HealthDuties

A new study shows that ginkgo biloba does not reduce the risk of dimentia in those that take the popular herb. The study was conducted with over 1,500 patients who were considered to be elderly. The test was the first large and random clinical trial of ginko biloba every conducted even though the herb has been touted for years to help preserve aging memories.

Those taking ginko biloba during the study showed no better improvement in memory than those taking a placebo. This was not the result many expected:

“I’m disappointed,” says lead study author Steven DeKosky, M.D., vice president and dean of the University of Virginia School of Medicine. “It would’ve been wonderful to find something relatively well known and inexpensive that might have been helpful and protective.”

The issue of cell phones causing cancer is once again in the news. According to researchers, long-term use of a cell phone may possibly be associated with brain cancer. This debate has been ongoing this week at Congressional hearings between scientists and government officials in America.

A study shows that people who use a cell phone (ie, nearly everyone) could have twice the chance of developing malignant brain tumors and tumors on the hearing nerve called acoustic neuromas.

Scientists who disagree with these findings argue that much larger and broader tests are required before anyone should begin to make any kind of conclusion between the relation of brain cancer with cell phone use. The debate will surely continue on for some time to come.

The Federal Trade Commission has recently charged five companies with making false and/or misleading claims about cancer cures. In addition to those five, six other companies reached settlements with the FTC over similar claims.

These companies are typically marketing products that claim to cure cancer using “natural” means such as teas and herbal mixtures. The FTC is working along with the Food and Drug Administration and authorities in Canada to help curb these companies from peddling bogus products. The obvious concern is that people will fall for these false cure claims and opt out of effective cancer treatments that actually have a chance of benefiting them.

For a lot of your health care needs you can find great savings if you just order your items online instead of at a traditional pharmacy or retailer. This is slowly becoming the worst kept secret in over the counter health care. Many large online retailers are making big pushes into this space to capitalize on people’s trust in ordering more than just books and electronics online.

Here’s an example: you can order Crest Premium White Strips from OverstockDrugStore.com and save about 50% off the retail price you’d normally find at your local pharmacy or grocery store. Are you a diabetic? The cost of testing supplies can be outrageous if you don’t purchase your diabetic care items online.

There’s actually another big motivating factor for buying health care products online that doesn’t involve money. Sometimes you can avoid a little public embarrassment by ordering the things you need online and not having to deal with a person face-to-face. Are you suffering from hair loss but are too afraid to get what you need a the local grocery store? You can buy Rogaine foam online and avoid any unwanted embarrassment.

If you haven’t looked into buying your health care supplies online and saving some money and some social discomfort it’s highly recommended.

Medical researches at Harvard have discovered a set of new genes that may offer further insight into how autism works. Their discoveries show that these new genes strike in a brain that has a trouble creating new connections. The folks at Harvard suggest that these genes, long thought to be missing in autistic patients, were instead in what they call an “off” position.

This discovery is further backed up, according to the researchers, by the fact that it has long been believed that sufferers of autism begin to show signs of improvement when they undergo intense programs of education:

As interesting as this is, the Harvard study unfortunately believes that autism is too unqiue of a problem and so individualistic to each patient that it will be difficult to develop an easy genetic test.