Quit smoking

If you want to quit smoking, making a sudden bid could help more than planned attempts, say scientists. It has traditionally been thought that the best way to beat the habit is for smokers to go through several stages — thinking about stopping, planning an attempt and making that attempt. But the researchers at University College London interviewed more than 1,900 smokers and ex-smokers about their attempts to quit smoking and found that two-thirds of smokers who stopped suddenly succeeded for at least six months, compared to under half of those who planned it in detail, reported the online edition of BBC News. The study, which appeared in the British Medical Journal, said the planners possibly felt less strongly about giving up.

In the study, 65 per cent of the unplanned quit attempts had succeeded for at least six months. This compared with 45 per cent of those who planned to give up in advance. The researchers however said their findings do not imply that planning to quit is counter-productive. “The results do not mean that we should tell everyone to stop without planning ahead, but they do tell us something about the state of mind of the smoker who wants to quit,” said lead researcher Robert West.

According to WHO, smoking is a greater cause of death and disability than any single

disease and considered responsible for approximately five million deaths worldwide

every year. By 2020, WHO expects the worldwide death toll to reach 10 million, with 17.7 per cent of the deaths in developed countries. — IANS

Intimate washes increase HIV risk

Women who use vaginal washes are more likely to be infected with HIV than those who do not, says a University of Washington study.

The 10 year study by Scott McClelland and other researchers at the University of Washington examined 1,270 Kenyan women and found that those who washed their vaginas with water were three times more likely to be infected with HIV than those who did not.

The practice of vaginal washes is common among women throughout sub-Saharan Africa. The researchers also found that women who reported that they washed with soap were four times more likely to be infected with HIV. It has long been thought the practice would increase women’s susceptibility to HIV by stripping away the vagina’s natural protection against infection and making it easier for the virus to enter cells. Water and the process of washing may damage the vaginal lining, providing an entry point for the virus. The use of soap would exacerbate said the study.

However, Robin Shattock, professor of molecular infection at St George’s Medical School in London, said more studies were needed to demonstrate a definitive link between washing and HIV infection. — IANS

Male foetus at risk due to stress

Stress during a disaster particularly after natural calamities like earthquakes and severe famine can cause the death of weaker male foetus but those that survive may live longer than the average, says a study. Male foetuses and embryos are weaker than those of females and are less likely to survive.

Mothers’ bodies under stress have less tolerance for unhealthy embryos and foetuses and thus spontaneously abort offspring that would have been otherwise carried to birth, according to researchers at the University of California.

Writing in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the US, researchers said only weak foetuses were selectively targeted by the mother’s body, giving more robust males every opportunity to thrive.

This theory is difficult to explain.It’s a very complex area of biology. — IANS