Curiosity About Cigarettes, Cigars Falling among Students

Fewer middle and high school students in the United States have ever used or are curious about using cigarettes or cigars, according to new research published in the journal Preventing Chronic Disease.

However, the study - conducted by researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) - identified no change in the percentage of American students who have ever used or are curious about smokeless tobacco.

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Researchers find fewer students are curious about using cigarettes and cigars.

Source: medicalnewstoday

Stroke Could be Better Predicted with Biomarker Discovery

Stroke is a leading cause of disability and death in the United States, affecting more than 795,000 Americans every year. But what if doctors were better able to predict who is likely to have a stroke, providing greater opportunity for prevention? Researchers have uncovered four biomarkers that could help do just that.

In a study published in the journal Neurology, researchers found that individuals who had higher levels of four inflammatory biomarkers in their blood were at greater risk for stroke than those with lower levels.

Study co-author Dr. Ashkan Shoamanesh, of McMaster University in Canada, and colleagues say that - while further research is needed to determine whether these biomarkers could be used in clinical practice - their findings could pave the way for better prevention and treatment of stroke.

Stroke occurs when the flow of oxygen-rich blood to the brain is reduced, causing brain cell death.

Read more: Stroke Could be Better Predicted with Biomarker Discovery

Researchers have pinpointed four biomarkers that they say could help predict stroke risk.

Source: medicalnewstoday

Throat Cancer: Get the Facts

The throat is often described as having many different parts. This article looks at two of the more common places throat cancer can occur: the pharynx and the larynx.

1. The pharynx is most commonly thought of as the throat. It is a tube around 5 inches long that leads from behind the nose to the food pipe.
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3. The larynx is also known as the voicebox. It is a short passage just below the pharynx. The larynx holds the vocal cords and a small piece of tissue called the epiglottis.

The epiglottis moves to cover the top of the larynx so food cannot enter it when people breathe.

Read more: Throat Cancer: Get the Facts

Cancer in the throat is uncommon when compared with other forms of cancer. Early symptoms of
throat cancer include a long-lasting cough and pain when swallowing.

Source: medicalnewstoday

Do You Know All The Chemicals In Cigarette Smoke? Most People Don’t

Cigarette smoke is packed with thousands of chemicals, but most people aren’t even aware of them.

There are some 4,800 chemicals in cigarette smoke, many of which are carcinogens — yet the majority of people who smoke don’t realize what they’re inhaling. A new study published in the journal BMC Public Health argues that making information about cigarette smoke more available to consumers could improve public health and awareness about the dangers of smoking.

“The majority of the [United States] public wants easy access to information about chemicals in cigarettes and other tobacco products,” said Marcella Boynton, lead author of the study, in a press release. “Surprisingly, our results reveal that groups one might presume to be the least psychologically motivated to look for this information, young adults and smokers, were more likely to say that they had previously looked for this information.”

Read more: Do You Know All The Chemicals In Cigarette Smoke? Most People Don’t

Source: healthguru

Obesity, stress and even cellphone use can influence men's ability to conceive

Certain lifestyle factors are linked to higher rates of damage in the genetic material in men’s sperm. This could affect men’s ability to conceive as well as the genes they pass on to their children.

According to researchers, the damage may stem from factors such as obesity, stress and even cellphone use.

Semen analysis usually looks at the numbers and the condition of whole sperm. But the authors of a small study in Poland believe the degree of breakage, or fragmentation, in DNA strands in the sperm might be a better indicator of fertility. DNA carries the cell’s genetic information and hereditary characteristics.

Men with fragmentation have lower odds of conceiving naturally and through such procedures as in vitro fertilization, the scientists write in the International Journal of Impotence Research.

Researchers have noticed before that lifestyle factors can influence the level of sperm DNA fragmentation, said Ricardo P. Bertolla of Sao Paulo Federal University in Brazil, who was not part of the new study.

Read more: Obesity, stress and even cellphone use can influence men's ability to conceive

In a new study, older men and those with higher work stress had more fragmentation of the DNA in
their sperm, which might affect their ability to conceive as well as the genes they pass on to their children.

Source: De Agostini/Getty Images