Like other parts of the globe, World Health Day was also observed in Pakistan on Saturday to mark the anniversary of the founding of World Health Organization (WHO). Each year on its anniversary, the organization selects a key global health issue and organizes international, regional and local events on the day and throughout the year to highlight the selected area. On this occasion, the WHO has called for an urgent action to ensure that … full story

Eating more blueberries, apples and pears may be linked to lower risk of diabetes, according to a new U.S. study. These fruits are loaded with flavonoids, a natural compound present in certain fruits, vegetables and grains, which some research has tentatively tied to heath benefits such as a lower risk of heart disease or cancer. "People who ate a higher amount of blueberries or apples, they tended to have a low risk of type 2 diabetes," … full story

Breathing air pollutants raises the risk of having a heart attack, a new review suggested. Other studies have linked air pollution levels to hospital admissions and deaths from cardiovascular disease. But making that link for heart attacks has been controversial, since the research has been mixed. In Wednesday's issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association, Dr. Hazrije Mustafic from the Paris Cardiovascular Research Center and his team … full story

Loss of memory and other brain function can start as early as age 45, posing a big challenge to scientists looking for new ways to stave off dementia, researchers said. The finding from a 10-year study of more than 7,000 British government workers contradicts previous notions that cognitive decline does not begin before 60 years of age, and it could have far-reaching implications for dementia research. Pinpointing the age at which memory, reasoning … full story

If you have chronic heart failure, being around a smoker may be bad for your physical and mental well-being, a new study suggests. Researchers found that of 205 non-smokers with heart failure, those who regularly breathed in secondhand smoke reported more problems in their day-to-day functioning -- physical and emotional. The findings, reported in the Archives of Internal Medicine, do not prove that other people's smoke was to blame. But they … full story

In people with low blood levels of vitamin D, boosting them with supplements more than halved a person's risk of dying from any cause compared to someone who remained deficient, in a large new study. Analyzing data on more than 10,000 patients, University of Kansasresearchers found that 70 percent were deficient in vitamin D and they were at significantly higher risk for a variety of heart diseases. D-deficiency also nearly doubled a person's likelihood … full story

Walnuts, the brain shaped nuts, cut down cholesterol and may also help fight stress and reduce blood pressure. Those with high levels of bad cholesterol had lower blood pressure during stressful moments after following a diet rich in walnuts for three weeks. Study participants were told to deliver a three-minute speech or sink one foot in cold water – both of which trigger stress. Those who ate walnuts had lower blood pressure, said Professor … full story

People recently diagnosed with lung cancer are at higher risk of having a stroke than those without lung tumors, suggests a large new study from Taiwan. Researchers looking at data covering more than 150,000 adults found that among those with lung cancer, 26 in every 1000 experienced a stroke each year, compared with 17 in 1000 who did not have cancer. "This is one more telling sign of the long term risk of smoking," said Dr. Andrew Russman, a … full story

Boys seem to get a greater kick out of caffeine than girls, according to the results of a double-blind study. Boys also credited caffeine with having a positive effect on their athletic performance, not so girls. The study, conducted by Jennifer L. Temple, neurobiologist and assistant professor of nutrition sciences at the University at Buffalo in the US, is the first to show how genders respond to caffeine consumption. “We are hoping that our … full story

Women whose mothers are victims of stroke are at a far higher risk of a heart attack. Women may be more at risk of inherited forms of heart disease. In men, it tends to be triggered by lifestyle factors such as diet, drinking and smoking. Oxford University researchers looked at more than 2,200 female patients who had suffered a stroke, heart attack or angina, the journal Circulation: Cardiovascular Genetics reports. They found that a far higher … full story