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Thursday, October 29, 2009 NEW YORK: Scientists in America found people with a particular fault in their genetic make-up performed 20 per cent worse in driving skills tests than those without. Three in ten people may carry the affected gene, a team from University of California Irvine said. The study is published in the journal Cerebral Cortex. The gene fault affects production of a protein that helps keep memory strong and may be linked to co-ordination. People with the variant also don't recover as well after a stroke. A driving test was taken by 29 people -- 22 without the gene variant and seven with it. They were asked to drive 15 laps on a simulator that required them to learn the nuances of a track programmed to have difficult curves and turns. Researchers recorded how well they stayed on the course over time. Four days later, the test was repeated. Results showed that people with the variant did worse on both tests than the other participants, and they remembered less the se...

Thursday, October 29, 2009 LONDON: Can pomegranate juice reduce the effects of flu? In a new trial, patients with flu are being given two glasses of the juice every day for four or five days. Previous laboratory studies have shown that compounds in pomegranates stopped the virus from replicating and spreading. The new study, at the Hillel Yaffe Medical Center in Israel, will assess whether this benefit can be extended to people.Pomegranate juice is thought to help combat oxidative stress. This occurs as a result of chemical reactions in the body which release harmful oxygen-rich molecules that attack tissue and cause permanent damage. This oxidative damage is implicated as a cause of many illnesses — including flu. The antioxidant punicalagin, which is mostly found in pomegranate seeds, is thought to be key in combating this process.