China Ends Entry Ban for People with HIV and AIDS

Recently, China has revoked a ban on people who have HIV or AIDS entering their country. Until now, China had regulations that banned foreigners from entering the country if they had psychiatric illness, leprosy, AIDS, sexually-transmitted diseases, active pulmonary tuberculosis, or their infectious diseases. The State Council in China issued amended rules to remove the ban on people who have AIDS or HIV and people with leprosy. Foreigners with serious psychiatric illness, infectious pulmonary tuberculosis, and other infectious diseases are still banned from the country.

HIV Causes Premature Brain Aging

A new research is showing that people infected with the HIV virus have premature aging of the brain. The research has shown that blood flow in HIV patients is the same as uninfected people who are 15 to 20 years older. In the study, researchers used MRI scans to study blood flow in the brains of 26 people infected with HIV and 25 people who were not infected. The ages and the educational levels all of the individuals were similar. Researchers found reduced blood flow in the brains of younger people infected with HIV recently infected with HIV as well as the older patients. It is unclear whether this is caused by the virus, the medication to treat the disease, or both. Currently, 14 to 18 percent of all AIDS patients in the United States are over 50 years old and older generations have an increasing high rate of new infections. By 2015, more than half of all AIDS patients may be over 50 years old.

Looking Young May Cause Longer Living

A 2001 Danish study found that people who look younger than their age live a longer life on average. The test conducted physical and cognitive tests on more than 1,800 pairs of twins over the age of 70 and tracked how long the twins survived over 7 years. The test found that the people who looked younger than their age were more likely to survive, even after factors like gender and environment were adjusted.

There may be a possible biological reason. People who looked younger had longer telomeres, a DNA component that is linked to aging. People with shorter telomeres are assumed to age faster. In the study, the people with longer telomeres looked younger than their age.

Naturally Lower Blood Pressure with Potassium

Potassium is a mineral that is found in clams, poultry, and in almost every fruit and vegetable. It is found abundantly in potatoes, dried peaches, avocados, and bananas. It is good at lowering and controlling blood pressure. There are potassium supplements that can be used, but it is better to obtain potassium through foods. Too much potassium can be harmful for older people, because kidneys are less effective at removing potassium from the blood as a person ages. It is best to consult a healthcare professional before taking an over-the-counter potassium supplement.

Fight Dementia with Coffee

A Swedish study has found that when middle-aged adults drank 3 to 5 cups of caffeinated coffee each day, they were 65 to 70% less likely to develop dementia and Alzheimer's disease later in life when compared to people who drank 2 or less cups each day. Coffee offers protection against the diseases by containing magnesium, antioxidants, and caffeine. It is also assumed that coffee decreases the risk of type 2 diabetes, which can contribute to dementia.

Reduce Salt to Cut Heart Disease

It is found that reducing salt in your diet can dramatically reduce the risk of heart disease. Just reducing salt intake by 1 gram everyday would cause 25,000 less cases of heart disease and 200,000 less deaths in the United States in a decade. A study showed that when people lowered their sodium intake by 25% to 30%, they had a 25% reduction in heart disease and stroke risk 10 years later when compared to people who ate their usual diet. It is recommended to eat less than 2,300mg of salt per day and it is recommended that middle-aged and older adults and people with high blood pressure have less than 1,500mg of salt each day in their diet.

Grapefruit Juice Not Good for Prescription Medications

Grapefruit juice is not good for people taking certain prescription medication. The juice has natural enzymes that can block the body's ability to break down certain drugs and this can cause the drug's levels to increase to high levels and increase the risk of side effects. Just one glass of juice can be enough to cause problems. It is good to check the prescription label for grapefruit caution.

FDA Lifts Warning on Tomatoes

The FDA has lifted its salmonella warning on tomatoes saying that even though the outbreak isn’t over, it is slowing down. They also say that the tomatoes currently in the stores are safe to eat. Hot peppers, jalapenos, and serranos are still under warning.

The people that are most affected include elderly people and people with weak immune systems. Investigators don’t know what caused the salmonella outbreak that caused 1,220 people in 42 states to get sick. The tomato industry lost more than $100 due to the outbreak.

Cut Cancer Risks With Leafy Vegetables

It is found that leafy green vegetables are rich in vitamins A and C and rich in flavonoids, which all can help to protect the body against cancer. A study was done by researchers that found that adults who ate one serving of leafy vegetables each day were half as likely to develop lung cancer when compared to people who ate them less than five times each week.

Scientist Find Possible Alzheimer’s Gene

There are scientists that have found a gene that might raise the chances of getting the most common kind of Alzheimer’s disease by 45 percent in people who inherit a certain form of the disease. The gene affects a brain cell’s ability to take in calcium. Hopefully, drugs can be made to fight this effect. Most people are over the age of 65 that are affected by the disease.

Only one gene, called CALHM1, has been found to affect the risks associated with people over the age of 65. There are many other genes that are being studied as having the possibility to affect the disease.

Diet Soda Not Good For Diet

Drinking diet soda to lose weight is not as good as it seems. Diet soda can increase the risk of having high amounts of belly fat, high blood sugar levels, and high cholesterol. A person that drinks one diet soda each day have a 34 percent higher risk of having these things than people who don’t drink diet soda. To have a healthier and tasty drink, it is a good idea to mix freshly cut fruit such as berries and citrus fruits, with seltzer water.

Alcohol Bad for Hormone Therapy

A recent Danish study has found that drinking alcohol can have a negative effect on people that are on hormone therapy. The recent study showed that hormone therapy users that had one or two alcoholic drinks each day greatly increased their risk of breast cancer. Alcohol could prevent the estrogen in the therapy from being fully metabolized and that would cause a higher blood level of estrogen, which could influence the risk of breast cancer.

New Ways to Treat Asthma Symptoms

Soon, people that suffer from asthma can be able to wear sensors in their pockets that monitor the quality of the air and finds environmental causes of their attacks. The sensor’s tests will be used by researchers to find common things that trigger asthma problems.

Scientists have also found that proteins in air passages might indicate different asthma subtypes. This could possibly lead to more targeted therapies.

There is a new drug called Pitrakinra that blocks the body’s response to allergens and does a good job at reducing asthma symptoms. Clinical trials are currently being done on the drug.

Ways to Prevent Memory Loss

Memory loss usually starts at 16 years old and it is a common problem for people by the age of 40. There are things that can be done to prevent it.

Regular exercise can help to prevent the arterial aging that plays a part in memory loss. Exercise uses concentration and coordination, which are two things that require the use of brain neurons and keep them active.

There are some nutrients that fight memory loss. Omega-3 fatty acids help to keep the arteries clear and improve the process of message-sending brain neurotransmitters. They are found in fatty fish, such as salmon and mahimahi. It is recommended to eat 13 ounces of fish each week or take two grams of fish oil supplements, DHA, each day.

How Hormones Affect Food Cravings

It is found that how tempting food may seem could depend on a person’s level of the hormone leptin. Weight is not only controlled by calorie intake and exercise, but also by complex brain complexes. Someday, scientists might be able to develop weight-loss drugs that modify the brain’s reaction to food.

Body Dysmorphic Disorder

People who have body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) believe that at least one part of their appearance is very unattractive, even after cosmetic surgery. Researchers have found that people with BDD process visual information differently that most other people do and rely more on the analytical left side of the brain. Their brain also focuses on details without putting them into the context of the whole face, which can lead to a distorted self image. BDD can be biological and genetic so that it is not just caused because of society’s obsession on appearance.

Allergies Causing Depression

It is found that tree pollen can cause symptoms of depression. A psychologist at the Mood and Anxiety Program of the University of Maryland and School of Medicine analyzed surveys of 845 men and women and found that two thirds of the people surveyed reported mood difficulties during the spring season, which is when pollen levels are very high. It is believed that airborne allergens produce inflammation in the respiratory airways and the inflammation causes symptoms of depression in some people.

Another study was done on patients with mood disorders that found that increased allergy symptoms during times of high levels of pollen were connected with depression symptoms that were more severe. This study fits with earlier evidence that suicide rates increase during late spring and a family history of allergies affects depression in women.

Get Rid of Dandruff

Hair dandruff is a condition that is caused by fungus that lives on the scalp and eats oil from the scalp. It releases by-products that irritate the skin and causes flaking on the scalp of some people. Most dandruff remedies work by decreasing the number of fungi on the scalp but there are new products available on the market that control the behavior of the fungus to give better and quicker results.

Better Help for Long Term Depression

For people taking antidepressants to fight depression, it may not be the best idea to stay on them a long time after the symptoms of depression have eased. If medications have relieved the symptoms, it is better to move to cognitive therapy.

Even though it is recommended that patients keep using antidepressants up to 2 years after symptoms are relieved, 60 percent of patients have a recurrence of depression symptoms during that time while taking the medication. Of the people who stopped taking the medication and tried cognitive therapy, only 8 percent experienced symptoms of depression again within 2 years.

Scientists Make First Genetically Modified Embryo

For the first time, scientists have been able to genetically alter a human embryo. Researchers used an abnormal embryo that could never have developed into a baby to do the project.

The project raises the possibilities that people could be able to create designer babies in the future and scientists could insert certain genes into an embryo to produce babies with certain characteristics, such as higher intelligence and better athletic abilities. Some people think that this is wrong and turns children into designed objects and would create an unequal society where some people would be considered genetically superior while other people who are born without genetic injections would be inferior.

Scientists say that the main point of the project was to find out if a gene injected into an abnormal embryo could be traced in stem cells that are harvested from the embryo. The work could also explain why abnormal embryos don’t develop. Scientists found that abnormal embryos don’t develop well enough to produce stem cells.