Urine test could help identify high blood pressure risk in kids
A new study has revealed that measuring sodium in a child’s urine may help doctors identify those at risk for having high blood pressure later in life. Researchers used a new protocol to quickly screen 19 children who were 10 to 19-year-olds and found that of the eight who retained sodium, seven had high blood pressure. The inability to properly excrete sodium in the body can occur during stress. Sodium retention increases fluid in the blood vessels, which can impact blood pressure. High blood pressure can develop over time if the body can’t properly regulate sodium, and is a serious risk factor for heart disease and stroke. Gregory Harshfield, Ph.D., study senior researcher and director of the Institute of the Georgia Prevention Center at the Medical College of Georgia at Georgia Regents University, Augusta, Ga., said that the results of this test could also provide useful information that could help pediatricians better manage and treat hypertension in their patients. The study was presented at the American Heart Association High Blood Pressure Research Scientific Sessions 2013. (ANI)
Too much time in office can age you faster
If you are sitting all day in office and giving extra hours, you might get a good pay check but chances are that you will also get old sooner than you can imagine. According to Jill Zander, founder of the Jill Zander Skin Rejuvenation Clinic, sitting and working on a desk is directly connected to ageing. Sitting with your head bent slightly forward staring at a keyboard, laptop or iPad screen, may shorten the neck muscles and increase the gravitational pull on the jawline eventually leading to the formation of jowls. To avoid this, it is important to keep the position of computer screens positioned in the right manner. This helps prevent a drooping jawline which can be caused by looking down too much. If you constantly lean your face on your hands in certain positions at your desk day after day, it can enhance the sleep lines that are formed if you sleep in a particular position. To avoid this you can adjust your chair height so that your forearms rest on the desk. This will make you less likely to lean on your hand and make you more aware of your sitting position. Office stress can lead to skin stress. According to a study, the stress can have damaging effect on critical DNA in the cells in the body. Because of stress the sebaceous glands also produce more oil and this can result in adult acne. A walk for five minutes outside office can help you de-stress and it can also boost Vitamin D levels, which stimulates the production of elastin and collagen. (ANI)
Medicine helps conserve Dali paintings
Scientists have assessed ‘health’ of 12 paintings by Spanish surrealist Salvador Dali to preserve them, through a method similar to the one used to measure blood sugar in humans without a needle. The new method diagnoses painting canvases from the back, without disturbing a single fibre, to see if they can withstand the stress of handling and travel. Conservators assessed the ‘health’ of the canvases which are known to degrade with time due to acidity and environmental conditions. Once a canvas is brittle, expensive conservation is required. While all 12 were shown to be in a good condition and can continue to be enjoyed safely, there was evidence of the early canvases approaching the threshold for safe travel. Interestingly, it was also shown that these same canvases were made of inexpensive low-quality cotton, used by the young Dali who later became known also for his extravagant lifestyle. (UNI)
Its like mother, like daughter, like father, like son, when it comes to lifespans
Evolutionary biologists have shown that the proverb: like mother, like daughter; like father, like son, also applies to inheriting a long life at least for fruit flies.
Evolutionary biologists at the universities in Bielefeld and Uppsala (Sweden) found that the descendants of these insects mostly inherit their lifespan from their own sex: male descendants will very probably live about as long as their fathers; female descendants, about as long as their mothers.
The study proceeded from the assumption that the average life expectancy of women and men differs –this may be for genetic reasons but also due to different lifestyles. The German–Swedish research team wanted to find out how far this sex difference in the lifespan depends on the genetic make-up.
To carry out their experiments, the researchers intervened in the heredity of fruit flies by cross-breeding them with special fly mutants. This enabled them to breed 50 hemi-clones; that is, groups of individuals in whom one-half of the genetic make-up is absolutely identical, whereas the other half is completely unrelated.
From each hemi-clone, the researchers determined the lifespan of 400 females and 400 males.
The authors then used the data from the hemi-cloned fruit flies to read off how similar the individuals in a hemi-clone are and how far females and males from one hemi-clone share the same lifespan.
Results showed that the lifespan was very similar within sexes, whereas the calculated relation between sexes was only slight. Hence, Methuselah genes in the father exert only a limited influence on female descendants – at least in fruit flies.
The study has been published in the journal ‘American Naturalist.’ (ANI)