http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. Australians are smoking and drinking less than they were five years ago but are fatter and more anxious, according to a new survey profiling the nation's health launched Tuesday. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-australians-fatter-anxious-survey.html Health Tue, 16 Apr 2013 04:50:01 EST news285305221 The largest genetic search for "obesity genes" in people of African ancestry has led to the discovery of three new regions of the human genome that influence obesity in these populations and others. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-genetic-discovery-obesity-people-african.html Genetics Mon, 15 Apr 2013 09:07:09 EST news285235598 (HealthDay)—As anyone who's lost a job can attest, stress and worry often quickly follow. But the health of your heart after unemployment can also take a tumble. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-unemployment-toll-heartbreaking.html Cardiology Thu, 11 Apr 2013 11:01:21 EST news284896828 U.S. adolescents' high levels of poor health behaviors and unfavorable cardiovascular risk factors may increase their chances of heart disease as adults, according to new research in the American Heart Association journal Circulation. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-adolescents-poor-health-behaviors-heart.html Cardiology Mon, 01 Apr 2013 04:00:01 EST news283955893 People with serious mental illnesses such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and major depression can lose weight and keep it off through a modified lifestyle intervention program, a National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)-funded study reported online today in the New England Journal of Medicine. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-people-mental-illnesses-weight.html Overweight and Obesity Thu, 21 Mar 2013 16:30:02 EST news283096256 "Are there genetic risk factors for PCa? Yes, and BRCA2 and HOXB13 are useful for predicting high-risk disease," said Jack Cuzick (GB) president of the International Society for Cancer Prevention (ISCaP), referring to the two genes implicated in high-risk prostate disease. Cuzick gave a report on the Consensus Statement for Prostate Cancer Prevention at the closing plenary session of the 28 Annual EAU Congress held in Milan, Italy from March 15 to 19. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-genetics-age-ethnicity-factors-pca.html Cancer Thu, 21 Mar 2013 10:50:08 EST news283081802 Oral estrogen therapy for menopausal women is associated with an increased risk of gallbladder surgery, according to a large-scale study of more than 70 000 women in France published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal) http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-oral-estrogen-hormone-therapy-linked.html Surgery Mon, 18 Mar 2013 12:00:06 EST news282825494 Poor diet and lifestyle choices set the stage for obesity and diabetes, but the immune system plays a relatively underappreciated role in accelerating this process. Metabolic changes in fat cells stimulate the release of inflammatory signals known as cytokines, which block insulin signaling at a cellular level, as well as other factors that recruit immune cells into fatty tissue to perpetuate the cycle of declining metabolic function. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-protein-fat-cells-inflammatory-gears.html Medical research Fri, 15 Mar 2013 09:24:26 EST news282558150 Visceral fat, or fat stored deep in the abdominal cavity, is directly linked to an increased risk for colon cancer, according to data from a mouse study published in Cancer Prevention Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-visceral-fat-causally-linked-intestinal.html Cancer Wed, 06 Mar 2013 00:10:02 EST news281724370 Researchers at the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid have found that regular and supervised exercise by experts during pregnancy can reduce the rate of instrumental and cesarean deliveries in healthy pregnant women. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-c-section.html Obstetrics & gynaecology Tue, 05 Mar 2013 08:10:01 EST news281691937 Poor mental health leads to unhealthy behaviors in low-income adults – not the other way around, according to a new study¹ by Dr. Jennifer Walsh and colleagues from the Centers for Behavioral and Preventive Medicine at The Miriam Hospital in the US. In this study, stress and anxiety predicted subsequent health-compromising behaviors, such as smoking, binge drinking, illegal drug use, unprotected sex and unhealthy diets. One possible explanation for these findings is that health compromising behaviors may be used as coping mechanisms to manage the effects of stress and anxiety. The study is published online in the Springer journal, Translational Behavioral Medicine², and is part of an issue focusing on multiple health behavior change. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-02-poor-mental-health-unhealthy-behaviors.html Psychology & Psychiatry Mon, 04 Feb 2013 01:00:01 EST news279118526 A study of young twins in Malawi, in sub-Saharan Africa, finds that bacteria living in the intestine are an underlying cause of a form of severe acute childhood malnutrition. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-gut-microbes-root-severe-malnutrition.html Medical research Wed, 30 Jan 2013 17:46:27 EST news278790376 (Medical Xpress)—People setting a goal to lose weight in 2013 may want to first ask themselves if diet or exercise is more important to success. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-beliefs-weight-torpedo-year-resolutions.html Health Wed, 02 Jan 2013 15:05:16 EST news276361491 (HealthDay)—Diabetes robs people of their lives—their vision, their mobility, even their limbs—if it is not controlled, yet the real tragedy of this modern-day scourge is that its most common form, type 2, is largely preventable. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-diabetes-small-experts.html Diabetes Thu, 15 Nov 2012 16:10:01 EST news272217627 People acting as caregivers for family members with cardiovascular disease may inadvertently increase their own risk for heart disease by neglecting their own health, according to a new study in the American Journal of Health Promotion. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-caregivers-neglect-health-heart-disease.html Health Wed, 07 Nov 2012 08:00:11 EST news271496867 Disease education about overlapping behavioral risk factors for both cancer and cardiovascular disease led to small changes in dietary behavior among a community-based sample of African-American adults, according to data presented at the 11th Annual AACR International Conference on Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research, held here Oct. 16-19, 2012. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-factors-cancer-cvd-fruit-consumption.html Health Thu, 18 Oct 2012 07:43:56 EST news269765019 Adolescents who sleep poorly may be at risk of cardiovascular disease in later life, according to a study in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal). http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-poor-adolescents-heart-disease.html Cardiology Mon, 01 Oct 2012 12:00:06 EST news268308356 The fat- and sugar-rich Western diet leads to a lifetime of health problems, dramatically increasing the risk of stroke or death at a younger age, according to a study presented today at the Canadian Stroke Congress. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-cafeteria-diet-hastens.html Cardiology Mon, 01 Oct 2012 02:50:02 EST news268277540 Researchers at the University of Southampton together with colleagues at King's College London have embarked on a unique study that will shed new light on the risk of heart disease and diabetes in later life. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-secrets-small-blood-vessels-reveal.html Cardiology Mon, 24 Sep 2012 11:35:05 EST news267705294 One of the world's most body-conscious countries, Brazil is now threatened by growing obesity rates, with half of the population already overweight. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-body-conscious-brazil-overweight.html Overweight and Obesity Fri, 07 Sep 2012 04:10:01 EST news266208987 (HealthDay) -- Rates of esophageal cancer have surged due to a lack of awareness about what causes the disease and how it can be prevented, experts say. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-untreated-heartburn-esophageal-cancer.html Cancer Thu, 26 Jul 2012 06:00:01 EST news262498882 (Medical Xpress) -- With Type 2 human diabetes climbing at alarming rates in the United States, researchers are seeking treatments for the disease, which has been linked to obesity and poor diet. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-06-human-diabetes-tool-overfed-fruit.html Diabetes Tue, 05 Jun 2012 08:26:29 EST news258103582 Life expectancy in Scotland is markedly lower compared to other European nations and the UK as a whole. But what are the reasons for this higher mortality? An explanatory framework, synthesising the evidence is published this month in Public Health. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-scots-die-younger.html Health Tue, 29 May 2012 13:23:05 EST news257516561 (HealthDay) -- The prevalence of obesity, inadequate exercise, and poor diet among prisoners may put them at risk for non-communicable diseases (NCDS), according to a review published online April 20 in The Lancet. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-prisoners-non-communicable-diseases.html Health Fri, 20 Apr 2012 14:50:01 EST news254149908 (HealthDay) -- Your DNA might help dictate how your skin changes with age, one expert says. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-genes-key-aging-skin.html Genetics Fri, 16 Mar 2012 18:50:30 EST news251142626 Men who drank a 12-ounce sugar-sweetened beverage a day had a 20 percent higher risk of heart disease compared to men who didn't drink any sugar-sweetened drinks, according to research published in Circulation, an American Heart Association journal. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-sugar-sweetened-linked-heart-disease-men.html Cardiology Mon, 12 Mar 2012 16:00:01 EST news250779782 FoodSwitch, an Australian-first iPhone app, has been launched recently to help shoppers make healthier food choices in the supermarket and reduce high levels of fat, salt and sugar from their diets. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-01-healthy-choices-easy-shoppers.html Health Thu, 19 Jan 2012 07:31:25 EST news246180674 Researchers have shown one way in which poor nutrition in the womb can put a person at greater risk of developing type 2 diabetes and other age-related diseases in later life. This finding could lead to new ways of identifying people who are at a higher risk of developing these diseases and might open up targets for treatment. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-01-poor-maternal-diet-diabetes-.html Medical research Fri, 06 Jan 2012 05:21:58 EST news245049707 The poor diet of shift workers should be considered a new occupational health hazard, according to an editorial published in this month's PLoS Medicine. The editorial draws on previous work published in the journal, which showed an association between an increased risk of type 2 diabetes and rotating patterns of shift work in US nurses. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-12-unhealthy-occupational-hazard.html Health Tue, 27 Dec 2011 17:00:02 EST news244197159 It has been well established that certain lifestyle habits relate to the risk of certain cancers (e.g., smoking and lung cancer). In a well-done analysis, the authors estimate the proportion of cancer in the population associated with a variety of lifestyle and environmental factors. They find that smoking has, by far, the largest effect on the risk of cancer, with 19.4% of cancer cases in the UK attributable to tobacco use. A poor diet (less intake of fruits and vegetables and fibre and greater intake of meat and salt), obesity, and alcohol are the next most important factors that relate to cancer, with alcohol being calculated to relate to 4.0% of cancer cases in the UK. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-12-association-lifestyle-environmental-factors-cancer.html Cancer Tue, 13 Dec 2011 10:12:35 EST news242993524