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Daycare and siblings increase likelihood of contracting respiratory syncytial virus and rhinovirus

Daycare attendance and siblings are associated with viral-induced wheezing in children. Pre-existing immunologic factors may influence the expression of viral infections in infancy, and in turn, recurrent infections may influence the development of immune responses.

17 Apr 2004

£60 million boost for pregnant mums to reduce child poverty

Public Health Minister, Yvette Cooper, will today announce a £60 million boost to tackle child poverty in low income areas even before children are born. The money will extend Sure Start programmes to cover pregnant women and their partners for the first time alongside families with children under four-years-old.

16 Apr 2004

Lack of exercise causes physical and psychological setbacks

Use it or lose it, fitness experts tell us. Now a new study offers evidence that the adage really does ring true – that a lack of exercise can not only cause physical setbacks, but also psychological setbacks as well.

16 Apr 2004

Delirium in ICU patients a predictor of mortality

Between 60 percent to 80 percent of these patients develop a brain dysfunction known as delirium, which according to a group of physicians at Vanderbilt Medical Center is an independent predictor of mortality.

16 Apr 2004

Blood pressure testing in people under 35 often misdiagnosed

Doctors who routinely measure blood pressure in people under 35 are more likely to misdiagnose than to detect hypertension correctly, according to a study in this week's BMJ. This could lead to unnecessary lifelong treatment for many.

16 Apr 2004

New insights into how tumors neutralize CD8 T cells

Scientists have speculated that this may be because the immune response is not strong enough, or because it does not last long enough to have an effect. Hence the increasing efforts to develop cancer vaccines that induce, strengthen, and increase the duration of immunological attack against cancer cells.

16 Apr 2004

New forensic tool to detect infectious diseases

Tests for the detection of infectious diseases in North Queensland will be faster and cheaper, thanks to the purchase of new equipment in James Cook University's School of Biomedical Sciences.

16 Apr 2004

Three hours exercise reduces risk of breast cancer

Three hours of moderate exercise per week significantly reduced circulating estrogens in postmenopausal women, according to a new study published in the current issue of Cancer Research. The finding may explain why women who exercise regularly lower their risk for breast cancer.

16 Apr 2004

Citrus soda culprit in patient’s medical mystery

It took a team of medical sleuths at Vanderbilt University Medical Center to get to the bottom of what was causing the 35-year-old to have abnormal blood chemistries during a post-transplant check up.

16 Apr 2004

Patient uses inorganic blood substitute

A patient who is losing large amounts of blood presents a medical emergency, requiring proper blood-typing and immediate access to multiple units of compatible blood.

16 Apr 2004

Proteomics techniques to find a possible predictor of response in a chemoprevention trial

Using new technology associated with the study of proteins, or proteomics, scientists at the National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and their colleagues have made a step toward predicting which people with familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP), an inherited condition that often leads to colon cancer, will respond to the prevention drug celecoxib.

16 Apr 2004

Beer increases risk of gout

The first large epidemiological study to assess the age-old belief that alcohol consumption increases the risk of gout is published in the April 2004 issue of THE LANCET. A prospective study of nearly 50,000 men showed that beer drinking was more likely to be associated with gout than spirits; whereas moderate wine consumption was not linked to a risk of the disease.

16 Apr 2004

Decongestant may increase blood pressure

A common ingredient in over-the-counter decongestants -- pseudoephedrine -- may increase blood pressure and the risk of life-threatening or disabling strokes in susceptible patients, researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center have reported.

15 Apr 2004

North America's largest-ever breast cancer enrolls 19,000th participant

Leaders of North America's largest-ever breast cancer prevention trial, the Study of Tamoxifen and Raloxifene (STAR), are striving to reach a major milestone this summer: the enrollment of the study's 19,000th — and final — participant.

14 Apr 2004

Don't let the bed bugs bite

A robust new breed of blood-sucking bed bugs are on the rise in Britain, and experts fear the “super” pests cannot be killed.

14 Apr 2004

Cinnamon's role as an insulin substitute in type II diabetes

Cinnamon may be more than a spice – it may have a medical application in preventing and combating diabetes. Cinnamon may help by playing the role of an insulin substitute in type II diabetes, according to cellular and molecular studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara, Iowa State University and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

14 Apr 2004

Obese mothers increase likelihood of pre-eclampsia

A research team from the University of Glasgow has been awarded nearly £129, 000 by the British Heart Foundation (BHF) to investigate the cause of pre-eclampsia (PE), a condition that kills nearly 600 babies in the UK each year.

14 Apr 2004

Nurses to be given more prescribing powers

Patients needing medicines in an emergency will be treated more quickly under plans to expand nurse prescribing announced Health Minister, John Hutton, today.

14 Apr 2004

Biotech production of Sucanon Diabetes drug commences

Robert Rieveley, President of Biotech Holdings has announced that installation of pharmaceutic processing equipment required for Sucanon production is currently being completed. "Sucanon production is scheduled to begin within the week; our first production run is for 1.2 million Sucanon tablets, sufficient for 20,000 one-month Sucanon treatment packages.

14 Apr 2004

Drug duo prevents life-threatening condition in children undergoing stem cell transplant

A drug duo appears to be a safe and effective way to prevent a serious condition called graft-versus-host-disease (GVHD) in youngsters undergoing a stem cell transplant

14 Apr 2004