Women smokers are more likely to have strokes.
(Mirror Daily, United States) – It has been already many years since scientists found a direct link between smoking and strokes, but it seems that women smokers are more vulnerable than men.
When a bleeding occurs inside the lining of the brain, it means that person just had a stroke and as recent research has shown, strokes are more common among women smokers than men.
Strokes are also known as subarachnoid hemorrhages. Women smoking over a pack of cigarettes every day are eight times more likely to have a stroke compared with people who don’t smoke.
Also, men who smoke over a pack a day are three times more likely to have a stroke. But women who smoke less still have many reasons to worry because it was discovered that light smoking among women triples the risk of subarachnoid hemorrhages.
According to Dr. Joni Lindbohm, lead researcher, neurosurgery and public health specialist from the University of Helsinki, smoking has no safe level so your best bet would always be to avoid it.
Lindbohm stressed that policymakers should come up with a better plan to reduce smoking among the general population, because by doing so, they will also lessen the risk of strokes.
According to Dr. Ralph Sacco, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine chairperson of neurology, subarachnoid hemorrhages make up for 3 percent of all strokes.
Younger people are usually the ones who are the most affected by these strokes because one in five individuals who have a stroke die. The others have an increased risk of other complications such as long-term disabilities.
These strokes generally occur due to a bleeding aneurysm, which is a small, weak spot in a brain blood vessel that can burst.
Lindbohm and his team gathered information from around 66,000 adults who participated in other Finnish national surveys starting from 1972. These people were monitored for around 21 years until 2011, until they died, or until they suffered a first stroke.
Based on the results, among light smokers who smoked one to ten cigarettes every day men were two times more likely to suffer a subarachnoid hemorrhage, and women were three times more likely to have a one compared with people who did not smoke.
Among participants who smoked between 11 to 20 cigarettes a day, men were twice more likely to have a stroke, and women were four times more likely to suffer one compared with nonsmokers.
When some smokers quit, their risk of strokes significantly dropped off and after six months the risk was reduced to the level of people who did not smoke.
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Jaguar F-pace is ready for launch.
(Mirror Daily, United States) – Jaguar has always been regarded as a fast and smooth car, but it seems that the company wants to expand its vision to a whole new level with the new F-pace model.
The new SUV will become the latest Jaguar trend and probably its most famous model thanks to the fact that no one expected the British brand to have such an ace up its sleeve. Also, many customers throughout the world have become fond of SUVs.
Critics compare this new initiative to the impact Cayenne had when Porsche came up with an SUV idea. It is expected that the new model will be at least as successful as Porsche’s crossover. If F-pace makes a great impression on the market, it will be further developed in the future with other technological and design benefits.
F-pace’s most original feature is that 80 percent of the vehicle’s parts are new, and the model takes most of its mechanical features from XF and XE sedans launched in showrooms in 2015-2016.
In other words, the revolutionary F-pace is a genuine Jaguar that combines luxury with other creative characteristics. Starting from this month, the new model is available in Australia benefiting from a variety of four engine options starting from a price of $74,340 with on-road costs included.
This standard model has a 2.0-litre turbo diesel four cylinder good enough to compete with GLE, X5, Q7, and smaller models like Mercedes GLC, BMW X3, and Audi Q5.
According to Ian Callum, Jaguar’s design boss, based on interior space and total size, the F-pace model aims to fulfill the customer’s needs and to honor the brand. The F-pace features a 3.0-litre V6 twin-turbo diesel capable of generating 221kW and 700Nm.
Also, the upgraded 3.0-litre V6 supercharged petrol has 250kW/450Nm and 280kW/450Nm. But they are available only in First Edition and S models. Every model is equipped with an eight-speed automatic transmission and an all-wheel rear-biased drive transmission inspired from F-Type sports vehicles.
In addition to this, the F-pace has six airbags, a reverse camera, rear and front parking sensors, lane departure warning, and emergency braking as well to improve driver’s safety.
Other features of the Jaguar crossover include a 380W Meridian sound system, an eight-inch color touchscreen with Bluetooth connectivity, a powered tailgate, 19-inch alloys, push button start, climate control, and leather trim.
Image Source:Gizmag
Planet Biodiversity is in danger.
(Mirror Daily, United States) – Recent research has shown that the planet biodiversity has suffered a severe impact because of human ignorance over the past century.
A team of scientists from the United Nations Environment Programme’s World Conservation Monitoring Centre, the Natural History Museum in London, and the University College London, has conducted a study to establish the impact of all human activities on the world’s ecosystem.
The statistics showed that around 58 percent of Earth’s land surface is inhabited by more than 70 percent of the entire human population. In these areas, the level of biodiversity loss is critically high, meaning that the ecosystems will no longer be able to support human societies if active measures are not taken immediately.
Shrublands, savannas, and grasslands have suffered the most severe impact, based on the researchers report. Worse, the woodlands and forests occupy the second place on this tragic top that concerns everyone.
Nutrient cycling and the growth of living organisms are the two key parts that make up of the resources needed by humans to survive. For example, bees pollinate around 70 percent of the world’s crops which consist of 90 percent of human food resources, meaning that if honey bees become extinct, we will all starve to death in a couple of years.
The team analyzed information gathered from 2.38 million records of 39.123 distinct species from 18.659 sites, to establish how far human excess has affected our world’s ecosystem. The algorithm was based on what changes had suffered every square kilometer land even before human started to live in those areas.
This way, the experts were able to find out the damage caused by people in every part of the world. According to Dr. Tim Newbold, lead author from the University College London, it is the first time when someone attempts to establish the cause-and-effect link between habitat loss and world’s biodiversity.
Based on the results, in almost every part of the world, biodiversity loss exceeds the safe limits set by ecologists and environmentalists.
This drop-off originates from deforestation, land use for other purposes, and pollution. Many species of animals, plants, and insects have suffered because of these changes. Worse, biodiversity loss has affected water flows and the cycle of key elements including phosphorus, nitrogen, and carbon.
According to Professor Andy Purvis, co-author of the study from the Natural History Museum, many efforts have to be made fast in order to protect the world’s biodiversity, or human societies will have to deal with the consequences.
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It appears that cuckoos are the best natural way to keep the gypsy moth population at bay.
(Mirror Daily, United States) – Massachusetts inhabitants are currently dealing with an invasion of gypsy moths. The population is usually kept at bay by a local fungus, however, due to an unusually dry spring, the caterpillars flourished, and now the moths have emerged, whitening the trees in their paths.
Gypsy moths, or the Lymantria dispar dispar, were first introduced in the United States in 1860. The insects were brought from Europe with the intention of being interbred with silk worms. Unfortunately, the silkworm industry did not flourish, and the insects were released into the wild.
Only ten years after being released on the US territory, the Lymantria dispar dispar was already considered a nuisance by local inhabitants. Their numbers grew so rapidly that trees lost foliage and caterpillars were falling from the sky.
Even its scientific name suggests that the insect causes damage wherever it goes. The Latin Lymantria meaning “destroyer.” Dispar roughly translates as “unequal,” suggesting that the moth has different characteristics between sexes.
Apart from taking over entire habitats, the gypsy moth also has a negative impact on the population of the northern tiger swallowtail. The habitats of the two overlap and, unfortunately for the swallowtail, the bodily fluid, and pathogens secreted by the gypsy moth are lethal for the caterpillars of the swallowtail.
According to a 2010 report, the Lymantria dispar dispar is responsible for widespread defoliation and produces damages of millions of dollars on a yearly basis. Apart from enhancing the effects of climate change, defoliation also affects the population of forest birds. It was scientifically proven that the insects have a significant direct impact on the behavior of the avian inhabitants of the forests.
Due to an increase in temperatures that allowed the population of the white moth to flourish, Massachusetts is now in the middle of a crisis. The insects are slowly taking over the county, defoliating trees, and disturbing the avian population.
Luckily, there are a few birds who are happy with the increased number of Lymantria dispar dispar specimens. Both Black-billed and Yellow-billed cuckoos are natural predators of the insect. This means that the winged hunters are being presented with a treat in the Bay State.
Have you ever had problems with the invasive nature of gypsy moths? If so, tell us your story in the comment section below.
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Cookie Dough has a high risk of E. coli infection.
(Mirror Daily, United States) – The Food and Drug Administration warned American citizens regarding the raw cookie dough and any other raw batters, as they can cause E. coli infection.
Besides the danger of raw eggs and salmonella, the FDA underlines that many E. coli cases were reported during the last few months because of the General Mills flour.
Scientists have finally established that the E. coli infection originates from animal poop. Animals and birds usually spread the bacteria as they roam through the wheat fields contaminating the grain with their infected feces.
According to Martin Wiedmann, food safety professor at Cornell University, experts have not found a treatment yet to wipe out the risk of E. coli bacteria in flour.
Despite the fact that wheat is processed into flour, not all pathogens are killed compared with the process of pasteurizing milk which is much more efficient in killing all bacteria. In other words, if people consume cookie dough, they might also ingest animal feces infected with the E. coli bacteria.
The FDA is less likely to cancel the warning regarding the E. coli threat in flour, even if General Mills recalled around ten million pounds of flour from three brands including Gold Medal Wondra, Signature Kitchen’s, and Gold Medal.
Food experts clearly stated that flour is not a product that can be labeled as ready to eat compared with fruits or crackers. In other words, every food made of flour must be properly cooked before being considered as safe to eat.
This rule applies to every cooking method. For example, many bacteria, including Listeria and the flesh-eating bacteria, known as Vibrio vulnificus, are killed if food is thoroughly cooked at high temperatures, not by boiling, steaming, or heating it in the microwaves.
Based on the statistics, 42 cases of E. coli infection have been reported until now in 21 states. Worse, 11 people needed to be hospitalized after a processing facility of General Mills from Kansas City, Missouri, was established as the outbreak leading source.
Experts stated that our best bet to prevent the E. coli infection is to wash hands after using dough and flour, and by thoroughly cooking food. Scientists established that this virus is a strain known as Shiga toxin-Escherichia coli.
Infected people usually experience symptoms such as diarrhea and abdominal cramps. People with weak immune systems, children under 5 years old, and seniors are more vulnerable to the cookie dough infection.
Image Source:Wikipedia
Air pollution affects Lake Michigan.
(Mirror Daily, United States) – Over the last fifty years, air quality has been affected by massive pollution in various places around the world, especially in the larger cities.
Air pollution affects not only plants and animals but humans as well. Recent research has shown that the industrial area of Chicago might severely damage the environment, especially Benzie County, Lake Michigan, and the people living around it.
This threat is known as ozone pollution. Ozone forms from the combination of solar radiation and nitrogen dioxide. Therefore, it is a photochemical pollutant that filtered through the clouds. According to Jim Haywood, Senior Meteorologists at the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, this pollutant reaches its highest concentrations in summer because of the high temperatures.
Worse, when sunlight reflects itself in the water, it boosts the ozone level of consistency and gathers into a layer above the surface. This layer is easily blown to shore by the breeze, affecting the county’s population.
It is also worth mentioning that many residents were oblivious to the fact that there is massive air pollution in Benzie County. To avoid any misunderstanding, experts underline that ozone pollutant is not the same thing as the ozone layer.
According to one of the residents, Melissa Bradley, this situation is very concerning because some children living with asthma are probably inhaling this pollutant which might have some consequences. However, no case of sick persons has been reported yet.
Fortunately, the DEQ has already taken active measures to tackle this problem, and it declared June 19th the action day against high levels of ozone in the air. Even if the pollutant was not produced in Benzie County, it was brought by the south and southwest winds that blew north.
Unfortunately, there is a long distance between Benzie County and Chicago, meaning that the pollutant has time to reach high concentrations as it is brought there by the winds. In addition to this, state officials declared that there is no way they can prevent these clouds of ozone from hitting Benzie County.
According to Tom Buss, environmental health director for the Grand Traverse County Health Department, prolonged exposure to ozone can cause coughing spouts and shortness of breath.
In other words, this poor air quality is most likely dangerous for people suffering from asthma. Hopefully, officials and scientists will double their efforts to deal with this problem and to raise awareness regarding the fact that industrial plants are destroying the world’s ecosystem day by day.
Image Source:Pixabay
Eat healthy to live healthy.
(Mirror Daily, United States) – Without realizing that they have no healthy habits, many people have been wondering why cancer has become such a plague throughout the United States.
Recent research has proved that the way you eat and the activity you have is strictly related to your health. Furthermore, 70 percent of the leading causes of any disease comes from food. In other words, we have to be careful about what we eat and how we eat.
A team of researchers has recently discovered that the risk of cancer can be significantly dropped off if we have a healthier lifestyle consisting of a correct diet and physical activity.
According to Lindsay Kohler, lead researcher and doctoral student in epidemiology at the Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health from the University of Arizona, a healthy way of living can reduce the risk of developing cancer by 45 percent.
Plus, it drops down the risk of dying from this disease as well. In addition to this, patients who also relied on cancer prevention guidelines had a 61 percent lower chance of dying from cancer.
It is known that some people have won the battle with cancer by just following a treatment made only from medicinal plants and tea. The team of scientists underlined that a healthy lifestyle is our best bet against colon, endometrial and breast cancer.
The data collected from the study showed that the risk of colon cancer in men and women can be reduced by 27 to 52 percent. Moreover, the risk of endometrial cancer can be dropped off by 23 to 60 percent, whereas the chances of developing breast cancer may drop down by 19 to 60 percent.
These numbers are very encouraging for everyone and they can even inspire the United States population to start living healthier. Unfortunately, around 596,000 Americans are expected to die because of cancer in 2016, while approximately 1.7 people are most likely to develop the disease until January 2017. Over 20 percent of cancer cases occur from lack of activity, weight issues, alcohol, and unhealthy food.
The team of scientists reviewed 12 studies based on cancer prevention guidelines. They came up to the conclusion that a healthy lifestyle consists of eating vegetables and fruits at least five times a day, avoiding too much alcohol, reducing the consumption of red or processed meat, eating whole grains instead of refined, daily basis exercises and maintaining an average weight.
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Enough sleep improves health.
(Mirror Daily, United States) – We all know that sleep is necessary in order to have a healthy life. However, only recently have scientists established the benefits of enough rest and the consequences of sleeping only a few hours every day.
Recent research from the American Academy of Sleep Medicine has shown that infants from 4 to 12 months need 12 to 16 hours of rest every day, including naps, whereas children 1 to 2 years need 11 to 14 hours of rest every 24 hours, naps included.
Furthermore, children with ages between 3 to 5 years need 10 to 13 hours of sleep every 24 hours, while children from 6 to 12 years need 9 to 12 hours. Last but not least, teenagers with ages from 13 to 18 years need between 8 and 10 hours of rest every 24 hours.
However, scientists did not establish how much rest is necessary for babies younger than 4 months, because there is not enough research and there is a broad range of sleep patterns regarding newborns.
According to Dr. Lee Brooks, consensus paper author and attending pulmonologist at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, the benefits of enough rest include better overall quality of life, emotional regulation, memory, learning, attention span, and behavior.
Nevertheless, if children do not meet the adequate number of sleep hours for their age, the consequences include depression, diabetes, obesity, hypertension, more injuries and several other health problems.
Worse, teens who rest only a few hours every night have a higher risk of suicidal thoughts and self-harm. According to Wendy Sue Swanson, a pediatrician at the Seattle Children’s Hospital and The Everett Clinic, more than 85 percent of teenagers do not sleep enough. Unfortunately, tiredness and deprivation affect interactions, mood, attention, schoolwork, and lead to a high risk of unhealthy weight.
It is also worth mentioning that too much sleep can also affect our lifelong habits and the daily routine. On the other hand, the biggest problem of today is the exposure to video screens, because light stimulates the state of wakefulness.
Therefore, experts recommend parents to turn off all screens at least 30 minutes before their children go to sleep. All in all, we all need to rest in order to have a healthier lifestyle.
Image Source:Pixabay
Ashley Furniture has to improve safety regulations.
(Mirror Daily, United States) – Ashley Furniture Industries Inc., one of the top United States retailer and residential furniture manufacturer, will have to pay a $1.75 million fine to OSHA because of safety issues at plants in Wisconsin and Mississippi.
The agency stated that Ashley Furniture failed to assure the protection of its employees from moving machine parts. The safety procedures would have prevented machines from sudden start-up when operators cleared jams, cleaned machines, and changed blades.
Some 38 safety violations were detected at the Arcadia plant in February 2015, based on OSHA reports. Worse, the statistics showed that Ashley Furniture had over 1,000 work-related injuries over the last two years.
During such risky operations, workers were very exposed to many threats. Nevertheless, the company declared that the safety of their employees comes first, so they will double their efforts to improve their safety regulations.
The company invested over $67 million in safety initiatives and modern manufacturing equipment, all for the purpose of creating the safest working environment for everyone. Furthermore, Ashley Furniture spent over $250 million on investments and capital, has around 1,120 employees and its largest plant overall is the 3.8 million-square-foot facility in Advance.
In addition to this, 454 jobs will supply the facilities starting from October. As a total, the company has 30 facilities and 22,000 employees. Regarding safety issues, the company promised that its vice president will develop a program that will have the purpose of identifying and evaluating possible risks. Moreover, this program will prevent any future machine hazard that might occur.
According to Thomas Perez, U.S. Labor Secretary, all of these changes will consolidate the company’s work with OSHA, improve health and safety regulations of its employees, invest in their future and enrich its culture.
Furthermore, David Michael, assistant Labor secretary for OSHA, workers will have a better status in the company and a safer work environment. The future safety regulations will include internal monitoring provisions, an annual review of the effectiveness of the program and periodic facilities audits to detect machine hazards.
Plus, a senior manager or a corporate officer will have the task of being responsible for monitoring the activity. Hopefully, Ashley Furniture will become a safer company for its employees.
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Antibody-based therapy tackles stomach cancer.
(Mirror Daily, United States) – Recent research has shown that antibody-based therapy might be efficient in helping patients with advanced stomach cancer live longer.
The phase 2 clinical trial involved 161 patients and focused on an antibody known as IMAB362. The immunotherapy was used in combination with a standard chemotherapy and extended the survival rate to 13 months compared to 8.4 months in the case of patients receiving only chemotherapy.
According to Dr. David Bernstein, chief of hepatology at Northwell Health in Manhasset, N.Y., metastatic gastric cancer is devastating, and the current effectiveness of the chemotherapeutic agents needs to be improved.
Even if the further research is needed, this study is very encouraging proving that the antibody-based therapy is effective in treating the stomach cancer. The target of the IMAB362 antibody used in this new treatment is a protein from cancer cells called claudin 18.2.
The team of German researchers learned that the patients participating in the study had the highest levels of this protein in tumors before benefiting from the immunotherapy. Furthermore, thanks to this treatment, their survival rate extended to 17 months.
The team’s research was financially supported by drug maker Ganymed Pharmaceuticals AG. and was scheduled to be shown Sunday at the annual meeting of ASCO (American Society of Clinical Oncology).
According to Dr. Salah-Eddin Al-Batran, lead researcher, and director of the Institute of Clinical Cancer Research at Nordwest Hospital in Frankfurt, claudin 18.2 is opulent in gastric tumors. Furthermore, half of all patients suffering from advanced gastric cancer might be provided soon with this antibody-based therapy.
Plus, many cancer patients are scheduled to participate in a phase 3 study starting from 2017. IMAB362 is the first antibody used to tackle claudin 18.2, found in many other cancer types as well, such as ovarian tumors, esophageal, lung and pancreatic cancer.
According to Dr. James Grendell, chief of gastroenterology, hepatology and nutrition at Winthrop-University Hospital in Mineola, N.Y., the role of the phase 3 studies will be to confirm the new findings. However, he was impressed by the new approach.
Dr. Grendell underlined that the antibody-based therapy relies on agents to deal with the barriers that prevent cancer types to be recognized and destroyed by the immune system of our body. IMAB362 is one of these agents that will expose cancer in front of the body’s self-defense mechanism.
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