Dental x-rays linked to most common brain tumour

WASHINGTON: Frequent dental x-rays have been linked with higher risk of developing meningioma, the most commonly diagnosed primary brain tumour, says a new study.

The findings suggest that moderate use of this form of imaging benefits some patients, although dental x-rays may be necessary in particular cases.

Dental x-rays are the most common synthetic source of exposure to ionizing radiation for individuals, the primary environmental risk factor for developing meningioma, the journal Cancer reports.

Elizabeth Claus, of Yale University School of Medicine in New Haven and Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, and her colleagues studied information from 1,433 patients diagnosed with meningioma.

"The study presents an ideal opportunity in public health to increase awareness regarding the optimal use of dental x-rays, which unlike many risk factors is modifiable," said Claus, according to an Yale statement.

They were aged between 20 and 79 years -- natives of Connecticut, Massachusetts, North Carolina, the San Francisco Bay Area, and eight counties in Houston, Texas -- between May 1, 2006 and April 28, 2011.

The investigators also studied information from a group of 1,350 individuals who had similar characteristics but who had not been diagnosed with a meningioma.

Over a lifetime, patients with meningioma were more than twice as likely as the second group to report having ever had a bitewing exam, which uses an x-ray film held in place by a tab between the teeth.

Individuals undergoing bitewing exams on a yearly or more frequent basis were 1.4 to 1.9 times as likely to develop meningioma as controls. (Risks differed depending on the age at which the exams were done).

An increased risk of meningioma was also linked with panorex exams (which are taken outside of the mouth and show all of the teeth on one film) taken at a young age or on a yearly or more frequent basis.

Individuals who reported receiving these exams when they were younger than 10 years old had a 4.9 times increased risk of developing meningioma.

Scientists create hair thin solar cells

LONDON: Scientists have created solar cells so thin and flexible that they can be wrapped around a single strand of human hair.

The ultra-thin film consists of electrodes on a plastic foil and is only 1.9 micrometres thick, a tenth of the thinnest solar cells present available, according to researchers.

Being extremely thin, light and flexible, they can be used in portable electrical charging devices or electronic textiles worn on clothing, the journal Nature Communications reports.

Tsuyoshi Sekitani, from the University of Tokyo, said: "Being ultra-thin means you don't feel its weight and it is elastic. You could attach the device t your clothes like a badge to collect electricity (from the sun).

"Elderly people who might want to wear sensors to monitor their health would not need to carry around batteries," added Sekitani, according to the Telegraph.

Scientists and consumers in Japan are increasingly turning to alternative energy sources following last year's nuclear crisis in Fukushima.

Hopefully, the new ultra-thin solar cells, which were created jointly by researchers from Johannes Kepler University of Austria and contributors from University of Tokyo, will be put to practical use within around five years.

The research team are now working on increasing the rate at which the device is able to convert sunlight into electricity in order to apply it to specific appliances, as well as exploring an increase in cell size, according to Sekitani.

China launches space drug laboratory

BEIJING, China has set up a laboratory to conduct research on medicines for astronauts during space missions, the science and technology ministry said.
The laboratory, housed in the China Astronaut Centre here, was opened on Tuesday. The construction began in 2009, Xinhua reported.
It is the country's first laboratory dedicated to aerospace medical research, said Li Yinghui, a senior scientist with the China Manned Space Engineering project.

Obesity-high blood sugar combo creates pregnancy risks

WASHINGTON: Overweight women with moderately elevated blood sugar are at a higher pregnancy risk than their obese counterparts with normal blood sugar or those who have gestational diabetes but normal weight.

One of the adverse outcomes is having large babies, the result of fat accumulation. Large babies increase the risk of injury to the baby during vaginal delivery, increasing the likelihood of a Caesarean section.

A pregnant woman's higher blood sugar level and weight can also lead to higher insulin and lower blood sugar levels in a newborn. In turn, these effects may eventually trigger obesity and diabetes, perhaps as early as childhood, the journal Diabetes Care reports.

"We need to address the combination of overweight and blood sugar of these women as urgently as we do for women who are obese or have gestational diabetes," said principle investigator Boyd Metzger, professor of endocrinology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.

The study, based on 23,316 women from nine countries, also found women who are both obese and have gestational diabetes are at a much higher risk of having an adverse pregnancy than women having only one of those conditions, according to a Northwestern statement.

The study found when the mothers are obese and have gestational diabetes, the babies weigh 340 gram more than babies of mothers with normal weight and blood sugar.

Cosmetics use linked to diabetes?

Researchers have warned that chemicals in plastics, cosmetics and toys can raise a person's risk of developing diabetes, though independent experts are not fully convinced.

A team at Sweden's Uppsala University has found that people with "modest" levels of the chemicals - called phthalates - in their blood are twice as likely to develop diabetes, 'The Daily Telegraph' said.

The chemicals called phthalates are used in products such as clingfilm as it can be a softening agent in plastics but they can be used in cosmetics such as self tans and perfumes.

The researchers have based their findings, published in the 'Diabetes Care' journal, on an analysis of data from 1,000 people aged over 70, of which 114 developed diabetes.

After taking into account factors that are known to cause type 2 diabetes , including obesity, smoking, high cholesterol, they found people with higher levels of phthalates in their blood were more likely to develop diabetes.

Monica Lind, who led the study, said: "Although our results need to be confirmed, they do support the hypothesis that certain chemicals can contribute to the development of diabetes."

Soon, a gel to perk up male fertility

LONDON: Scientists have discovered chemical compounds that boost the swimming ability of sperm cells, opening the way for a new gel to help couples conceive naturally.

Male fertility has been largely overlooked with most treatments requiring women to take medication or undergo expensive and invasive procedures.

"Fertility treatments basically involve helping sperm to reach the egg," said Jackson Kirkman-Brown, senior lecturer in reproductive biology at the University of Birmingham and director of the Centre for Human Reproductive Science, Birmingham.

"The majority of these involve doing something quite invasive to the woman, often even though she may be perfectly healthy. If you can give the man's sperm a little more va-va-voom, you could help fertility in a far less invasive way and it would be far cheaper," he said.

"We now have some compounds, that are in the early stages of testing, which can make more sperm swim through cervical mucus, which means you would get more sperm into the uterus. This should increase natural fertility," added Kirkman-Brown, according to the Telegraph.

Current fertility treatments such as IVF cost thousands of pounds while requiring the woman to take powerful medication and undergo invasive procedures to extract and implant eggs.

Yet only a third of all fertility problems suffered by couples are due to women - the rest lie with the male partner or an unknown cause. There have also been some recent concerns that male infertility is increasing as studies have shown that up to a quarter of young men have poor quality semen.

Qatar: Richest nation is global obesity capital

DUBAI: With over half of its population overweight, the world's wealthiest country Qatar is the obesity capital of the world.

The energy-rich Gulf country, was ranked by Forbes this year as the world's wealthiest country. However, it has seen an increase in obesity related health problems, the UK's Daily Mail said.

Half of all adults in the state are classed as obese and 17% are suffering from diabetes , making it the most overweight country in the world.

Low levels of exercise and a growing popularity of fast food outlets has led to concern among local health activists. "It's a very, very serious problem facing future of Qatar," Sharoud Al-Jundi Matthis, programme manager at Qatar Diabetes Association, said.

Nasa robots found signs of life on Mars in 1976?

BOSTON: A recent study by four scientists has revealed that Nasa's Viking missions in 1976 could have detected life on Mars.

Their findings which has already triggered a lot of controversy in Nasa and other space groups has been published in the current issue of the International Journal of Aeronautical and Space Sciences brought out by the Korean Society of for Aeronautical and Space Sciences.

The authors of the paper are Giorgio Bianciadia, Joseph Miller, Patricia Ann Straat and Gilbert V Levin. Their finding assumes significance in the context of an earlier statement by Nasa 36 years ago that the Viking missions failed to detect life on the Red Planet.

Their research was based on a mathematical analysis, but till late Friday evening Nasa had not responded to the discovery. According to the report, a mathematical analysis of the samples found that the salts in the soil on Mars has "thrown off " initial estimates indicating that there was strong evidence of microbial life.

It says that the new analysis looked for what is known as "complexity" in the Martian samples. The scientists decided to reassess the Viking samples because of the discovery of what are known as "perchlorates" in the soil at the landing site of another Mars lander in 2008.