Suffering from both depression and heart failure can be a lethal combo, according to a new study. More than 20 million people from around the world are affected by the very dangerous condition of heart failure.
Bad lifestyle choices – such as opting for an unhealthy diet, living in a polluted environment or ignoring the importance of physical activity – are only boosting these numbers to new heights, leading to more cases of heart failure.
Heart failure is a problem for 5.8 million people in the United States, a number that goes half a million higher with each passing year. It is also the leading cause of hospital readmission, with one in four heart failure patients being readmitted within a month, and one in two patients within 6 months.
Roughly 35 percent of patients die within the first year after suffering from heart failure, which amounts to an incredibly high risk of death.
But according to a study which will be presented at the annual meeting of Heart Failure 2015, in Seville, Spain, heart failure patients who also deal with moderate to severe depression have even worse odds.
Unless they follow treatment or therapy for their depression, these people face a five-fold risk of dying – and even mild depression can increase those risks, according to the researchers. The study’s results showed that heart failure patients who do not suffer from depression have an 80 percent higher survival rate.
Lead study author Professor John Cleland put together a team from the department of cardiology at the Imperial College London. They examined 152 patients with heart failure who have been admitted to hospital.
Within 300 days from the heart failure, the 102 patients who did not suffer from depression had the highest rate of survival. The 27 people who also dealt with moderate depression and the 24 people showing signs of severe depression had considerably lower chances of surviving in the next year.
People who identify signs of depression should definitely seek help, which can be provided by either taking prescribed medication or in the form of counseling or therapy. Researchers said it was not surprising to find out that so many people who have had heart failure experience depression.
One of the most obvious signs of depression is the sheer lack of motivation or interest in any kind of activity in general – and this feeling is easily turned into reduced efforts of fighting for one’s life.
Failing to see one’s purpose in life, having to deal with anxiety, extreme vulnerability, sleep problems and loss of appetite are just some of the symptoms of depression. Such factors combined with an unhealthy lifestyle can easily trigger yet another heart failure and eventually death.
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After a week of through investigations, police officers arrest suspect in charge of quadruple murder in Washington D.C. Based on their reports, the ex-con is a former employer of the famous CEO of American Iron Works.
The Metropolitan Police has finally managed to identify and arrest the main culprit responsible for the quadruple murder, which occurred last week in Washington DC. Investigators have managed to link Daron Dylon Wint, 34, after withdrawing his DNA from the crust of a Domino pizza that was left in the house.
Apparently, the man had called Domino Pizza’s delivery service right before he set the house on fire. The police got in possession of this information after listening to the phone conversations of the deceased Savopoulos family.
They have, then, traced the man and discovered that he was hiding in the Howard Johnson Express Inn in College Park, Maryland. A large group of police officer mobilized itself to capture Dylon and their efforts have been successful.
When they approached the Maryland motel, police officers realized that Wint was hiding in one of the parked vehicles. A car race ensued, but authorities were eventually able to arrest the suspect. Investigators believe the man expected the police to come after him, as he had probably seen the news reports related to the murder charges that were brought against him.
The arrest took place on Thursday evening at around 11 P.M. Wint’s first court appearance was set for Friday afternoon. Until then he remains in police’s custody as marshals have sufficient evidence to prove that he is guilty for first-degree murder.
Last week, the entire community of Rhode Island was in shock after the first reports of the quadruple murder surfaced. According to past reports, the wealthy Savopoulos family, whose Woodley Park house was estimated at around $4.5 million, was found dead together with his 47-year-old wife, Ami, his son, Phillip and their housekeeper, Veralicia Figueroa.
Although the house has been set on fire, police officers were still able to determine the victims’ real cause of death. According to their forensic reports, the victims had been stabbed hours before the house actually caught fire.
Daron Dylon Wint, a former employee of Savopoulos’ company, American Iron Works, was found to be the suspect in the murder case. However, marshals do not eliminate the possibility that he might have been helped by someone else to carry out the murder plans.
Further investigations have shown that the man bore grudge against his former employer for some reason or another. He even threatened Savopoulos on numerous other occasions.
The recent D.C. murder is not the only charge that has ever been brought against Wint. Police reports have revealed that the man has been previously convicted for having physically assaulted and verbally abused one of his former girlfriends.
The previous charges could be brought against the violent man in court as a proof of his violent nature. His current sentence could be bigger as judges will most likely take into account his previous misconduct.
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Fresh from under the press, Google’s latest feature will probably make you turn off your AdBlock for YouTube. The tech company announced today a new “venue” for your shopping experience opening in the product listing ads you can see next to the YouTube videos.
The new feature, dubbed as TrueView, is designed to give advertisers full control over how their ads on YouTube look like. Marketers are invited to become hands-on with details of the product, images and calls to shopping.
No matter what it is that you’re advertising, be it a video reviewing a product, a how-to instructional video on using a product, or even a top 5 list of the best items in a specific product category – Google is allowing you to take decisions on how to show the right ads at the right time.
All this for one purpose: to get the user to click on the ad and buy the product right then and there.
Moreover, Google’s TrueView will offer marketers better data on user experience by narrowing down the exact moment a video ad convinced the viewer to become a customer.
Do you want to know if it’s the call to action at the end that sealed the deal? Or maybe they made up their mind right off the bat at the beginning of the video – with TrueView, there is no more wondering.
Google released a statement saying that TrueView comes as a tool designed to help both users and advertisers; it makes it easier for users to get their hands on more information on the products they see advertised and easier to buy them; and marketers stand a better chance of making their ads relevant to the public.
In this mobile era – 50 percent of YouTube’s total views are accessed from mobile devices – Google did not even think twice before making sure that the new ads are in a perfect state of functionality on all kinds of devices.
Google has also integrated Google Merchant Center into video ads in order to create the best matches between ads and YouTube videos. There is only one thing marketers need to do in order to make the best of TrueView for shopping: to connect their ad campaigns to a Merchant Center feed, and let it do its job of adding products to their in-stream videos.
YouTube ads are personalized for users based on interests, search results, location and demographic info. The TrueView feature is set to rollout sometime in the next few months.
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Based on the recent reports, Microsoft will add Windows 10 Office apps to Android phones in an attempt to expand the availability of its professional services. The software has already been made available on Android tablets starting in November 2014, but Microsoft takes it a step further by providing its app on Android smartphones, as well.
There has always been a tacit war going on between giant software producers like Google and Microsoft, but the conflict seems to be fading away as the two companies develop new projects together. Microsoft Office, for instance was not provided on Android-based devices as the two apps were strongly competing against each other.
Owners of Android smartphones used to claim that the apps provided by Google’s operating system are free and more efficient than Microsoft’s application. Yet, Google is now offering improved professional services to its customers by teaming up with Microsoft. The idea proved itself good after the search giant endowed Android tablets with office apps last year in November.
Microsoft launched previews of its Windows 10 Office app on Google’s Play Store on Thursday morning, giving Android users the possibility to test the new online program. The same strategy was used before the app was brought to Google’s tablets as the Redmond company feels clients have the right to test a product before purchasing it.
Google Play Store customers will have to go through several steps in order to test the app. First, they must join the Office for Android community on Google+. They, then, have to select the “become a tester” option on the online platform and click on one of the links they are interested in (Word, PowerPoint, Excel, etc.).
The trial process may be somewhat cumbersome as it could take up to four hours until Google verifies testing permissions. Once access has been granted, users may proceed in downloading and installing the trial versions of Microsoft Office 10 app on their Android smartphones.
Jared Spataro, the General Manager of Microsoft’s Office 365, wrote on Thursday that the Office app for Android is “modern, optimized for touch and designed for work on the go”. He further added that documents open fast, are easy to read and edit due to the formatting of the app.
Users who want to share their files on the Internet, will be able to upload documents on various Cloud-based programs from Google, such as, OneDrive, OneDrive for Business, SharePoint, Dropbox, Google Drive and Box. Files can be accessed on all mobile devices, be they Android tablets or smartphones.
The final version of Microsoft Office for Android will be released later this year after the company gathers sufficient feedback from its users. According to Spataro, the official release will most likely take place this fall.
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Almost to no one’s surprise, a new study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association shows that more than one-third of U.S. adults suffer from a mix of health problems called collectively the “metabolic syndrome.”
Sufferers experience increased risks of diabetes and various heart diseases. To make matters worse, researchers discovered the occurrence rate of metabolic syndrome rises significantly as the patient ages – and that’s how roughly half of people aged 60 or older in the U.S. are diagnosed with metabolic syndrome.
Leading author of the study, Dr. Robert Wong, assistant professor at the University of California, San Francisco, explained that such findings are worrying, as the population of the nation is aging. The consequences are likely to place an incredible strain on the health care system.
Having metabolic syndrome means you will have health problems with you high blood pressure, and you will experience irregular cholesterol levels. Patients also deal with raised amounts of sugar in the bloodstream, and balancing a healthy weight is increasingly difficult.
Metabolic syndrome is also one of the indicators that the patient is prone to heart health risk. In order to assess the country’s frequency rate of the syndrome, Wong and his team analyzed health data collected by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention between 2003 and 2012.
In 2003-2004, researchers found that approximately 33 percent of all U.S. adults had the syndrome. In the 2011-2012 medical data, that number was slightly increased to 35 percent.
Obesity is one of the leading causes of developing metabolic syndrome, and medical experts noticed the prevalence of both conditions go hand in hand, with rates mirroring each other.
Besides obesity, age seemed to have a great influence in metabolic syndrome. Young adults are less prone to develop it (only 18 percent), whereas almost 47 percent of people 60 or older have the condition. With patients over 60, women and Hispanics are the demographic to have it the most (50 percent).
Dr. Pamela Morris, president of the American College of Cardiology’s Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease Committee, explained that it makes sense that age should play such an important role. As people age, the tendency of becoming heavier and less active increases drastically.
American Heart Association also believes in encouraging people in general, and people who have the condition in particular, to lead healthier lifestyles in order to prevent its development or keep it under control.
One of the suggested solutions was to limit the access children have to sugar-sweetened beverages in schools, and replace it with better access to healthy foods in urban areas. AHA added on the list the creation of more locations where people can walk or run safely and get more physical exercise.
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One of the leading health institutes in the United States, CDC publishes map showing death causes across the United States on early Monday morning. The endeavor was carried through in order to help inhabitants identify the risk they may subject themselves to by simply living in a given U.S. region.
U.S. inhabitants who might consider relocating somewhere else should take into account the health threats that the area also poses. This is at least the conclusion that scientists at the Center for Disease and Control Prevention have reached after creating a map of the major disease causes across the United States.
Based on their recent findings, people who live in a given geographical area are more prone to develop certain medical affections due to the conditions they are living in. Although the major two diseases affecting people in the United States of America are currently heart illnesses and cancer, several health problems appear to be particularly determined by the area in which people live.
The study was carried out among all 50 States and it involved the research of the public data published between 2001 and 2010. Medical statistics registered within the given period of time, were carefully analyzed by Dr. Francis P. Boscoe and Eva Pradhan at CDC in order to identify possible patterns.
The list that was studied by Boscoe and Pradhan contained 133 disease causes that were officially declared by medical institutions in America between 2001 and 2010. Scientists further tried to determine whether the causes that appear to repeat themselves within a given region have something to do with existing factors therein.
They have, thus, discovered that the most common diseases in America are common flu, cancer, respiratory problems and HIV. Despite the many efforts that are being made to prevent HIV from spreading, figures show this disease is still affecting many Americans, regardless of the region they are living in. Syphilis is another affection that medical scientists are trying to break off with as figures continue to be alarming.
According to CDC’s new disease mapping, northern states like Maine, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wyoming have frequent deaths caused by flu, whereas deaths caused by plane crashes and boat accidents are more common in Alaska and Idaho.
Scientists have explained that these two patterns are somehow justified. In their opinion, the low temperatures that are specific for the northern regions cause people to catch fatal flus more often. On the other hand, states that are only accessed by plane or boat are more likely to register such death causes.
Further studies have revealed that states with an intense nightlife, such as, Florida and California have registered higher HIV-related deaths. Additional efforts might be carried out in the future to reduce HIV incidents in these states.
The research has also helped medical experts identify the states that require an improvement in the medical system. According to their findings, southern states regularly register deaths related to an improper medical intervention. Boscoe and Pradhan recommend leaders to take their recent finding into account in the preparation of new medical reforms.
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The Syrian troops and the jihadi fighters of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant have fought for days in the historic city of Palmyra. After the fierce battle which has been fought, senior officials talking on behalf of Damascus have announced on Sunday that the fighters of the Islamic State have finally withdrawn from Palmyra. An even if Syria claims victory over ISIL in this battle, unfortunately this may not yet mean that the self proclaimed caliphate has lost the war.
It seems like the Syrian troops have fought fiercely to defeat the jihadi enemy. The fighters of the Islamic State have been reported running away from the city and into the desert. One of the most important parts of the Syrian military action was the air strikes, which have caused the withdrawal of the Islamic State`s soldiers. The most recent information on the battle of Palmyra says that dozens of the Daesh fighters were killed during the military clash.
The battle of Palmyra between the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant and the Syrian troops has been signaled all over the world wide web. Social media promoted a video in which viewers could see an Islamic State fighter raising a black ISIL flag on the top of a building, whose location was identified as the northern part of the disputed city.
In the northeastern part of Palmyra, a city also known as Tadmur, the jihadi fighters have seized a gas field. According to SANA, which is the Syrian news agency, the troops of the Syrian state have hindered Islamic State troops from seizing a hilltop located in the southwestern part of the citadel.
The southwestern part of Palmyra is home to numerous historic buildings. Since 2013, Palmyra has been featured on the list of endangered sites of the UNESCO heritage. In Palmyra there can be found numerous ruins that remind of the glory of one of the most famous cultural centers in ancient times.
The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant is known for their terrible actions of destroying ancient temples, buildings and monuments that have a relevance of a global level and are part of the legacy of the human race, that would be the reason why a global organization like UNESCO is trying to protect them.
But Palmyra was not a target to ISIL only for its cultural richness. It has a strategic position, linking Homs to Damascus, the Syrian capital.
Image Source: National Geogarphic
According to a recent research published in The Lancet, your handgrips can be one of the telltale signs showing how long you will live. Darryl Leong from the McMaster University in Canada based his study on the hypothesis that testing one’s grip in a handshake can give away the possibility of dying in the next years.
Dr. Leong and his international team of researchers used a dynamometer, a hand-held instrument, to evaluate the grips of more than 140,000 people from 17 countries, aged 35 to 70.
For the study’s purposes, participants were chosen from varied countries, three of which had high-incomes – the United Arab Emirates, Sweden and Canada – four of them were on the lower end of the spectrum – Pakistan, Bangladesh, Zimbabwe and India; whereas some of the participants came from countries with middle-incomes, Poland, Colombia and South Africa.
A four year follow-up period was the base of the study’s results, time when the researchers monitored the reasons why people in the study died. National variation could be observed throughout the years – Swedes, for example, were the ones with the strongest handshakes, whereas Pakistanis had the weakest.
In general, results showed that the firmness of someone’s handshake is a sound criteria for predicting how likely that person was to die in the next few years (or during the study, in their case).
The researchers measured hand grip in newtons, which averaged at 300 – the equivalent of lifting 30 kilograms. Dropping with 50 newtons under the average was linked with a 16 percent increase in risk of death, and a 17 percent rise in risk of dying from heart diseases.
Participants who suffered from chronic heart diseases or cancer but also had a stronger grip were statistically more likely to survive after the follow-up period than those with weaker handshakes.
When researchers cross-referenced their results with other factors that also play a role in death rate – drinking, smoking, age and education – it turned out their assessments were right.
However, Dr. Leong stated that grip firmness is not a 100% predictor for a longer life. For example, there was no connection between a soft handshake and frequency of hospital admissions or the rate of diabetes.
Researchers were most surprised to see there was apparently no association between dying from falls, a case where muscular weakness should play a direct part. But Dr. Leong admitted that interpreting an observational study was more difficult than reaching conclusions after an experimental one.
It is impossible to establish if muscular weakness is a cause or an effect. If it’s an effect of a disease that’s’ already existing, then maybe improving strength might prevent early death. If it’s a cause, than there’s nothing people or doctors can do. Chances are, it’s a bit of both.
Image Source: Huffington Post
Starting today, Facebook helps users search and sell content with the new “Add a Link” option, which was publicly announced on Tuesday morning by the company’s spokespersons.
The famous social network informed its users on early Tuesday morning that their Facebook profiles will be endowed with new useful search options starting with the upcoming period. The decision is in keeping with the company’s objective of gaining increasing autonomy in relation to the other online platforms.
The new “Add a Link” feature that Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of the social network, has recently announced enables users to quickly browse web content without accessing Google’s Internet search page.
The option will be added on Facebook’s homepage together with other additional buttons.
Users, who need to access Internet files in search of specific information, will simply click the option and insert the search term they are interested in. A list of relevant links will unfold once the Facebook users enter their terms.
Tech analysts, who have been studying the company’s recent market activity, claim the addition of the new option aims to help users centralize their data.
The “Add a Link” feature is particularly important for the mobile users of Facebook as recent data has revealed that the social network gathers advertising revenue through mobile devices.
According to the recent market data, 73% of the income resulting from advertising activities stemmed from the use of mobile devices. 9 out of 10 users of Facebook access their accounts using a mobile device, therefore the mobile ad revenue pertaining to Facebook rises up to 46.8 percent.
In the past two years, Facebook has been particularly keen on determining its users to be more active on the social platform. Among the strategies that the company has used to draw users’ engagement is also the introduction of many apps and features. These are meant to keep users working on their Facebook account, so advertisers could maintain their interest in the social network.
Mark Zuckerberg is particularly interested in separating his social network from the search giant, Google, if we are to study the ideas that the developer has come up with in the past three years.
In 2013, he introduced Graph Search a Facebook tool meant to facilitate users’ access to the millions of posts from around the world published on Facebook.
The “Add a Link” feature will be available only for specific regions, according to Facebook’s recent statement. Only U.S. users will be able to view and access the feature starting with the upcoming days.
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A new study reveals measles vaccination could have benefits against other infections, according to the new medical findings.
Scientists at Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation were keen on addressing the recent debate regarding the effects of the measles vaccination. According to their recent discoveries, the measles shot could have many other additional benefits other than that of preventing young children and babies from getting this infection.
Children who have suffered from measles have registered a weaker immune system for about three years after the contagious disease has settled in.
Medical researchers have looked deeper into this problem and discovered that measles vaccine helps strengthen the immune system. Consequently, children stay protected against many other similar illnesses that could settle in after the measles eruption.
The recent study is meant to clarify and, hopefully, solve all concerns that parents may have in relation to the safety of the measles shot. Doctors have repeatedly stressed the importance of this vaccine in the past.
Thanks to the recent findings, they now have a solid base to prove their arguments. Richard Wenzel, an infectious disease specialist at Virginia Commonwealth University reinforced the message of the study: the measles vaccine is as safe as it can be.
Furthermore, there are many other illnesses that will be prevented thanks to this simple shot.
The United States of America have been dealing with frequent measles infections at the beginning of the current year. Medical reports show that 147 cases have been registered in Disneyland in the past few months and 131 in California.
The need to immunize children against this ill has become all the more important as worrisome measles outbreaks have also been registered in Mexico and Canada, where 159 people have fallen victim to this disease.
The majority of the victims did not receive vaccination as a result of their parents’ or their personal choice.
The United States of America have registered powerful measles epidemic in the past decades, but the outbreak was suppressed thanks to the widespread vaccination campaigns that were carried out.
The death rate of the contagious disease fell from 18% before vaccination to less than 6% after vaccination.
Rare outbreaks still occur as a result of the overseas infections. Measles are frequently related to fever, cough and blotchy rash.
Medics warn that the infection may also be accompanied by symptoms that are generally associated with other more common diseases, such as runny nose and red eyes.
Nevertheless, parents should not ignore any of the symptoms that their children may have and address the medical authorities as soon as the signs of illness appear.
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