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Individually designed music therapy may help reduce the noise levels experienced by people who suffer from tinnitus, say German researchers. They altered participants' favourite music to remove notes which matched the frequency of the ringing in their ears. After a year of listening to the modified music, individuals reported a drop in the loudness of their tinnitus.

The researchers said the "inexpensive" treatment could be used alongside other techniques to relieve the condition. It is thought that around 1-3% of the population has chronic ringing in their ears which is significant enough to reduce their overall quality of life.

Writing in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the researchers said although the cause of tinnitus remains unknown, it has been shown that the part of the brain that processes sounds is frequently disrupted in people with the condition. The theory behind the new technique is that removing the spectrum of noise associated with tinnitus from the music reduces activity in the brain relating to that frequency, alleviating the condition.

People blessed with youthful faces are more likely to live to a ripe old age than those who look more than their years, work shows. Danish scientists say appearance alone can predict survival, after they studied 387 pairs of twins. The researchers asked nurses, trainee teachers and peers to guess the age of the twins from mug shots. Those rated younger-looking tended to outlive their older-looking sibling, the British Medical Journal reports.

The researchers also found a plausible biological explanation for their results. Key pieces of DNA called telomeres, which indicate the ability of cells to replicate, are also linked to how young a person looks. A telomere of shorter length is thought to signify faster ageing and has been linked with a number of diseases.

In the study, the people who looked younger had longer telomeres. All of the twins were in their 70s, 80s or 90s when they were photographed. Over a seven-year follow-up the researchers, led by Professor Kaare Christensen of the University of Southern Denmark, found that the bigger the difference in perceived age within a pair, the more likely it was that the older-looking twin died first.

The age, sex and professional background of the assessors made no difference to any of the results. Professor Christensen said it might be that people who have had a tougher life are more likely to die early - and their life is reflected in their face.

A cup of Brazilian mint tea has pain relieving qualities to match those of commercially available analgesics, a study suggests. Hyptis crenata has been prescribed by Brazilian healers for millennia to treat ailments from headaches and stomach pain to fever and flu. Working on mice, a Newcastle University team has proved scientifically that the ancient medicine men were right. The study is published in the journal Acta Horticulturae.

In order to mimic the traditional treatment as closely as possible, the Newcastle team carried out a survey in Brazil to find out how the medicine is typically prepared and how much should be consumed. The most common method was to produce a decoction. This involves boiling the dried leaves in water for 30 minutes and allowing the liquid to cool before drinking it as a tea. The team found that when the mint was given at a dose similar to that prescribed by traditional healers, the medicine was as effective at relieving pain as a synthetic aspirin-style drug called Indometacin. They plan to launch clinical trials to find out how effective the mint is as a pain relief for people.

Meditation is the best method to keep our mind and body free and now the US researchers have found that the heart disease patients who practice Transcendental Meditation have reduced their death rates. The US researchers said at the meeting of the American Heart Association had assigned most of the African Americans to meditate or to make lifestyle changes.

This meditation had helped them to reduce nearly 47% in deaths and heart strokes. The research was carried out by the Medical College in Wisconsin with the Maharishi University in Iowa. It was funded by a £2.3m grant from the National Institute of Health and the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute.

The stem cell research has always had a lot of potential in curing many diseases. Now scientists have managed to create sensory ear cells which help in hearing.

These cells are seen as a cure to many types of deafness. The deafness caused due to loud noises can be cured by this method.

Although the cure can take about two more ears to be actually used, the possibility of a cure comes as a relief for many people suffering from this ailment.

There has been a lot of debate over the stem cell research. The use of stem cells has been opposed; many call this as an act against god. The stem cells have a lot of potential in various cures. They can be used to grow any kind of cells.

This will help patients with chronic ailments and deafness. The American president has removed the ban on stem cell research; this comes as welcome news for many, who may benefit from the stem cell treatment.

It is very important that stem cell research is encouraged so that many people can be relieved from their ailments. It is also important that an alternate method of acquiring these stem cells is found.

In these days, there are lots of un explainable deaths. The reasons for these deaths are very difficult to find out. This is where toxicology is very useful. It helps in finding out the reason for various types of deaths that are due to the intake of the harmful drugs.

These harmful drugs are some times not easily traceable. Then there is a need for the experts help. The scientists can easily point out the exact reason for the deaths and also can find the drugs that are involved.

It is very important that the exact cause of death is found out. It is also very important to find out that he there is any foul play involved.