Selcitra

Investigators in Israel report that mobile phones can spread dangerous infections in hospitals. In a 2002 study at Soroka University Medical Centre in Beer- Sheva, 124 hospital workers  were randomly tested for the germ Acinetobacter baumannii, a common (and deadly) source of in- hospital infections.

The bug, which can develop resistance to most available antibiotics and survive an dry surfaces for a long period of time, was found on 24 percent of the hands of those tested and on 12 percent of their cell phones.  Following the study , the medical centre banned its doctors and nurses from using mobile phones while on duty. They also advised the public to wipe down their phones with antiseptic on a regular basis.

A study released in the United States Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences claims that tasty high fat “comfort foods” have a calming effect on the brains of chronically stressed rats. The researchers speculate that people may also be tempted to snack on chocolate cake and French fries in an effort to self- medicate.
Both rats and humans have similar stress- response systems, designed to create a state of hypervigilance and muster the quick energy needed for defensive actions. While this system normally shuts down when the threat is gone, constant high stress can override the shut- off system. In rats, symptoms of chronic stress include frantic wheel- running, compulsive eating, and a preference for high- fat foods.

A recent study in the American Archives of internal Medicine reports that people with diets high in water- soluble fibre have less chance of  developing heart disease. The study tracked nearly 10.000 people who were follower for an average of 19 years. People with high- fibre diets were found to have a 12 percent lower risk of heart disease than those with diets low in fibre.

In a study published in the journal Nature, researchers at the University of California at Irvine in the United States reported discovering how the fatty acid oleylethanolamide (OEA)- found naturally in the diet- bonds with cells to send the body a signal to stop eating.
The researchers fed high- fat diets to two groups of mice, one normal and one group which had had cell receptors that interact with OEA genetically removed. The fat mice were then treated with OEA for four weeks, causing the normal mice to east less and lose weight. The mice without cell receptors continued to east and gain weight. Researchers hope the findings may be used to treat obesity in humans.

New research at the University of California in the USA shoes that as men age, the quality of their sperm deteriorates, marking it more likely they will have trouble becoming fathers and increasing the possibility of having a child with dwarfism. Since 1980, the researchers said, birth rates in the UAS have increased 40 percent for men aged 35 to 49, while there has been a decline in births involving men under 30. The study, which looked at 97 men aged 22 to 80, found that as men aged they experienced lower sperm count, less active sperm, and increased fragmentation of DNA.