Washington, Mar 10 : Researchers at Rhode Island Hospital have developed a new questionnaire and outcomes measurement scale that can turn out to be a reliable and valid measure of anxiety.

The scale can easily be incorporated into routine clinical practice when treating psychiatric disorders.

If scales are to be incorporated into clinical practices, it is necessary to develop measures that are feasible and have good psychometric properties.

Melbourne, Mar 10 : Australian of the Year Pat McGorry is extending support for a Senate inquiry into Scientology, saying that its views on mental health are putting lives at risk.

The renowned mental health expert has joined psychiatry boss Louise Newman and the Brain and Mind Institute''s Ian Hickie in urging senators to vote for an inquiry.

"They are the deniers of the realities of mental illness, which I find incredibly irresponsible and dangerous," News. com. au quoted him as telling ABC Radio.

Washington, Mar 10 : According to a new study, obese colon cancer patients are at greater risk for death or recurrent disease compared to those who are within a normal weight range.

The study has been reported in Clinical Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.

Washington, Mar 10 : Doctors at Henry Ford Hospital have shown that skin transplant surgery is safe and effective for treating vitiligo.

In their study, Henry Ford researchers followed 23 patients for up to six months after surgery and found that the treated area regained on average 52 percent of its natural skin color. In eight patients with a specific type of vitiligo, the treated area regained on average 74 percent of its natural skin color.

Washington, Mar 10 : The availability of supermarkets, rather than the lack of them, increases the risk of obesity for low-income women living in small cities, claims a new study.

To reach the conclusion, K-State researchers studied the availability of food stores for low-income women in Kansas to see whether there was a link to obesity.

Washington, March 10 : Starting metformin treatment early doubles chance of success for people with diabetes, a new research has found.

The Kaiser Permanente study, the first to compare failure rates of metformin in real-world setting, has appeared in the March issue of Diabetes Care, a journal of the American Diabetes Association.

Washington, March 9 : Warfarin users appear more likely to develop brain haemorrhage following stroke treatment with the anticoagulant, a new study has found.

The report, posted online, will be published in the May print issue of Archives of Neurology, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

Sydney, March 9 : People who have the ability to taste fat are likely to remain slim as they tend to eat less fatty food, a new study says.

Deakin University (DU) researcher Russell Keast and doctoral student Jessica Stewart, working with colleagues at the University of Adelaide, CSIRO and Massey University (New Zealand), have found that humans can detect a sixth taste - fat.

London, March 8 : MIT chemical engineers have developed a new sensor array that can detect single molecules of hydrogen peroxide emanating from a single living cell.

Hydrogen peroxide damages cells and their DNA, but scientists have recently found new evidence that suggests it acts as a signalling molecule in a critical cell pathway that stimulates growth, among other functions.

London, March 8 : A new American study has found that Ritalin boosts learning by increasing brain plasticity.

Scientists conducted the research on rats to demonstrate, for the first time, that Ritalin boosts the ability to focus on tasks and enhances the speed of learning by increasing the activity of the neurotransmitter dopamine inside the brain.

Washington, Mar 9 : Significant differences exist in the sleep habits and attitudes of Asians, Blacks/African-Americans, Hispanics and Whites, revealed the 2010 Sleep in America poll by the National Sleep Foundation
(NSF).

It is the first poll to examine sleep among these four ethnic groups.

The poll found that more than three-fourths of respondents from each ethnic group agree that poor sleep is associated with health problems (76-83 percent).

London, Mar 8 : A newly software could enable a common laboratory device to virtually separate a whole-blood sample into its different cell types and detect medically important gene-activity changes specific to any one of those cell types.

Developed by scientists at the Stanford University School of Medicine, the new technique could successfully pinpoint changes in one cell type that flagged the likelihood of kidney-transplant recipients rejecting their new organs.

Sydney, Mar 8 : An Australian study has revealed that humans have a sixth taste by which they can detect fat.

Using a series of taste-testing experiments, researchers from Deakin University have found that humans can identify the taste of fat by its chemical composition, rather than by its texture.

They say it appears that those people who are highly sensitive to the taste of fat tend to eat less of it, and hence have significantly lower body mass indexes.

Washington, March 8 : Excess caloric consumption is not only a result of indisciplined eating but intestinal bacteria contribute to changes in appetite and metabolism, says latest research.

It was found in a research that increased appetite and insulin resistance can be transferred from one mouse to another via intestinal bacteria.

Washington, March 8 : A scientist has urged the medical fraternity to use ultrasound instead of computed tomography (CT), for better first-time diagnosis, in evaluating acute female pelvic and lower abdominal conditions.

London, Mar 8 : Blame the prevalence of ginger hair among the Scottish people on genes and even the weather, says a new study.

A genetics research student Emily Pritchard, 26, revealed her insights in an article about her sister''s red hair for a University of Edinburgh magazine.

She explained the love of ginger hair among the Scots through a formula - genetic mutation + bad weather = red heads.

And said that the formula "was speculation rather than scientific study, but it is plausible."

Sydney, March 8 : Native lemon grass has the potential to relieve headaches and migranes, researchers say.

Griffith University (GU) researchers Lyn Griffiths, Darren Grice and Kelly Rogers have proven that lemon grass plant Cymbopogon Ambiguus may be as good as aspirin.

London, Mar 8 : A new study has revealed that nine in ten Britons do not get enough sleep and that millions are risking their health by depriving themselves of much needed rest.

The study found that the average Briton sleeps for just six hours and seven minutes a night, well below the eight hours recommended by experts, with 17 percent regularly dozing off at work, reports the Daily Express.

Washington, March 8 : Scientists in the UK have come up with a pioneering ‘brainwashing’ procedure they believe will slash the number of premature babies suffering severe disabilities.

The technique involves removing potentially harmful toxic fluids from the brains of infants born early.

London, March 8 : Having two cups of black tea or one cup of green tea a day can help cut down risk of developing ovarian cancer in women, says a study.

Researchers at the University of Washington studied 2,000 women and noticed a 54 per cent risk reduction in those who drank one or more cups of green tea a day, the Daily Express reported.

Washington, March 8 : Men employed in occupations with potential exposure to high levels of sunlight have a reduced risk of kidney cancer compared with men who are less likely to be exposed to sunlight at work, according to a new study.

Research suggests that vitamin D, which is obtained from sun exposure, some foods, and from supplements, may help prevent some cancers.

Washington, March 7 : Everyday household dust is a blend of harmful substances including lead and arsenic, a new study has revealed.

A 2009 study from the University of Arizona, appearing in Environmental Science & Technology, says most of the floor dust is actually tracked in from the outside and may contain potentially harmful substances.

The scientists first derived a formula to calculate the amount of outdoor soil and airborne particles that gets mixed with indoor dust.

Washington, Mar 7 : Smoking cigarettes in adolescence makes people more susceptible to the negative effects of alcohol withdrawal later in life, Baylor University researchers have said.

Scientists have found that the chronic exposure to nicotine during adolescence in animal models caused a nicotine-induced change in brain development that led to increased vulnerability to alcohol withdrawal in adulthood.

Washington, Mar 7 : A new study has disapproved reports that well-fed children are more vulnerable to the dengue virus.

The study by St. Jude Children''s Research Hospital investigators says that mosquitoes spread the virus, which can cause severe flu-like symptoms and sometimes-lethal complications.

According to work from researchers at St. Jude and Hospital Nacional de Niños Benjamin Bloom in El Salvador, malnourished children are just as likely as their well-fed counterparts to develop life-threatening complications following repeated infections with the dengue virus.

Washington, March 6 : Researchers have pointed out serious health issues after finding "epidemic" Vitamin D insufficiency that has been linked to increased body fat, decreased muscle strength and a range of disorders.