(Mirror Daily, United States) – A team of researchers from Harvard University and the National Institute of Health and Medical Research in France have developed a study which has serious implications for cleaners, nurses, or people who have to use bleach or other similar cleaning products daily. Using these products regularly greatly increases their risk of developing serious lung diseases.

Nurses and people who often use bleach put themselves at great risks

Using bleach and other similar cleaning products is a must for many people, especially when they have a job in cleaning or in other field which require disinfection. However, the study showed even using such products once a week is enough to increase the risk of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) by a third.

For the study, researchers collected data from 55,000 American nurses. They took into account their levels of exposure to bleach, alcohol, hydrogen peroxide, or another disinfecting substances, such as quaternary ammonium compounds. Exposure to all of these products was associated with an increase between 24 percent and 32 percent of the COPD risk.

This is the first study to link disinfectants with high COPD risk

COPD is actually not a single disease, but a general term used to define serious lung diseases. These include asthma, bronchitis, or emphysema. All these conditions affect many people, and most of them do not survive. There are several millions of people who die of COPD every year.

Older studies discovered a link between persistent use of bleach and breathing problems. However, this was the first one to clearly identify a relation between COPD and disinfectants. Researchers and doctors used to neglect the impact bleach has on lung conditions, but this study should open our eyes and prove there are great risks if you use such products on a regular basis.
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(Mirror Daily, United States) – On August 21^st, the American Academy of Pediatrics approved new guidelines regarding the detection of children suffering from high blood pressure. These guidelines are meant to make it easier for the pediatricians to identify this condition in children.

High blood pressure is a serious condition, as it represents one of the most prominent diseases in the United States. This condition doesn’t always have visible symptoms, but it might lead to serious consequences, such as the development of cardiovascular diseases or organ damage.

Which children are more likely to have high blood pressure?

A report from 2013 stated 360,000 deaths which had high blood pressure as one of the main contributing causes. Therefore, it’s important to detect the condition in time. Children could be suffering from it as well, so the new guidelines are important for an early detection and treatment.

Overweight children are more likely to have high blood pressure than those with a normal weight. For instance, there are about 3.5 percent of children and adolescents who suffer from hypertension, and most of these children are overweight.

New guidelines to detect hypertension more easily

The previous guidelines included some tables containing the ideal levels of blood pressure that children should have. However, this data included some measurements made on overweight kids. The new guidelines are based on data collected from children with a normal weight. Therefore, hypertension should get easier to detect.

Also, these guidelines suggest that pediatricians should regularly measure the blood pressure of the child during the annual visits instead of doing it when the child comes in sick. This assures the accuracy of the measurement and avoids misdiagnosing.

In case a child is found to have high blood pressure, the first recommended solution would be for the parents to impose certain lifestyle changes. If the blood pressure still doesn’t go down, then pediatricians might administer some medications. This is also recommended in case the child is suffering from other health conditions as well.
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(Mirror Daily, United States) – Peanut allergies are one of the most widespread in the world, and also one of the most dangerous, especially for kids. Staying away from foods which might contain traces of peanuts might be difficult, but a team of researchers from Australia might have found a solution to this persistent problem.

Peanut allergies, more dangerous for children

Children are in more danger if they struggle with peanut allergies, as any small trace of the food can turn out deadly for them. This is why most schools have banned peanuts and peanut products, so not even kids without allergies are allowed to consume the food. However, permanently banning allergens from public places is not a solution.

This is why scientists from Murdoch Children’s Research Institute in Australia wanted to find a way to destroy peanut allergies. Therefore, they tried an innovative method called immunotherapy on several kids struggling with this kind of allergies.

Treating peanut allergies with peanuts

Immunotherapy consists of exposing patients to a controlled dose of the allergen, in our case peanuts. This exposure would lead to an autoimmune response. If patients receive the proper treatment over a longer period of time, their bodies might get used to the allergen and adjust their reactions to it.

This trial started in 2013 and lasted for 18 months. About 80 percent of the children who took part in this experiment came to tolerate peanuts. Researchers looked at their condition again, four years after the trial, and they can still eat this food without experiencing severe allergic reactions.

However, parents need to be careful. This was only a small trial, which used quite a small sample of participants. Before such a treatment should become widely embraced, researchers need to make sure it works on a larger scale as well. Even so, this is a huge achievement, showing that we might be on the way to beating peanut allergies.
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(Mirror Daily, United States) – A team of Australian surgeons have recently removed a seven centimeters long piece of wire from a woman’s stomach. She came to the emergency room after experiencing severe stomach pain and, after undergoing a CT scan, she found she had somehow swallowed a piece of wire from her braces.

The scan revealed a piece of wire in the woman’s stomach

A 30-year-old woman came to the Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital in Perth, Australia, and complained of extreme stomach pain. Doctors decided to perform a CT scan and see what could have caused her affliction, and made a weird discovery.

They observed how she had a piece of metal in her abdomen, which resembled a wire. When questioned about it, the woman said she used to wear braces. Therefore, the only explanation was that she had swallowed a piece of wire from it. However, what’s worrying is the fact that the woman has had the metal in her bowels for 10 years or more.

The woman wasn’t aware she had swallowed a part of her braces

Both the patient and the doctors were amazed to make such a discovery, as none of them was expecting it to be a piece of metal. Often, patients come to the emergency room with such stomach pain after swallowing fish bones which then perforate the bowels. However, the CT scan showed it was something else this time.

Fortunately, the wire didn’t cause any severe damage to the woman’s stomach. Usually, these kinds of objects might be dangerous if the person doesn’t come to the hospital early. However, the woman wasn’t aware a piece of her braces actually ended up in her stomach.

It doesn’t happen really often that someone should swallow wires from braces without knowing. The only possible case would be if the person were under anesthesia, but it is still highly unlikely that something like this should happen.
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(Mirror Daily, United States) – Green tea is a great choice of a beverage, as it contains substances which bring many benefits. A recent study on the active ingredient in this type of tea reveals how it can combat obesity, prevent the body from becoming resistant to insulin, and stop cognitive decline.

The active ingredient in green tea has many benefits

Researchers performed several experiments on mice to see how the active component of green tea influences them. This component, called EGCG (epigallocatechin-3-gallate) is most abundant in the tea. They discovered how this substance prevented memory impairment in mice, as well as insulin resistance caused by high fat and high fructose.

This is a great discovery, since green tea is almost the most consumed beverage in the world, after water. The plant which produces this drink is grown in over 30 countries, leading to such a great popularity of this type of tea. Now, researchers found it also brings medical benefits in a recent study published in the FASEB Journal.

Researchers tested it on mice

For the study, researchers took mice aged three months and split them into three groups, according to their diets. One group received a normal diet, the second one followed a HFFD diet (high fructose and high fat), while the third one was put on a HFFD diet together with two EGCG grams per one liter of water.

After 16 weeks of monitoring, they observed how the HFFD mice had the highest body weight of all. More precisely, their body weight was much higher than that of mice who received the EGCG treatment. Also, those mice scored the best results in other tests they have been subjected to.

This is a great reason to start drinking green tea, in case you’re not a fan of it already. Since the drink is so popular, we can be optimistic and think it contributes to a healthier lifestyle among many populations, and helps people take care of their brain and their metabolism.
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(Mirror Daily, United States) – New research discovered the main part of the brain which can contribute to a longer lifespan and keep aging at bay. This component is the hypothalamus, an agglomeration of neurons at the brain’s base. The tiny body part can decide the speed at which the body ages.

Researchers performed tests on mice, and discovered how several stem cells placed in the brain region can control the aging process. This is strongly related to the ‘well-being’ of these cells. As time passes and they start damaging either naturally or because of external factors, the organs start aging.

The results on mice might be applied on humans as well

These tests only showed the influence of the hypothalamus on mice, but researchers say humans are likely to function the same. Stem cells in this brain region decline over time, and this process is unavoidable. Therefore, it is related to aging of the entire body.

Researchers also bring good news. During their experiments, they discovered the damage done by this stem cell loss is not irreversible. If they replenished these cells or their products, they could slow down the aging process. In some cases, they could even reverse some of the effects of the damage.

What does the hypothalamus do?

The hypothalamus is responsible with taking care of many processes taking place in the body. One of its main roles is taking care everything is balanced, and this is called homeostasis. Several processes it directs are blood pressure, heart rate, sex drive, appetite, sleep cycles, and controls many hormones.

These stem cells which are so important for aging turn into neurons when they mature. The research, published in the journal Nature, showed how they started being damaged in mice at 10 months of age. A few months later, the first aging signs started appearing.
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