Ever since a 1998 report which suggest a possible link between the MMR vaccine and autism, there have been a lot of speculations and controversies surrounding the benefits of vaccines in children.

A new study done in USA recently found that there is no evidence of any link between vaccines and autism, dispelling any doubt about this controversy. However, this recent study is not likely to convince those die-hards from changing their mind about the entire issue.

You can read more about it here.

Here is an interesting story about earwax, how it is formed and when to remove it. It also tells you why it is not good when there is too much of it. Very good reading. Go here for the full story.

Lately there have been some interesting reports on the success of several gene therapies on trial.

Scientists using gene therapy have managed to turn normal pancreatic cells into insulin-producing cells in mice. If this works for human, we could be looking at a possible cure for diabetes mellitus in the near future. See full story here.

Gene therapy has also been shown to be able to restore hearing in mice, giving new hope for the reversal of hearing loss. (More details here)

It is also potentially possible to restore sight as well, according to this report.

A protein that induces bone growth also helps promote development of “good” brown fat that helps burn calories and plays a role in fighting obesity, says researchers at the Joslin Diabetes Center in Boston.

They said their finding about the protein, called BMP-7, may help lead to new ways to prevent and treat obesity.

For details of this story, click here.

Do you want to live longer and healthier? Who doesn’t!

Well, instead of taking multiple supplements or anti-aging injections, scientists have now confirmed that our aging process can be slowed down simply by running regularly. People who jog regularly are less likely to die from cancer and other age-related disabilities compared to non-joggers.

For more detailed report, click here.

The world that we perceive from our 5 physical senses is not the “real” world. This is something that many ancient sages have talked about, calling this physical world an “illusion”. Now scientists are beginning to see this truth in some unusual human beings.

Scientists have found that some people are able to hear sound when they look at pictures, while others are able to see colours when they listen to music. This uncommon condition is called synaesthesia. Scientists are not sure how this work yet but the unique phenomenon has recently been verified by some simple tests.

So, there really is more to this world that we can perceive with our 5 physical senses.

To learn more about this strange condition, click here.

Eating broccoli could reverse the damage caused by diabetes to heart blood vessels, research suggests.

A University of Warwick team believe the key is a compound found in the vegetable, called sulforaphane.

It encourages production of enzymes which protect the blood vessels, and a reduction in high levels of molecules which cause significant cell damage.

Brassica vegetables such as broccoli have previously been linked to a lower risk of heart attacks and strokes.

For full story, click here.

More and more medical studies have shown a strong link between the stomach bug, Helicobacter pylori, and stomach cancer. Scientists now have new evidence to show that stomach cancer can be prevented by treating and eradicating the stomach bug.

H. pylori is known to cause as much as 80% of stomach and duodenal ulcers and was previously thought to be linked to stomach cancer. Now a recent study has indirectly proven this to be true. This study treated 2 groups of stomach cancer patient who have previously been treated for their cancer. One group was given the treatment to eradicate H. pylori while the other group was not. The group that was treated reduced their chance of a recurrence of stomach cancer by as much as 67%.

For more details of this story, go here:

Treating stomach bug to treat stomach cancer

A new study has found the link between sleep and memory. Good sleep boosts your ability to learn and retain memory. Apparently, adequate sleep is necessary for you to assimilate and hard-wired new tasks that you have learned and harden your memory so that it does not fade away easily.

So if you are facing some problem with learning or remembering, make sure you get enough quality sleep. Then observe and see if you learn and remember better. You might be surprised by the results.

However, the study is still in its preliminary stage. It has not determined how many hours is necessary for a good sleep yet. More needs to be done.

For the full story, click here.

Our immune system plays an essential role in our fight against cancer.

In most instances, our body mount an attack against cancer cells by producing immune cells that can fight these mutated cancer cells. However, the amount of these immune cells are too small to be effective. What happens if we could increase these cancer fighting cells?

In a recent experiment, scientists remove these immune cells from a patient suffering from advanced melanoma, a type of skin cancer, and cloned them in the billions before infusing them back into the patient.

The result?

The cancer disappeared after two months and the patient is still cancer free after two years.

However, the scientists involved are quick to caution that this method is only practical for certain types of cancer, and may not work for all.

For full report , click here.