Risk Of Using Steroids In Teenagers


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A recent study suggested that the use of steroids in children may have a longer lasting effect on the brains of teenagers.

The study that was conducted to look at the different anabolic steroids on the hamsters found that the drug just causes a trigger that results in an aggressive state.

They also found that the effects of the steroids may also last for at least two years and they may cause permanent brain changes. The scientists also added that one cannot say as to how the length of the effects from the steroids in humans, since the study was conducted on hamsters.

It was also being stated that the long term use of steroids can cause mood swings, hallucinations, paranoia, liver damage, high blood pressure, as well as increased risk of heart disease and stroke and some types of cancers. It was also noted that coming off of steroids can lead to depression as well.

In another study that was conducted by a university in Boston, they studied the behavior of an adolescent hamster when another hamster was put into their cage. It was found that the hamster naturally defended their territory by wrestling, play fighting, wrestling.

But when the hamsters were injected with the commonly used steroids that were suspended in the oil, the hamsters became extremely aggressive and when the drug was withdrawn, even then the newly vicious hamster attacked, bit and chased the intruder.

It was found that the aggressiveness of the hamster increased to about 10 times more than that of the other hamster who was only injected with the oil.

They found that the effect lasted for almost two weeks and after that the animal just reverted back to its normal playful defensive state.

On the post mortem of the hamsters, it was found that there had been changes in the brain of those hamsters and while the time in which they were being given the steroids, the anterior hypothalamus regulates the aggression and social behavior, secreted more neurotransmitter known as vasopressin.

It was found that about three weeks after the withdrawal, the vasopressin levels had subsided and the aggression levels subsided with it.

The scientists also found that the portion of the brain that they studied in rodents is similar to that in humans and therefore this might be applicable to humans as well.

The researchers said that the developing brain in children is more adaptable and pliable, the steroids could change the trajectory if the steroids are administered during development.
The researchers said that if the steroids hit the right areas of the brain at the right time then they can cause permanent changes.

It is being said that the people who are abusing steroids and especially these are young athletes or weight lifters and the effects of these steroids can have long term effects even after they are stopped.


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Raised Clot Risk With Birth Control Patch

There was a new study, which showed that women who use Ortho Evra birth control patch are at a double risk of having blood clots than the women who took the pill instead. This study was conducted by the Food and Drug Administration.

The study suggested that the results were introductory and these do not require any immediate action in this regard, but to advise women to discuss this finding with their doctors.

The results of the research were extracted from the studies to compare both the pill and the patch to find as to what are the differences between the kinds of therapies.

There was an investigation that was done by the Associated Pres, which found that there was increased evidence of blood clots in women who were using the patches.

There were no increased risks of blood clots in the initial study, but the results of the second study suggested that there was about a two fold increase in the risk of venous thromboembolic events or clots in the legs and the lungs in the women who were using the Ortho Evra patch.

The researchers said that there was an overlap between the two studies so there might be no increased risk from the patch or there might be twice as more the risk using the patch.

The researchers also suggested that there is risk of a nonfatal blood clot in women is about one in 10,000 per year in one who are not using any contraceptives, but the women who are using the hormonal contraceptive patch or pill, in them, the risk just goes to between 3 and 5.

The researchers also added that a study was conducted before the patch was approved and in that study there were about 3000 women in whom there were two women in which the blood clot was reported and one of the women had recently had had a surgery before the study was conducted.

There are also studies being conducted to look at the risk of heart attacks and strokes in women who are using the two types of contraception. The researchers said that there is no difference currently, but that will take some more time to tell if there is any difference.

It is also being stated that the risk of clots are rare and the hormonal contraceptives do potentially pose a risk of clots.

The results by these studies came about four months after the Food and Drug Administration issued a warning that the increased levels of hormones that are released by the patch can cause increased risk of blood clots and other serious side effects. The company making the Ortho Evra said that they shared the results of the latest studies with the FDA.

There were additions to the patch label that were made in November that warned women that they would be exposed to 60 percent more estrogen than what they get from the birth control pills.

There are about 4 million women who have used the patch since its release in 2002. The investigation done by the Associated Press learnt that the women who use patch die and suffer blood clots at a rate that is three times higher than the women who are taking the pill.

There was also a suggestion that the women who smoke should not use the patch as smoking increase the risk of stroke and heart attack.


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Increasing Levels Of Children Falling Victim To Diabetes

The increasing levels of obesity in children are causing about 100 obese children to be diagnosed with diabetes that normally affects only middle aged adults.

According to the research that the type 2 diabetes in children has reached to about 10 times in the past five years and there has been a record report of the cases between 2004 and 2005 in children under 16 years of age.

There is also data from the physicians who said that children even as young as nine years old have been diagnosed with this condition.

The doctors link obesity to be causing diabetes and is the culprit, and leads the young ones to ill health and can lead to a higher risk of heart disease, stroke, eye and kidney disease.

The researchers say that this might be a very little data that they have got as of now and they say that there may be thousands of more kids who are at risk of developing this condition.
There are about 60,000 children who are thought to be suffering from weight related metabolic syndrome, which is a combination of different conditions including high blood pressure and high cholesterol level, which is thought to lead into diabetes.

The doctors are saying that the childhood obesity has really climbed in the figures and it is still creeping up. The most important thing is that as to how to control this issue, which is rising at such a rapid rate.

A survey that was conducted in England found that there are about 18 percent children who are of school going age are overweight and about 6 percent can be categorized as obese.
In type 1 diabetes, the people who are suffering from this problem are unable to produce insulin and the diabetes occurs during childhood or during the adolescent age and then is treated with insulin injections.

In type 2 diabetes, there is not enough insulin that is produced and this usually affects people who are over the age of 40 years and can be controlled with stricter diet plans. Both of these types of diabetes can cause problems such as strokes, heart disease and blindness.

There are increasing number of cases reported of children having type 2 diabetes, which was once a disease of the people in their 40s and this is pretty alarming.


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Impaired Immunity Connected With Crohn’s Disease

An impaired immune system can be a cause of Crohn’s disease, however until now the diseases was thought to be caused by increased inflammation.

In a brief description of Crohn’s, it is an inflammatory disease of the bowel and the symptoms include fever, pain, diarrhea, and a significant weight loss. The most common cause of Crohn’s is that the bacteria or viruses may be a trigger of excessive inflammation.

It was discovered that the people with Crohn’s disease were found to be suffering from defective immune response.

In a normal response by the body to an injury, the immune system identifies the infection or injury and then there is a call being given to the white blood cells, which then engulf the bacteria and kill them. After that the pus is formed and it consists of dead cells and other cellular debris.
It was found that the patients who were suffering from Crohn’s disease had very low levels of neutrophils at the injury site in the bowel and skin.

The researchers injected the patients with E. coli after extracting out the harmful substances and then injected it into the arms of the patients to study the blood flow and the immune response to bacteria.

The researchers found that there was much lower blood flow response in the Crohn’s patients as compared to the people who did not have any disease.

Therefore it was suggested that in Crohn’s disease the people suffering from it have a very delayed response and elimination of the bacteria due to the ineffective neutrophil response.
The researchers also noted that the stimulation of blood flow with drugs like Viagra can help compensate for the lack of neutrophil activity.

The researchers stated that the wall of the bowel is normally an effective barrier between the bowel contents and the inner bowel lining, but when the barrier is broken by an injury or infection then the bacteria seep into the bowel wall and cause an acute inflammatory response, which would bring things back to normal.

However in Crohn’s disease the acute inflammation response fails to start and thus leaves the bacteria to grow in the bowel wall, which thus triggers the chronic secondary inflammation.


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Your Pet Can Help You Stay Fit

It has been found that the dedicated dog owners do spend more time exercising than their neighbors who are without pet dogs, this was found in the research conducted in the issue of preventive medicine.

When people own a pet dog, they know that they have to give time to them and they need to walk them around and this way they are doing exercise of their own and this is really very positive and helps them to take care of their health.

The researchers just surveyed about 177 men and 174 women that were ranging between the ages of about 20 and 80 and they found that the individuals who own a pet were walking about 300 minutes per week than people who did not have any pets and they walked for about 168 minutes per week.

It was also found out that the people who owned pets were exercising less other than doing the walk with their pets and they were walking because it was an obligation to give time to their pets and not specifically careful about their health. This was a behavior that was being found in the people who owned pets.

It was also found that the women and men spent about equal amount of time walking their dogs.
It is also being stated that people who are living in urban areas are spending a great deal of time walking. It was also stated that the community infrastructure where there are parks for walking dogs can help a great deal to the people who own pets and this will just provide them an environment that they would love to visit every day.

This study shows that it is really positive that one adopts a pet and this will be a great motivation for them to workout and getting a time out in the day where they could spend some time on their health. This would be one great benefit to them and they would keep up with maintaining their health in a very positive way.


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You Cannot Always Sleep With Melatonin

According to the latest research, it was found that the widely used hormone supplement, melatonin is a widely used over the counter hormone supplement and it cannot work as a sleeping pill if the insomnia is caused by an underlying condition. The melatonin does not help prevent the jet lag that one goes through as well.

It is not said that the melatonin is of no use at all to use as a sleep aid. The researchers just conducted the study on the individuals who were suffering from the different medical or psychiatric conditions and were suffering from insomnia because of that. It was also found that the supplement also does not appear to cause any harm to the individuals who take it.

The study was conducted on about 97 people that was focused on sleep problems related to specific disorders, a study on about 427 people, which was focused on sleep trouble related to sleep restriction due to jet lag or shift work and about 651 people who were involved in about 17 safety related studies.

The researchers said that their study was small and if there would have been any other research that would have been bigger than their study then the results might have been quite different than the ones that they got in your study.

There was information provided by the doctor who said that older people often have trouble falling asleep because the pineal gland that works to produce the melatonin gets calcified with age. The people who are elderly, when take the melatonin can add up to the lack of the pineal gland and can improve their sleep.

There was a mention in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, which when given in small doses such as 0.3 mg can help people overcome their problem of insomnia.

If melatonin is given in larger amounts, it then deactivates the receptors that transfers the hormone into the cells.

It was also found out that when the dose of the melatonin was raised, the results that were thought to be achieved by this medicine were not that great and overwhelm the receptors.


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Mice Tells More About Stress

There were recent studies conducted on mice in which the scientists wanted to learn as to what happens when small mice is being bullied by larger mice. The scientists have learnt that this kind of interaction of the smaller mice that are being bullied by the larger mice results in the genetic changes in the brain and this would help the scientists learn as to what are the things that would happen in humans who are being bullied upon.

The different psychological analyses among different individuals who have been bullied by their fellows have brought about one fact in the wide open and that is common among all is that they go through a constant feeling of fear and as seen in the case of mice that this can cause genetic changes in the brain and this will help the researchers to learn more about depression and other mental illnesses.

The study suggests that the part of the brain is linked to addiction, which plays a role in illnesses that are characterized by chronic anxiety and social withdrawal. The researchers found a substance in the brain known as BDNF that seems to be the causative agent in controlling the response of whether the bullied mice will turn into fearful The experiment suggests that a part of the brain linked to addiction also plays a previously unsuspected role in illnesses characterized by chronic anxiety and social withdrawal, Texas researchers report Thursday in the journal Science. In fact, a substance produced in the brain, called BDNF, seems to be the culprit, controlling whether the bullied mice turned into a fearful loaner or not.

This finding helped the researchers understand a lot of the myth lying as to how people develop behavioral changes that affect them throughout their lives.

The researchers conducted a study in which they subjected the mice into a very aggressive environment, which was identical to the environment of the wild and these mice were placed in a cage with the aggressive large white mouse and that mouse just battled them and make them move to one corner of the cage. After that the researchers moved the mice in a separate cage that was separated out by a white glass from the white mouse and there was no obvious danger to these mice, but they saw and felt the danger pretty closely and then these mice were subjected to meet a new bully for about ten consecutive days.

This just brought about really drastic changes in the behavior of the mice and they were seen to move away from mice who were presumably friendly little mice.

The chemical, BDNF, is a chemical, which is important for the growth and maturation of nerve cells. According to the research there are some antidepressants that are thought to increase BDNF levels in the hippocampus, boosting neurons.

It was also found that too much of the BDNF in the mesolimbic system was really bad, which is a dopamine pathway. The mice that were bullied were found to have increased levels of BDNF and that just in turn switched on several hundred genes located deep in the front part of the brain and this then resulted in the unusual gene activation paralleled the animals’ social withdrawal.
The scientists then injected the mice with a virus that just simply shut off the BDNF production only in this region of the brain and they then repeated the bullying experiment. It was shown that the mice who were lacking the BDNF did not become scared, as they did not know how to respond to emotional threat.

Scientists say that it is really good to understand this phenomenon and said that it is really good that we have this pathway so that we can understand and react to such conditions and know as to what and who is the cause of such feelings that we are going through.


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Kids Suffer From Parents Fights

There were recent studies conducted that showed that the parents fighting, even if they are of a moderate category can produce very negative affects on the lives of children, which disrupts their sleep and have a very negative impact on the day to day activities of the children.

The fighting between parents just damages the children in many ways. The kids are intelligent and they can feel and understand the things that are going around them. If their parents are keeping silent and are not talking to each other, the kids feel that too and it is not that they cannot understand as to what is going on around them.

The kids understand that their parents are unhappy with each other and are not giving positive vibes. When you ask the children as to how they are feeling, they will say that they feel distressed, angry and fearful. This is how they feel when they are going through a stressed relationship of their parents. This really destroys their personality in a very bad manner.

There have been recent studies that were conducted to see as to how the interaction of parents affected the lives of children and it was focused as to what is the point that the adults are going through a stressed relationship where the children start to experience emotional distress in their lives.

There were some other studies that were focused as to how the sleep of the children is being affected if their parents are going through a stressed relationship. This study was conducted on 54 healthy children who were lying at the age level of about 8 and 9 years old, who were interviewed about the relationship of their parents and it was found out on tracking their sleep that the children whose parents even have the moderate levels of conflict are angry and go through anger outbursts and have lost about 30 minutes of sleep per night. It was added that this loss of about half an hour in sleep can prevent the children from getting into the different stages of sleep where they really need to rest.

The lack in sleep just results in anger and irritability the other day and is really devastating for their health.

On interviewing different children it was found that most of the families were going through a great deal of marital problems and in many of the families there was a whole lot of verbal abuse and being sarcastic among each other most of the times.

There was another study in which they kept track of about 223 children who were about 6 years of age and also their parents to see how the conflict of the parents affected the lives of children and their emotional behavior. It was found out that the children were suffering from emotional difficulties as their parents were involved in hostile attitudes among each other and was causing a great deal of damage to children.

The researchers also worked on finding out if the constant conflict environment that they had gone through just wears out over time and have no affect on them or they just are troubled throughout their lives, and it was found that those children were remained troubled at the same level that they were or they have reached increased levels of aggravation and are very irritable.

It is also being said that when the kids are being exposed to high degree of conflicts among parents, they do not get used to it, but they become more and more sensitive and they react very harsh to it.

The most important thing that was brought about was that the parents must not abuse each other in front of their kids and if they are going to resolve some their issues, they should do that in front of their children, so that the child knows that their parents are now feeling good with each other, which will make them feel a whole lot comfortable.


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When Is The Right Time To End Cancer Treatment

Cancer is a lethal disease and you have shown some great strength and courage by coming this far and you have dealt with everything with keeping your nerves really strong. During the course of the disease you had your treatment and gone through the related side effects.

It is of great importance to note that if your cancer treatment unfortunately did not work for you then you need to eventually think of giving up the treatment, it would be a tough choice for you to make. You can always ask as to what other treatment options or clinical trials are there for you to use. You must take your time in gathering the information and can look into other different modes of treatment as well and see what are the researches saying in the medical field and is there any benefit that you can take from them.

Just remember that when you were diagnosed with cancer you and your doctor sat down and you went through a whole lot of options and you were feeling a lot hopeful and now since that did not work out, you must not feel down, because you will find another way that will work out for you, and keep looking, and keep your hopes high. This is a challenge and you will find a way to get through. Just be optimistic.

After knowing that the therapy is not working for you, you need to change your goals and that would be a wise decision that you would be taking. Being realistic, you might not get the cure, but you still can focus on different things that you still can get and control, for example you can work on controlling the pain.

Things also depend largely as to what was the stage at which your cancer was diagnosed and if it was an advanced stage then you must know that there is no cure and at that time your goal might be to control the cancer from further spread or you can shrink the cancer to prevent it from spreading.

By looking at the above scenario, your goal now can be to focus more on comfort rather than cure and keeping yourself as symptom free as possible. You can focus more on your family and relationships and seeing what you have missed most of your life and trying to catch up with that and not to think about cancer.

You must know that what is the best time for you that you need to stop your treatment that you have been taking for to cure the cancer. You can always opt for going off of the treatment by knowing your current condition and know the actual status of your cancer and not denying anything but being totally realistic. You must know as to what is the treatment doing to you, is it causing further deterioration or is it causing you to feel better. There might be a whole lot side effects that could cause you to stop taking your treatment and that is right if they are hurting more than helping.

When you think of quitting your treatment, you must need to take your religious beliefs and other personal values into consideration.

When you have thought about quitting treatment, you must talk this out with your doctor and let him know as to what are the things that are making you think to take that decision and what is the opinion of your doctor. If the doctors have anything at their end that they could let you know and that would help, you must take that into consideration and revise your decision regarding that cause you might have a chance there.

You must know the fact that your doctor is on your side and he is going to help you the most as he could and whatever he will tell you would be in your best interest.


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Know The Warning Signs Of Health Of Your Aging Parents

As the children are the assets of their parents, the parents are an asset to their children too. Your parents have cared for you when you were a child and in their old age they are a child too in which they have short nerves, they like peace and want things their way, just as you did when you were a child. You must make sure that your parents stay healthy in their old age. You cannot take care of your parents sitting miles away, but it should be your first priority that whenever you visit your parents you must ask about their health and find out as to what you can do to help them in anyway.

You must take notice of the following things that I will be mentioning in the paragraphs below so that you are able to make that a practice in your life as to looking into the things so that you can asses their health.

Just make sure that your parents are not losing any weight. It is a general concept that people think that they are losing weight and this is the indication of achieving health, but in reality losing weight can be a real problem and it might indicate a significant health problem such as cancer, dementia, malnutrition or gastric problems. It is important for you to know that loss of weight is not always linked to illnesses, there can be times when your parents might not feel like cooking or finding lack of energy to do that. You must talk with your parents about the concerns that they are going through so you could have a better idea as to what is going on. You can find the ways with your parents as to what foods are appealing and how they can get food on the proper time according to their meal plan.

The next thing that comes in the slot is that you must know as to whether your parents are safe in their homes or not and is the home fall proof, the lights are working, the air-conditioner and the heater are working, the yard is well maintained or not, you can just see all these things by just observing the surroundings to see how well the things are being taken care of. You must see the level of the hearing and sight of your parents and how well they are or are their senses deteriorating, because you can easily judge that by talking with them. If there is a loss in hearing or sight, then your parents at an increased risk of hurting themselves.

You could also check whether your parents are forgetful about the things that have been discussed and are they putting the food on the stove and forgetting about it, leaving the iron on and not shutting it off and this would tell you as to the memory level that they have right now and that they are getting forgetful of what they were doing or discussed.

You must take a serious look on your parent’s appearance and see if they are well groomed and whether they are taking good care of their health and hygiene or not, are their clothes clean or not, you can get a lot of ideas from how well your parents are taking care of themselves.

It is very important that you see as to how are the spirits of your parents and how they feel, whether they feel down or they feel really good and alive in themselves. You can look for signs of depression in your parents and can always help them turn around and look at the bright side of life. You must ask your parents as to what are their daily schedules and how are they going with their friends or their social circles, do they go out from time to time or not and you can tell them that you have plans for them to come and stay at your place.

You must see as to whether your parents are complying to deal with the problems they are going through. You can motivate them and make them realize that the things can be taken care for and you need them to be happy and lively. If you see that your parents are not complying, then you can talk with their doctor and see what can be done and are there any services that could help your parents out. So you must take serious steps in those regards.


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