Malaria parasite lures mosquito to human odour
By Rebecca MorelleScience reporter, BBC World Service
All mosquitoes are attracted to human body odour, but the malaria parasite could be making the insects better at sniffing us out
Mosquitoes carrying the malaria parasite are more attracted to human body odour than uninfected insects, a study suggests.
Researchers found that infected insects were three times more likely to be lured towards a human scent.
They believe that the deadly parasites are seizing control of their biting hosts and boosting their sense of smell.
The research is published in the journal Plos One.
Dr James Logan, from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), said: “One thing that always surprises me about parasites is how clever they are. They are these ever-evolving organisms that seem to be one step ahead of us the whole time.”
Smelly feet
To carry out the study, the researchers infected malaria mosquitoes (Anopheles gambiae) with the most deadly form of parasite, Plasmodium falciparum.
“Start Quote
Dr James LoganLSHTM
They placed about 100 of the infected insects into a container, along with some nylon stockings that had been previously worn by volunteers for 20 hours.
“It is a very effective way of collecting body odour… the odour can remain attractive for months,” explained Dr Logan.
The scientists repeated the experiment with uninfected insects.
They found that mosquitoes carrying the deadly parasite were three times more likely to be attracted to the smelly stockings.
The scientists believe this is because the tiny parasitic organisms are manipulating their hosts’ sense of smell.
Dr Logan said: “We think it is giving them a heightened sense of smell. We are hypothesising there is an alteration somewhere in their olfactory system that allows them to find us quicker.”
Smart tactics
By making humans an easier target, the parasite is more likely to be passed into the blood stream – ensuring its survival and continuing the spread of the deadly disease.
The scientists infected the mosquitoes with the malaria parasite in their laboratory
The researchers will now begin a three-year project, funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), to learn more about how the parasites are doing this.
Dr Logan said that understanding how the malaria-infected mosquitoes respond to human odour could help them to fight the disease.
He said: “If we know how the parasite is able to manipulate the olfactory system… perhaps we can identify new attractants for infected mosquitoes and we will be able to increase our efficiency with trapping techniques.”
According to the latest figures, the World Health Organization said there were about 219 million cases of malaria in 2010 and 660,000 deaths.
Africa is the most affected continent: about 90% of all malaria deaths occur there.
Don’t Just Diet—Exercise to Lose Weight, Too
Why diet alone isn’t enough
By ANGELA HAUPT
What you eat is only one part of the weight-loss equation. Diet alone may help you drop pounds, but you’ll have trouble keeping them off if you don’t exercise. And that’s not to mention the added benefits you’ll miss out on, from improved mood, to better sleep, to disease prevention. “The exercise has to be there,” says Jim White, a registered dietitian and personal trainer certified by the American College of Sports Medicine…
Most experts recommend at least 30 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise, such as brisk walking, most or all days of the week. Typically, 30 minutes a day offers disease-prevention benefits, while 60 minutes helps with weight maintenance. Working out for 90 minutes a day helps on both fronts—and melts additional pounds. Regular exercise also cuts the risk of heart disease and diabetes, improves blood pressure and cholesterol levels, promotes better sleep, and builds healthy bones, muscles, and joints.
Some diets offer specific exercise routines—Jenny Craig members get programs tailored to their individual fitness level, for example—while other diets do no more than recommend it. If that’s the case, remember that exercise need not be drudgery. Take a Zumba dance class, go hiking, jump rope, or bounce on a trampoline. Try kayaking, pilates, or swimming; vigorous household chores and yard work count, too. For the best conditioning, switch up your routine every 12 weeks, including frequency, intensity, and type. And avoid an all-or-nothing mentality: It’s better to take a 30-minute walk five times a week than to run half a marathon on just one day.
Though exercise is essential to a healthy lifestyle, check with your doctor before starting a new regimen. That’s particularly important if you have heart disease, asthma, diabetes, or arthritis; if you smoke; if you’re overweight or obese; or if you haven’t worked out in more than three months. “Start with just 10 minutes a day,” White says. “Slowly increase your intensity by adding more time.”
Another reason to tread carefully: Some diets may interfere with your ability to exercise, or even make it unsafe. The Atkins diet, for example, recommends taking it easy for a few weeks to adjust to a low-carb regimen. Carbs are the fuel that powers the body, so when you limit your intake, expending energy can become arduous. If your diet dips you below 1,200 daily calories, dial down your routine until you’ve adjusted to the new level, then gradually ratchet up intensity and duration. Otherwise, says White: “You’ll be tired, weak, and dizzy because you won’t have the energy to get positive results.”
You’re eating more calories than you think
Calorie counting has long been touted as an effective tool for losing pounds or maintaining a healthy weight. But new research published in the British Medical Journal shows many of us are underestimating the calories we’re eating, especially when we visit fast food restaurants.
The study
Researchers interviewed more than 1,800 adults, 1,100 adolescents and 330 children at several fast food chains in New England. The interviews were done at McDonald’s, Burger King, Subway, KFC, Dunkin’ Donuts and Wendy’s around dinnertime and lunchtime.
Study participants were asked to estimate their meal’s calorie count. Researchers then collected the bill to later tally the correct amount of calories using nutrition info posted on the chain’s website.
The results
At least 40% of the study participants reported eating at the restaurant where they were interviewed at least once a week. More than 20% of the adult participants noticed posted calorie information, but only 5% said they used that information when purchasing food.
The mean calorie count for adults’ meals was 836 calories; teens purchased 756 calories and children ordered 733 calories. “At least two-thirds of all participants underestimated the calorie content of their meals, with about a quarter underestimating the calorie content by at least 500 calories,” the study authors write.
Adults tended to underestimate their meals by about 175 calories, the same as children. Adolescents were more likely to underestimate by about 250 calories. Adults with a higher BMI were less likely to underestimate than their normal weight counterparts.
The restaurant most likely to confuse calorie-counters? Subway. Adult diners there underestimated their consumption by an average of 350 calories and teen diners underestimating by an average of 500 calories. Most of Subway’s 6-inch sandwiches contain between 350 and 500 calories; consumers must double that if they order a foot-long sub and factor in extra calories for sides and/or drinks.
Limitations
More than half of the people researchers approached were unwilling to participate. Researchers also did not interview anyone going through the drive-thru. The people they did not talk to may have estimated their calorie counts differently than the study population.
The researchers also did not weigh each participant’s food to determine its exact calorie amount, instead relying on generalizations from the restaurant’s website.
The takeaway
The study authors are hopeful that listing calorie counts on menus in these establishments will encourage consumers to make healthier choices. But research on the effect of calorie displays has been mixed.
More important may be the sheer number of calories consumers are eating in a typical fast food meal. Depending on their age, children need between 1,200 and 2,000 calories per day. Eating more than 730 in one sitting (and remember, that’s the mean – others ate up to 350 calories more than that) could lead to weight gain over time.
Experts recommend doing some research before you order out. View the restaurant’s nutritional info online and decide what you’ll eat ahead of time
1 in 24 report driving while drowsy
1 in 24 report driving while drowsy
Most of us are familiar with the dangers of drunken driving, but drowsy driving can be just as deadly. Studies estimate 15% to 33% of fatal crashes involve tired drivers, according to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Being sleep-deprived slows our reaction time, said Dr. Michael Howell, a sleep expert with the University of Minnesota. That can mean hitting something we might otherwise avoid, like a child on a bicycle who suddenly veers off the sidewalk.
We’re also more impulsive when we’re tired, Howell said. It’s like our brains revert to being teenagers. “We respond to things without thinking them through,” he says. “… Road rage happens because people are sleep deprived.”
The CDC report analyzed data from a 2009-2010 national behavioral telephone survey of more than 147,000 respondents. Approximately 4.2% of those surveyed reported having fallen asleep while driving at least once during the last month. That’s one out of every 24 people.
That sounds like a small number, but the problem may be more prevalent over a longer period. A 2005 National Sleep Foundation poll found that 60% of drivers had driven while sleepy in the preceding year. In a 2010 national telephone survey, more than 40% of people admitted to having “fallen asleep or nodded off” while driving at some point in their lives, according to a report by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety.
Men were more likely than women to report falling asleep at the wheel, according to the new CDC report. Howell said men are more likely than women to have sleep disorders, especially sleep apnea. They’re also less likely to regularly get enough sleep.
“We live in a sleep-deprived culture,” he said. “There’s a reason why there’s a coffee shop on every corner. We don’t sleep as much as we should.”
It’s true – you can practice in your sleep
Northwestern University researchers are validating procrasti-nappers everywhere – they say a 90-minute nap can actually help in learning a new skill.
At least when that skill is remembering a musical tune.
Participants in the study, published June 26 in the scientific journal Nature Neuroscience, learned two different musical sequences on a computer screen while watching moving circles that went along with them, similar to video games such as Guitar Hero and Dance Dance Revolution.
After practicing for 25 minutes, the participants took a 90-minute nap. The researchers monitored the participants’ brain activity, and when they entered the “slow wave sleep stage” – a period of deep sleep with occasional intervening periods of REM sleep – the psychologists played one of the two sequences quietly.
Before nap time, the participants performed equally on both sequences. The researchers purposely made the sequences difficult so practice would become important, and the subjects could potentially show improvement. When they woke up, participants were re-tested and performed better on the sequence that had been played during their nap.
The researchers concluded the participants’ exposure to musical cues played during their slow wave sleep stage helped them make fewer errors when re-tested.
Similar research has been conducted in the past, said James Antony, the lead author of the study. But this finding is new because it relates to perfecting a skill, rather than remembering learned information, he said.
Previously in a Northwestern laboratory, subjects had participated in studies based on spatial memory, by placing objects on a screen in their proper locations.
In the musical sequences’ case, that would mean “you could know the sequence but not be able to play it,” Antony said.
That’s why the new study is important, he said, because it emphasizes the participants’ ability to perform what they learned.
The study results also help explain the previously accepted idea that practice helped improve a skill, said Paul Reber, an associate professor of psychology at Northwestern and co-author of the study. Though this concept was acknowledged, researchers didn’t know exactly why practice made perfect, he said, but this study’s results show the process can be influenced even while sleeping.
It is important to remember the study does not suggest someone can learn new information while sleeping, Reber said. But the process could be useful to help the brain “do a better job of remembering things that are really important,” he said.
Though the researchers have not developed any tools to assist in memory based on these results, Reber said he has thought of a few potential applications of the information, including supplementing students’ learning of a new language by listening to an audio recording of previously introduced lecture notes while sleeping.
ORGANIC FOOD
Smoking and cancer
You’re eating more calories than you think
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Calorie counting has long been touted as an effective tool for losing pounds or maintaining a healthy weight. But
LUAJE LOJEN KETU
LUAJE LOJEN TE PLOTE DUKE SHTYPUR ME POSHT SE FOTO
po ashtu mund te shtypesh edhe anash per te vazhduar
Zbulohet një planet i ‘pastrehë’.
Gjatë muajve të fundit raportohen më shumë se 100 UFO përgjatë kufirit Indian
Gjatë muajve të fundit, ndërmjet 1 Gushtit dhe 15 Tetorit, më shumë se 100 Ufo janë parë përgjatë kufirit të Indisë– Kinës, dhe këto shfaqje UFO-sh i kanë lënë të githë pa fjalë, duke përfshirë këtu edhe zyrtarët e policisë.
The Times of India ka raportuar këtë javë që “sfera në ngjyrë të verdhë duket sikur ngrihen nga horizonti në anën Kineze dhe me ngadalë ecin në qiell për tre deri në pesë orë përpara se të zhdukeshin.”
The Times of India ka raportuar këtë javë që “sfera në ngjyrë të verdhë duket sikur ngrihen nga horizonti në anën Kineze dhe me ngadalë ecin në qiell për tre deri në pesë orë përpara se të zhdukeshin.”
The Times of India shtoi që shfaqjet e UFO-ve kanë lënë pa fjalë shumë grupe ushtarake Indiane, duke përfshirë edhe forcat e tyre ajrore,
23-vjeçare SHTAZEN ME 5 FEMIJE
Kjo që ju shihni në foto, është Alexandra Kinova, një vajzë çeke 23-vjeçare, nënë e pesë fëmijëve binjakë.“Në fakt, ajo ka pësuar një gjendje shoku teksa ka zbuluar se kishte pesë fetusë në mitrën e saj, duke pasur parasysh se në fillim dukeshin vetëm dy.
Kur u gjend edhe koka e pestë, unë fillova të qaj”, thotë ajo. Ndërsa shanset e të mbeturit shtatzënë me pesë fëmijë binjakë, ndërsa shanset e të mbeturit shtatzënë me pesë fëmijë binjakë, së bashku, është një në shtatë milion, shpjegojnë ekspertët.
Ndërsa vajza shpjegon se si ajo dhe partneri i saj kanë grupe të ndryshme binjakësh në historinë e familjeve të tyre.
GENOMICS AND FUTURE OF CANCER TREATMENT
Edward J. Benz, Jr., MD
Edward J. Benz, Jr., MD, graduated from Harvard Medical School in 1973 and received his training at Brigham and Women's Hospital and the National Institutes of Health. He is president of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.
Centuries ago, when disease was thought to result from a disruption of the body’s four basic “humors” – fluids that collectively governed health – treatments were designed to bring them back into balance. “Therapies,” some of them ghastly by modern standards, were intended to relieve patients of harmful surpluses of certain humors.
Thankfully, medicine has advanced far beyond that era. However, it’s clear that how we understand or conceptualize a disease affects how we treat it. Those who will look back on our efforts decades from now may marvel at the limitations of our knowledge about the true nature of the diseases we sought to conquer.
Consider cancer. For more than a century, cancers have been classified by the organ or tissue where they begin – the breast, lungs, bone marrow, digestive system, and so on – and therapies have been geared to those specific areas. Fortunately, as we’ve learned more about the basic biological processes at work in cancer, a new perspective has emerged. Soon, we may regard the organ-based conceptions as being as outmoded as the “humors.”
Increasingly, we’re able to study cancer not only at the most fundamental, molecular level but also at the level of interacting systems and networks. We have gained crucial insights, for example, into how the immune system fights cancer and why that fight isn’t always successful. We’ve learned how tumors tap into the body’s bloodstream for nourishment and how those supply lines can potentially be shut off. We’ve learned how tumors communicate with healthy, surrounding tissue, and how that neighboring tissue sometimes abets the cancer process.
The best known of these advances in “systems” biology, perhaps, is genomics, which
Kanceri, format më të shpeshta me të cilat shfaqet
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Gjithmonë e kemi emërtuar thjesht me të njëjtin emër, por format e shfaqjes së tij janë shumë të ndryshme e të rrezikshme për shëndetin e njeriut.
Ne e konsiderojmë kancerin si një sëmundje të vetme, në fakt bëhet fjalë për qindra sëmundje të ndryshme, që prekin thuajse të gjitha pjesët e trupit tonë, të cilat vijnë nga shkaqe të ndryshme e lënë pasoja po të ndryshme.
Ajo çka është e rëndësishme të dimë, është që
About skin cancer
Skin cancer can occur on any part of your body. However areas that are most at risk are those which are most exposed to the sun, such as your face, neck, legs and arms.
Your skin is made up of two layers, the epidermis and dermis, and these are supported by a layer of tissue. The epidermis is the top layer and has three types of cells (squamous cells, basal cells and melanocytes). This factsheet will focus on skin cancer that starts in any of these cells.
Your skin is made up of two layers, the epidermis and dermis, and these are supported by a layer of tissue. The epidermis is the top layer and has three types of cells (squamous cells, basal cells and melanocytes). This factsheet will focus on skin cancer that starts in any of these cells.
Types of skin cancer
There are three main types of skin cancer. These are named after the type of cell the cancer first occurs in.
- Basal cell carcinoma is where cancer starts in the basal cells lining the bottom layer of your epidermis. It’s the most common type of skin cancer in the UK.
OBASE WOMEN TO LOSE WEIGHT BETWEEN PREGNANCIES
"This data suggested that the interval between pregnancies is a crucial period for obese women to lose weight," Jain said. "In addition, the pregnancy and postpartum periods provide a unique opportunity for behavior change because health care professionals are well positioned to counsel women."
The population-based study looked at the records of 10,444 Missouri women who delivered their first two babies between 1998 and 2005.
A mund të na shfaqet kanceri në fyt duke praktikuar seks oral?
Keni një shok/shoqe beqar? Ja gjërat që s’duhet t’ia thoni kurrë.
Herën tjetër që ju do të tundoheni për të këshilluar miqtë tuaj, kafshoni gjuhën. “Ju mund të besoni se jeni të dobishëm, por komentet ndërhyrëse mund të ofendojnë mikun tuaj,”- thotë Helen Friedman, një psikolog klinik në Shën Louis i specializuar në marrëdhënie.
“Para se të flisni, pyesni veten se çfarë është më e rëndësishme: mendimi juaj apo miqësia juaj”? Ja se çfarë duhet shmangur për të thënë për miqtë tuaj të vetëm, çfarë ju ndonjëherë mund të thoni apo të bëni dhe kur ju thjesht lëvizni buzët tuaja.
1. “Pse nuk jeni martuar?”
Kjo pyetje pothuajse shtyn butonat e njerëzve ‘single’.
Kjo pyetje pothuajse shtyn butonat e njerëzve ‘single’.
2. “A keni provuar takim ‘online’?”
Vërtetë, njerëzit gjejnë marrëdhënie ‘online’. Por kjo hamendëson se shoku juaj nuk e ka menduar atë vetë. Oferta për këtë mënyrë gjetje personi do të thotë se ka diçka të gabuar me të qenit vetëm, dhe shoku mund të ndihet keq.
Vërtetë, njerëzit gjejnë marrëdhënie ‘online’. Por kjo hamendëson se shoku juaj nuk e ka menduar atë vetë. Oferta për këtë mënyrë gjetje personi do të thotë se ka diçka të gabuar me të qenit vetëm, dhe shoku mund të ndihet keq.
3. “Ju do të gjeni djalë të përsosur, kur ju nuk jeni në kërkim.”
Kjo është një koment që s’mund të ndihmojë shokun tuaj . “Ky koment është shfuqizimi në qoftë se shoku juaj në fakt është duke kërkuar një marrëdhënie,” thotë Dr Friedman.
Kjo është një koment që s’mund të ndihmojë shokun tuaj . “Ky koment është shfuqizimi në qoftë se shoku juaj në fakt është duke kërkuar një marrëdhënie,” thotë Dr Friedman.
4. “Ju jeni aq me fat që jeni vetëm!”
Edhe në qoftë se ju jeni xheloz në lidhje me ditët e tyre të lumtura ‘single’, askush nuk dëshiron të dëgjojë këtë.
Edhe në qoftë se ju jeni xheloz në lidhje me ditët e tyre të lumtura ‘single’, askush nuk dëshiron të dëgjojë këtë.
Best ways to lose weight !!!
A Healthy Weight for Life
Being a healthy weight can be a challenge, but the benefits are huge. Benefits in terms of staying well, feeling better about yourself, having more energy, and being able to do all those little things that gradually get taken away by an expanding waistline.
Losing 5 to 10 percent of your weight can lower blood pressure, improve cholesterol levels, and help protect against diabetes and cancer.Losing weight and keeping it off is about eating well, moving more, and instilling lifelong healthy habits.
Crash or fad diets come and go, often leaving you to regain even more weight than when you started. Although the promised miracle fix has its appeal, it’s an empty promise that just helps make its promoter rich.
What Is Breast Cancer? What Causes it?
Breast cancer is a kind of cancer that develops from breast cells. Breast cancer usually starts off in the inner lining of milk ducts or the lobules that supply them with milk. A malignant tumor can spread to other parts of the body. A breast cancer that started off in the lobules is known as lobular carcinoma, while one that developed from the ducts is called ductal carcinoma.
The vast majority of breast cancer cases occur in females. This article focuses on breast cancer in women.
Breast cancer is the most common invasive cancer in females worldwide. It accounts for 16% of all female cancers and 22.9% of invasive cancers in women. 18.2% of all cancer deaths worldwide, including both males and females, are from breast cancer.
Breast cancer rates are much higher in developed nations compared to developing ones.
The vast majority of breast cancer cases occur in females. This article focuses on breast cancer in women.
Breast cancer is the most common invasive cancer in females worldwide. It accounts for 16% of all female cancers and 22.9% of invasive cancers in women. 18.2% of all cancer deaths worldwide, including both males and females, are from breast cancer.
Breast cancer rates are much higher in developed nations compared to developing ones.
Cilët meshkuj janë më tërheqës për femrat?
Një hulumtim gjerman ka treguar që meshkujt narcisoidë, të cilët kanë mendim pozitiv joreal për veten, janë më tërheqës për femrat se sa meshkujt normalë.
Në hulumtim është matur shkalla e meshkujve narcisoidë të moshës 25 vjeçare, ndërkaq hulumtuesit narcisoiditetin e kanë konsideruar si tipar e jo si defekt.
Meshkujt kanë pasur për detyrë të krijojnë kontakt me femra të panjohura. Ata kryesisht kanë provuar të merrnin numrin e telefonit apo emejlin nga 23 femra, ndërkaq më shumë sukses kanë pasur ata me shkallë narcisioditeti më të madhe.
Shkencëtarët kanë ardhur në përfundim që meshkujt narcisoidë më lehtë krijojnë kontakte, mirëpo, megjithatë theksojnë se nuk janë të aftë të krijojnë lidhje afatgjatë.
Për meshkujt narcisodë, por edhe femrat që i tërheqin meshkujt e tillë, ky është lajm i mirë. Meshkujt narcisoid gjatë qasjes janë më sharmant dhe më lehtë afrohen, por nuk janë për lidhje serioze, theksojnë shkencëtarët, hulumtimi i të cilëve është publikuar në revistën "Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin". /Telegrafi/
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