Wearing a tight belt could give you throat cancer: Constricting waistbands cause acid reflux - increasing risk of the disease

                 

People who wear a tight belt are at greater risk of developing throat cancer, new research suggests.

Scottish experts believe that a tight belt can force stomach acid into the oesophagus - in turn causing damage.

This increases the chance of oesophageal cancer.

The researchers, from Glasgow and Strathclyde Universities and Southern General Hospital, believe the risk is greatest in people who are overweight.

The Daily Record reports that the researchers worked with 24 volunteers who had no history of acid reflux.

They were each asked to swallow a device which took a selection of readings before and after the volunteers had eaten.

Measurements were recorded both when the participants were wearing a belt and when they were not.

The researchers discovered that when the participants were wearing a tight belt they were more likely to suffer acid reflux.

This finding was particularly pronounced in overweight people.

Lead researcher Professor Kenneth McColl, of Glasgow University’s institute of cardiovascular and medical sciences, told the Daily Record: ‘Wearing a tight belt, especially if you are overweight, puts strain on the valve between the stomach and the gullet. This causes stomach acid to leak upwards into the gullet.

‘Unlike the stomach, which is designed to withstand this, the gullet is damaged by the acid. This causes heartburn and, in the longer term, possibly oesophageal cancer.’

Professor McColl went on to explain that the prevalence of oesophageal cancer increasing faster than almost all other cancers. 

Cancer of the oesophagus is rare in the UK and most cases affect people over the age of 55.

About 8,200 people develop the disease in the UK every year.

The earliest symptom tends to be difficulty swallowing.

Acid reflux is linked to the cancer because it can damage cells in the oesophagus causing them to change.

These changed cells are more likely to becoming cancerous.

How the male sex hormone can make us generous - but only on occasions when it will make us look good in front of our peers

                   

The male sex hormone can make us more generous, but only if there is no threat of competition and if it will make us look good.

This is according to a recent study that found testosterone is a key factor in creating and maintaining social relationships.

It builds on recent studies which suggest testosterone plays an important role in ‘dominance behaviour’ that can traditionally be seen as anti-social.

Researchers now claim testosterone’s affects are more nuanced, and can lead to more caring actions if the end reward means a higher social status.

‘[Testosterone] can induce pro-social behaviour…when high status and good reputation are best served by positive behaviour,’ said lead researcher Maarten Boksem of Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University in the Netherlands.

Researchers had 54 female volunteers ingest a liquid solution several hours before participating in an investing game. Some volunteers received a placebo solution, while others received a solution with added testosterone.

In the game, participants were given €20 - about £17 - and told they could keep the amount they wanted and invest whatever remained with another volunteer.

Muslim man has a brain aneurysm then converts to Christianity when he wakes up from coma

                      

A Muslim man who had a sudden brain aneurysm that left him in a coma has converted to Christianity following a near-miraculous recovery.

Karim Shamsi-Basha was in a coma for a month in 1992 but when he woke up, he began a 20-year journey that lead to him becoming a Christian. 

His neurosurgeon told him he had seen very few people in his condition go on to make a full recovery and suggested that Mr Shamsi-Basha find out why he survived.

Syrian-born Mr Shamsi-Basha wrote a book about his journey, called PAUL AND ME, which includes chapters about Paul - one of the Bible's best known figures - whose conversion to Christianity took place in the city of Damascus.

The author and photojournalist grew up in a closely-knit Muslim family in Syria who were tolerant of all faiths, with a best friend who was a Christian, but he did not seriously consider changing religion before his illness.

Mr Shamsi-Basha told the Christian Post that he practiced Islam as a teenager.

Could your compost kill you? Bacteria that can cause disease in humans - and even death - is present in bags of organic material

   

Five gardeners have been infected by Legionnaires’ disease linked to bags of compost.

The cases – all recorded since August – have led to warnings about handling shop-bought compost.

Scientists from the University of Strathclyde carried out tests on 22 commercial brands and found evidence of the bug in 14 of them. 

Four showed positive for a fatal strain – Legionella longbeachae.

Tara Beattie, the lead researcher, said a move away from traditional peat could be responsible. 

‘Disease causing micro-organisms are widespread in the environment, and therefore it is not too surprising that species of Legionella that can cause human disease are present in compost,’ she said.

‘Any environment where you have pathogenic bacteria could be a source of infection, and we already know that compost has been linked to human Legionella infection in Australia and New Zealand.

'Within the UK and across Europe, composts have traditionally been composed of peat, whereas sawdust and bark are more often used to produce compost in Australia and New Zealand where Legionellosis associated with compost is more common.

‘It may be that the change in composition of composts in the UK, moving away from peat-based products, could be resulting in species such as Legionella longbeachae being present in compost and therefore more cases of infection could occur.’

She suggested manufacturers might want to place hygiene warnings on compost packaging.

Over the past five years, at least one gardener has died from a Legionnaires’ infection.

Last month, health experts recommended putting warning labels on compost bags after a spate of Legonella longbeachae infections in Scotland.

Bale set to miss THREE WEEKS as Real Madrid fear repeat of Woodgate woe for £86m man as he heads to hospital

        

Gareth Bale is set to miss the next three weeks in a bid to be fit for the season's first Clasico.

The Welshman has started just one of the five games Real Madrid have played since his arrival and been on the pitch for just 132 minutes in total. He is still waiting to start his first home game.

Wednesday's Champions League meeting with Copenhagen was to give him that first home start but a thigh problem keeps him out and Real Madrid are now so concerned they want him to take three weeks to get back his fitness and play against Barcelona on October 27.

Bale was diagnosed with a muscle contracture in his left thigh

The club are desperate to avoid a repeat of the Jonathan Woodgate fiasco when they signed the defender injured, rushed him back and never saw him fully fit.

Bale's injury problems are not considered as serious as those that hampered Woodgate's career but there is a feeling he should never have played 60 minutes away to Villarreal having only spent three days training with his team-mates.

Bale will not play in this weekend's visit to Levante and Real Madrid will then insist he does not join up with Wales for the next round of international matches.

They also want him to sit out the first game back after the international break to give options of playing some part in the Clasico.

Madrid supporters have liked what they have seen of Bale so far and accept the lack of a preseason as he waited to sign for Madrid is at the heart of his problems. But Marca produced a full page picture of him yesterday with detailed references to the knee, shoulder, back, ankle, thigh and hamstring injuries he has suffered in his career. 

Some have joked that he should never have moved into Kaka's old house such is the bad time suffered by the Brazilian in the Spanish capital.

Others have compared Bale's woes to the fortunes of Arsenal's table-topping Mesut Ozil - sold as result of the former Tottenham man's arrival

Eto'o's auto obssession: Chelsea striker's £4m fleet of cars roll into Cobham

                        

Samuel Eto'o has made good use of his bumper salary by amassing a fleet of cars worth £4million. 

The pick of the Chelsea striker's fleet is the £1.55m Bugatti Veyron which was specially delivered along with three other vehicles to the London club's training ground after his move from Anzhi this summer. 

As well as the Veyron, Eto'o has spent big on a £1.25m Aston Martin One-77, according to The Sun. The Cameroon forward, 31, also snapped up a luxury Maybach Xenatec for a whopping £750,000 and an Aston Martin V12 Zagato for £450,000.

Eto'o has always been a fan of cars and even reportedly offered former Cameroon striker Roger Milla a porsche as a Christmas present in 2010. 

He has said: 'I like to have a few cars because it gives me choice and it doesn't hurt anybody.

'To give happiness, the first thing is to be happy oneself, and I am.'