EPA finds fish in about half of nation’s lakes and reservoirs harbor hazardous chemicals

November 4th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Kids who have full-fat milk every day have a lower BMI than those who rarely drink milk, says a new study. However, that's not the case for children who often drink medium-fat or low-fat milk, the study added.

October 31st, 2009 WASHINGTON - A new study has claimed that traveling is not advisable to dialysis patients as it can lead to infections, anemia, and other complications, which can impede their treatment. The conclusion that vacation may turn hazardous to dialysis patients was reached after assessing the health information collected on patients who traveled during April 2008 to March 2009.

October 29th, 2009 LONDON - Fish oils are known for their beneficial health effects, but how and why they produce anti-inflammatory effects remains uncertain. Now, British researchers claim to have uncovered a mechanism that explains why taking fish oils can help with conditions like rheumatoid arthritis.n the new study, the research team showed how the body converts an ingredient found in fish oils into another chemical called Resolvin D2 and how this chemical reduces the inflammation that leads to a variety of diseases.

October 23rd, 2009 LONDON - Are higher levels of exposure to pesticides to blame for the rising tide of suicides among farmers in poor countries? A new study seems to suggest so. The study was carried out by Robert Stewart from the Institute of Psychiatry at King's College London, and scientists from Tongde Hospital in Zhejiang Province, China.

October 11th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Plastics, pesticides and even common prescription drugs are releasing synthetic and natural hormones into rivers and streams, which is leading to unintended consequences on wildlife, causing some male fish to become feminised and lay eggs. In a recent report, it was found that one third of small mouth bass were feminised in nine major U.S.

October 3rd, 2009 LONDON - Contrary to popular perception, eating fish has no major role in preventing heart failure, says a new study. The study, which got underway in 1990 and involved men and women aged over 55 living in a suburb of Rotterdam, found no difference in the risk of developing heart failure between those who ate fish and those who didn't.

September 29th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Researchers from University of Konstanz, Germany and the University of Tokyo have found a genetic mutation that gives medaka fish its grey colour, rendering them less attractive to the colourful members of the opposite sex. The Japanese Killifish is commonly found in Southeast Asia in wide range of colours like brown, orange and grey.

September 26th, 2009 Lead poisons 121 children in eastern ChinaBEIJING — Medical tests have shown at least 121 children living near a battery plant in eastern China are suffering from lead poisoning, the latest in a recent string of such cases that have affected hundreds. Two medical agencies tested 287 children younger than 14 years of age for lead poisoning and found 121 of them had excessive levels of lead in their blood, the government of Shanghang county in Fujian province said in a statement late Saturday.

September 25th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Exposure to environmental chemicals through breast milk might give rise to many male reproductive problems, finds a new study. The researchers showed that evironmental endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs), commonly found in fatty foods, paints, plasticizers, pesticides, and the byproducts of industrial processes can lead to testicular cancer or adversely affect the development of the fetal testis in humans and animals.

September 23rd, 2009 MELBOURNE - Aussie scientists have discovered that the brain also acts as a key "reservoir" for HIV, a finding that may be a serious threat to the search for a way to eradicate the virus from the body. While scientists are using antiretroviral drugs to get rid of HIV altogether, they are finding it difficult to perfect techniques to kill off infected cells in the known reservoirs for HIV in the body.

September 22nd, 2009 Neighbors: Elderly shooting victim seriously illLAGUNA WOODS, Calif. — Friends and neighbors say an elderly Orange County woman allegedly shot by her 90-year-old husband in an attempted murder-suicide had a debilitating stroke several years ago and suffered from dementia and terminal pancreatic cancer.

September 21st, 2009 Man, 90, charged with killing terminally ill wifeLAGUNA WOODS, Calif. — A 90-year-old retired physician has been charged with killing his terminally ill wife at their Southern California home but remains hospitalized after turning the gun on himself.

September 14th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Scientists have developed a stamp-sized sensor that can sniff out some poisonous gases and toxins and can show results simply by changing colour. The sensor could be useful in detecting high exposures to toxic industrial chemicals that pose serious health risks at the workplace.

September 4th, 2009 WASHINGTON - In a new research, scientists have discovered that a duplicate copy of a gene involved in embryonic development of fish has taken up a newer role in the evolution of fish scales. Scientists have suspected that spare parts in the genome-extra copies of functional genes that arise when genes or whole genomes get duplicated-might sometimes provide the raw materials for the evolution of new traits.

August 30th, 2009 ROPAR - Hazardous industrial waste seeping into the Sutlaj River flowing through Ropar District in Punjab has contaminated the water to the extent that people are getting skin diseases and stomach ailments. Environmentalists blamed cement and thermal factories along the Sutlaj River for polluting the water, apart from effluents released into the river from factories in Himachal Pradesh.