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Sleepwalking into our technological future

There has been a lack of public debate and there is a very real danger that we are ‘sleepwalking’ into our technological future

24 Apr 2004

Spice turmeric corrects the cystic fibrosis defect

Scientists at The Hospital for Sick Children (Sick Kids) and Yale University School of Medicine have found that a compound in the spice turmeric corrects the cystic fibrosis defect in mice. This research is reported in the April 23, 2004 issue of the journal Science.

24 Apr 2004

Elderly patient dies from the wrong drug

An 86-year-old Australian woman died after a senior nurse at her aged care centre administered the wrong drug, a Victorian coroner found today.

24 Apr 2004

WHO calls for Sudan humanitarian assistance

Intensified and urgent action is needed in the Greater Darfur Region of western Sudan to address one of the most severe humanitarian emergencies today. Given the current situation, the humanitarian crisis will last several months.

23 Apr 2004

Respiratory syncytial virus, a common cold virus, can act as a 'hit and hide' virus

An international team of researchers has discovered that respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), a common cold virus causing bronchiolitis in children, can act as a 'hit and hide' virus. It was thought that the virus could only survive in the body for a few days, but these new results show that the virus can survive for many months or years, perhaps causing long-term effects on health, such as damage to the lungs.

23 Apr 2004

Skin cancer is now the UK's most common cancer in both men and women

Macmillan skin cancer nurse specialists will be promoting sun awareness and the dangers of skin cancer during Sun Awareness Week which runs from 10 to 16 May.

23 Apr 2004

Dance Marathon to commit $10 million for new pediatric cancer pavilion

The 2004 Overall Committee for the Penn State IFC/Panhellenic Dance Marathon (THON) has announced that THON will commit $10 million over the next six years to create a pediatric cancer pavilion at Children's Hospital at Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center.

23 Apr 2004

The April 2004 issue of Otolaryngology focuses on head and neck surgery

The efficacy of a new cancer-fighting virus is tested in the study, “Treatment of Solid Sarcomas in Immunocompetent Mice with Novel Oncolytic Herpes Simplex Viruses.” A team of multi-disciplinary Japanese researchers found that a weakened version of herpes simplex virus (HSV) effectively eradicated neck and flank tumors in mice.

23 Apr 2004

Focusing on soft drinks is the next logical step in the war against pediatric obesity

According to a year-long study of 644 children aged between 7 and 11 in six primary schools in Christchurch, England – outlined this week on the website of the British Medical Journal – a one-year campaign to curb soft drink intake led to a decrease in the percentage of those children who were overweight or obese.

23 Apr 2004

Certain cells from a mother can cause immunity illness in children

Certain cells from a mother persist in their children’s bodies and can provoke an immune response in which the child’s body attacks itself, according to Mayo Clinic research published in the current issue of the Journal of Immunology (http://www.jimmunol.org).

23 Apr 2004

GSK and WHO collaborate to fight malaria

GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), the World Health Organisation's Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases (WHO-TDR) and the Medicines for Malaria Venture (MMV) today announced the signing of a collaborative agreement, to develop a new-fixed dose artemisinin combination therapy drug (ACT), combining chlorproguanil, dapsone and artesunate (CDA) for the treatment of malaria.

23 Apr 2004

Avoid feeding infants fluoridated water, researchers caution

Infant formulas prepared with fluoridated water increase dental fluorosis risk, according to the April 2004 Journal of the American College of Nutrition(1) and other studies. To prevent this tooth staining, researchers caution against mixing infant formulas with fluoridated water.

23 Apr 2004

SSRI antidepressants may be unsuitable for children

A UK study in this week's issue of THE LANCET suggests that reliance on published studies alone to guide the treatment of childhood depression could be inappropriate. A systematic review including published and unpublished data shows that only one drug, fluoxetine (Prozac), was not associated with negative outcomes for children with depression.

22 Apr 2004

Research into link between oceans and human health

The National Science Foundation (NSF) and the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), one of the National Institutes of Health, have announced funding for four joint Centers for Oceans and Human Health (COHH). The centers will be located at the University of Washington, the University of Hawaii, the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Massachusetts, and the University of Miami.

22 Apr 2004

Access to effective malaria treatment for Africa threatened by drug shortages

Widespread use of a new fast-acting and potent treatment for malaria is finally on the horizon in Africa, where malaria is the number one killer of children.

22 Apr 2004

HHS approves first-ever multi-state purchasing pools for Medicaid drug programs

HHS Secretary Tommy G. Thompson today approved plans by five states to pool their collective purchasing power to gain deeper discounts on prescription medicines for their state programs.

22 Apr 2004

Third Melbourne hospital infected by Serratia bacteria

A spokeswoman for The Royal Women's Hospital says three babies so far have been isolated after they were found to be carrying the serratia bacteria.

22 Apr 2004

Clinical trial of curcumin in people with cystic fibrosis

Cystic Fibrosis Foundation Therapeutics, Inc. (CFFT), the nonprofit drug discovery and development affiliate of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, today announced that it is funding a clinical trial of curcumin in people with cystic fibrosis (CF).

22 Apr 2004

Fizzy drinks cause obesity in children

Discouraging children from drinking fizzy drinks can prevent excessive weight gain, according to new research available on bmj.com.

22 Apr 2004

WHO renews call for effective malaria treatment

More than 600 million people, most of them children living in sub-Saharan Africa, face the daily threat of death from malaria because new, effective treatments are not available where they live. Existing, cheaper medicines, which have been used for many years, are no longer effective in most places because the malaria parasite has developed resistance to them.

22 Apr 2004