Women in Scotland having less children

Scotland's economy could suffer from low birth rates. A report by leading Scottish academics said women were having fewer children than those elsewhere in the UK. Half of mothers in Scotland have a first birth before 27.4 years of age, compared with 28.1 years for English women, the report said.

It predicts that by 2017 the country's population may fall below five million for the first time since the 1940s.

New brain area located

Scientists believe they have located a new brain area essential for good memory. This area is known as the irrelevance filter.

People who are good at remembering things while distractions are present, have more activity in the basal ganglia on brain scans, the Swedish team found. Why some people are better at remembering things than others could be possibly explained by in Nature Neuroscience

Drug addicts used as organ donors

Body parts from drug addicts are being used by surgeons due to a serious shortage of organs.

Between 2002 and 2007 about 450 organs came from donors with a history of drug abuse. A prior abuse of drugs may affect the quality of the organ and raise infection risks.

The lack of donor organs is due to the fact that people are dying in car accidents, when organs can often be retrieved intact.

There are more than 8,000 people in the UK who need an organ donation but only 3,000 transplants are carried out each year. It is estimated that one person dies each day waiting for an organ.

Jogging a major cause for sagging breast

Millions of women could jogging their way to sagging breasts because they are not wearing suitable bras while exercising.

The average breast weighs between 200 and 300 grams. The movement in exercise puts great stress on the breast's fragile support structure. The outer skin and connective tissues are known as Cooper's ligaments.

Wearing a normal bra only reduces the breast from bouncing by 38 percent, but wearing a sports bra by the firm Shock Absorber reduced bounce by 78 percent.

The trait for generosity could be in the genes

Research done in Israel suggests the a generous personality has a a genetic component.
203 people took part in an online task in which they could either keep or give away money.

Gene tests showed people who had certain variants of a gene called AVPR1a were on average nearly 50 percent more likely to give money away.

The gene AVPR1a plays a key role in allowing a hormone called arginine vasopressin to act on brain cells. Vasopressin, in turn, has been implicated in social bonding.

Can a broken heart kill?

A recent study published in The Lancet, found that the chances of dieing after the death of a loved one increases by up to a fifth.

The researchers believe that unhealthy habits formed after the death and severe loneliness play a major part in deaths.

One study found men were 21% more likely to die after the loss of their wife. Widows had a 17% increased risk of death

Skin cell cure for sickle cells

Scientists beleive that the skin can cure the blood disease sickle cell anaemia.

The US team were able to treat mice with human type sickle cell anameia by reprogramming skin cells in the lab to become stem cells.

More than 12,500 people in the UK have sickle cell anaemia. It is an inherited disease which affects the ability of red blood cells to carry oxygen and can cause severe pain, and damage to the organs.

Osteoporosis link to depression

Studies are suggesting depression may increase the risk of the bone disorder osteoporosis in premenopausal women.

A US study has found that 17 percent of depressed women and 2 percent of of women that are not depressed, had thinner bone in a part of the hip.

Osteoporosis affects half of women. The disease is silent and remains unnoticed until a bone is broken.

Blood and urine samples showed that depressed women had overactive immune systems. They produced too many chemicals which promote inflammation, and not enough that keep it in check. One of these chemicals - a protein called IL-6 - is known to promote bone loss.

Nigerian Polio Outbreak

A rare outbreak of vaccine-derived form of polio is occuring in Nigeria. Sixety-nine children in the noth have caught the disease from Nigerians that have been immunised.

Couple Kidney Swap

Two British couples have received and donated kidneys.

The donation came about as a way to get people off the waiting list for kidneys.

Caesarean Risk

A Caesarean section increases the risk for a woman's uterus to rupture following a vaginal delivery.

Mother and baby's life are put in danger if a uterus becomes torn.

Nine in every 1,000 mothers who opted to try for a vaginal birth after a previous Caesarean.

Art Students Aim to Save Lives

Students from the Royal College of Art came up with the idea for the "Tongue Sucker" to aid breathing.

The idea came about when the London bombings occurred in 2005. The bombings left 56 dead and 800 injured.

The device will help to allow untrained people the ability to keep air flowing through unconscious people.

Motor Neurone Disease May Be Stopped

Scientists at the University of Bath discovered a link between the gene involved in blood vessel formation and the development of some forms of Motor Neurone Disease.



5,000 people at a time suffer with MND in the United Kingdom.

The disease affects men more than women. For every 100,000 people one or two will be newly diagnosed with MND each year.

Rabies

Staff at Edinburgh University's Royal Dick Vet School have been studying the the rabies disease.

Rabies kills thousands of peoples every year. Humans come in contact with the rabies through dogs.

Winthin the next to years researches hope to have found a vaccine to eliminate the disease.