Health Notes:
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A look at the latest medical studies and trends
Home remedies might work for colds
A cup of tea, a sip of soup or a blend of hot water and honey are touted to be good for a cold, but evidence was limited - until now. The Common Cold Centre at Cardiff University in Wales did a pilot study using 30 students and facultymembers who had colds or flu-like symptoms. Researchers measured each person's nasal air flow with a special device. The results, published in the journal Rhinology in December. People who got cold drinks said three symptoms (runny nose, cough and sneezing) improved. And people who got hot drinks reported evenmore relief, saying those three symptoms, plus their fatigue, chilliness and sore throats, got better and, with the exception of fatigue, stayed better for 30minutes.
Study links TV and depression
Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh and Harvard Medical School looked at themedia habits of 4,142 healthy adolescents and calculated that each additional hour of TV watched per day boosted the odds of becoming depressed by 8%. Other forms of media, such as playing computer games and watching videos, didn't affect the risk of depression, according to the study published in the Archives of General Psychology.
Drug fromengineered animals OK'd
The Food and Drug Administrationmade history as it approved the first drugmade withmaterials fromgenetically engineered animals, clearing the way for a new class ofmedical therapies. GTC Biotherapeutics said regulators cleared its drug ATryn, which ismanufactured usingmilk fromgoats that have been scientifically altered to produce extra antithrombin, a protein that acts as a natural blood thinner.