Lilly Donates $1 Million To Help Veterans Of Iraq, Afghanistan

Washington (ChattahBox) - The Lilly Foundation has donated $1 million to help U.S. veterans who served time in both Afghanistan and Iraq.

Lilly will be giving the $1 million towards the volunteer program Give an Hour, which helps U.S. veterans in need with mental health problems.

The Give an Hour program has doctors, nurses, etc. donating one-hour of their time each and every week to give to the U.S. veterans and help them out with their mental health.

Past studies have shown that mental health is a serious problem for U.S. veterans returning home from Iraq and Afghanistan, with things such as post-traumatic stress disorder being highly-prevalent.

Give an Hour will use the donation to help recruit new volunteers, train them, and raise awareness about the program to potential future volunteers as well as U.S. veterans in need.
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NIH To Study Mystery Diseases In New Program

Boston (ChattahBox) - The National Institutes of Health a new program called the Undiagnosed Disease Program. This program will try to study and solve many mystery diseases which have yet to be diagnosed officially.

The goal of the program will be to look at patients who are suffering from disorders and diseases which cannot be diagnosed through normal methods.

These patients will have to be accepted into the program, and from there they will be studied. The hope is to solve questions about mystery diseases through the program.

NIH Clinical Director John Gallin stated during a conference call, “The reason we’re doing this now is because of advances made over the last five years at a fundamental level.

There are more molecular markers, new techniques involved in proteomics and genomics. For the first time, we’re going to apply the tools coming out of the labs with human disease. That bridge couldn’t have been crossed 10 or 15 yeas ago.”

In the first-year, the NIH will be accepting around 100 patients to take part in this program.
By studying these undiagnosed diseases, they could learn more about their development, and possible treatments for them.

Sleep Disorders And Flights Are A Bad Mix For Stress

New York (ChattahBox) - Researchers have found that flights and sleep disorders are a bad mix when it comes to high levels of stress. People who have obstructive sleep apnea, a sleeping disorder, were found to have increased stress during flights.

Research was carried out by Leigh Seccombe of Concord Repatriation General Hospital in Sydney, Australia, and was presented at the American Thoracic Society meeting.

Researchers looked at 22 patients who suffered from severe sleep apnea. They compared them directly with 10 people who did not suffer from sleep apnea, seeing how they do on a flight.

Those who did not have sleep apnea were found to be more relaxed, and have a lower heart rate on average.

Those who suffered from sleep apnea had increased stress, requiring more oxygen throughout their flight. As their elevation increased, so did their heart rate.

People suffering from sleep apnea could face such a severe level of stress during flights that they may require oxygen.

Study Goes Against Myths Of Teenage Sex Practices

Washington (ChattahBox) - A new study which focuses on the sexual practices of teenagers in the U.S. has gone against the myth that teens retain their virginity while taking part in the act of oral sex with partners.

The study was done by the Guttmacher Institute, and included more than 2,200 teenage males and females between the age of 15 and 19-years old.

The study was led by Laura Lindberg from Guttmacher, who stated that the results show teens are not engaging in the act of oral sex as often as previously thought.

The study found that 55% of teens engaged in oral sex, with nearly 50% engaging in vaginal sex.
This goes against the myth that teens save their virginity by engaging in oral sex only. The study found teens engage in all acts around the same act, with neither being far more prevalent than the others.

The study will be published in the July issue of the Journal of the Adolescent Health, and was based on data from a 2002 federal study.

Reason Why First-Born Kids Face Higher Asthma, Allergy

Washington (ChattahBox) - A new study has discovered why first-born children face a higher risk of developing asthma and allergies, and it has a lot to do with factors during pregnancy.

Researchers analyzed over 1,200 kids in the UK and found that the increased risk was due to a chemical in the umbilical cord blood, an antibody called lgE.

The antibody lgE is associated with the immune system, putting kids at an increased risk of asthma and allergies. The level of lgE is lower after the first-born.
It was noted that the increased risk of asthma and allergies for these first-born children persist through their childhood

The study has been presented at the American Thoracic Society’s annual conference in Toronto

Carbon Nanotubes Pose Same Cancer Risk As Asbestos

Boston (ChattahBox) - Scientists confirmed that certain carbon nanotubes pose the same cancer risk as asbestos.

The study looked into risks linked to short and long-term exposure to certain types of carbon nanotubes. What they found was that long and thin carbon nanotubes were just as harmful as asbestos, carrying the same risk for developing cancer in the lungs.

These long and thin carbon nanotubes were found to be as dangerous as asbestos filters. They did find though that short and curly carbon nanotubes did not pose the same risk factor.

This shows that there is a way to develop carbon nanotubes which are safer than asbestos.
Scientists reported their findings in the journal Nature Nanotechnology.

Sen. Kennedy Has Options To Treat Malignant Brain Tumor

Boston (ChattahBox) - Longtime political figure in the U.S., Massachusetts Sen. Edward Tennedy was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor. Doctors are now weighing out options as to how to treat it.

It was this past Saturday when the 76-year old Democratic senator has a seizure at his vacation home on Cape Cod, and had to be airlifted to the hospital. The cause of the seizure is now known to be a malignant brain tumor.
Doctors discovered the malignant brain tumor during a biopsy. It is located on the upper-left part of his brain.

The decision now for doctors is to figure out how to treat it, and what is the best approach to take.

A statement has been released by his primary-care physician, Dr. Larry Ronan, stating “the usual course of treatment includes combinations of various forms of radiation and chemotherapy.”
More tests are being done to determine which method of treatment to use.

Teen Blood Donors More Likely To Have Complications

New York (ChattahBox) - U.S. researchers have found that teens who donate blood, those who are 16 and 17-year old, are far more likely than older blood donors to have complications.
The lead author of the study was Dr. Anne F. Eder of the American Red Cross in Washington.

These researchers looked at a total of 1.8 million blood donations from across the U.S. in varying age groups.

They found that teens blood donors experienced complications over 10% of the time, compared to 8.3% for 18 to 19-years old, and 2.8% for those 20-years and older.
Overall, 16 and 17-year old teen blood donors were 2.5 times more likely than 18 to 19-year old donors to faint, and 15 times more likely than those who are 20-years and up.

Further research will be done to try and figure out why exactly this takes place. It is clear though that complications are far more frequent in the teens who give blood.