the risk of heart disease, heart attack and stroke.

The vitamin E study did find a significant reduction in cardiovascular deaths among all the women taking the vitamin and in women over the age of 65 a lower risk of heart disease but not stroke.

Source: RedNova

Computer Games Make You Visually Quicker

Gamers brains and eyes are faster, according to new research.

Source: RedNova

How Vitamin D Might Ward Off Cancer

Scientists are finding increasing evidence that Vitamin D acts as an effective block against developing cancer, and also think it might be useful in treating prostate and lung cancer.

However, the scientists warn that a strong enough dose may not be available in tablet or pill form, and that in multivitamins, Vitamin A can offset the benefits of Vitamin D.

The best source of Vitamin D is apparently from sunlight and oily fish such as salmon and tuna. Of course, any sun exposure must be moderate, as that in itself carries a cancer risk if overdone. But it seems as though the most sensible way of preventing cancer might be to make oily fish a regular part of your diet.

Source: My Way News

Bird Flu

Channel 4 News featured a special report the other night on bird flu.

They reported that they have seen new evidence from the World Health Organisation, (due to be released to the world's media soon), that shows that the virus is showing signs of rapid mutation and that the risk of a human pandemic is now very likely.

In northern Vietnam, patterns of infection are changing amongst humans. The disease is becoming milder, but it is also clustering - evidence, (the scientists say), that it is rapidly mutating and working out ways to become more infectious/contagious amongst humans. And laboratory analysis has also confirmed that the bird flu virus (H5N1) is also subtly changing its genetics also adds further evidence.

Bird flu is proving to be a virus full of surprises. The jump it originally made fom ducks into chickens is akin to a virus jumping from a cat to a horse. The leap from chickens to humans was even bigger.

And another worrying development has emerged in Indonesia, where authorities have detected bird flu for the first time in pigs. Three pigs have tested positive for H5N1 and have now been quarantined. They will be tested further before being slaughtered.

Source: Channel 4

Variety Of Exercise May Ward Off Dementia

Of course, no one wants to end their lives in a debilitating spiral of dementia. But until recently, its not been clear what causes it.

Now though, evidence points to oldies who exercise or remain active having significantly lower rates of dementia than their more placid couch-potato contemporaries. It's thought there's a correlation between the variety of exercise and the use of parts of the brain that might 'shut down' if they are not being used effectively.

One thing is for certain, if you want to avoid dementia in old age, then you need to get active!

Source: ABC

Bird Flu & Marburg

Today's Daily Telegraph headline is a little worrying.

It warns that a simple mutation in the bird flu virus could cause a worldwide pandemic that might kill 7 million. And that';s a best case scenario. Based on the 1918 pandemic, the death toll could be significantly higher.

A WHO medical epidemiologist puts the probability of an impending pandemic at 'more than 50%'.

The cluster cases have been causing most concern, as these suggest the virus is adapting, amking transmission easier from human to human. Examples given are of a family of five going down with the virus and seven family clusters in Vietnam.

There's a 5 minute briefing in the Independent giving the basics on the Marburg outbreak in Angola. To read it, click here.

Source: Telegraph, Independent

Aspirin

There's new evidence that suggests everyone over the age of 50 ought to consider taking an aspirin a day to reduce their risk of heart attack and stroke.

The evidence came to light after a 25 year study conducted on 2,500 men showed that the middle aged are at high enough risk to consider taking the pill. The report will be published in the journal of the British Medical Association.

However, the British Heart Foundation warned that it might be harmful for some people. 2 or 3 people in every thousand experience complication susch as stomach bleeding.

Source: BBC, ITV,

1 in 4 At Risk Of Cannabis Psychosis

Scientists have found that 1 in 4 people in the UK are at greatly increased risk of psychosis in later life thanks to their genetic make-up if they smoked cannabis in their teens.

A common genetic profile that makes cannabis five times more likely to trigger schizophrenia and similar disorders has been identified, increasing pressure on the Government to reverse the drug’s reclassification from Class B to Class C.

The increased risk applies to people who inherit variants of a gene named COMT who also smoked cannabis as teenagers. About a quarter of the population have this genetic make-up, and up to 15 per cent of the group are likely to develop psychotic conditions if exposed to the drug early in life.

Neither the drug nor the gene raises the risk of psychosis by itself.

Source: Times