Health (Page 82)

Some people may adapt to certain types of exercises more quickly than others. NDAB Creativity/ Shutterstock Genetics have a significant influence on many aspects of our life – from our height and eye colour, our weight, and even whether we develop certain health conditions. And now, our recent review has shown that our genetics even influence whether or not we’re suited to a certain type of exercise. To understand how our genetics impact the way we exercise, it’s important first to understand why we adapt to exercise in the first place. “Adaptation” refers to the body’s ability to make subtle improvements that help it better cope with a new exercise or challenge. One example of this would be increased muscleContinue Reading

Exmouth RNLI volunteers were on exercise this afternoon when they were called to rescue a 16 year old kitesurfer in difficulty. At 2.09pm today Sunday 24 October 2021, the volunteer crew of Exmouth RNLI Inshore Lifeboat D-805 George Bearman II were engaged in a training exercise off Exmouth Seafront when they came across a 16 year old female kitesurfer struggling in the water by number 7 buoy and calling for help. The lifesavers, Helm, Harry Griffin and crew James Edge and Mark Cockman, lifted the casualty from the water and took her on board the lifeboat at 2.11pm. They conveyed her to the safety of the beach at 2.17pm together with her equipment and reported that she was properly equippedContinue Reading

The two minute rule has been recommended since the 70s. WAYHOME studio/ Shutterstock A lot of us are familiar with the advice that we should brush our teeth twice a day, and for at least two minutes each time. Many of us over-estimate how long we brush our teeth for – by as much as a whole minute in some cases. And yet there’s some evidence that even two minutes of teeth brushing may not be enough. According to research, to remove as much plaque as possible more is better – with the best results at three to four minutes. Does that mean we should double our brushing time? Dentists began recommending we should brush our teeth for two minutesContinue Reading

Elizabeth Holmes, founder and former CEO of Theranos, arrives for motion hearing on Monday, Nov. 4, 2019, at the U.S. District Court House inside Robert F. Peckham Federal Building in San Jose, California. Yichuan Cao | NurPhoto | Getty Images SAN JOSE, CALIF. — A representative for Betsy DeVos’s family office told jurors in the Elizabeth Holmes criminal trial that the former Theranos CEO provided misleading financials and details about the company’s technology in soliciting an investment. DeVos, the former education secretary in the Trump administration, invested $100 million in Theranos in 2014. Lisa Peterson, who oversees private equity investments at RDV Corp. and handled the Theranos deal, testified on behalf of the family on Tuesday. Peterson said that HolmesContinue Reading

SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, with its spike proteins shown in blue. Design_Cells/Shutterstock No sooner than you thought all the talk of new COVID variants was over, there’s news of yet another one: AY.4.2. But what is it, where did it come from, and should we be concerned? AY.4.2 is what’s termed a “lineage”. These are labels given to branches of the COVID evolutionary tree to illustrate their relatedness. They are overseen by the diligent Pango network, a joint team of researchers from the universities of Edinburgh and Oxford, who act as the custodians of lineages and handle the assignment of new ones. If we go back to April of this year, we can trace the origins of AY.4.2.Continue Reading

High levels of drinking during the pandemic can cause health problems. Opolja/Shutterstock Increased drinking during the pandemic has created a group of people who don’t see themselves as alcoholics but have difficulty abstaining from alcohol for any length of time. This group, starting to be called grey-area drinkers, are at risk of alcohol-related health problems. The relatively new term “grey-area drinking” describes people who consume more than a moderate amount of alcohol but don’t meet the criteria for dependence. Although they might not drink every day or have a drink first thing in the morning (the widely held view of an alcoholic) they are likely to be preoccupied with alcohol and have difficulty giving up. Many of these people don’tContinue Reading

It was Jan. 24, 2020 when BioNTech CEO Uğur Şahin knew that Covid-19 was likely to become a global pandemic.  Though it was over a month and a half before the World Health Organization officially declared a pandemic, Sahin met with his wife, BioNTech’s co-founder and chief medical officer Özlem Türeci. Together, they agreed to redirect most of the company’s resources to developing a vaccine.  “He approached me and explained his thoughts and his his fears,” Türeci said. “And it was immediately clear to both of us that the technology we had, and which we had already clinically developed, that could help to ensure a rapid response.” Up until that point, BioNTech was primarily focused on developing novel cancer treatments.Continue Reading

The Indian embassy in Iran recently celebrated the arrival of 1 million doses of Covaxin, a COVID vaccine developed in India by the pharmaceutical company Bharat Biotech. Bangladesh, Myanmar and Iran also recently received a million doses each of Covishield, the version of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine produced by the Serum Institute of India, the world’s single largest vaccine producer. These 4 million doses, delivered in early October 2021, were the first to be exported from India in more than six months. Dubbed the “pharmacy of the world”, India has the largest vaccine-production capacity of any country. It therefore has a massive role to play in vaccinating the world. However, up until recently the “pharmacy” has been closed to other countries.Continue Reading

A laboratory technician uses a pipette device to process samples to test for the novel coronavirus Covid-19, at Biogroup Laboratory’s lab in west London on January 21, 2021. JUSTIN TALLIS | AFP | Getty Images LONDON — A newly-discovered mutation of the delta variant is being investigated in the U.K. amid worries that it could make the virus even more transmissible and undermine Covid-19 vaccines further. Still, there are many unknowns surrounding this descendent or subtype of the delta variant — formally known as AY.4.2 — which some are dubbing the new “delta plus” variant. U.K. government health officials have said it’s too early to tell whether the mutation poses a greater risk to public health than the delta variant,Continue Reading

Sticking garlic up your nose will not help you recover from a cold. Fizkes/Shutterstock As we return to pre-lockdown levels of social mixing, colds are starting to become all too common. A TikTok video has gone viral involving putting garlic up your nose as a cold cure, just one in a long line of claimed treatments or cures. We asked two experts to examine some commonly held beliefs around colds. 1. Can you get a cold by getting cold? Colds become more common in winter. Like other upper respiratory tract infections (in the nose, throat and windpipe) they are normally caused by a virus. There might be a little truth in the idea that getting cold can give you aContinue Reading