London, Dec 17 : Curcumin, the active ingredient found in Indian spice turmeric, is being investigated as a treatment for Alzheimer''s disease, it has been announced.

A study will examine if chemicals taken from the ingredient in curry has an effect on the parts of the brain affected by Alzheimer''s disease.

Curcumin, which is a powerful antioxidant and has anti-inflammatory properties, has been used in Indian traditional medicine for thousands of years.

London, December 17 : In what is being hailed as the first ever "near total" facial transplant, 80 per cent of a woman's face has been replaced by a team of surgeons in the United States.

Doctors at the Cleveland Clinic, in Ohio, have revealed that they used skin from a donor for the surgery.

Media reports suggest that this surgery marks America's first facial transplant operation.

London, December 16 : British doctors will be prohibited from donning their signature coats and ties following new rules under National Health Services.

According to Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon, the uniforms were required to undergo a change to combat hospital infections like deadly C. diff and MRSA.

Medical heads feared that even pocket-parked-pens carried by specialists to write on medical charts would face a ban under new measures soon to be announced.

London, Dec 16 : Adding radiation therapy to standard drug treatment can cut prostate cancer death rate by half, according to a new study.

Researchers said that the effects are so striking that radiotherapy combined with hormonal (drug) treatment should be the new standard for these patients, reports the Independent.

London, Dec 12 : A British lady, who was on a diet, collapsed and passed away from cerebral oedema after she drank seven pints of water in just less than two hours.

The diet plan, fourteen-stone Jacqui Henson, 40, was on, included drinking seven pints of water over the course of a day, however when she was not able to do so during the day she had it all in one go at night, causing her brain to swell.

Henson had been following the 12-week LighterLife plan, which recommends an intake of just 500 calories a day, a quarter of the normal amount for a woman.

London, Dec 11 : A group of scientists has used paper and some bits of carpet tape to make a portable testing kit that could revolutionise medical care in poor countries.

Diagnosis for many diseases relies on tests of body fluids, such as for sugar in urine or viral proteins in mucus, reports New Scientist.

Already scientists have automated some of these tests in "labs on a chip" that pipe biological samples through tiny channels into cavities containing reagents that change colour to reveal the result.

London, Dec 11 : Celebrities seeking a botox job will have to get a doctor’s prescription before getting the wrinkle-busting jab.

In response to increasing number of complaints of surgeries gone wrong by dodgy medics, British medical chiefs have made a proper examination compulsory for patients seeking the popular age-defying treatment.

London, Dec 11 : A new study by Israeli researchers has found that drugs designed to help women conceive may increase the risk of cancer of womb.

Fertility drugs have been in use for more than 30 years and have been taken as part of IVF treatment to help them have children.

Women, who have trouble conceiving, are undergoing IVF, or who want to donate or sell there eggs are prescribed ovulation-inducing drugs.

London, Dec 11: An international team of researchers has found that a certain type of collagen - main protein of connective tissue in animals- may help protect the brain against Alzheimer''s disease.

Scientists from the Gladstone Institute of Neurological Disease (GIND), UCSF, and Stanford have found that collagen VI may protects brain cells against amyloid-beta (Aa) proteins, which are believed to cause Alzheimer''s disease.

London, Dec 9 : McGill University researchers have discovered a previously unknown mutation in a common roundworm that holds promise of new treatments for obesity in humans.

In lean times, a normal Caenorhabditis elegans worm goes into a form of suspended animation called "dauer" that slows its metabolism and allows it to survive for extended periods without food.