Long-term exposure to air pollution could damage the brain and cause depression, besides triggering learning and memory problems. Mice tests showed that, in the long term, dirty air could cause actual physical changes to the brain which resulted in negative effects. While other studies have looked at the impact of polluted air on heart and lungs, this is one of the first to look at the effect on the brain, said doctoral student Laura Fonken from … full story

Liposuction if fraught with unwanted consequences that can turn other parts of a patient’s body fatter. Even as the fat will not return to the areas of the body where it was removed from, usually the thighs, lower abdomen and buttocks, it will reappear elsewhere, typically around the shoulders, arms and upper abdomen, according to US researchers, the Daily Mail reports. Liposuction is a simple but crude surgical process which literally sucks the … full story

Consuming food items rich in fibre, like fruits, vegetables and whole-grain products, especially as a young adult, is likely to confer a lifetime of protection against heart risk, researchers say. A new study found that adults aged between 20 and 59 years with the highest fibre intake had a significantly lower estimated lifetime risk for heart disease compared to those with the lowest fibre intake. This is the first known study to show the influence … full story

Children born to pregnant women who have been smoking in the first three months of their pregnancy may suffer from heart defects, a study has found. The study conducted by the US Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), has found that women who smoke in the first trimester face a 20 to 70 percent greater likelihood that a baby would be born with congenital heart defects. Congenital heart defects are the most common type of birth defects, … 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

Raspberry extract has been found to kill stomach and colon cancer cells. Researchers from Clemson University in the US said that 90 percent of these cells were destroyed when exposed to an extract of red Meeker raspberries, a popular variety in the US. Anti-oxidants in the fruit were also shown to kill breast cancer cells, the Daily Mail reports. Researchers say that while the anti-oxidants in the red fruit explain some of the effects, other as … full story

Chocolate is healthier than many fruit juices and is a ’superfood’ in its own right, says a new study conducted by a US-based chocolate company. Superfoods are high in anti-oxidants and compounds that help prevent damage to healthy cells. Researchers from the Hershey Centre for Health & Nutrition in the US found that powdered dark chocolate had more anti-oxidants and polyphenols, believed to protect us from cancer and cardiac conditions, the Chemistry … full story

Watermelon, apart from being rich in nutrients, has been found to lower pre-hypertension, a precursor to cardio diseases. Assistant professor Arturo Figueroa and Professor Bahram H. Arjmandi of the Florida State University conducted the study on the health benefits of watermelon. They found that extracts of watermelon, given daily for six weeks, lowered blood pressure in a group of pre-hypertensive men and women aged between 51 and 57 years, reports … full story

Poor kidney function could be an early warning of heart disease and stroke, two studies have found. In the first study, researchers from Taiwan and the US found that a low fluid rate through the kidneys was linked to a higher risk of stroke in later life. By analysing 33 studies involving more than 280,000 people they found that those with a glomerular filtration rate (test used to check how well the kidneys are working) of about half the normal … full story

Drinking milk regularly could help you shed weight, finds a recent study. In a two-year weight loss study, milk drinkers had an advantage over those who skipped the milk, reports the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. Researchers led by Danit Shahar from the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Israel, found that adults who drank nearly two glasses of milk daily, which provided the highest Vitamin D levels at six months, lost more weight … full story