A new American study suggests that women working as biological and chemical scientists and pharmacists are more likely to give birth to babies with physical defects than other women.

According to the research, these children could suffer from gastrointestinal, spinal and heart malformations.

"Given those job titles, one would expect those women to work with different chemicals or something that could possibly be an exposure," the Globe and Mail quoted study' lead author Michele Herdt-Losavio from the New York State Department of Health, as saying.

Dr. Herdt-Losavio and her team discovered that the foetus could develop one of 45 physical defects unrelated to the DNA, depending on the occupation of the mother.

It was found that female janitors had the highest possibility of giving birth to children with certain defects, while teachers were in the lowest risk category. Scientists' children had more risk of suffering from five of the defects.

The scientists reviewed the information gathered from more than 9,000 mothers across the U.S. who gave birth to babies with one or more of the 45 defects, between October 1997 and December 2003.

The women were listed into 24 occupational categories like office workers, dry cleaners etc.

Thereafter, these women were compared to a control group of nearly 4,000 mothers whose kids were born without any disability.

Researchers then concentrated on those women who were working during the first trimester, which is a critical time when the foetus is more susceptible to develop abnormalities.

Talking about women working in food service or health care, Dr. Herdt-Losavio pointed out: "There were a few groups who had a mixture: they would be at risk for something or at a reduced risk for something else,"

Dr. Herdt-Losavio suggested that more studies had to be undertaken on the issue.

She said: "It's just further evidence to point people in the direction where we should go from here.

"There's lots of questions that can be asked. What do you do as a janitor? What products do you use? What hours do you work? How many hours do you work?"

However, Dr. Herdt-Losavio also explained that it is not possible to make a clear connection between a job and the likelihood of the child being born with defect.

She added: "No one study will ever really tell you cause and effect."

The study has appeared in the journal Occupational and Environmental Medicine (ANI)

The investigation established a link between eating behaviours and 'self-rated health' - saying deviant eating behaviours are more likely to occur in women who perceived themselves to be in poor health.

Lise Gauvin, a professor at the Universite de Montreal Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, said: "Our results are disquieting.

"Women are exposed to many contradictory messages. They are encouraged to lose weight yet also encouraged to eat for the simple pleasure of it."

Dr Gauvin said the study sheds new light on binge eating and bulimia - which are characterized in part by excessive eating accompanied by feelings of having lost control.

She went on: "About 13.7 percent of women interviewed for this study reported binge eating one to five days or one to seven times per month."

It was also discovered that 2.5% of women reported forcing themselves to vomit, use laxatives, or use diuretics to maintain their weight or shape.

Over 1,500 women took part in the phone survey on eating disorders and disordered eating. Not one participant had been classified as anorexic before the study.

The average age of these urban-dwelling participants was 31, and the majority were non-smokers and university graduates.

Another finding of the study was that 28 percent of women complete intense exercise twice a month with the sole objective of losing weight or influencing.

Dr Gauvin said: "We practice a sport for the pleasure it provides, to feel good, but when the activity is done to gain control over one's weight and figure, it is indicative of someone who could be excessively concerned about their weight.

"Our data suggests that a proportion of the female population displays maladaptive eating patterns."

The new study from the Universite de Montreal and the Douglas Mental Health University Institute has been published in the International Journal of Eating Disorders.

In view of the epidemic of obesity, researchers from Netherlands are investigating the possibility of using "anti-hunger" aromas while chewing food that will induce an increased level of satiety and prevent people from overeating.

Until now the researchers have focused on food products that trigger the feelings of fullness. Now, in an effort to fight the growing menace of obesity, they are dwelling on the concept of consumer food designed to release specific scents that curbs appetite, kills cravings, and leaves one with a feeling of fullness so one eats less.

Ruijschop of the Dutch based NIZO Food Research organization stated, "The application of aroma in food product development for inducing satiation is promising and appealing.

"Complementary to ingredients that focus on the postingestive and postabsorptive stage of the satiety cascade, retronasal aroma release, operating during food ingestion, has a consumer benefit that is immediately noticeable."

Focus on olfactory senses
The focus of the analysis was on the olfactory senses. Our brain senses fullness of stomach partly through the smell and taste of food.

According to the scientists, the affect arises when certain molecules break free from the food as one chews, working their way up the nasal cavity and to the olfactory sensors. From there, they head straight to the areas of the brain linked with satiety, telling the brain that the stomach is full.

The only problem is that like many processes of the brain, the aromas that reach the back of the nose may be based on individual perception of food satisfaction that differs from person to person.

Ruijschop stated, "Although the extent of retronasal aroma release appears to be subject specific, food product properties can be tailored in such a way that these can lead to a higher quality and/or quantity of retronasal aroma stimulation."

She added, "This in turn provokes enhanced feelings of satiation and ultimately may contribute to a decrease in food intake."

The study appears in the American Chemical Society's Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry.

A little on obesity
Obesity is a condition characterized by excess accumulation of fat in the adipose tissue under the skin, above the muscles, and around internal organs.

Obesity is a major problem worldwide with millions being obese. The fundamental cause of this condition is overeating.

It is classified as a disease that can cause health problems like blood pressure, diabetes, and cardiac arrest [the stopping of heartbeat.] as well as emotional problems like inferiority complex and low self-esteem.

British scientists have unlocked the genetic code of lung and skin cancers in a breakthrough that is expected to transform the way cancers are diagnosed and greatly improve the efficacy of their treatment in the near future.

Published in the journal Nature, the study was carried out by scientists at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, which was part of the international Human Genome Project that first cracked the human genome in 2003.

Following this giant leap, scientists are predicting that by 2020, all cancer patients could have their tumours analysed to find the genetic defects that drive them, The Times newspaper said on Thursday. This information would be used to select the treatments most likely to work.

The genetic maps of lung cancer show that most mutations can be traced to the chemicals in tobacco smoke. Similarly, mutations in malignant melanoma - a deadly skin cancer - are caused by ultraviolet light, the study reveals. Thus, both cancers are largely preventable.

The findings identified specific DNA mutations in genes that were triggered by environmental factors such as tobacco smoke, harmful chemicals or ultraviolet radiation, causing the cells to grow out of control and cause deadly tumours.

India is among the dozen countries working to identify all the genes that mutate to cause cancers, with its national Cancer Genome Anatomy Project focusing on cancers of the oral cavity (mouth), which is among the top three cancers in the country.

Stomach cancer is being studied in China, breast cancer in the UK, cancers of the brain, ovary and pancreas in the US, and liver cancer in Japan.

An international study has found a molecule in H1N1, or swine flu, patients whose levels determine the severity of the illness or even death.

Canadian and Spanish scientists have found this molecule called Interleukin 17 (IL-17) to be the first potential immunological clue of why some people develop severe pneumonia when infected by the H1N1 virus. The study was carried in 10 Spanish hospitals during the first pandemic wave in July and August this year.

Researchers from the Hospital Clinico Universitario de Valladolid in Spain, Toronto's University Health Network and the University of Toronto analysed different levels of regulating molecules (IL-17) for 20 hospitalized patients, 15 outpatients and 15 others.

They found high levels of IL-17 molecule in the blood of severe H1N1 patients and low levels in patients with the mild form of the disease.

According to a statement by the University of Toronto, IL-17 is produced by the body and is important in the normal regulation of white blood cells which fight infection and disease.

But in certain circumstances, the molecule becomes out of control, leading to inflammation and autoimmune diseases like H1N1.

The research paper titled 'Th1 and Th17 hypercytokinemia as early host response signature in severe pandemic influenza,' has been published in the December issue of the Journal of Critical Care.

"In rare cases, the virus (molecule) causes lung infections requiring patients to be treated in hospital. By targeting or blocking Th17 in the future, we could potentially reduce the amount of inflammation in the lungs and speed up recovery,'' Canadian professor David Kelvin, who was part of the research team, said.

Kelvin said the clinical applications of their study will take some time. But a test to determine who has high levels of this molecule is possible in the near future, he said.

"A diagnostic test could let us know early who is at risk for the severe form of this illness quickly,'' the Canadian said.

The high levels of the molecule would indicate a failure of the immune system to eliminate the virus, similar to what happened during the 1918 Spanish flu when a deadly influenza A virus strain of sub-type H1N1 ravaged populations, he added.

The statement also quoted Dr Jesus Bermejo-Martin of the Spanish team as saying that identifying drugs that regulate the activity of IL-17 may provide alternative treatments for patients with severe H1N1.