Health

A study has revealed that persons who engage in smoking e-cigarettes could be exposed to higher risk of developing pneumonia owing to the fact that vapor could help bacteria stick to cells lining the airways.

Traditional cigarettes have long been associated to heightened risk of suffering pneumonia, though it’s been less clear whether e-cigarettes might have the same effect.

Researchers conducted series of laboratory experiments to see whether exposure to e-cigarette vapor might increase levels of a molecule produced by airway lining cells, called platelet-activating factor receptor (PAFR).

The Federal Government on Tuesday listed some of the challenges impeding effective healthcare service delivery in the country to include weak governance structures, poor human resource capacity and inefficient core processes. The Minister of Health, Prof. Isaac Adewole stated this while speaking at the opening ceremony of a retreat aimed at strengthening the Ministry’s budget process and the capacity of the Department of Health Planning, Research & Statistics.

Scientists are developing novel wearable sensors that could help speed up the recovery of stroke patients.

The sensors send information to doctors continuously and could allow them to more closely monitor the effectiveness of their care.

John Rogers, of Northwestern University in Chicago in the US, who developed the sensors said; "It is almost mechanically imperceptible to the patient who is wearing the device."

People looking to shrink their waistlines may want to adopt three simple eating habits to help them get there, new research suggests, a recent study reveals. The study tracked nearly 60,000 people and discovered that how fast they ate and the timing of their evening meal and snacks appeared to be significant factors in whether they ended up obese or managed to lose weight.

Europe has seen an increasing surge in measles cases in 2017, according to the World Health Organisation, compared to 2016, the number of infections quadrupled to more than 21,000 cases across Europe in 2017. Thirty-five people died. The outbreaks hit 15 European countries — with especially large ones hammering Romania with 5,562 infections, Italy with 5,006, and Ukraine with 4,767.

The Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) has confirmed the death of one person in the two cases of Lassa fever recorded in the territory. Dr Humphrey Okoroukwu, the Director of Public Health in Health and Human Services Secretariat, FCT, confirmed this in Abuja.