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Breast milk boosts IQ

Tue, 06 May 2008 16:11:49 GMT

clipped by: bhai1

Breast milk boosts IQ: Up to 8 points separate babies fed by their mothers and those on formula

Breast-fed babies grow into more intelligent children, with IQs up to eight points higher than those who are bottle-fed, scientists claim.

A study showed long-term breastfeeding aids brain development in addition to its already recognised advantages such as resistance to infections, allergies and asthma.

Brain boost: A breast-fed baby is likely to be more intelligent than those fed with formula

Researchers studied 14,000 children for more than six years and found those who were breast-fed did significantly better in IQ tests.

At six-and-a-half, exclusively breast-fed children scored 5.9 points higher on average in tests of overall intelligence.

They also scored 7.5 points higher in tests of verbal intelligence and 2.9 points in non-verbal intelligence tests.

Tags: health

What are the symptoms of HIV?

Fri, 07 Mar 2008 15:05:27 GMT

clipped by: bhai1

Clip Source: www.unaids.org

Most people infected with HIV do not know that they have become infected, because no symptoms develop immediately after the initial infection. Some people have a glandular fever-like illness (with fever, rash, joint pains and enlarged lymph nodes), which can occur at the time of seroconversion. Seroconversion refers to the development of antibodies to HIV and usually takes place between 6 weeks and 3 months after an infection has occurred (see Question 32).

Despite the fact that HIV infection does not cause any initial symptoms, an HIV-infected person is highly infectious and can transmit the virus to another person (see Question 7). The only way to determine whether HIV is present in a person's body is by taking an HIV test (see Question 31).

HIV infection causes a gradual depletion and weakening of the immune system. This results in an increased susceptibility of the body to infections and can lead to the development of AIDS

Tags: aids

What is AIDS?

Fri, 07 Mar 2008 15:04:27 GMT

clipped by: bhai1

Clip Source: www.unaids.org

AIDS stands for 'acquired immunodeficiency syndrome' and describes the collection of symptoms and infections associated with acquired deficiency of the immune system. Infection with HIV has been established as the underlying cause of AIDS. The level of HIV in the body and the appearance of certain infections are used as indicators that HIV infection has progressed to AIDS

Tags: aids

What is HIV?

Fri, 07 Mar 2008 15:03:32 GMT

clipped by: bhai1

Clip Source: www.unaids.org

HIV stands for 'human immunodeficiency virus'. HIV is a retrovirus that infects cells of the human immune system (mainly CD4 positive T cells and macrophages—key components of the cellular immune system), and destroys or impairs their function. Infection with this virus results in the progressive depletion of the immune system, leading to 'immune deficiency'.

The immune system is considered deficient when it can no longer fulfil its role of fighting off infection and diseases. Immunodeficient people are much more vulnerable to a wide range of infections, most of which are very rare among people without immune deficiency. Diseases associated with severe immunodeficiency are known as 'opportunistic infections', because they take advantage of a weakened immune system.

Tags: aids

Landmarks in AIDS

Sun, 24 Feb 2008 13:50:42 GMT

clipped by: bhai1

Clip Source: www.hindu.com

JUNE 2001 IS a landmark in the history of the pandemic that is HIV/AIDS. It marks the 20th anniversary since an unknown virus was first identified by clinical medicine in the U.S. The virus is of course much older, but it was only in 1981 that the world was alerted to what has become a global scourge rivalling the medieval plague. Over the past two decades AIDS has taken the lives of some 21 million people and it is now a disease overwhelmingly of poverty that is currently concentrated in the developing countries. Today 36 million people world-wide are believed to be infected with HIV, with India home to the second- largest HIV population. Tens of millions more may die, an entire generation may be wiped out in some countries and societies and economies severely disrupted before the pandemic falls off, as projected, in the third decade of this century. But this devastation is not inevitable.