An unpublished Canadian research study links seasonal flu vaccine shots with possible escalation of risks for swine flu or Influenza A (H1N1). The study has caused considerable international concern. Canadian health authorities are convening an expert panel to assess the data.

‘Drawn from a series of studies from British Columbia, Quebec and Ontario, the findings appear to suggest that people who got a seasonal flu shot last year are about twice as likely to catch swine flu as people who didn’t.’

WHO has asked other countries to verify the study ‘that shows people who received seasonal flu vaccines are more likely to contract swine flu.’ No results been repeated so far.

According to the WHO’s head of vaccine research, Dr. Marie-Paule Kieny, “None have been able to find anything like that. The plausibility seems sort of in question. It may be study bias; it may be something real.”

Health authorities in several Canadian provinces such as Saskatchewan and Quebec are considering suspending their flu vaccination programs, pointing towards a trend that ‘the findings are already having implications with public health officials across the country grappling with whether to delay, reduce or scrap altogether seasonal flu shot programs this year.’

Fortunately, ‘while few people appear to have actually read the study, the troubling findings have been a poorly kept secret and many in the public health community in Canada have heard about them.’

Via Google/The Canadian Press

A recent study entitled Optimism, Cynical Hostility, and Incident Coronary Heart Disease and Mortality in the Women’s Health Initiative, published in the journal Circulation, argues that optimism as applied philosophy of life is a protective shield for women against heart disease and other disorders, even to the extent of reducing female mortality.

The research conducted through a sample of 97,253 postmenopausal women (89,259 white and 7994 black, aged between 50 and 79 years, free of cancer and cardiovascular disease), reveals that positive attitude reduces risk of coronary disorder among postmenopausal women.

The research team was headed by Hilary A. Tindle, a professor of medicine at the University of Pittsburgh in the US. The authors used two specialized questionnaires that determined the ‘life orientation’ with which the participants were faced with on a day to day basis.

According to Tindle, “This study represents a key step for future research in this area, both on how attitudes can affect health in the conduct of randomized controlled trials to examine whether attitudes can be modified to improve health.”

The findings reveal that optimistic women showed less proneness to diabetes and hypertension, cholesterol and depressive symptoms, and also showed a lower incidence of risk factors and behaviors such as smoking, sedentary lifestyle, or high body mass index.

The study proves the inverse relationship between optimism and coronary heart disease as risk of death.

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Via Circulation

A research study of 26 countries of the European Union, dated 1970-2007, and featured in the latest issue of The Lancet, reveals that more suicides and crimes have come about because of rises in unemployment.

The current global economic crisis portends a similar situation as investments fall, bringing about a rise in employment layoffs, thus creating the nagging fear of an uncertain and insecure future.

The research data show ‘that every 1% increase in unemployment was associated with a 0•79% rise in suicides at ages younger than 65 years’ and ‘a more than 3% increase in unemployment had a greater effect on suicides at ages younger than 65 years.’

Some interesting findings of the empirical study across Europe: ‘rises in unemployment are associated with significant short-term increases in premature deaths from intentional violence, while reducing traffic fatalities,’ ‘populations varied substantially in how sensitive mortality was to economic crises,’ and the social protection offered by the state is a crucial variable and factor.

As a valuable insight to policy makers, the researchers make the conclusion that operational and effective labor market programs that sustain employment (employee retention and employee reintegration) could help mitigate the impact of economic crises on public health.

The study validates the proposition that governments and states can alleviate the harmful effects of recession on population health. In fact, at the point of economic crisis, only the government can have the capability to assure public health.

The study was funded by the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies, King’s College, London and UK’s Wates Foundation.

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Via The Lancet

Addicted to hot tea or coffee? According to new research studies it could be risky to sip piping hot tea or coffee. It can increase the risk of esophageal cancer. Tea and coffee are known for their health benefits but this is the first time that adverse effect is being studied. The culprit could just be the temperature of the beverages.

The research study was carried was in the Golestan Province in Iran where people are tea drinkers and there is an abnormally high rate of esophageal cancer. The team extensively studied smoking, alcohol and tea drinking habits of 871 people in the region of whom 300 had been diagnosed with throat cancer. The results published in British Medical Journal show a distinct link between temperature of tea consumed and risk of developing cancer.

Its best to have your tea warm possible below 149 degrees Fahrenheit. The temperature of hot tea anywhere above 156 degrees Fahrenheit could increase risk of cancer almost eightfold. There are other risk factors such as tobacco and alcohol. But this is the first time study points at the temperature and not carcinogenic agents as the cause. Hence medical world opinion is divided.

Via abc News

Research studies suggest that listening to pleasant music may have more than entertainment value, it could actually help stroke victims regain their impaired vision. This proves that music is an under rated positive emotional support system for physical well being.

It is known that most often stroke patients develop vision problems and are unable to track objects in their visual field depending upon the side of the brain damaged by the stroke. This condition is also known as “visual neglect” wherein visual awareness becomes low. The areas of the brain which integrate vision, attention and action are often critically damaged.

UK researchers have shown that patients of ‘visual neglect’ perform better at doing certain tasks while listening to music. Music may help in overcoming the attention deficiency part by inducing positive emotions. The brain scans have confirmed these findings. Listening to pleasant music activated emotional response areas and it did improve performance.

There are more than 150,000 people in UK alone who are affected by stroke every year. Worldwide numbers are higher. It would be highly beneficial if music does help patients to cope up with visual impairment and perform their daily life tasks.

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Via BBC

Researchers from Scotland have found a protein that may make nerve cells sensitive and prone to seizures. The tests on mice suggest that amyloid protien which causes clumps in brains could be primary cause of it.

Nearly one third of Alzheimer’s patients suffer from epileptic seizures. Unfortunately the medications of Alzheimer’s could trigger seizures. On the contrary the drugs that can control these seizures may also worsen the Alzheimer’s symptoms. This new study may enable researchers to develop and design different drugs which can treat both the disease and the seizures. The side effects of drugs could be minimized as well.

This scientific research may actually unlock the cellular mechanism, which could be the missing link between Alzheimer’s and seizures. Any new understanding brings a new hope of treatment.

Alzheimer’s itself is a degenerative disease. Dementia coupled with seizures only worsens the situation for the patient and the family. It is distressing that only treatments available are symptomatic. The brain mechanisms are still largely unknown and untamed. There is no single drug which can control Alzheimer’s and epilepsy.

Via BBC

According to a new US research study pregnant women suffering from migraines face a added risk of stroke. The British Medical Journal study also stressed that the overall risk is however low. The study also suggests that people with migraine face greater risk of heart disease, blood clots and high blood pressure.

Another interesting aspect of this study is that researchers suspect migraine itself could be a symptom of greater malfunctioning cardiovascular system of a person. It is known that endothelial cells, cells that form inner wall of blood vessels do not work properly in migraine patients.

Given the fact that migraine headache occurs in 26% of women, this study about migraine and pregnancy is crucial. The migraine may put extra stress on the body of a pregnant woman which is already coping up with increased heart rate and blood volume. However minimal there is a pointer to risk involved and this can be tackled if one is aware of it. Also active migraines could be an indication of more serious cardiovascular problems.

Migraine is a widely occurring headache condition which can often be quite serious and dilapidating in some sufferers. So far migraine headaches are usually treated more symptomatically only for pain but these headaches may hold clue to other serious medical conditions and diseases.

Via BBC