Month: October 2008

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News on Health & Science

Faecal Bacteria Join the Commute

More than one in four commuters has bacteria from faeces on their hands, an investigation suggests.

………
Commuters in the north were dirtier than in the south

Scientists from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine swabbed 409 people at bus and train stations in five major cities in England and Wales.

The further north they went, the more often they found commuters with faecal bacteria on their hands – men in Newcastle were the worst offenders.

………….

Washing thoroughly with soap is enough to keep hands clean
Experts stressed the importance of hand hygiene for preventing illness.

The bacteria found suggested people were not washing their hands properly after using the toilet, said the researchers.

Toilet hands
In Newcastle and Liverpool, men were more likely than women to show contamination – 53% of men compared with 30% of women in Newcastle and 36% of men compared with 31% of women in Liverpool.

” We were flabbergasted by the finding that so many people had faecal bugs on their hands” Says Dr Val Curtis, director of the Hygiene Centre at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine

In the other three cities – London, Cardiff and Birmingham – the women’s hands were dirtier.

People who had used the bus had higher rates of hand contamination than those who had used the train.

Manual workers had cleaner hands than other professionals, students, retired people or the unemployed.

Dr Val Curtis, director of the Hygiene Centre at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, said: “We were flabbergasted by the finding that so many people had faecal bugs on their hands.”

“The figures were far higher than we had anticipated, and suggest that there is a real problem with people washing their hands in the UK.

DIRTY HANDS

Newcastle – men 53%, women 30%
Liverpool – men 36%, women 31%
Birmingham – men 21%, women 26%
Cardiff – men 15%, women 29%
Euston (London) – men 6%, women 21%

“If any of these people had been suffering from a diarrhoeal disease, the potential for it to be passed around would be greatly increased by their failure to wash their hands after going to the toilet.”

Professor Mike Catchpole, director of the Health Protection Agency‘s Centre for Infections, said: “These results are startling and should be enough to make anyone reach for the soap.

“It is well known that hand washing is one of the most important ways of controlling the spread of infections, especially those that cause diarrhoea and vomiting, colds and flu.

“People should always wash their hands after using the toilet, before eating or handling food, and after handling animals. And remember to cover all cuts and scratches with a waterproof dressing.”

Winter vomiting
The HPA’s monitoring of infections over recent weeks suggests that cases of norovirus – the winter vomiting bug – are rising and that the annual norovirus season is likely to have begun.

Norovirus is the most common cause of gastrointestinal disease in the UK with peak activity in terms of numbers of cases and outbreaks during the winter months, from October to March.

It has been estimated that between 600,000 and a million people in the UK are affected each year.

Professor Catchpole said: “Norovirus is highly infectious and easily spread in settings where people are in close contact with one another so good hygiene, including frequent handwashing, is really important.”

The study was part of the world’s first Global Hand-washing Day, dedicated to raising awareness about the importance hand hygiene plays in public health.

You may click to see also:-
Millions mark UN hand-washing day
Bugs get the train too
School claims hand wash success
Clean hands the way to stop flu
Teens’ dirty hands infection risk

Sources: BBC NEWS:15TH. OCT. ’08

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Of Glowing Proteins and Killer Viruses

This year’s Nobel prizes in physics, chemistry and medicine have a strong Japanese flavour.

As is the case with most great scientific discoveries, it all started with a bit of curiosity. In the 1960s, Osamu Shimomura wondered why crystal jellyfish gave off green pinpricks of light. Now, half a century later, Shimomura has been awarded for his curiosity with the Nobel prize in chemistry.

Shimomura was fascinated by the chemistry involved in bioluminescence and collected more than one million jellyfish from Friday Harbor in Washington State in the US in the 1960s and early 1970s. He spent the next 40 years meticulously examining the proteins that made them glow. In a crystal jellyfish’s approximately 300 photo-organs, Shimomura found a protein he named aequorin that produces blue light, which subsequently is converted to green light by green fluorescent protein, or GFP.

In the decades since Shimomura isolated it, GFP has revolutionised stem cell research, cloning, organ transplants, neuroscience — and everything in between. That’s because GFP can be attached biochemically to proteins within a cell, making a formerly invisible protein fluoresce beneath blue light. Proteins are extremely small and cannot be seen, even under an electron microscope. But attaching GFP makes a protein fluoresce: it’s like seeing headlights from the window of a plane even if you’re too high to make out the cars.

Proteins in human cancer cells have been tagged with GFP, and the resulting fluorescent tumours have been implanted in mice. As cancer cells break from the tumour and begin to metastasise, or move about the body, they continue to fluoresce, and scientists can watch the cancer spread.

Four other scientists are largely responsible for making this curious glowing protein into the most useful modern imaging technique available. Douglas Prasher cloned the GFP gene and was the first to think about using GFP as a fluorescent protein tag. Sergey Lukyanov won the race to find the first red fluorescent proteins, which he found in corals in a Moscow aquarium, and his research led to the discovery of fluorescent proteins in many other marine organisms.

Unfortunately, the Nobel can be shared among only three people, and these two worthy scientists were denied a slice of the $1.4 million prize.

Two others, however, join Shimomura as the new chemistry laureates: Marty Chalfie, who was the first to use GFP to light up bacteria and worms, and Roger Tsien, who has been in the forefront of fluorescent protein research since 1994 and has created a series of fluorescent proteins whose colours span the spectrum.

Many more continue to contribute to GFP research. GFP has been used to show how HIV travels from infected to non-infected cells. In another study, scientists created a mouse with fluorescent neurons that connect its whiskers with its cortex. By replacing part of its skull with a glass window, they have been able to observe how the mouse rewires its brain to cope when half of its whiskers are removed. This fluorescent window into the brain is being used to study the effects of ageing and neuro-degenerative diseases.

GFP is the microscope of the 21st century. It lets us see things we have never been able to see before. And, like the microscope, it has completely changed the way we think about science.

Green fluorescent protein has been floating in the ocean for more than 160 million years, but it took an inquisitive scientist, fascinated by bits of green light, to begin unlocking its potential.

Two French researchers were awarded the Nobel prize for medicine last week for discovering the AIDS virus, bypassing an American researcher who played a key role in the discovery.

Luc Montagnier of the World Foundation for AIDS Research and Prevention and Francoise Barre-Sinoussi of the Pasteur Institute, both in Paris, were awarded the Nobel prize in physiology and medicine by the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm for their 1983 identification of what was later named the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).

The pair split the $1.4 million prize with Harald zur Hausen of the University of Heidelberg in Germany, who discovered that another virus, the human papilloma virus (HPV), causes cervical cancer.

Excluded from the prize was Robert C. Gallo, who for years was locked in a bitter dispute with Montagnier over credit for the discovery of HIV from work he did while at the National Cancer Institute in the US. Gallo is now at the University of Maryland.

Although the prize’s rules limit the number of scientists who can win the award to three, Jans Jornvall, scientific secretary to the assembly, made it clear the committee felt that Montagnier and Barre-Sinoussi deserved sole credit because in 1983 they published the first papers identifying the virus in the journal Science.

“We think the two that we named are the discoverers of the virus,” Jornvall said in a telephone interview. “If you look at the initial papers on the publication of the discovery you will find those who discovered it.”

Jornvall praised Gallo’s work but said the committee based its decision on the French researchers publishing their work first.

“Dr Gallo is an excellent person and has meant very much for science, but there are many people who are excellent and do very much for science,” Jornvall said. “We named the three people we consider to be the discoverers of the viruses we named.”

Other researchers said Montagnier and Barre-Sinoussi clearly deserved the prize, but that it was disappointing that Gallo was excluded.

“Gallo deserves enormous credit,” said Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. “It’s a shame you can’t give it to four people because Gallo’s contributions were enormous.”

In a written statement, Gallo congratulated the winners, adding that he was “gratified” by Montagnier’s “kind statement” that he was “equally deserving.”

“I am pleased that the Nobel Committee chose to recognise the importance of AIDS with these awards and I am proud that my colleagues and I continue to search for an AIDS vaccine,” he said.

Montagnier and Gallo were locked in a bitter dispute in the 1980s over the discovery of the virus. Beyond who should get the credit, millions of dollars were also at stake from fees for blood tests. President Ronald Reagan and French Prime Minister Jacques Chirac eventually signed an agreement in 1987 that divided the royalties equally, and Gallo and Montagnier published a paper together in The New England Journal of Medicine in 2003 acknowledging each other’s work.

In announcing the award, the Nobel Committee said Montagnier and Barre-Sinoussi’s initial discovery led to a series of crucial advances, including deciphering how the virus reproduces and infects cells and the development of the blood test and powerful antiviral drugs that have helped contain the spread of the virus and reduce the death toll.

The committee also praised zur Hausen’s work, saying he “went against current dogma” when he proposed that HPV caused cervical cancer, the second most common cancer among women and the most common sexually transmitted agent. Among other things, the work led to the development of vaccines against strains of the virus.

“The global public health burden attributable to human papilloma viruses is considerable,” the committee said.

“I’m of course totally surprised. It’s of course a great pleasure for me,” said zur Hausen, 72, said during an interview posted on the Nobel Committee’s website.

An American and two Japanese physicists won the 2008 Nobel prize in physics for their discovery of tiny asymmetries in nature’s fundamental particles that help explain why our universe exists.

Yoichiro Nambu, of the Enrico Fermi Institute at the University of Chicago, will receive half of the $1.4 million prize. The other half will be split between Makoto Kobayashi, of the High Energy Accelerator Research Organization in Tsukuba, Japan, and Toshihide Maskawa, of the Yukawa Institute for Theoretical Physics at Kyoto University.

The three physicists were pioneers in understanding “broken symmetry,” which explains why the universe can contain life as we know it. When matter and antimatter collide, they annihilate one another, leaving only radiation. In a symmetric universe with an equal amount of matter and antimatter, life — if any could exist — would be nasty, brutish and short.

That doesn’t happen because there is a tiny imbalance of one extra particle of matter for every 10 billion antimatter particles, resulting in the matter-dominated universe we live in today.

How exactly this happened is still a mystery. But Nambu, 87, born in Tokyo, was among those who opened up the field to further questions with the discovery of “spontaneous symmetry breaking”.

Nambu’s work, done in the 1960s and 1970s, predicted the behaviour of the tiny particles known as quarks and underlies the Standard Model of the universe, which unites three of the four fundamental forces of nature: the strong nuclear force, weak nuclear force and electromagnetic force. The working of gravity, and how it relates to the other three forces, is still a mystery.

Kobayashi and Maskawa predicted there were three families of quarks, instead of the two then known. Their calculations were confirmed by experiments in high-energy physics, leading to the discovery of the six quarks known today. Quarks and leptons are considered to be the two basic components of all matter, which make up atomic particles like protons and neutrons.

“It is my great honour and I can’t believe this,” Kobayashi told Reuters news service.

Physicists are now searching for spontaneous broken symmetry in the Higgs mechanism, which threw the universe into imbalance at the time of the Big Bang 13.7 billion years ago.

Scientists at the Large Hadron Collider at the European Organization for Nuclear Research, or CERN, in Switzerland will be looking for the Higgs particle when they restart the collider in spring 2009.

Sources: The Telegraph (Kolkata, India)

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Talcum Powder Linked to Ovarian Cancer

Women have been warned to immediately stop using talcum powder around their genitals, as new research suggests particles may travel to the ovaries and trigger a process of inflammation that allows cancer cells to flourish.

…………………………………

Previous studies have raised concerns over talc, but the latest findings suggest that women who use it are 40 percent more likely to get ovarian cancer.

Experts studied more than 3,000 women and found using talc merely once a week raised the risk of ovarian cancer by 36 percent. The danger rose to 41 percent for those applying powder every day.

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Ailmemts & Remedies

Bladder Infection (Urinary Track Infection)

Introduction:
Urinary tract infections are a serious health problem affecting millions of people each year.

Infections of the urinary tract are the second most common type of infection in the body. Urinary tract infections (UTIs) account for about 8.3 million doctor visits each year. Women are especially prone to UTIs for reasons that are not yet well understood. One woman in five develops a UTI during her lifetime. UTIs in men are not as common as in women but can be very serious when they do occur.

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The urinary system consists of the kidneys, ureters, bladder, and urethra. The key elements in the system are the kidneys, a pair of purplish-brown organs located below the ribs toward the middle of the back. The kidneys remove excess liquid and wastes from the blood in the form of urine, keep a stable balance of salts and other substances in the blood, and produce a hormone that aids the formation of red blood cells. Narrow tubes called ureters carry urine from the kidneys to the bladder, a sack-like organ in the lower abdomen. Urine is stored in the bladder and emptied through the urethra.

The average adult passes about a quart and a half of urine each day. The amount of urine varies, depending on the fluids and foods a person consumes. The volume formed at night is about half that formed in the daytime.

Alternative Names are Bladder infection; Cystitis; UTI

Causes:
Normally, urine is sterile. It is usually free of bacteria, viruses, and fungi but does contain fluids, salts, and waste products. An infection occurs when tiny organisms, usually bacteria from the digestive tract, cling to the opening of the urethra and begin to multiply. The urethra is the tube that carries urine from the bladder to outside the body. Most infections arise from one type of bacteria, Escherichia coli (E. coli), which normally lives in the colon.

In many cases, bacteria first travel to the urethra. When bacteria multiply, an infection can occur. An infection limited to the urethra is called urethritis. If bacteria move to the bladder and multiply, a bladder infection, called cystitis, results. If the infection is not treated promptly, bacteria may then travel further up the ureters to multiply and infect the kidneys. A kidney infection is called pyelonephritis.

Microorganisms called Chlamydia and Mycoplasma may also cause UTIs in both men and women, but these infections tend to remain limited to the urethra and reproductive system. Unlike E. coli, Chlamydia and Mycoplasma may be sexually transmitted, and infections require treatment of both partners.

The urinary system is structured in a way that helps ward off infection. The ureters and bladder normally prevent urine from backing up toward the kidneys, and the flow of urine from the bladder helps wash bacteria out of the body. In men, the prostate gland produces secretions that slow bacterial growth. In both sexes, immune defenses also prevent infection. But despite these safeguards, infections still occur.

Cystitis, a common condition, is usually caused by bacteria entering the urethra and then the bladder. This leads to inflammation and infection in the lower urinary tract.

Certain people are more likely to get UTIs. Women tend to get them more often because their urethra is shorter and closer to the anus. Elderly people (especially those in nursing homes) and people with diabetes also get more UTIs.

Some children develop UTIs. In boys, they are most common before the first birthday. In young girls, UTIs are most common around age 3, overlapping with the toilet training period.

Cystitis in children can be promoted by abnormalities in the urinary tract. Therefore, children with cystitis, especially those under age 5, deserve special follow-up to prevent later kidney damage.

The following risk factors increase your chances of getting a UTI:

*Bowel incontinence
*Catheterization
*Kidney stones
*Immobility (for example, during recovery from a hip fracture)
*Menopause
*Narrowed urethra
*Not drinking enough fluids
*Pregnancy
*Prostate inflammation or enlargement
*Sexual intercourse, especially if you have multiple partners
*Using a diaphragm for birth control

UTIs are most common in sexually active women and increase in people living with diabetes and people with sickle-cell disease or anatomical malformations of the urinary tract.

Allergies can be a hidden factor in urinary tract infections. For example, allergies to foods can irritate the bladder wall and increase susceptibility to urinary tract infections. Keep track of your diet and have allergy testing done to help eliminate foods that may be a problem. Urinary tract infections after sexual intercourse can be also be due to an allergy to latex condoms, spermicides, or oral contraceptives. In this case review alternative methods of birth control with your doctor.

Elderly individuals, both men and women, are more likely to harbor bacteria in their genitourinary system at any time. These bacteria may be associated with symptoms and thus require treatment with an antibiotic. The presence of bacteria in the urinary tract of older adults, without symptoms or associated consequences, is also a well recognized phenomenon which may not require antibiotics. This is usually referred to as asymptomatic bacteriuria. The overuse of antibiotics in the context of bacteriuria among the elderly is a concerning and controversial issue.

Symptoms

The symptoms of a UTI include:

*Cloudy urine
*Blood in the urine
*Foul or strong urine odor
*Frequent or urgent need to urinate
*Need to urinate at night
*Pain or burning with urination
*Pressure in the lower pelvis
*Young children with UTIs may only have a fever, or no symptoms at all.

Additional symptoms may include:

*Mental changes or confusion (in the elderly, mental changes or confusion often are the only signs of a urinary tract *infection; possible spread to the blood should be considered)
*Flank (side) pain, vomiting, fever, and chills (may be a sign of kidney involvement)
*Painful sexual intercourse
*Penis pain

Diagnosis:
A patient with dysuria (painful voiding) and urinary frequency generally has a spot mid-stream urine sample sent for urinalysis, specifically the presence of nitrites, leukocytes or leukocyte esterase. If there is a high bacterial load without the presence of leukocytes, it is most likely due to contamination. The diagnosis of UTI is confirmed by a urine culture.

If the urine culture is negative:

symptoms of urethritis may point at Chlamydia trachomatis or Neisseria gonorrheae infection. symptoms of cystitis may point at interstitial cystitis.in men, prostatitis may present with dysuria.
In severe infection, characterized by fever, rigors or flank pain, urea and creatinine measurements may be performed to assess whether renal function has been affected.

Most cases of lower urinary tract infections in females are benign and do not need exhaustive laboratory work-ups. However, UTI in young infants must receive some imaging study, typically a retrograde urethrogram, to ascertain the presence/absence of congenital urinary tract anomalies. Males too must be investigated further. Specific methods of investigation include x-ray, Nuclear Medicine, MRI and CAT scan technology.

Exams and Tests :

Tests generally include taking a urine sample.

Urinalysis commonly reveals nitrates, white blood cells, and red blood cells. See also: RBC – urine

A urine culture (clean catch) or catheterized urine specimen may be done to determine the type of bacteria in the urine and the appropriate antibiotic for treatment.

TESTING IN CHILDREN
Many children with cystitis need special imaging studies to determine why they got a urinary tract infection. Many of them have something abnormal about their anatomy that predispose them to infections. The long-term consequences of repeated urinary tract infections in children can be quite serious. However, these infections can usually be prevented.

Special studies usually include an ultrasound of the kidneys and an x-ray taken during urination (called a voiding cystourethrogram or VCUG).

Most experts recommend this evaluation for:

*Girls over age 5 who have had two or more urinary tract infections
*All boys with their first urinary tract infection
*All children who have a fever along with their urinary tract infection
*All children under age 5 with their first urinary tract infection

Treatment:
Most uncomplicated UTIs can be treated with oral antibiotics such as trimethoprim, cephalosporins, nitrofurantoin, or a fluoroquinolone (e.g., ciprofloxacin or levofloxacin). Trimethoprim is probably the most widely used antibiotic for UTIs and is usually taken for 7 days. It is often recommended that trimethoprim be taken at night to ensure maximal urinary concentrations and increase its effectiveness. Whilst co-trimoxazole was previously internationally used (and continues to be used in the U.S.), the additional of the sulfonamide gave little additional benefit compared to the trimethoprim component alone, but was responsible for its high incidence of mild allergic reactions and rare but serious complications.

If the patient has symptoms consistent with pyelonephritis, intravenous antibiotics may be indicated. Regimens vary, usually Aminoglycosides (such as Gentamicin) are used in combination with a beta-lactam, such as Ampicillin or Ceftriaxone. These are continued for 48 hours after fever subsides. The patient may then be discharged home on oral antibiotics for a further 5 days.

If the patient makes a poor response to IV antibiotics (marked by persistent fever, worsening renal function), then imaging is indicated to rule out formation of an abscess either within or around the kidney, or the presence of an obstructing lesion such as a stone or tumor.

As an at-home treatment, increased water-intake, frequent voiding, the avoidance of sugars and sugary foods, drinking unsweetened cranberry juice, taking cranberry supplements, as well as taking vitamin C with the last meal of the day can shorten the time duration of the infection[citation needed]. Sugars and alcohol can feed the bacteria causing the infection, and worsen pain and other symptoms. Vitamin C at night raises the acidity of the urine[citation needed]}, which retards the growth of bacteria in the urinary tract. However, if pain is in the back region (suggesting kidney infection) or if pain persists, if there is fever, or if blood is present in the urine, doctor care is recommended.

In complementary and alternative medicine, D-mannose pills are advocated as a herbal remedy for urinary tract infections. Theoretically, if D-mannose would be present in sufficient concentration in the urine, it could interfere with the adherence of the bacterium E. coli to the epithelial cells lining the urinary tract (similar to the mechanism underlying the effect of cranberry juice). One study showed that it could significantly influence bacteriuria in rats, but there are no studies showing any effect in humans.
Herbal Treatment:YOU can fight bladder infection, cystitis (inflammation), urgent desire to empty the bladder, frequent urination, strong urine odor associated with bladder infection with these herbs from Mother Nature’s medicine chest:

Buchu, cornsilk, Oregon grape root, marshmallow root.

Quik Herbal Tip: Cornsilk is an excellent herbal diuretic and urinary cleanser. Men with prostate problems find it helpful, too.

Click for Homeopathic Treatment for Urinary Track Infection.……(1)………..(2)

Click for Home Remedy for Urinary Track Infection……………….(1).……(2)

You may click to see :Study Supports Cranberry Dose Levels for Urinary Health

Recurrent UTIs :
Patients with recurrent UTIs may need further investigation. This may include ultrasound scans of the kidneys and bladder or intravenous urography (X-rays of the urological system following intravenous injection of iodinated contrast material). If there is no response to treatments, interstitial cystitis may be a possibility.

During cystitis, uropathogenic Escherichia coli (UPEC) subvert innate defenses by invading superficial umbrella cells and rapidly increasing in numbers to form intracellular bacterial communities (IBCs).

Possible Complications :
*Chronic or recurrent urinary tract infection — defined as at least two infections in 6 months or at least three in 1 year
*Complicated UTI
*Kidney infection

Prevention:
The following are measures that studies suggest may reduce the incidence of urinary tract infections. These may be appropriate for people, especially women, with recurrent infections:

Cleaning the urethral meatus (the opening of the urethra) after intercourse has been shown to be of some benefit; however, whether this is done with an antiseptic or a placebo ointment (an ointment containing no active ingredient) does not appear to matter.

Appropriate hygiene and cleanliness of the genital area may help reduce the chances of introducing bacteria through the urethra. Females are especially vulnerable to this, because the urethra is in close proximity to the rectum. The genitals should be cleaned and wiped from front to back to reduce the chance of dragging E. coli bacteria from the rectal area to the urethra.

It has been advocated that cranberry juice can decrease the incidence of UTI (some of these opinions are referenced in External Links section). A specific type of tannin found only in cranberries and blueberries prevents the adherence of certain pathogens (eg. E. coli) to the epithelium of the urinary bladder. A review by the Cochrane Collaboration of randomized controlled trials states “some evidence from trials to show cranberries (juice and capsules) can prevent recurrent infections in women. Many people in the trials stopped drinking the juice, suggesting it may not be a popular intervention”.

For post-menopausal women, a randomized controlled trial has shown that intravaginal application of topical estrogen cream can prevent recurrent cystitis. In this study, patients in the experimental group applied 0.5 mg of estriol vaginal cream nightly for two weeks followed by twice-weekly applications for eight months.
Often long courses of low dose antibiotics are taken at night to help prevent otherwise unexplained cases of recurring cystitis.

Acupuncture has been shown to be effective in preventing new infections in recurrent cases. One study showed that urinary tract infection occurrence was reduced by 50% for 6 months. However, this study has been criticized for several reasons. Acupuncture appears to reduce the total amount of residual urine in the bladder. All of the studies are done by one research team without independent reproduction of results.

Disclaimer: This information is not meant to be a substitute for professional medical advise or help. It is always best to consult with a Physician about serious health concerns. This information is in no way intended to diagnose or prescribe remedies.This is purely for educational purpose.
Resources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urinary_tract_infection
http://www.herbnews.org/bladderdone.htm
http://www.medicinenet.com/urine_infection/article.htm

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Genes Cause Premature Ejaculation

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Premature ejaculation? Blame it on your gene, for a new study has revealed that the rapidity of ejaculation in men is genetically determined.

According to lead researcher Marcel Waldinger, “This theory contradicts the idea, which has been common for years, that the primary form of premature ejaculation is actually a psychological disorder.

“The results of our study confirm the genetic theory and may contribute to possible gene therapy against premature ejaculation.”

Waldinger and colleagues at Utrecht University have based their findings on an analysis of 89 Dutch men with premature ejaculation, who were also compared with a control group of 92 males, the ‘Journal of Sexual Medicine’ reported.

In the study, the female partners of the subjects used a stopwatch at home to measure the time until ejaculation each time they had intercourse for a month.

In men who suffer from premature ejaculation, the researchers found that the substance serotonin was less active between the nerves in the section of the brain that controls the ejaculation.

Moreover, a gene which had already been discovered, namely 5-HTTLPR, appeared to be responsible for the amount and activity of serotonin, which meant that it controlled the rapidity of ejaculation.

Three types of the gene exist: LL, SL and SS. The study showed that the LL type causes a more rapid ejaculation. On average, men with LL ejaculate twice as quickly as men with SS, and also almost twice as quickly as men with SL.

“This study applies to men who have always ejaculated prematurely from their first sexual contact onwards and not for men who started suffering from this later on in life,” the ‘ Science Daily ‘ quoted Waldinger as saying.

Sources: The Times Of India

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