Sleep Boosts Learning Capabilities

 According to a new study provides some evidence for supporting the  notions that sleep and dreams boost learning. Scientists say that sleep and dreaming  helps people to make sense of the real world during the day. NBCnews. com says, “even naps can help, the researchers foun.  Volunteers or test subjects who dreamt about a challenging task during the study, ended up performing it better than those who didn’t have such dreams. This new chain between dreaming and learning gives insight into “why humans bother to sleep at all.” The study is thought to be the first to show “the relationship between dreaming and function in the outside world,” said senior researcher Robert Stickgold of Harvard Medical School.

“Tobacco Candy” contributes to Poisonings

Certain types of  flavored Smokeless tobacco products that look like candy have been contributed to the accidental poisonings of children. The products come in brightly colored packages shaped like cell phoones, which appeal to very young children. The products are Nicotine-laced fillets that dissolve completely in the user’s mouth. Critics call this  “tobacco candy” because of it candy like similarities and the chewing of tobacco. According to NBCnews. ”Tobacco Candy” has become the second-most common cause of unintentional tobacco ingestion in kids younger than 6.” Almost 1,800 children between 2006 and 2008 accidently ingested smokeless tobacco products. Many are concerned that Tobacco companies are coming up with new ways to solicit their products to children due to an increase in tobacco laws. The appealing packaging and different flavors are new ways to attract children to their addictive products.

Nurses Push For Higher Authority

In Chicago Nurses may soon become your doctors. Since there is a shortage of “primary care doctors,” some states are considering increasing nurses authority. Nurse with advanced degrees also known as nurse practitioners in 28 states are looking to practice without a doctor near by. In most facilities nurses work along with or under the watchful eye of a doctor. These nurse practitioners are also looking to prescribe narcotics and if they have a doctorate degree to be called “doctor”. According to NBCnews.com, “nurse practitioners have been playing a bigger role in the nation’s health care, especially in regions with few doctors.”

White Bread Increases Heart Disease Risk

Women in london who eat a lot of foods with a high glycemic index or GI like white bread are increasing their risk of heart disease. These carbohydrates are separated into high and low glycemic index categories. According to researchers, “eating more high GI foods was strongly linked to greater risk of coronary heart disease, whereas low GI foods were not.” About  48,000 adults, the scientists found that the 25 percent of women who ate the most carbohydrates overall had around double the risk of heart disease of the 25 percent who ate the least. Although heart disease is the leading killer of men and women in Europe, men are not affected by this current problem. Diets High in carbohydrates increases the levels of blood glucose and harmful blood fats which reduces the levels of good cholestorol. Low GI foods include beans, lentils and nuts, whereas foods like white bread, doughnuts and ice-cream have a higher GI rating.

Doctors Assists in Suicide

Advocates in Helena, Montana say that doctors have helped a patient commit suicide since courts ruled it being not illegal.  At the end of the year Montana became the third state to allow physician-assisted suicide when the state Supreme Court ruled there was nothing in Montana law preventing it. “The state has no way of knowing how many others there may be, who is doing it or even how it is being done,” says, NBCnews.com. The court ruling widely opened the door for the practice without regulation. “Oregon and Washington have laws outlining guidelines and reporting procedures, but Montana authorities say they don’t have any such legal authority.” Monatana advacacy groups continue to believe that doctors performed the assisted suicide and unfortunately won’t provide them with any details.

Massive Organ Transplant Error

According to the Associated Press, “ Britain’s transplant authority is investigating several hundred thousand errors in its organ donor list stretching back about a decade.”  The National Health Service Blood and Transplant organization said 14 million-strong organ donor list has been affected by technical errors. Due to this massive error  a small group of people may have had organs removed without proper authorization. The errors also meant if people who wanted to donate organs such as their lungs or their skin were incorrectly identified as people who wanted to donate their corneas or heart.  NBCnews.com, stated that the error affected about “800,000 people and about 45 affected died, as well as donated organs.”

TB Kills 150,000 people Globally

The World Health Organization (WHO) reports that Tuberculosis has killed and infected thousands in countries globally, The countries Russia and Tajikistan are among the hardest hit. The Tuberculosis has been drug resistant which caused the death of 150,000 in 2008. Today, it continues to infect an estimated 140,000 to 150,000 people globally.  According to the WHO, ” the numbers suggest the hard-to-treat infection (Also called MD-R TB) is spreading and said there is an urgent need for countries to set up labs to fight it.” This form of TB is especially hard to treat and is most common in Russia, Tajikistan, China and India.  The basic batch of anitbiotics does not work against MDR-TB, So an even stronger doseage of antibiotics must be used. In some serious cases, surgery is performed to remove large pockets of infectious areas. Treatment of the MD-R TB is extremely expensive and but is worth the cost. The “treatment has cured 36 million TB patients over the past 15 years” says, the WHO.

Safety, Condoms & Porn!

Members of the California safety board are looking into a proposal that will mandate porn actors to wear condoms during their sex scenes. The goal of the proposal is to eliminate the spread of Sexually Transmitted Diseases, such as HIV in the Adult Industry. Six members of the Health and Safety group made a unanimous decision to  study the proposal from the “AIDS Healthcare Foundation.”  The foundation wants the same precautions implemented for doctors and nurses who work with bodily fluids to be applied to the porn industry to prevent the transmission of diseases. Currently, adult film stars in the U.S must be routinely tested to prove that their negative for HIV and other STDs. By law they must be tested within 30 days of working on a film. According to AP, “Pornographers, Hustler publisher Larry Flynt and Vivid Entertainment head Steven Hirsch, have said mandatory testing for adult film ac tors has been an effective way to prevent the spread of disease. ” It has also been said that viewers don’t want to see people using condoms in films. The foundation’s previous attempts to mandate condom usage in films have been unsuccessful.

Zocor’s Serious Health Risks

The cholesterol drug Zocor can cause serious muscle damage and potential kidney damage in its users. The Food and Drug Administration reported that the highest available dose of Zocor can cause these serious effects during usage. Patients taking 80 milligrams of Zocor are at a higher risk of developing these responses. “The risks include rhabdomyolysis, a form of muscle damage that can lead to kidney damage or failure, and death”, reports the Associated Press.

Drug Causes Cancer & Infection in Children

Drugs used to treat cases of eczema have been reported to cause cancer and infections in children that use the products. There have been a reported 46 cancer cases and 71 infection cases have been reported in patients aged 16 and younger. According to the Food and Drug Administration the drugs Novartis AG and Astellas Pharma may need to augment their warning labels to be seen by patients. Both drugs are already known for carrying warning signs about the  cancerous and infectious side effects. “Officials are considering expanding them to include the new post-marketing reports” says, NBC.com.  FDA staff will continue to meet and analyze the safety concerns with the drug and its younger users.