Obesity or Stress that's the problem!

A new treatment that holds out the promise of tackling obesity by halving appetite should not be used because it induces stress, scientists say. It had been hoped the hormone protein known as a CRF2 receptor – which had been linked in studies to reduced appetite – could be used in therapy to help fight the West's growing obesity problem. Tests on rats found they ate about half as much as normal when CRF2 receptors were stimulated in certain parts of their brains. But this was in fact because the hormone induced stress-like symptoms which caused the rats to spend less time eating, a new study shows. 'The reason that the rats were eating less after having CRF2 receptors stimulated was because they were spending most of their time exhibiting stress-like behaviours,' said Vaishali Bakshi, who co-wrote the study. This means lower appetite is merely a by-product of a CRF2 receptor's ability to increase stress. Stimulating it would not be an ideal form of therapy for obesity as it would trigger symptoms of stress in patients, the report shows.
The study's authors also found it was easier to induce a stress-boosting response from the receptor than an appetite-suppressing one. Dr Bakshi said: 'It suggests that maybe the stress comes first and reduction in feeding comes second.' The study is published in the Journal of Neuroscience.

How Save Is Our Money?

A shudder ran through the economy yesterday in the wake of the Bank of England's emergency loan to keep Northern Rock afloat.

Panicking customers queued in their thousands to empty savings accounts, withdrawing close to £1billion in one day.And the worry among City analysts was that other banks might be forced to resort to similar measures in the light of the global 'credit crunch'.The dramatic scenes followed the admission by Northern Rock, Britain's fifthbiggest mortgage lender, that it was running out of ready money.Its share price plunged by a third - amid falls across the FTSE 100 index - as the market digested the implications of the Bank of England acting as a "lender of last resort" for the first time in more than 30 years.After the news broke, lengthy queues spilled on to the streets as Northern Rock's staff attempted to reassure worried customers they would not lose their life savings.The bank also had to close down its website, which could not cope with the flood of savers trying to transfer their money.Its share price plunged by a third - amid falls across the FTSE 100 index - as the market digested the implications of the Bank of England acting as a "lender of last resort" for the first time in more than 30 years.After the news broke, lengthy queues spilled on to the streets as Northern Rock's staff attempted to reassure worried customers they would not lose their life savings.The bank also had to close down its website, which could not cope with the flood of savers trying to transfer their money.Although Northern Rock has assets of £115 billion, it does not have the ready money needed to pay off some of its existing debts and to give out new mortgages.

As a result, it has been forced to ask the Bank of England for a financial lifeline to allow it to continue trading.Bosses at the bank have predicted that mortgage rates will have to rise for millions of Britons.This is a knock-on effect of the shortage of ready money - or liquidity - in the system.Shares in Northern Rock slumped 31 per cent after City analysts shared their fears that its profits will be severely dented.The company was forced to issue a profit warning, suggesting the bank will this year make around £150 million less than previously expected.Panic took hold among customers despite reassurances from Gordon Brown, Alistair Darling, City watchdogs and the finance industry that Northern Rock remains solvent.However, the company's future looks distinctly rocky and there is every chance it will now be taken over by a bigger rival.It has instituted a series of cost-cutting measures and a recruitment freeze, putting a question mark against the future of its 6,000 staff. One leading economist has condemned the decision to bail out Northern Rock.Professor Willem Buiter of the London School of Economics said the move gave lenders the green light to borrow and lend aggressively in the knowledge the Bank of England would always come to the rescue. He added: "The problem has been caused by a combination of Northern Rock's flawed business strategy and economic reality with what has happened in America. "And I do not see why the Bank of England should have come to their aid because Northern Rock is a fairly small fish anyway. "It would have been better to leave it to the private sector to sort out. The bank is not too large to fail." Northern Rock has some 1.5million customers with £24 billion invested in savings accounts. However, its 800,000 mortgage borrowers have outstanding debts of £100 billion. The Chancellor stressed that the Bank of England's support system was put in place in 1997 to cover exactly the sort of problems being experienced by Northern Rock. He said: "The key thing is to make sure that, on top of a very strong and stable economy here and throughout the world, banks do have money. "There is not a shortage of money in the system but while some of the banks sort out the consequences of the collapse in the U.S. they are reluctant to lend to each other." The Prime Minister's spokesman added: "We have a very well-established system for dealing with financial stability and issues of that kind. "This is not an issue about the solvency of Northern Rock." There are fears that other major banks will also need to ask the Bank of England for help in the near future. But Angela Knight, the chief executive of the British Bankers' Association, said the public can be "absolutely confident" that Northern Rock is a "very sound financial institution". Her calming words failed to reflect the scenes around the country as customers clamoured to take out their savings from local branches.

How Cool Is That? Bottle with own ice

Soft drink giant Coke has invented revolutionary new bottle with just needs a twist to create it's own ice. Scentsts from Coke's US headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia, have designed a secret mechanism that can create ice from the contents of a bottle. The advantage is that it's the drink that becomes the ice, so it's not diluted. The bottle need to be stored at a specific temperature in a purpose -built cabinet or vending machine, which Coca-Cola has also created.
That's gonna be a great discover for having your drink always cold...isn't it?

Fruit Can Kill Tumours

It was just well know of the benefit of eat fruit and vegetables, but now to increase this fact there is a new study conduct by the Leicester School of Pharmacy. The researches has shown that a chemical (Salvesterol) found in tangerine peel and the skins of other fruit and vegetables destroys cancer. Salvesterol a compound found in severals fruits including strawberries and cranberries, kill tumours by targeting an enzyme found only in cancer cells. The breaktrough may help scientists design a natural product to help treat the disease.
So after all this research shows how important it is to eat plenty of fruit and vegetables. Do you like Fruits and Vegetables? And How much do you eat?