DHAKA: The artificial sweetener aspartame is safe and poses no threat to health, European food regulators conclude.The European Food Safety Authority brought forward its review, planned for completion by 2020, at the request of the European Commission.Since it came into use in the 1980s,

DHAKA: Back pain is one of the most common fallouts of everyday life. But even dumping your heels and stretching may not help your spine.New research shows that a vast majority of backaches are the result of cumulative effects of lifestyle that we often ignore. Simple daily habits such as

DHAKA: Scientists have cast doubt on the value of vitamin D supplements to protect against diseases such as cancers, diabetes and dementia.Writing in The Lancet Diabetes and Endocrinology, French researchers suggest low vitamin D levels do not cause ill health, although they did not look

DHAKA: From an omelette, pasta to a vegetable stir fry, black pepper can enhance the taste factor.Black pepper has more healthy properties than most people know about. Black pepper is a spice that has the potential to make food more beneficial when used in various recipes and as a table

DHAKA: Keeping warm during winter is not easy. Apart from woollen clothes, people should consume heat producing food items to beat the chill.Avani Agarwal, product manager, Food Cloud website, shares a list of top five heat producing foods for winter:Garlic: Not only does garlic act as a

DHAKA: The number of people living with dementia worldwide is set to treble by 2050, according to a new analysis.Alzheimer`s Disease International says 44 million people live with the disease, but that figure will increase to 135 million by 2050.The figures were released ahead of the G8

DHAKA: Energy drinks packed with caffeine can change the way the heart beats, researchers warned.The team from the University of Bonn in Germany imaged the hearts of 17 people an hour after they had an energy drink.The study showed contractions were more forceful after the drink.The team

DHAKA: Scientists have found that Alzheimer’s, a neurodegenerative disorder, may actually be a late stage of Type 2 diabetes.The findings also suggest that losing weight and exercising may ward off Alzheimer’s, at least in the very early stages, researchers said.The extra insulin

DHAKA: This is an important question since this is flu season and common cold is in the air. We diagnose whether it is ok to exercise with a cold.It is ok to exercise and do some physical activity with common cold with no fever. Exercising with a cold helps clear the nasal tract and

DHAKA: Swedish researchers have identified a new strain of HIV recently discovered in West Africa, which progresses to AIDS more quickly, reports AFP.The A3/02 strain combines the two most common HIV strains in Guinea-Bissau and develops into AIDS within five years, up to two-and-a-half

DHAKA: A by-product of cholesterol can fuel the deadly growth and spread of breast cancer, according to a group of scientists.It raises the prospect that taking cholesterol-lowering drugs called statins could prevent cancer, reports BBC.The work, published in the journal Science, helps

DHAKA: The moment you enter home your fist thought is to get rid of your clothes and head to the shower. The thought of being naked with no layers of clothing on, relieves you, especially in the summer.Guess what? Stripping down to your birthday suit is actually helpful and full of health

DHAKA: If you`ve been wondering about all the new teas in the supermarket, then it`s high time you expand your tea knowledge. Learn more about the different types of teas and their health benefits.Green tea: This tea is considered the best tea, if you want to lose weight. It is made from

DHAKA: It was after the shattering loss of her 33-year-old son to cancer three years ago that Rosemary Cross decided that she and her family should have a health screen. The 63-year-old Lisburn grandmother who doesn`t drink or smoke and who considered her lifestyle as fairly healthy was

DHAKA: Taking up exercise in your 60s will still help stave off major ill health and dementia, research suggests.The study in the British Journal of Sports Medicine followed 3,500 healthy people at or around retirement age.Those who took up exercise were three times more likely to remain

DHAKA: While we recommend vegetables in every shape, colour and form, not all vegetables are healthy when consumed in certain unhealthy ways.Most vegetables when eaten in their natural form, cooked at home, are great, but we don`t always eat vegetables like that, do we? And what about the

DHAKA: Too much time in front of the television can blunt young children’s ability to accept and understand others, says the latest research.Theory of mind is something that children typically develop during the preschool years — it’s the ability to start teasing apart individual

DHAKA: A drug commonly used to beat severe fungal infections can make flu far worse, animal studies suggest.The effects in people are still uncertain, but doctors have called for it to be assessed "urgently".The medicine, Amphotericin B, is given to people needing chemotherapy or a bone

DHAKA: Hungry? Grab a handful of nuts. Not only are they packed with protein, but it turns out they may be the food for longevity.At least, that`s the conclusion of the largest study to date looking at the relationship between eating nuts and longer lives. Nuts are high in unsaturated

DHAKA: Despite low spending on health, a weak health system and widespread poverty, Bangladesh has achieved great strides in life expectancy, vaccination rates, TB control and a child’s chances of surviving past the age of five, according to a series of focus papers published in The