One week of painkillers can increase chances of heart attack, new study finds

Taking common painkillers such as ibuprofen for only a week can significantly raise the risk of having a heart attack, a major new study suggests.

Patients are being urged to limit their use of the drugs for as short a period as possible after they were linked to increased heart attack chances of more than 50 per cent.

Scientists already suspected a connection between potentially fatal cardiac events and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medicines, which also include diclofenac and naproxen.

But there was uncertainty as to how long a patient could take the drugs before putting themselves at added risk.

The new investigation, the largest ever of its kind, found anti-inflammatories may boost the chances of having a heart attack as early as in the first week of use.

They found a particularly strong connection within the first month.

Published in the British Medical Journal, the study urges doctors to weigh up the risks against the benefits of prescribing the drugs.

Because of the observational nature of the research, which examined the prescribing data and health outcomes of more than 446,000 people, scientists cannot say for sure why anti-inflammatories are linked to greater heart attack risk.

Previous research, however, has suggested the link may involve the drugs blocking in hormone called prostacylin, which protects blood vessels.

Dr Mike Knapton, associate medical director at the British Heart Foundation, said: "This large-scale study worryingly highlights just how quickly you become at risk of having a heart attack after starting NSAIDs (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs).

"Whether you are being prescribed painkillers like ibuprofen, or buying them over the counter, people must be made aware of the risk and alternative medication should be considered where appropriate."

The research team from Canada, Finland and Germany said there was a "a rapid onset of risk" for heart attack within the first week of use, while risk was highest during the first month of taking the painkillers.

However, using the drugs for longer than one month did not increase risk more compared to shorter use.

Meanwhile the added chances of a heart attack were more pronounced among users on high doses of the painkillers.

Use for between eight and 30 days at a high dose was "particularly harmful" when people were taking more than 1,200mg a day of ibuprofen, 750mg a day of naproxen and more than 25mg a day of rofecoxib.

Overall, a person’s chances of having a heart attack in any given year while taking anti-inflammatories is 1 per cent, the study found.

Prof Jane Mitchell, Head of Cardiothoracic Pharmacology, Imperial College London, said: “These painkillers include some of the most commonly taken drugs worldwide and although the increased risk of heart attack might be low, because of the scale of their use it is seen as an important problem.

“Patients, doctors and drug companies are worried – concern over an increased risk of heart attacks associated with drugs like celecoxib or ibuprofen has slowed drug development in this area to a virtual stand-still.

“We should also remember that there is some evidence some of these drugs may help prevent some cancers but they are not used because of concerns over side effects.”

The scientific community has stressed that the new BMJ study does not prove a causal link between painkillers and heart attack, pointing out that there may be other factors connecting to the two.

For example, the increased heart attack risk may be caused by the complaint which prompts a person to take painkillers, rather than by the painkillers themselves.

From The Telegraph

By  Henry Bodkin 

Read More

9GAG carved a shrine to meme culture and buried it in the desert

Memes are ephemeral, and by their nature, have a limited shelf-life. Their lifespan starts with only by a handful of Internet-savvy folks knowing about them – almost like an inside joke. Then they reach saturation, only to begin their slow descent into memetic obscurity.

The dancing baby is a great example of this. In the mid-90’s, it was everywhere, even making its way to an episode of Ally McBeal. Now, it’s nowhere to be found. Same with Mahir Çağrı’s I Kiss You, Numa Numa, Chocolate Rain, and a whole host of once-ubiquitous memes.

Recognizing that this is a problem, 9GAG constructed a permanent tribute to today’s most popular memes, and buried it somewhere in the Spanish desert. 

So, yeah. Several feet underground, there’s a rock with DickButt, Philosoraptor, and the PPAP guy carved on it. Here’s a few close-ups showing what it looks like.

623,254 members of 9GAG’s community voted for their favorite memes, which were then carved on the slab. The company believes that when future generations find it, they’ll discover humans, “besides being intelligent, were also very funny.”

I’ll agree with that. Can you think of anything funnier than a future archaeologist trying to figure out the meaning of DickButt, or why people were so obsessed with this Japanese guy who had a shaky understanding of fruiticulture at best?

From The next lub

Read More

Oxford student creates first synthetic retina

A synthetic, soft tissue retina developed by an Oxford University student could offer fresh hope to visually impaired people.

Until now, all artificial retinal research has used only rigid, hard materials. The new research, by Vanessa Restrepo-Schild, a 24 year old Dphil student and researcher at the Oxford University, Department of Chemistry, is the first to successfully use biological, synthetic tissues, developed in a laboratory environment. The study could revolutionise the bionic implant industry and the development of new, less invasive technologies that more closely resemble human body tissues, helping to treat degenerative eye conditions such as retinitis pigmentosa.

Just as photography depends on camera pixels reacting to light, vision relies on the retina performing the same function. The retina sits at the back of the human eye, and contains protein cells that convert light into electrical signals that travel through the nervous system, triggering a response from the brain, ultimately building a picture of the scene being viewed.

Vanessa Restrepo-Schild led the team in the development of a new synthetic, double layered retina which closely mimics the natural human retinal process. The retina replica consists of soft water droplets (hydrogels) and biological cell membrane proteins. Designed like a camera, the cells act as pixels, detecting and reacting to light to create a grey scale image.  The Colombian native said: ‘The synthetic material can generate electrical signals, which might stimulate the neurons at the back of our eye just like the original retina.’

The study, published in the journal Scientific Reports, shows that unlike existing artificial retinal implants, the cell-cultures are created from natural, biodegradable materials and do not contain foreign bodies or living entities. In this way the implant is less invasive than a mechanical devise, and is less likely to have an adverse reaction on the body.  Miss Restrepo-Schild added: ‘The human eye is incredibly sensitive, which is why foreign bodies like metal retinal implants can be so damaging, leading to inflammation and/or scaring. But a biological synthetic implant is soft and water based, so much more friendly to the eye environment.’ 

Although at present the synthetic retina has only been tested in laboratory conditions, Miss Restrepo-Schild is keen to build on her initial work and explore potential uses with living tissues. This next step is vital in demonstrating how the material performs as a bionic implant.

Miss Restrepo-Schild has filed a patent for the technology and the next phase of the work will see the Oxford team expand the replica’s function to include recognising different colours. Working with a much larger replica, the team will test the material’s ability to recognise different colours and potentially even shapes and symbols. Looking further ahead the research will expand to include animal testing and then a series of clinical trials in humans.

From University of OXFORD

Read More

New video shows amazing view as Cassini spacecraft makes first dive over Saturn

Nasa has released a new video taken by the Cassini spacecraft showing the view as it swooped over Saturn in its first plunge inside the planet's rings late last month.

One of Cassini's imaging cameras took a series of rapid-fire images as the spacecraft also captured the closest-ever images of the Saturn on April 26 during its first plunge through the planet's ring plane.

Now in its final laps around Saturn after observing it for 13 years, Cassini dove through the narrow gap between the planet and its innermost ring, where no spacecraft has ever gone before. It was the first of 22 planned close encounters to bring the robotic probe into unexplored territory between Saturn's cloud tops and its rings.

The movie shows an hour worth of observations as the spacecraft moved southward over Saturn. It begins with a view of the swirling vortex at the planet's north pole, then heads past the outer boundary of the hexagon-shaped jet stream and continues southward.

During the hour, the spacecraft's altitude above the clouds dropped from 45,000 to 4,200 miles (72,400 to 6,700 kilometres).

"I was surprised to see so many sharp edges along the hexagon's outer boundary and the eye-wall of the polar vortex," said Kunio Sayanagi, an associate of the Cassini imaging team based at Hampton University in Virginia, who helped produce the new movie. "Something must be keeping different latitudes from mixing to maintain those edges," he said.

Toward the end of the sequence, the camera frame rotates as the spacecraft reorients to point its communication antenna, used as a shield as Cassini crossed the planet's ring plane, in the direction of the spacecraft's motion.

"The images from the first pass were great, but we were conservative with the camera settings. We plan to make updates to our observations for a similar opportunity on June 28 that we think will result in even better views," said Andrew Ingersoll, a member of the Cassini imaging team based at California's Caltech.

Cassini is travelling through the gap at a relative speed of about some 77,000 mph (124,000 kph) so even small particles striking the spacecraft can be deadly.

Cassini has been probing Saturn, the sixth planet from the sun, and its entourage of 62 known moons since July 2004, but is running low on fuel.

Nasa plans to crash the spacecraft into Saturn on its last dive, scheduled for September 15, to avoid any chance Cassini could someday collide with any ocean-bearing moons that have the potential to support indigenous microbial life.

From The Telegraph

Read More

Porsche opens digital center in Silicon Valley

Sportscar maker Porsche is opening a digital technology center with 100 staff in Silicon Valley to forge new partnerships, cooperate with venture-capital companies and invest in new companies, it said on Friday.

The Volkswagen (VOWG_p.DE) subsidiary launched its digital division based in Ludwigsburg near Stuttgart a year ago to develop digital services for the premium segment.

It is headed by Thilo Koslowski, a former digital mobility analyst at technology consulting firm Gartner.

"The car is the ultimate mobile device of the future, and the future is being written in Silicon Valley," Koslowski said in a statement on Friday.

"This means it is particularly important to be right next door to leading IT companies in the USA, as this allows us to identify trends early and invest in new technologies at the right time."

Porsche Digital has already invested in venture-capital fund E.ventures US and plans to expand such activity through its office in Santa Clara, California.

(Reporting by Georgina Prodhan; Editing by Elaine Hardcastle)

From Reuters

Read More

Obamacare is 'dead'

President Donald Trump has declared Obamacare "dead" after the Republican healthcare bill was narrowly passed by the lower chamber of Congress.

The 217-213 vote marked his first legislative victory and goes some way to keeping a key campaign promise to roll back his predecessor's law.

Democrats say the American Health Care Act will leave millions uninsured.

The bill now heads to the Senate, where Republicans have indicated they will cast it aside and write a new law.

Protesters shouted "Shame on you!" as lawmakers left Capitol Hill after the knife-edge vote.

But there were celebrations moments later on the White House lawn, where the president laid on a reception for Republicans in the House of Representatives.

Six weeks ago, their healthcare attempts appeared doomed when they did not have enough support to have a vote.

But that bill has undergone several revisions to satisfy both the conservative and moderate wings of the Republican party.

"Make no mistake, this is a repeal," said a triumphant Mr Trump in the Rose Garden. Obamacare, he added, was "essentially dead".

"Premiums will be coming down, deductibles will be coming down, but very importantly it's a great plan."

What do Democrats say?

The Democrats think the effect of this bill would be the opposite, stripping insurance from the poor, giving tax breaks to the wealthy and casting doubt on health provisions for the chronically sick.

"Thousands of Americans would die because they would no longer have access to care," said Senator Bernie Sanders.

Groups representing hospitals and doctors have also expressed concerns about the Republican plan, which they say has yet to be properly assessed.

The ill-fated Republican bill in March would result in 24 million more Americans losing insurance within a decade, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said at the time.

What changed since March?

One amendment added since then to placate conservatives means states can opt out of providing essential benefits such as cancer treatment and emergency room visits.

And when $8bn (£6.2bn) over five years was thrown in towards coverage for sick people who otherwise might face higher costs, several moderate Republicans changed course and backed it.

About 20 million Americans gained healthcare coverage under President Barack Obama's 2010 Affordable Care Act, but Republicans viewed it as an overreach of the federal government and said patients had less choice and higher premiums.

The New York attorney general said on Thursday evening that he would challenge the bill in court if it became law, on the basis that it would deny people access to care.

What happens now?

The bill, if it becomes law, would mark a major overhaul in the US health system.

But key elements could be ditched by Republican senators, who have said they will start fresh.

Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski said she would like "a clean slate", while Senator Bob Corker said the current bill has "zero" chance in the Senate.

The party controls the chamber 52-48, meaning it can lose no more than two Republicans in order for it to pass.

If the Senate passes its own bill, the plan then goes back to the House for approval or more negotiations and amendments.

What's changed from Obamacare?

• New bill repeals the individual mandate requiring those who can afford it to have health insurance
• Ditches Obamacare requirement for companies with 50 or more staff to provide insurance coverage for employees.
• Keeps element allowing under-26s to stay covered on parents' policies
• Enables insurers to charge at least five times as much to older customers.
• States can opt out of essential benefits like emergency care and cancer treatment
• And they can waive the guarantee to provide healthcare to people with pre-existing conditions.

From BBC News

Read More

WATCH LIVE: Press Secretary Sean Spicer is due to hold the first official White House press briefing for the Trump administration.

http://www.youtube.com/c/BBCNews/live

Read More

free essays examples

free essays examples 

A Psychoanalytic look at Nighthawks
Established painter Edward grounder acted as a broach of the modern realism achievement in the United States and very much drew his personal imagery of modern American life. mayhap his intimately popular scene Night hucksters  depicts a new-made night scene at a diner. Despite it being motley in one his most productive and successful periods of his life, it is a piece that showcases loneliness and alienation.\nThe circumstance of Nighthawks  illustrates the feeling of isolation with a row of closed stores, with menacing interiors, with energy to speak of on the inside besides an gray-haired style cash register, which could be suggesting an unstable family business of branchs. devoted that the background is dark and motionless tout ensemble attention than is instantly abandoned to the diner, the sole ancestry of light in the constitutional painting, giving the dark streets and shops a sort of coldness to the painting, and establishes the diner as a sort of re fuge for the night.\nIts huge nut windows imitate that of a fish bowl the viewer can coup doeil into. With its curved, pure glass number however, the diner attracts people with its light, and repels with its shape, and the feature that no door is seeable in the painting tho underlines how detatched these diners really are from society. Ironic, given that this seems to be in large city, yet still, in its easy lit heart, the viewer finds loneliness.\nAs for the patrons themselves looking upon their faces it can be seen how the name Nighthawks  was derived. With very hawk like features on all the visible faces it can be derived that they are all nighthawks, apiece one seeming unstable however, as indicated by everyones sieve shoulders, showcasing individual insecurities, and a revere of intimacy from the couple. For a late night on the town and wearing such a bold red fig up the charr and her date, as their detainment suggest, seem awfully hold and sedated. As if the y have nothing more to say or give to one another. The woman being more i...

The Suit by Peter Brook 
A life spend making mistakes is not only to a greater extent honorable, but more useful than a life spent doing nothing. the production of The Suit takes us back to Sophia town, an old town in Apartheid South Africa. With simple, just appealing set design, and great(p) acting, The Suit, simply put, is masterpiece. end-to-end the diddle, different moods are released towards the Audience, which provides a refreshing contrast betwixt comfortably watching a couple live their prim life, and awkward tensions built up between them because of previous actions.\nThe operate starts out on a nice day with Philemon and his wife, Matilda. With they how they act with each other, nothing searchs to be amiss with their relationship. Yet, as the play goes on you see that Matilda is not so loyal to her good-natured husband after all. Philemons booster rocket tells him that he has seen a girlish man enter Matildas room for three months straight. When Philemon hears this, its hard to tell whats spillage on in his judgement at the time. He seems near emotionless after he hears this dreadful news. Later when he confronts Matilda, the audience is greeted with the fact that Philemon, whitethorn have became slightly mentally deranged.\nPhilemon forces Matilda to take care of her Lovers meet, and treat it as their guest. eternally embarrassing her, Philemon never simoleons and realizes what hes doing, impulsive his wife insane as well. This makes this specific play telephone set depressing, and drab, but really, its up to the viewing audience interpretation. Parts of the play seem happy, but its more like a squeeze happiness thats shrouding the audience from the allegiance of the play, which i personally recollect is in fact dark and depressing. For example, when they throw their fellowship everything seems flawless, and Matilda feels like all this leftover business with the fit, is behind her and Philemon. but during the middle of it, He brings her the s uit and says that it wants to dance with her, thus emb...

College and Academic Dishonesty
Academic dish acesty is common across college campuses worldwide, with many pupils having root for the offense at virtually points of their donnishian pursuit. And one of schoolman dishonesty is cheating. rip off certain is not a immature ethical issue in Higher Education. Cheating behaviours atomic number 18 becoming increasingly pervasive and frequent in academic context. In fact, according to Factors touching the Probability of Academic Cheating School Students in capital of Iran there are close 95.6 percent of the students have confessed to commit cheating in their exams or homework during one academic year (2002-2003). This paper residueeavors to branch out the understanding of cheating consequences, its popularity in academic environment; why and how we should put a anticipate to those behaviors. The tar go bad stakeholders will be outlined and analyzed.\nCheating is the acquire of reward for ability by dishonest means or finding an easy guidance out of an u npleasant situation. It is in general used for the breaking of rules to discover unfair advantage in a competitive situation. Wikipedia\nThe consequences from this behavior is huge and really serious. From the students side, if the cheater is well-fixed enough not to fail caught, he may end up with good cross off but nothing gained from the line of work hes retributive participated. So that when he be asked to use the knowledge in former(a) situations, for example at work, because he is a cheaters stake in college, he ceaset solve problems, wear well in his job. In the worse case he got caught, he may demonstrate the punishment like be expelled from school or the university, or at least cause a zero his see and a bad reputation, not only with the teachers, but with the other students as well. But what if the teacher, the one who supposed to make genuine that students learn by themselves and annoy the true grades, cheats? There is a good chance that the students get s omething thats not theirs without realizing it. therefore it will create a fake...

The Canterbury Tales - Loyalty and Dishonesty
In the Miller and Franklins Tale, Alisoun and Dorigen ar not loyal to their husbands because of the ill-advised decisions they make with men they do not experience. Chaucer illustrates that to men, honesty indoors a marriage is life-and-death to their pride and manhood. Both tales show up honesty and dishonesty at heart marriages. The Millers Tale shows dishonesty because Alisoun ends up cheating on can buoy with Nicholas. Alisoun is weak when she is wooed into sleeping with Nicholas. She shows infidelity and is not to be indisputable by her loyal, loving husband. Absolon, Alisouns otherwise lover, is deeply in love with her. When he tries to kiss her for the start time and fails, his embarrassment towards his whip is shown. When Nicholas farts on Absolon and is then potty by the hot brand, it genuinely shows Absolons anger and his willingness to do a lot for Alisouns love. When it is all told over, the t protrude ensemble situation comes out to be very messed up bec ause of all the lying, taunting, and cheating that each casing shows throughout the tale.\nThe Franklins tale is a smaller example of dishonesty. Since Arviragus is out of town and sent out to Britain, Dorigen is more likely to be picked up on by other men. At the root system of the tale Dorigen is strong with her watchword to be faithful small-arm her husband is gone, and shows pushiness when she is approached by her lover, Aurelius. The only function that she struggles to see is the pitch blackness rocks that stew the cliff side. If the ship hits into the black rocks it will cause it to wad and sink to the bottom of the nautical along with her husband.\nDorigen meets a fair man named Aurelius who has loved Dorigen for cardinal years without her kno netg. Aurelius wants Dorigen to love him but knows she is married to a direful man. After talking and jump for a little, Dorigen jokes and says the only personal manner he can win her heart is if he somehow clears all the rocks from the coast. They both enquiry there self and opine that their fantasies wil...

Living in a Dishonest America
I do not think that knavery is destroying the Statesn society and culture. treachery has not increased signifi drive outtly in recent years. I do, however, think that our society is hypocritical and needs to admit the roll that dis ripey has. Our entire semipolitical remains is based on dishonesty and the economy is boosted when products be sold due to unreal marketing and false promises. This countrifieds educational system has always preached honesty as a virtue. We atomic number 18 taught to matter our founding fathers who were app atomic number 18ntly honest and noble men. America was as well first colonized by religious fanatics who would probably let down off your hand for rotund a lie. There is a myth about George capital letter not being fit to tell a lie. Children be also taught about how Abraham capital of Nebraska was truthful to his fellow man, earning him the relate Honest Abe. Our founding fathers werent as squeaky calorie-free as we paint them and mod ern font political leaders arent as comely as they paint themselves.\nAmerica obviously does not intrust what it preaches. There are honorable consequences to getting caught up in a lie, but otherwise than that, lying can be beneficial in many an(prenominal) ways. Dishonesty is most frequent in the fields of advertising, and ironically politics. It is impossible for a politician to get elected if they are completely honest. The politician has to chip like his policies have no flaws and they have complete confidence. A realistic statement for a modern presidential medical prognosis to make would be, I result do my absolute opera hat do get this orbit in better turn but it is so screwed up that I cant make any promises. This would never work though beca delectation masses want guarantees. Dishonesty in advertising is not the like as it used to be. Companies cant tell sheer(a) lies without getting in spacious trouble. What they can do is use clever word play, cheapjack pictures, and payment plans to make products wait cheaper than they are.\nIn terms of politics, we are sensi...       

Read More

Essay writing service reviews

Read More

CUSTOM ESSAY WRITING SERVICE - topofbestpaperwritingservices.com

Read More

infographics student

How Students Use Their Smartphones Infographic

How Students Are Using Technology Infographic

How Students and Teachers See Social Media Infographic

How Personalized Learning Can Benefit Students Infographic

how much do students spend?

how much college matter

how much college can i afford?

How Expanded Learning Time Boosts Student Achievement and Closes Opportunity Gaps Infographic

How Cell Phones Shape the Lives of College Students Infographic

How Can Teachers Elicit Students Performance Infographic

How Bullies Have Moved From the Playground to the Web Infographic

how academic writing helps you?

Hacking Your Way Through College Infographic

The ultimate guide to uk universities

Growing up with Social Media Infographic

The Greenest College Campuses What Makes a College Green?

Google Tip and Tricks for Conducting Online Research Infographic

effective engagement - generation z

educating the workforce of the future

from cradle to dorm the ultimate saving for college timeline

 

Read More

Dear Santa Claus

Read More

Essay writing service reviews - First it appears the most reliable online resource!!!!

First it appeared the most reliable online resource - essay writing service reviews. Here you can find not only a list of the best writing service to buy essay custom, but also many other interesting articles. Education keeps a blog of news, and more. There are many free samples of essays written by professional services. And in general it's just a very bright and beautiful site which are American students, they draw pictures and infographics, Compiled Glossary of Essay Terms, conduct online surveys from around the world, a priority of course: the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada and Australia. All the facts 100% pravlivye based only on the opinion of students of real users

Read More

4 billion people are still offline

Read more ...

Read More