By Mya Blake

Following a stroke a woman's Geordie accent has become a Jamaican accent

Have you ever tried faking an accent that was not really your own? Well for a stroke victim, this is definitely no joke, as a woman has recovered from a stroke only to be blessed with a Jamaican accent. 60-year-old Lynda Walker, used to have a Geordie accent, but following a stroke in March of this year, quickly realized that her native accent was no more.

Researchers believe that she is a perfect example of somebody dealing with a rare disorder known as foreign accent syndrome. The condition was first discovered in 1941 and researchers believe that it is due to a part of the brain that controls speech being damaged from trauma. “I got very down about it at first," she commented. "It was so strange because you do not feel like the same person. I didn’t realise what I sounded like but then my speech therapist played a tape of me talking. I was just devastated.”

Walker does not believe that she will ever regain her old accent, and says that it is hard telling people where she is from because nobody believes her due to her new accent.

Source: Times Online

By Mya Blake

Statistics show that the rate of STD infection in the UK is going up

A report released by the British Health Protection Agency indicates that although sexual health education is at an all time high, sexually transmitted diseases are still on the rise throughout the UK. According to their statistics, Chlamydia is the leader of the pack when it comes to the most common STD, but overall, infections are up 3% in 2005 from the previous year.

Evidence gathered indicates that the fastest spreading disease is syphilis cases, jumping a staggering 23% in that one year time period. Gonorrhea showed a decrease in cases, dropping 13% which is puzzling to figure out as almost every other STD rose in popularity.

Professor Peter Borriello, of the HPA states:
"However, it is disappointing to see that there was a further rise in new diagnoses of STIs and these figures show there is still much to be done to tackle the continuing spread of infection."

He believes that through better testing capabilities more positive cases of certain STd's can be identified, which may account for the rise in numbers. "Getting an appointment at a sexual health clinic must be quick and easy, treatment must be swift and we need to keep pushing home the safer sex message, it's more important than ever," stated Nick Partridge, chief executive of the Terrence Higgins Trust.

By Laura Watson

Scientists responsible for the first ever facial transplant speak out after 7 months

Six months after a French woman received the world's first partial facial transplant, the scientists responsible for her surgery have spoken out concerning the procedure. Published in the Lancet, is the account of time leading up too, during, and after the surgery took place. The woman, Isabelle Dinoire, was mauled by her own dog and needed a partial face replacement due to the vicious attack.

She received her partial face from a brain-dead donor on Nov. 27 of 2005, and by all accounts, is continuing to improve, now regaining the ability to chew on her own and speak more clearly.

"The four-month outcome demonstrates the feasibility of this procedure. The functional result will be assessed in the future, but this graft can already be deemed successful with respect to appearance, sensitivity, and acceptance by the patient," stated Professor Devauchelle, the man who actually performed the transplant operation.

Hope is high that Dinoire will continue to improve, but the possibility is always there that the transplant may go bad at any time, meaning that she would have to resort to immunosuppression drugs. "Substantial immunosupression also increases the patient's vulnerability to infection or the development of malignancies," stated Dr Patrick Warnke of the University of Kiel.

Since that surgery, Chinese scientists claim that they have also performed a facial transplant on a man who was mauled by a bear.

Source: Monsters and Critics.com

By Dennis Landrey

A new study links being overweight with various mental conditions

A new study conducted by Group Health Cooperative, and published in the July issue of Archives of General Psychiatry, has proven that obese people are less happy than thin people, and are more likely to suffer from many other types of mental health issues. The study was conducted on more than 9000 adults some of them overweight and some of them thin.

By studying their subjects, researchers determined that a person considered obese, is 25% more likely to be dealing with depression and other mental health issues as somebody of a normal weight. On the flip side, a person considered to be obese, was 25% less likely to abuse alcohol or drugs compared to somebody of a normal weight.

The results "suggest that the cultural stereotype of the jolly fat person is more a figment of our imagination than a reality," said Dr. Wayne Fenton of the National Institute of Mental Health, which funded the study.

Source: Seattle Times

By Mya Blake

If knowingly infected with the HIV virus and living in California, you now have the right to sue your sexual partner

Yesterday marked the day that the California Supreme Court ruled that if you believe that you have contracted the HIV virus from somebody, you have the right to sue them. Being aware of the fact that you are HIV positive yet knowingly infecting other people is probably the worst thing one person could probably do, and can now result in that person or persons suing you for damages.

In their written statement, court Justices stated that they:
"cannot agree that persons who have reason to know they are infected with HIV, a gravely serious disease with no known cure, should be subject to a lesser duty of care than persons who have reason to know they are infected with other sexually
transmitted diseases."

Now that the new law is in place, one wonders how long it will take for the law suits to start pouring in.

Source :Reuters

By Mya Blake

A man has regained speech and movement capabilities after nearly 20 years in a semi-conscious condition

A miracle in the US has been reported as a 42-year-old man has regained partial speech and movement after being barely conscious for the last 20 years. The man was involved in a serious car accident that left him in a semi-conscious state, leaving doctors baffled as to how his brain could regenerate nerves that were seriously damaged from his accident.

Nobody is sure why or how after so long Terry Wallis's brain suddenly began to function, and it will go down as one of life's biggest mysteries:
Dr James Bernat, a neurologist at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Centre states:
"The nerve fibres from the cells were severed, but the cells themselves remained intact." Through research, it has been proven that nerves have the ability to repair themselves over time in certain situations, and it is believed that this may have contributed to the man's remarkable recovery.

By Ron Swerdfiger

Fairfax mosquitoes have tested positive for West Nile virus

Officials in Fairfax have stated that they have caught mosquitoes that have tested positive for the West Nile virus. This marks the first time this year that West Nile has been found in the county and health officials state that due to all the recent rain, that residents should be on guard against mosquitoes.

The virus is spread through the bite of an infected mosquito, so protecting one's self against the bites of mosquitoes is in one's best interest to avoid the potential of contracting the virus.

The county has sprayed storm drains in an attempt to rid them of possibly infected mosquitoes, but there are also a number of things that residents can do to protect themselves:

- Remove any standing water from around your home

- Always wear long pants and long sleeved shirts when outdoors

- Slap on that bug spray

- Try to limit your time outdoors during prime mosquito times (dawn and dusk)

By Harry Hosford

A common allergy drug is proven to also treat malaria

In promising news, a common drug that is used to treat allergy patients, may also be able to treat malaria. The drug is known as astemizole, and is an antihistamine that performed very well when given to mice.

The tests on the drug showed that it has the ability to kill the malaria parasite, and because it is already gotten approval to be given to humans, approving its use to treat another human disease should not take that long.

"Time and money are major roadblocks when it comes to developing new drugs for neglected diseases like malaria," said David Sullivan at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg school of public health in Baltimore. The news of the breakthrough will mean that potentially, millions of lives will be saved, mainly in developing countries where the disease is more prominant.

By Mya Blake

British researchers have developed technology that makes it possible to attach artificial limbs directly to the human skelaton

British scientists have manufactured the first bionic limb that can be implanted into the actual body of the patient. The new technology will allow for the limb to be attached, with skin tissue growing on top of it to give the appearance of a totally normal limb. Arms, hands, fingers, as well as other body parts can be attached directly to the human skelaton using metal implants that would protrude from the skin.

The Researchers at University College in London, discovered the technology, which allows the limb to be attached without the risk of infection for the patient. According to the researchers, they learned of the technology while performing research into the way that skin seals itself around the antlers of deer.

One problem with bionic limb implantation, is that over time the connection site can become infected and it is hoped that this new technology will eliminate this problem. The research work is going to be published in the Journal of Anatomy.

By Dennis Landrey

How safe is beef to eat that has been treated with growth hormone?

A British government advisor is raising questions pertaining to the safety of eating beef from cattle that have been given growth hormones. John Verrall, a pharmaceutical chemist and consumer representative on the Veterinary Products Committee, has refused to endorse the report produced by the committee due to his belief that the hormones that are given to the cows are not safe for human consumption:

“Over the last two years a number of important studies have shown that the information used by regulators to assess the safety of hormone residues in food has been wildly inaccurate,” he said. “It is now clear that very much smaller amounts of sex hormones in food than previously thought can cause genital abnormalities in baby boys, premature puberty in girls and increase the risk of cancers later in life.”

Although the drugs in question have been banned from use in British cattle, they are still legal in many other countries world wide. One of those countries is Australia, a country that currently imports beef to Britain. “Almost 40 per cent of the beef commissioned in the UK is imported yet it is not subjected to any- thing like the same level of residue testing as British beef," stated Richard Young, policy adviser for the green lobby group.

Verrall is astounded that the committee released their report, neglecting to look at research that clearly proves that there is no safe minimum level of growth hormone that a human can ingest without side effects from it, and has threatened to resign from his post on the committee.

Source: Times Online