Latest science news in Health & Medicine
FOR KIDS: Junk food junkies
Rats on a junk food diet behave like drug addicts
UT Southwestern patient first in North Texas to receive newest-generation heart failure device
UT Southwestern Medical Centre patient Michael LeBlanc, 40, is the first in North Texas to receive the newest generation of a mechanical device designed to improve heart function. It will...
Adding tools against breast tumours
At the end of a 10-year, coast-to-coast study of women with an unusual form of breast cancer, Richard J. Barth Jr., M.D., and three fellow researchers are making the case...
Strategies to reduce HIV treatment dropout rates: cost-effective and improve survival chances
In a study published this week in PLoS Medicine, Elena Losina (of Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston) and colleagues predict that strategies to reduce dropout rates from HIV treatment programs in...
Packages of care for alcohol use disorders in low- and middle-income countries
In the latest article in PLoS Medicine's series proposing the delivery of 'packages of care' for mental, neurological and substance-use disorders in low- and middle-income countries, Vivek Benegal and colleagues...
Combination Antiretroviral Therapy Effective At Reducing HIV Resistance In Mothers And Babies Following Mother-to-child Transmission
In a clinical trial investigating mother-to-child HIV transmission in South Africa researchers find that adding two other antiretroviral drugs to single dose nevirapine -- an antiretroviral drug given to women...
Heart disease risk factor found in 20% of teens
One in five students in Grade 9 have at least one major risk factor for heart disease and stroke, a new Canadian study suggests.
Heart patients running the red light on traffic restrictions
More than half of patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS) don't get any counselling on their ability to drive after angioplasty - and this could be putting lives in danger,...
Consumer electronics can help improve patient health
Electronic tools and technology applications for consumers can help improve health care processes, such as adherence to medication and clinical outcomes like smoking cessation, according to a repor
Older patients with dementia at increased risk for flu mortality
BOSTON (October 27, 2009) -- An epidemiological study on pneumonia and influenza (P&I) in adults age 65 and over reports that patients with dementia are diagnosed with flu less...
New 'Schizophrenia Gene' Prompts Researchers To Test Potential Drug Target
Scientists report having used a commercially available drug to successfully "rescue" animal brain cells that they had intentionally damaged by manipulating a newly discovered gene that links susceptibility genes for...
Losing While Cruising To The Store: Obesity Linked To Fewer Neighborhood Food Options
Contrary to what you might believe, living near a variety of restaurants, convenience stores, supermarkets and even fast food outlets actually lowers your risk for obesity, according to a new...
Adding Ezetimibe To Atorvastatin Improves Lipid Control, Study Finds
Adding ezetimibe to atorvastatin significantly boosted the attainment of lipid targets as specified by both Canadian and European guidelines in elderly patients aged 65 and older and the combination produced...
Identifying Molecules in Infrared Could Lead to New Medicines
(PhysOrg.com) -- An interdisciplinary team of researchers has created a new, ultra-sensitive technique to analyze life-sustaining protein molecules. The technique may profoundly change the methodology of biomolecular studies and chart...
Fighting the Flu: Do Hand Sanitizers Work?
Hand-sanitizer mania has gripped the nation. But fortunately these alcohol-based gels are excellent for preventing the spread of the flu and, although limited, pose little harm.
Smoking gun: just 1 cigarette has harmful effect on the arteries of young healthy adults
Edmonton -- Even one cigarette has serious adverse effects on young adults, according to research presented by Dr.
FDA OK's new leukemia treatment
WASHINGTON, Oct. 27 (UPI) -- The U.S. Food and Drug Administration says it has approved the use of the drug Arzerra for chronic lymphocytic leukemia.
Minor hockey player dies after showing flu-like symptoms
A 13-year-old Toronto-area minor league hockey player has reportedly died from the H1N1 virus.
Calgary doctor on trail of resistant E. coli
A doctor is trying to find out why so many people in Calgary have a strain of E. coli that has the potential to create infections that are expensive and...
Cutting Sodium Consumption: A Major Public Health Priority
Reducing sodium intake is a major public health priority that must be acted upon by governments and nongovernmental organizations to improve population health, experts urge in a new article.
Research Puts A 'Fas' To The Cause Of Programmed Cell Death
Researchers have put an end to a 10-year debate over which form of a molecular messenger called Fas ligand is responsible for killing cells during programmed cell death (also called...
Sexual Problems Rarely Addressed By Internists Caring For Cancer Survivors
Few internists who care for cancer survivors address issues of sexual dysfunction with their patients, according to a new study. More than half the internists responding to a survey indicated...
Fat Hormone Linked To Death From Potentially Deadly Blood Infection
A new Canadian study has found that lower-than-normal levels of a naturally-occurring fat hormone may increase the risk of death from sepsis -- an overwhelming infection of the blood which...
Dr. Ignacio Ponseti dies at 95; invented nonsurgical treatment for clubfoot
The American Academy of Pediatrics in 2006 endorsed the Ponseti method and it became the accepted procedure. Dr. Ignacio Ponseti, a refugee from the Spanish Civil War who created a nonsurgical way of...
Industry Years Behind on Testing Approved Drugs
Doctors and patients remain unsure whether some critical medicines used to treat illnesses like cancer and heart disease are actually beneficial, investigators found.
Feature: Bush medicine for a germ killing, heart saving gargle
The antibacterial properties of the Australian native plant emu bush (Eremophila longifolia) could one day help prevent tooth decay.
New hope on finding better blood thinners
Warfarin, one of the most inconvenient, dangerous and disliked drugs in the world, has remained vitally important for more than 50 years.
Population eating less 'bad' fat
Australians and New Zealanders have cut their intake of unhealthy fats by up to 40 per cent since 2007, a report has revealed.