A new U.S. study has revealed that just 25 percent of 14-year-olds said they used sunscreen regularly despite the fact that sunburn in childhood greatly raises a person’s lifelong risk for skin cancer.

Researchers led by Dr. Stephen Dusza of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, in New York City, examined data on 360 fifth graders in Massachusetts who were surveyed in 2004 and again three years later in 2007.

The years of “periadolescence” covered by the study (ages 11 to 14) appear to be “a crucial period” when young people often either “increase or decrease their use of sun protection, obtain sunburns, or change their tan-promoting attitudes,” the authors wrote.

“Adolescence and teenage years are tremendously difficult because it is a period of flexing independence, coupled with feelings of invincibility,” they added.

The study was published in the February issue of Pediatrics.

The Obama administration recently said $1 billion of federal funds allocated in last year’s health reform law would be going toward innovation programs designed to boost jobs and improve patient care.

The announcement is the latest attempt of the administration to show that it is working outside of a deeply-divided Congress to create jobs.

From Reuters.com:

The administration will award grants in March to people who come up with the best ideas to lift care and save money for those enrolled in the federal healthcare programs Medicare, Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program.

However, the administration did not say how many jobs the measure would create.

Don Berwick, head of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, said a good example includes the Baylor Heart Hospital in Dallas which has worked to lower readmission rates for congestive heart failure.

“We are concerned that at a time of significant uncertainty for the fiscal health of the U.S. government, funds are being expended by the Innovation Center with little to no actual value provided,” three Republicans on the Senate Finance Committee wrote to Health and Human Service Secretary Kathleen Sebelius.

Dietary and lifestyle differences could possibly explain why South Asians and Europeans require different doses of drugs to treat similar conditions, according to Vidya Perera, final year pharmacy doctoral student at the University of Sydney.

Perera found that people from South Asia could manage with lower drug doses because of lower levels of CYP1A2, which is an enzyme that metabolizes drugs.

From in.news.yahoo.com:

Vegetables such as cabbage, cauliflower and broccoli are known to increase levels of CYP1A2,’ according to a Sydney statement.

‘The lower levels of CYP1A2 in South Asians, however, appears to be due to the common practice of cooking these vegetables, using ingredients such as cumin and turmeric, ingredients known to inhibit the enzyme,’ explained Perera.

‘This is the first study to look at CYP1A2 activity in South Asians. Understanding the correct dose of a medicine is crucial to achieving beneficial results and avoiding adverse drug reactions,’ she said.

The research was presented by Perera at the AusBiotech 2011 in Australia.

A spray that has an anaesthetizing effect on the penis has gone on sale for men suffering from premature ejaculation.

The last long spray contains 9.6 per cent lidocaine, a local anesthetic which reduces skin sensitivity.

From Dailymail.co.uk:

The manufacturer claims that three to eight sprays applied to the penis five to 15 minutes before intercourse can help prolong the time taken to reach climax.

‘This is definitely one of the better options for premature ejaculation,’ says Wendy Hurn, urology nurse consultant at Bristol Royal Infirmary.

‘I imagine the spray’s effects will last between five and 20 minutes. You do need quite a lot — nearer the eight than three sprays, in my opinion, to achieve the level of numbness required.

‘And as with anything applied to skin, you need to be aware of allergic reactions.

‘Not everyone has had a form of anaesthetic before and you never know how you’re going to react. Spray a small amount on your arm the day before to be on the safe side. If you have been using condoms to try to delay ejaculation then this could be an alternative, but always practise safe sex.’

The Boots Pharmaceuticals Premjact Desensitizing Spray for Men is available at £9.99 for 12g.

Actor John Abraham stretches his body even if it means disrupting his sleep when it comes to be healthy and fit.

The actor is currently in London for I, Me Aur Mein and has taken to biking and jogging on the streets.

From Dnaindia.com:

However, being the fitness freak that he is; the actor doesn’t compromise on his fitness regime and makes sure to hit the gym even if it is at three in the morning.

The actor is simultaneously working on three films that require him to have a fit physique and hence the intense workouts. Even working for long and hectic schedules is not an excuse for him to skip the workouts.

The actor has in the past admitted that he treats his body like a temple. “Working out is like worship for me,” he’d said earlier.

John has little time to do anything else besides shoot after working for more than 20 hours a day.

In a study of crickets, researchers found that antioxidants, vitamin E, and beta carotene are helpful in maintaining male fertility and offering the best protection against sperm damage.

A combination of these antioxidants provided to be the best weapon to boost the health of the sperm, as per the researchers.

From in.news.yahoo.com:

Study author Maria Almbro, from the University of Western Australia (UWA), said sperms were known to be vulnerable to attack from highly reactive molecules known as free radicals. They damage sperm cells, unless neutralised by antioxidants.

Almbro’s colleague Leigh Simmons said for most animals, it was typical for females to have the sperm of several males inside them at any given time, competing for the fertilisation of eggs, reports the journal Ecology Letters.

‘It is fair to say that the sperm are at war within the female, and we can expect that the most competitive sperm will win the race to the egg,’ Simmons was quoted as saying by a UWA statement.

‘Our study showed that the sperm of males who were fed antioxidants were easily able to outclass the sperm of rival males who were deprived of antioxidants,’ he added.

Study co-author Damian Dowling from Monash said, ‘What we have done is provide a definitive experimental confirmation of this, not in a test tube, but in a real living animal, showing that antioxidants are profoundly important in deciding the outcomes of reproduction in males.’