Category: Health

{Do you always feel hungry soon after having a meal? Don’t think it’s normal that you always feel hungry soon after having a meal.}

Here are 6 reasons why you are always hungry.

{{1. YOUR MEALS LACK ADEQUATE PROTEIN}}

Protein takes longer to break down during the digestive process therefore keeping you full for longer. If you find yourself always getting hungry too soon after meals, include adequate and quality protein in your meals.

{{2. YOU DON’T CHEW YOUR FOOD THOROUGHLY}}

Eating foods too quickly could be another reason you get hungry too soon after having a meal. Try chewing your food more thoroughly during meals as this gives your body time to register with the brain that you have eaten and signal a feeling of fullness.

{{3. YOUR MEALS LACK FIBRE}}

Fibre helps you stay fuller for longer, so you should consider increasing your fibre intake if you are always hungry so soon after eating. Vegetables provide plenty of fibre.

{{4. YOU EAT TOO MUCH REFINED CARBOHYDRATES}}

Eating refined carbohydrates like white rice, white bread and white pasta won’t keep you full for long. Refined carbohydrates cause a surge and dip in blood sugars which triggers a sugar craving, leaving you hungry soon after.

{{5. YOUR MEALS LACK ENOUGH FAT}}

Just as proteins, fats require longer time to break down and therefore remain in your stomach for longer. Try eating avocados and other foods that provide your body with monounsaturated fats.

{{6. YOU DON’T SLEEP WELL}}

A lack of sleep can make you eat more. When you don’t get enough sleep, the body’s hunger hormone ghrelin is increased while the appetite-suppressing leptin is reduced.

{Scientists in Spain say they have created human sperm from skin cells.}

Carlos Simon, the scientific director of the Valencia Infertility Institute set out with a team of researchers to find a solution for the roughly 15% of couples worldwide who are unable to have children and whose only option is to use donated sperm or eggs.

Simon and his team managed to reprogramme mature skin cells by introducing a cocktail of genes needed to create gametes.

Within a month, the skin cell was transformed to become a germ cell which can develop into sperm or an egg, but it did not have the ability to fertilise, they found.
“This is a sperm but it needs a further maturation phase to become a gamete. This is just the beginning,” Simon said.

The finding from this research is a medical feat which could eventually lead to a treatment for infertility.

The result of their research, which was carried out with Stanford University in the United States, was published in Scientific Reports, the online journal of Nature.

{When you take acetaminophen to reduce your pain, you may also be decreasing your empathy for both the physical and social aches that other people experience, a new study suggests.}

Researchers at The Ohio State University found, for example, that when participants who took acetaminophen learned about the misfortunes of others, they thought these individuals experienced less pain and suffering,when compared to those who took no painkiller.

“These findings suggest other people’s pain doesn’t seem as big of a deal to you when you’ve taken acetaminophen,” said Dominik Mischkowski, co-author of the study and a former Ph.D. student at Ohio State, now at the National Institutes of Health.

“Acetaminophen can reduce empathy as well as serve as a painkiller.”

Mischkowski conducted the study with Baldwin Way, who is an assistant professor of psychology and member of the Ohio State Wexner Medical Center’s Institute for Behavioral Medicine Research; and Jennifer Crocker, Ohio Eminent Scholar in Social Psychology and professor of psychology at Ohio State. Their results were published online in the journal Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience.

Acetaminophen — the main ingredient in the painkiller Tylenol — is the most common drug ingredient in the United States, found in more than 600 medicines, according to the Consumer Healthcare Products Association, a trade group.

Each week about 23 percent of American adults (about 52 million people) use a medicine containing acetaminophen, the CHPA reports.

In an earlier study, Way and other colleagues found that acetaminophen also blunts positive emotions like joy.

Taken together, the two studies suggest there’s a lot we need to learn about one of the most popular over-the-counter drugs in the United States.

“We don’t know why acetaminophen is having these effects, but it is concerning,” said Way, the senior author of the study.

“Empathy is important. If you are having an argument with your spouse and you just took acetaminophen, this research suggests you might be less understanding of what you did to hurt your spouse’s feelings.”

The researchers conducted two experiments, the first involving 80 college students. At the beginning, half the students drank a liquid containing 1,000 mg of acetaminophen, while the other half drank a placebo solution that contained no drug. The students didn’t know which group they were in.

After waiting one hour for the drug to take effect, the participants read eight short scenarios in which someone suffered some sort of pain. For example, one scenario was about a person who suffered a knife cut that went down to the bone and another was about a person experiencing the death of his father.

Participants rated the pain each person in the scenarios experienced from 1 (no pain at all) to 5 (worst possible pain). They also rated how much the protagonists in the scenarios felt hurt, wounded and pained.

Overall, the participants who took acetaminophen rated the pain of the people in the scenarios to be less severe than did those who took the placebo.

A second experiment involved 114 college students. As in the first experiment, half took acetaminophen and half took the placebo.

In one part of the experiment, the participants received four two-second blasts of white noise that ranged from 75 to 105 decibels. They then rated the noise blasts on a scale of 1 (not unpleasant at all) to 10 (extremely unpleasant).

They were then asked to imagine how much pain the same noise blasts would cause in another anonymous study participant.

Results showed that, when compared to those who took the placebo, participants who took acetaminophen rated the noise blasts as less unpleasant for themselves — and also thought they would be less unpleasant for others.

“Acetaminophen reduced the pain they felt, but it also reduced their empathy for others who were experiencing the same noise blasts,” Mischkowski said.

In another part of the experiment, participants met and socialized with each other briefly. Each participant then watched, alone, an online game that purportedly involved three of the people they just met. (The other participants weren’t actually involved).

In the “game,” two of the people the participants had met excluded the third person from the activity.

Participants were then asked to rate how much pain and hurt feelings the students in the game felt, including the one who was excluded.

Results showed that people who took acetaminophen rated the pain and hurt feelings of the excluded student as being not as severe as did the participants who took the placebo.

“In this case, the participants had the chance to empathize with the suffering of someone who they thought was going through a socially painful experience,” Way said.

“Still, those who took acetaminophen showed a reduction in empathy. They weren’t as concerned about the rejected person’s hurt feelings.”

While these results had not been seen before, they make sense in the light of previous research, Way said.

A 2004 study scanned the brains of people as they were experiencing pain and while they were imagining other people feeling the same pain. Those results showed that the same part of the brain was activated in both cases.

“In light of those results, it is understandable why using Tylenol to reduce your pain may also reduce your ability to feel other people’s pain as well,” he said.

The researchers are continuing to study how acetaminophen may affect people’s emotions and behavior, Way said. They are also beginning to study another common pain reliever — ibuprofen — to see if it has similar results.

{A lot of people feel terrible about their body, and this makes them have low self-esteem, especially when with other people. It’s easy to notice all the flaws around your body and feel bad for yourself, but it isn’t a healthy thing to do.}

Feeling bad about your body is a sign of insecurity. We’ve brought you an article 5 ways your feeling of insecurity can affect your relationship. Now it’s time to know how to feel better about your body.

{{1. MAKE A LIST OF WHAT YOU LIKE ABOUT YOUR BODY}}

Make a list of the things you like about your body and focus on them daily; remind yourself of these things daily and whenever you think of yourself, let those features fill your mind. Rather than focus on the things that make you feel insecure about your body, focus more on your strengths. This would make you feel better about your body and endear people to you.

{{2. EXERCISE}}

Exercise helps a lot and could boost your body image. A 2009 study found that people who exercised but didn’t hit any fitness milestone like losing weight felt positively as those who hit major fitness milestones.

If you feel bad about your body, let exercising be a part of your life.

{{3. LOOK IN THE MIRROR DIFFERENTLY}}

When you look in the mirror, focus on the positive aspect and not the negative — focus on the things that make you beautiful, and this way you would feel beautiful about yourself.

{{4. YOUR BODY LANGUAGE}}

Work on your body language and posture too. An Italian study found that body posture affects how you feel about yourself. Use power poses like sitting up straight so you would feel more confident about yourself. Avoid slouching; it’s a bad body posture.

{{5. BE GRATEFUL}}

It’s easy to lose sight of all you have and be less grateful because of the things you don’t have. Be grateful for all the things you love about your body and all the good features you possess; someone else somewhere is definitely envious of you.

Feeling good about your body would definitely make you a more confident person and people would be attracted to you when you do this. Read 6 reasons to feel good about your body.

{Fetal brain model provides first clues on how Zika virus blunts brain development; blocking mechanism reduces cell damage.}

For the first time, researchers have determined one way Zika virus infection can damage developing brain cells. The study also shows that inhibiting this mechanism reduces brain cell damage, hinting at a new therapeutic approach to mitigating the effects of prenatal Zika virus infection.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently concluded that Zika virus infection in pregnant women can stunt neonatal brain development, leading to babies born with abnormally small heads, a condition known as microcephaly. Now, for the first time, researchers at University of California San Diego School of Medicine have determined one way Zika infection can damage developing brain cells. The study, published May 6, 2016 in Cell Stem Cell, also shows that inhibiting this mechanism reduces brain cell damage, hinting at a new therapeutic approach to mitigating the effects of prenatal Zika virus infection.

Using a 3D, stem cell-based model of a first-trimester human brain, the team discovered that Zika activates TLR3, a molecule human cells normally use to defend against invading viruses. In turn, hyper-activated TLR3 turns off genes that stem cells need to specialize into brain cells and turns on genes that trigger cell suicide. When the researchers inhibited TLR3, brain cell damage was reduced in this organoid model.

“We all have an innate immune system that evolved specifically to fight off viruses, but here the virus turns that very same defense mechanism against us,” said senior author Tariq Rana, PhD, professor of pediatrics at UC San Diego School of Medicine. “By activating TLR3, the Zika virus blocks genes that tell stem cells to develop into the various parts of the brain. The good news is that we have TLR3 inhibitors that can stop this from happening.”

In the study, Rana’s team first made sure their organoid model was truly representative of the early developing human brain. They found that the model’s stem cells differentiate (specialize) into the various cells of the brain in the same way that they do in the first trimester of human development. The researchers also compared patterns of gene activation in organoid cells to a database of human brain genetic information. They found that, genetically speaking, their organoid model closely resembled fetal brain tissue at eight to nine weeks post-conception.

When the team added a prototype Zika virus strain to the 3D brain model, the organoid shrank. Five days after the infection, healthy, mock-infected brain organoids had grown an average of 22.6 percent. In contrast, the Zika-infected organoids had decreased in size by an average 16 percent.

Rana’s team also noticed that the TLR3 gene was activated in the Zika virus-infected organoids. TLR3 is a protein found both inside and attached to the outside of cells. TLR3’s only job is to act as an antenna, sensing double-stranded RNA specific to viruses. When viral RNA binds TLR3, it kicks off an immune response. To do that, TLR3 helps activate many different genes that aid in fighting an infection. However, in developing brain cells, the researchers found TLR3 activation also influences 41 genes that add up to a double whammy in this model — diminished stem cell differentiation into brain cells and increased cell suicide, a carefully controlled process known as apoptosis.

To determine whether TLR3 activation could be the cause of Zika-induced organoid shrinkage — and therefore perhaps microcephaly — or merely a symptom of it, Rana’s team treated some of the infected organoids with a TLR3 inhibitor. They found that the TLR3 inhibitor significantly tempered Zika virus’ severe effects on brain cell health and organoid size, underscoring TLR3’s role linking infection and brain damage. However, the treated organoids weren’t perfect. As evidenced by their non-smooth outer surfaces, infected but treated organoids still encountered more cell death and disruption than uninfected organoids.

While promising, this research has been conducted only in human and mouse cells growing in the laboratory thus far. In addition, the Zika virus strain used in this study (MR766) originated in Uganda, while the current Zika outbreak in Latin America involves a slightly different strain that originated in Asia.

“We used this 3D model of early human brain development to help find one mechanism by which Zika virus causes microcephaly in developing fetuses,” Rana said, “but we anticipate that other researchers will now also use this same scalable, reproducible system to study other aspects of the infection and test potential therapeutics.”

This research was funded, in part, by National Institutes of Health grants DA039562 and AI043198.

{While studying worm infections, scientists have discovered a surprising ability of the immune system. The strange discovery has significant implications for our understanding of how the immune system responds to infections.}

In order to fight invading pathogens, the immune system uses “outposts” throughout the body, called lymph nodes. These are small, centimeter-long organs that filter fluids, get rid of waste materials, and trap pathogens, e.g. bacteria or viruses. Lymph nodes are packed with immune cells, and are know to grow in size, or ‘swell’, when they detect invading pathogens. But now, EPFL scientists have unexpectedly discovered that lymph nodes also contain more immune cells when the host is infected with a more complex invader: an intestinal worm. The discovery is published in Cell Reports , and has significant implications for our understanding of how the immune system responds to infections.

The discovery was made by the lab of Nicola Harris at EPFL. Her postdoc and first author Lalit Kumar Dubey noticed that the lymph nodes of mice that had been infected with the intestinal worm Heligmosomoides polygyrus bakeri had massively grown in size. This worm is an excellent tool for studying how the worm interacts with its host, and is therefore used as a standard throughout labs working in the field.

Lymph nodes have microscopic compartments called “follicles,” where they store a specific type of immune cells, the B-cells. Stored in the follicles, B-cells pump out antibodies into the bloodstream to attack invading pathogens.

The researchers found that the mouse lymph nodes were actually producing more follicles, suggesting they were producing more B-cells in response to the worm infection. Of course, this is not a simple event. Like many biological processes, it involves an entire sequence of molecular signals that result in the formation of new cells and tissue.

The EPFL scientists were able to reconstruct the molecular sequence, which is fairly complex: when the mouse is infected with the intestinal worm, a “cytokine” molecule is produced. This cytokine then stimulates B-cells in the lymph nodes to produce a molecule called a lymphotoxin. The lymphotoxin then interacts with the cells that form the foundation of the actual lymph node — the so-called “stromal cells.” The stromal cells then produce another cytokine, which stimulates the production of new follicles in the lymph node.

Until now, formation of new B-cell follicles in the lymph nodes was thought to only happen just after birth. This study provides the first detailed evidence to show that this phenomenon can take place in an adult mammal. The researchers also showed that formation of new follicles is important for fighting infection as it encourages the production of more antibodies.

Unlike bacterial or viral infections, worm infections are enormously complex. “Worms are large creatures that produce a host of their own molecules upon infection,” says Nicola Harris. “Some of these molecules stimulate the host’s immune system while some others suppress it. The field is investigating every one of these molecules, but it is slow work.”

It must be noted that the new production of B-cell follicles has only been confirmed in worm infections. “We are currently looking at this effect with bacterial infections in mice,” says Nicola Harris. “Nonetheless, we are pursuing a deeper understanding of this process to see if it is involved in producing adequate antibodies in response to vaccines.”

{Pollution isn’t good for pregnant women, as a recent research has found that even small amounts of air pollution seem to raise the risk of a condition in pregnant women linked to premature births and lifelong neurological and respiratory disorders in their children.}

To conduct the study, the researchers analysed data from 5,059 mother-child pairs in the Boston Birth Cohort, a predominantly low-income minority population. They assessed the presence of intrauterine inflammation based on whether the mother had a fever during labour and by looking under a microscope at the placenta, which was collected and preserved after birth.

They assessed maternal exposure to fine particulate matter (PM2.5) air pollution using data from EPA air quality stations located near the mothers’ homes. Boston, where the women lived, is known as a relatively clean city when it comes to air pollution. The majority of the women in the study were exposed to air pollution below the level that EPA deems acceptable, fewer than 12 micrograms per cubic meter. A subset of 1,588 women (or 31 percent) were exposed to air pollution at or above the EPA standard.

The researchers found that pregnant women who were exposed to the highest levels of air pollution were nearly twice as likely as those exposed to the lowest levels to have intrauterine inflammation and it appeared that the first trimester might be a time of highest risk. These results held up even when researchers accounted for factors including smoking, age, obesity and education levels.

Intrauterine inflammation is one of the leading causes of premature birth, the researchers say. Babies born prematurely can have lifelong developmental problems.

According to the study’s lead author Rebecca Massa Nachman, PhD, a postdoctoral fellow in Department of Environmental Health Sciences at the Bloomberg School: “This study raises the concern that even current standards for air pollution may not be strict enough to protect the fetus, which may be particularly sensitive to environmental factors. We found biological effects in women exposed to air pollution levels below the EPA standard.”

The study’s senior author, Xiaobin Wang said: “Twenty years ago, we showed that high levels of air pollution led to poor pregnancy outcomes, including premature births. Now we are showing that even small amounts of air pollution appear to have biological effects at the cellular level in pregnant women.”

{Many people are harming their liver without even knowing it. The liver is an important organ in the body and it is important we take good care of our liver.}

Below are 4 foods that damage your liver.

{{1. SUGAR}}

Consuming too much sugar isn’t good for the liver as it causes a fatty buildup that can lead to liver disease. Researchers have also proved that sugar can be as damaging to the liver as alcohol.

{{2. ALCOHOL}}

Whenever you hang out with friends to take alcohol, you should never forget that drinking too much alcohol can damage the liver. When your liver tries to break down the alcohol you consume, the resulting chemical reaction can damage its cells. This damage can lead to inflammation and scarring as the liver tries to repair itself.

{{3. SOFT DRINKS}}

Drinking a lot of soft drinks isn’t good for your liver as research has shown people who consume a lot of soft drinks are more likely to have non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD).

{{4. UNHEALTHY FATS}}

Foods such as margarine and cookies contain unhealthy fats which isn’t good for your liver. For the sake of your liver, it’s important you reduce your saturated fat intake to less than 7 percent of your total calories and eliminate your trans fat intake.

{The University Teaching Hospital of Kigali (CHUK) plays a great role in health care services of the country .It receives 70% of patients referred to seek medical assistance from countrywide hospitals. Most of transferred patients are Mituelle de santé subscribers. }

CHUK is a public hospital with 800 employees, including 45 specialist doctors, five of who have left within a period of four months, making a total of 20 that have quit over the past four years.

Most of the specialists leaving are from departments of surgery, gynecology, and anesthetists who establish their own clinics or seek employment in private clinics.

Reasons for leaving the hospital are related to their remunerations where, IGIHE has learnt, a specialist doctor is paid Rwf 700,000 per month.

It has since been established by IGHE that specialist doctors can earn more than Rwf 1,000,000 in addition to overtime man-hours compensation in private clinics.

Doctors at CHUK work extra time as they have a great number of patients without receiving an extra motivation for the extra time.

The director of CHUK, Dr Théobald Hategekimana has told IGIHE that the departure of specialist doctors and other personnel doesn’t worry the hospital.

“Some specialist doctors are leaving .During their training, doctors sign a contract with the ministry of health, indicating that on graduation each serves four or five years in a public hospital/office after which they can go where they wish. Some of specialist doctors leaving CHUK have completed the that period having served 10 years or 15 while others are getting ready to go for retirement.,” he said.

Dr Hategekimana says that CHUK has enough doctors noting that the most important is to seek how to recruit new doctors as others leave the hospital.

He however says the hospital doesn’t find it easy getting new recruits whose capacities match those in the departure gate.

Hategekimana says some of the specialized doctors graduating in August from University of Rwanda shall be brought on board.

{Many men ignore some of these cancer signs because they are also symptoms of other diseases. Men are also known for not taking their health too serious and this is a habit I hope most men change from.}

Here are 8 cancer signs no man should ignore.

{{1. NOTICEABLE CHANGES IN THE SKIN}}

According to statistics, men over 50 are twice as likely as women to develop and die from skin cancer. Visit a doctor if you notice a mole getting darker, larger or becoming the raised.

{{2. YOU CONSISTENTLY FIND IT DIFFICULT TO URINATE
}}

One of the early signs of prostrate cancer is consistent difficulty in urinating. Other signs you shouldn’t ignore include blood in your urine or semen or an unexplained erectile dysfunction.

{{3. CHRONIC HEADACHES}}

If you suddenly find yourself constantly battling with chronic headaches, it could be a sign of brain tumor. Brain tumor causes pain by pressing on nerves.

{{4. CHANGES IN YOUR TESTICLES}}

It’s important that men pay attention to their testicles. If you notice a change in the size of your testicles, you feel a lump or it feels swollen or extra heavy, please visit a doctor as it could be a warning sign of testicular cancer.

5. PERSISTENT STOMACH CRAMPS{{
}}

It’s normal to have stomach cramps once in a while but you should see a doctor if you notice persistent stomach cramps as it could be a warning sign of leukaemia, pancreatic, liver or colorectal cancer.

{{6. SORES IN THE MOUTH THAT DOESN’T HEAL}}

Sores in the mouth that don’t heal, pain in the mouth that’s always there , swelling of the jaw can be a warning sign of mouth cancer. White or red patches on the gum or tongue shouldn’t be ignored too.

{{7. CHRONIC COUGH}}

If you find yourself having a cough that lasts for weeks, it’s very important you see a doctor as that could be an early sign of lung cancer.

{{8. BLOOD IN YOUR STOOL}}

Never dismiss blood in a stool as something normal as it could be a warning sign of colon cancer.