Obesity is the growing concern for various medical experts around the globe. Excessive weight increases vulnerability to various diseases. Recent study revealed that the enzyme, MGAT2 can help in preventing obesity. Researchers at the University of California in San Francisco believe that drugs targeting this enzyme can help in preventing obesity.

Researchers found that the intestinal enzyme MGAT2 plays a crucial role in this energy storage process and the consequent build-up of fat in animal models. Mice in which this enzyme has been made inactive were able to consume a high-fat diet without putting on weight.

Breast cancer is the most common tumor in women and was diagnosed in more than 184,000 U. S. patients in 2008, according to estimates from the National Cancer Institute.

Recent study revealed that daily intake of mushroom can help in fighting cancer. Intake of green tea along with mushroom can increase the protection against breast cancer.

Research team at the University of Western Australia in Perth analyzed data collected from 2,000 Chinese women. Approximately half of the study subjects had suffered breast cancer.

According to researchers teens with low levels of vitamin D had a higher risk of heart disease and diabetes and are also significantly more likely to have high blood pressure and blood sugar.

The study by Jared P. Reis, PhD, and colleagues from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore, was presented at the annual meeting of the American Heart Association. It said that the link between adults with low vitamin D levels and an increased risk for diabetes and heart disease was known but it now apparent that a lack of vitamin D can trigger these risks earlier in life.

U. S. researchers said curcumin, turmeric's main ingredient, has a wide repertoire of health benefits ranging from antioxidant, anti-cancer, antibiotic, antiviral and other properties.

India has long known the healing powers of turmeric and the spice has been used for centuries to treat wounds, infections and other health problems though how exactly it works inside the body was never clear.

Washington, Mar 10: As part of a breakthrough in human genetics, Netherlands scientists can now predict with 90 percent accuracy if a person has blue or brown eyes by analysing DNA from only 6 different positions of the genome.

Manfred Kayser of the Erasmus University Medical Center Rotterdam led the study.

Human eye colour, which is determined by the extent and type of pigmentation on the eye''s iris, is what geneticists call a ''complex trait''. This means that several genes control, which colour the eyes, will ultimately have.

Washington, Mar 10: A new study, led by Lobke Vaanholt (University of Groningen, The Netherlands), has cast significant doubt on the theory that a higher metabolism means a shorter lifespan.

In the study, the researchers found that mice with increased metabolism live just as long as those with slower metabolic rates.

The theory that fast-living animals die young, known as the rate-of-living theory, was first proposed in the 1920s.

The faster you expend energy, the faster you age, and the sooner you die. It remained a prominent theory of aging until recently, when comparisons across broad animal groups cast doubt on it.