Women who eat plenty of blueberries and strawberries experience slower mental decline with age than women who consume fewer of the flavonoid-rich fruits, a US study said Thursday. Based on a survey of more than 16,000 women who filled out regular questionnaires on their health habits from 1976 through 2001, the findings showed that those who ate the most berries delayed cognitive decline by up to 2.5 years. Every two years from 1995 to 2001, … full story

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

Renowned experts of the country have urged common people to adopt healthy lifestyle, refrain from smoking, alcohol, exercise daily and use balanced died to prevent themselves from heart ailments, strokes, diabetes, hypertension and mental illnesses. The health experts, each of whom is considered master of his respective field of specialization in the medical profession, said remaining healthy was not as much difficult as it is considered by most … full story

Coffee drinkers have no more risk of getting illnesses such as heart disease or cancer, and are less likely to develop type 2 diabetes, according to a German study involving more than 40,000 people over nearly a decade. The findings, published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, came in the wake of many previous studies that produced conflicting results, with some tying coffee drinking to an increase in heart disease, cancer, stroke and … full story

Women, especially younger women, are more likely than men to show up at the hospital with no chest pain or discomfort after having a heart attack, a new study suggests. Those symptoms, or lack of symptoms, can result in delayed medical care and differences in treatment that might in turn help explain why women in the study were also more likely to die of their heart attacks, according to researchers. "They might not even know they're having a heart … full story

People who suffer from psoriasis may want to pay extra attention to heart risks, since they may be at a greater risk for blocked arteries than those who don't have the skin disease -- although the risk increase is not that high, according to a U.S. study. And the longer patients have psoriasis, the higher their risks are, said researchers, whose findings were published in the American Journal of Cardiology. "One of the things that we've come to … full story

Obese people who had weight-loss surgery were less likely to later suffer a heart attack or stroke, or to die from one, compared to people who did not have the surgery, according to a Swedish study. The findings, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, come from a study of more than 4,000 obese people treated at 500 surgery departments and health care centers in Sweden. Between 1987 and 2001, half of those people opted for … full story

A large new European study finds that simply eating a lot of fruits and vegetables may not be enough to stave off the weight gain that often comes with age -- except for people who recently quit smoking. Researchers found that of nearly 374,000 adults in 10 European countries, who were followed for five years, those who ate the most fruits and vegetables were no less likely to gain weight once other factors -- like calorie intake and exercise habits … full story

Extra vitamin D and calcium may offer some protection against fractures in elderly people, but have little or no impact on cancer risk, according to a fresh look at the medical evidence. Some research has suggested that vitamin D, with or without calcium, might help stave off cancer, but recent trials have slashed those hopes. "It turns out that as a group, all of the micronutrient supplements have been disappointing," said Dr. Michael Pollak, … full story