Internet use
can reduce fear of cancer
Internet
use can reduce fear of cancer (Thinkstock photos/Getty Images)
Those searching online for health information are more informed and more
positive about their chances in the fight against cancer
- according to a study.
Study
contributors Chul-joo Lee, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign;
Jeff Niederdeppe, Cornell University; and Derek Freres, University of Pennsylvania, surveyed 2,489
people from the ages of 40 to 70 with respect to their media usage.
Earlier
analysis suggested that frequent television viewing increases fatalism
associated with disease of cancer. Recent findings indicate that in case of the
Internet they do not.
People
who are often looking for online information on health, including the
prevention and diagnosis of cancer, are less likely to treat this disease as
something inevitable or dependent on fate, the researchers said.
"Many
Americans believe that cancer is a fate. Reduce the sense of fatalism
associated with cancer, especially among people with low socio-economic status,
is probably one of the most important tasks in the field of public health
"- says study author Chul-joo Lee. (PAP)
The
study has been published in the Journal
of Communication.
Source: www.timesofindia.com
17.12.2012
Arsenic
in drinking water damages lungs
The study from the University of Western Australia (UWA) has uncovered links between arsenic in drinking water and higher risk of developing chronic lung disease.
"These findings are significant because whilst arsenic is well known for its cancer-causing properties, its impact on lung health is less known," Kathryn Ramsey, UWA environmental health researcher, was quoted as saying in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives.
"When we examined mice that had been exposed to the same levels of arsenic in drinking water as many humans, we were able to see just what sort of impact this chemical can have on lung development," said Ramsey, according to a university statement.
"What we found was abnormal lung development and structural damage to an extent that is likely to cause problems later in life. We also found that arsenic increased the amount of mucous produced by the lungs which may reduce the ability to clear respiratory pathogens."
A previous report from Chile has shown that exposure to high levels of arsenic via drinking water in early life increases by 40 times the likelihood of dying of a chronic lung disease as an adult.
"The contamination of drinking water with naturally occurring arsenic is a significant environmental health problem which affects millions of people around the world," he said.
"The next step in our research is to try and identify at what concentration arsenic causes detectable changes in lung growth so we can better inform public health policies around water quality," concluded Ramsay.
Source:
www.timesofindia.com
17.12.2012
Enthusiasm
is the mother of effort, and without it nothing great was ever achieved
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