Scientists have found important genetic differences that significantly raise the risk of stroke, and they are found in millions of people.
The study is the first to identify common genetic variants influencing stroke risk in the United States and may lead to better treatments, they reported on Wednesday.
While other stroke-related genes have been discovered, none involved such a wide portion of the population, said Eric Boerwinkle of The University of Texas Health Science Center.
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Energy drinks may boost performance during exercise by activating the brain, new research suggests.
Apparently, brain areas can be activated by titillation of unknown and mysterious receptors in the mouth, according to a study in the latest issue of the Journal of Physiology.
These receptors are independent of ordinary taste buds, says Ed Chambers, PhD, of the University of Birmingham in England and lead author of the study.
Chambers tells WebMD by email that the “study suggests that the human mouth may have receptors sensitive to carbohydrate that are independent of the ‘sweet’ taste receptor. This supports research performed with rodents that suggests these mammals have taste receptors that are responsive to carbohydrate.”
Robin Williams has postponed the remainder of his comedy tour so he can undergo heart surgery.
Concerns were raised about Williams’ health on Wednesday when he was ordered by doctors to take a week of rest after complaining of shortness of breath.
Reports on today suggested the comedy actor has been admitted to a Miami hospital to undergo tests, prompting his spokesperson to confirm Williams is putting work on hold to be treated for a heart condition.
China on Saturday approved a long-awaited food safety law, state media reported, in a bid to end repeated scandals involving dangerous food products in the country.
The law has been in the works since October last year after a huge scandal erupted over contaminated milk which killed at least six children and sickened nearly 300,000 others in China.
“The law will see the establishment of a monitoring and supervision system, a set of national standards on food safety, a recall system, and severe punishment for offenders,” the official Xinhua news agency said.
A man who may be the biological father of Nadya Suleman’s octuplets says he is willing to help the single mother of 14, even though he is not certain it was his donated sperm that she used to become pregnant.
In an exclusive interview airing this Monday on “Good Morning America,” the possible father said Suleman brought him to the clinic at which she received in vitro fertilization to donate sperm, and that he made donations on two other occasions. He now believes Suleman was married at the time.
Tune in to ABC News’ “Good Morning America” Monday, Feb. 23 to learn the identity of the man who possibly fathered the Suleman octuplets.
A few months after Dr. Michael Kamrava helped Nadya Suleman become pregnant with octuplets, he transferred at least seven embryos to another patient.
She was in her late 40s and wanted just one baby.
Now she’s five months pregnant with quadruplets and hospitalized at Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center, according to several sources familiar with the situation.
The mother of the woman who used a fertility doctor to give birth to octuplets, despite already having six young children, called her daughter’s actions “unconscionable” in an interview posted online Sunday.
Angela Suleman is caring for the six older children while her daughter is hospitalized after giving birth Jan. 26 to the octuplets.
“She already has six beautiful children, why would she do this?” Angela Suleman said in the videotaped interview with celebrity news Web site RadarOnline.com. “I’m struggling to look after her six. We had to put in bunk beds, feed them in shifts and there’s children’s clothing piled all over the house.”
A 60-year-old woman in the Western Canadian city of Calgary has given birth to twins after going to India for fertility treatments, the Canadian Broadcasting Corp reported on its website on Thursday.
The report said the twins, both boys, were seven weeks prematurely delivered by caesarean section. Though one is breathing with the help of special equipment, doctors said the twins are doing well but will be kept in hospital until they gain weight and both can breathe on their own.
Patrick Swayze has been released from hospital after voluntarily admitting himself for pneumonia treatment.
His representative Annett Wolf told People magazine that the 56-year-old actor was now back at home.
“I am happy to announce that Patrick Swayze is home after a brief hospitalisation for pneumonia,” she said.
Swayze, who went in for observation on January 9th, may have only two years to live after being diagnosed with stage four pancreatic cancer.
Michael Jackson, the self-proclaimed King of Pop, needs a lung transplant because he’s suffering from a rare respiratory condition, according to the author of a new Jackson biography.
Author Ian Halperin told In Touch magazine and Britain’s Sunday Express newspaper that the reclusive performer may even be fighting for his life, the Houston Chronicle newspaper reported on its Web site.
Halperin said Jackson has been diagnosed with Alpha 1-antitrypsin deficiency, an occasionally fatal genetic condition.
