A 9 year old girl who went to hospital in central Greece suffering from stomach pains was found to be carrying her embryonic twin, doctors said Thursday.

The girl was examined by the Doctors at Larissa General Hospital and removed surgically a growth which they later discovered was an embryo more than two inches long.

“The doctors could see on the right side that her stomach was swollen, but they could not suspect that this tumor would hide an embryo,” hospital director lakovos Brouskelis said. He old that the girl has made a full recovery.

Head of the hospital’s pediatric department, Andreas Markau, said the embryo was a formed fetus with a head, hair and eyes, but no brain or umbilical cord. He also said that the cases where one of a set of twins absorbs the other in the womb occurs in one of 500,000 live births.

Source: Yahoo

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It is the most common hormonal disorder which affects all most 7% of women and is mainly characterized with obesity, unwanted excess hair growth and also irregular periods. This hormonal disorder can affect women in many different ways.

It has been estimated that almost one out of ten women are getting affected with this syndrome.

This is because most of the cases of polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) remain undiagnosed and the main cause for this ovarian syndrome is still unknown. As the symptoms of PCOS vary from one female to another, it often becomes difficult to diagnose this ovarian syndrome accurately.

How PCOS can lead to several reproductive disorders?

The hormonal imbalance due to polycystic ovarian syndrome can lead to several reproductive problems. Some of them include:

1. Infertility: This is the most common reproductive problem linked with polycystic ovarian syndrome, in which your ovaries will not be able to release an egg during your monthly ovulation process.
2. Repeated miscarriagesth: Due to higher insulin levels in your body, you can experience this problem and it can be prevented by taking better prescribed insulin lowering medicine.

Recognizing the distinction between healthy and cancerous cells has traditionally been up to the eye of highly-trained cytologists and pathologists.

Northeastern University professor Max Diem and his team have developed an automatic method based on vibrational microspectroscopy that identifies the presence of metastatic cancer cells without the need for staining, and without human input.

The innovative method aids classical cytology (where visually inspection is used to detect changes in the morphology of cells obtained from bodily fluids, exfoliation or thin needle biopsy) and classical pathology (where stained tissue sections are examined visually).

“The method is entirely machine-based and computer-interpreted, and thus reduces the workload in diagnostic laboratories,” added Diem. “It allows us to increase the overall accuracy and decrease the time required to render medical diagnoses.”

“We have identified three major milestones for this particular research,” said Diem. “We want to develop a rapid sample preparation methodology, refine the imaging instrumentation, and construct reliable databases and algorithms for the detection.”

Source: ScienceDaily

Rheumatic fever is a very rare but potentially life threatening inflammatory disease which usually results from untreated throat infection [Throat inflammation].

This inflammatory health condition is most common in children aged between 5 and 15. However, it can also be developed in adults and mainly causes severe damage to heart, brain, joints, spinal cord and also to your skin.

Never ignore a streptococcal throat infection!

Strep throat is considered as the main root cause for rheumatic fever. Many of you usually ignore throat infection, considering it as a minor problem. But, it is very important for you to know that the main root source for rheumatic fever is bacteria, which will host in your throat along with your throat infection.

If you are affected with rheumatic fever, then it can show all its potential effects to become a life threatening disease. You can experience painful and swollen joints; severe muscle aches and also fever, if you become a victim for rheumatic fever. For some people, a red lattice rash typically begins with in one or six weeks after a short period of strep throat. However, in some cases, this bacterial infection can be mild and becomes difficult for you to recognize.

Scientists funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) have found a fast and effective way to investigate important aspects of human ageing. Working at the University of Oxford and The Open University, Dr Lynne Cox and Dr Robert Saunders have discovered a gene in fruit flies that means flies can now be used to study the effects ageing has on DNA.

Dr Lynne Cox from the University of Oxford said: “We study a premature human ageing disease called Werner syndrome to help us understand normal ageing. The key to this disease is that changes in a single gene (called WRN) mean that patients age very quickly.

Scientists have made great progress in working out what this gene does in the test tube, but until now we haven’t been able to investigate the gene to look at its effect on development and the whole body. By working on this gene in fruit flies, we can model human ageing in a powerful experimental system.”

Source: EurekAlert

Did you notice any discoloration and numbness of your finger tips and toes when exposed to cold temperatures or even in stress?

This condition is usually referred as Raynaud’s disease, in which the arteries that supply blood to your skin becomes narrow and also limits the circulation of blood in those affected areas like finger tips, toes, nose and also in ears.

Raynaud’s disease is more common in women when compared with others and it is also more common in people who live in colder climatic conditions.

The treatment for this disease usually depends on the severity and also on the presence of associated conditions.

Self care steps to reduce raynaud’s attack!

Here are some steps which will help you in treating raynaud’s disease and reduce the symptoms of raynaud’s attack. These steps help in preventing the numbness of your skin.

• Avoid smoking: Nicotine that is present in cigarettes reduces the temperature of your skin by constricting the blood vessels, leading to raynaud’s disease. Breathing second hand smoke can also worsen raynaud’s disease.

The incidence of stomach ulcers is high in the developing countries. About 4 million people in the United States suffer from stomach ulcer every year.

According to the estimates, approximately twenty million Americans develop at least one stomach ulcer during their lifetime.

Regardless of the popular long belief that stomach ulcers are due to spicy foods, acid, stress or lifestyle, the reality is that stomach ulcers develops due to infection of the stomach with a bacterium-Helicobacter pylori (H pylori).

Helicobacter pylori and stomach ulcers:

The bacteria “Helicobacter pylori” is contagious. It enters the body easily from an infected person via fecal-oral means or oral-oral means. Sources of contaminated water may also be a means of H. pylori transmission.

Stomach mucosa (the lining of the stomach) and small intestines have protection against the strong acid (gastric juice) produced in the stomach. Gastric juice is basically a powerful mixture of dietary enzymes and hydrochloric acid. Because of this strong acid, the stomach remains sterile.

The presence of spiral-shaped micro-organisms “helicobacter pylori” in the stomach weakens the protective mucosa and burrows through the lining. This way, the bacterium Helicobacter pylori enters and safely ensconces in the thick protective mucous layer, which prevent the acid from injuring the wall of the stomach.

Actemra is the first of a new class of drug with a novel mechanism of action that brings new hope to RA patients.

It is a humanized interleukin-6 (IL-6) receptor-inhibiting monoclonal antibody which works by suppressing the activity of IL-6, an important trigger of the inflammatory process.

This novel mode of action reduces inflammation of the joints and relieves the systemic effects of rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

Roche announced that Actemra (tocilizumab) can significantly inhibit structural damage to joints in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), a critical measure of effectiveness of an RA treatment.

Actemra also improved the patients’ physical function after one year of therapy, leading them to a better quality of life.

The outcome of this study is good news for RA patients as presently many either fail to achieve an adequate response or cannot tolerate therapies currently available.

New treatment options are needed, particularly those that can target different pathways to bring relief and inhibit joint damage in patients suffering from RA.

Source: Medical News Today

In the online version of the International Journal of Cancer, Dr. Sara Strom and associates evaluated the association between saturated fat intake and biochemical failure among men who underwent radical prostatectomy (RP).

Men who consumed high saturated fat diets (HSF) were younger and had higher BMIs at diagnosis than men who consumed low saturated fat diets (LSF).

There were statistically no significant differences in clinicopathologic characteristics, family history of prostate cancer, education, history of diabetes or physical activity between the 2 groups.

Men who were both obese and ate HSF diets had the shortest biochemical failure-free survival (19 months) and non-obese men on LSF diet had the longest (46 months). The data from the model were not altered by the inclusion of amount of physical activity performed by the subjects.

More Information can be found at: ScienceDaily

Neuroblastoma mainly affects children. It is comparatively a rare form of cancer which affects the nervous system of your child.

It has been estimated that every year about 600 children will develop neuroblastoma.

Children below 10 years of age are more prone to this rare form of cancer. The cells of this cancer normally resemble more like primitive nerve cells found in newly developing embryo or fetus.

Neuroblastoma mostly begins in the nerve tissue of the adrenal glands in your child. These glands are more important in the production of hormones which mainly controls the heart rate and blood pressure in your child. These hormones are also responsible for controlling the blood sugar and also the way in which the body of your child reacts to stress.

Sometimes, there are chances for your child to develop neuroblastoma in their chest or also in nerve tissues near the spine or it can also develop in their spinal cord.

Possible manifestations associated with neuroblastoma:

When the neuroblastoma tumor presses on a nearby tissue or if it spreads the cancer to the bone [Preventing bone cancer], then it shows the following symptoms of cancer in your kid.