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Australians warned to remain on guard against 'swine flu'

Even though 91 people have been tested for swine flu in Australia, to date there have been no confirmed cases but health officials are warning Australians not to become complacent and to remain on guard against a possible influenza A(H1N1) - swine-flu - epidemic.

3 May 2009

Social isolation the way to stop flu spreading

Australian researchers say isolation would slow down the spread of outbreaks of influenza.

3 May 2009

Women live longer but quality of life is often poor

According to scientists in the United States women may live longer lives but the quality of their lives is often poor.

3 May 2009

Arthritis may be exacerbated by computer use

According to researchers in the United States using a computer can have an impact on those suffering from arthritis.

3 May 2009

Call for mothers to address bone health with daughters

Of all the gifts that generations of women have passed on to their loved ones, one of the most important is the gift of knowledge about health - especially information about bone health and osteoporosis.

3 May 2009

Recent initiatives in global health make progress against child deaths

Recent initiatives in global health have made significant advances in knowledge, prevention and reduction of diseases affecting children in low-income countries.

3 May 2009

Young people want tobacco put out of sight in shops

Young people overwhelmingly support putting tobacco products out of sight in shops according to new research released today (Monday) by Cancer Research UK.

3 May 2009

Discovery of process that controls T cell growth

Identifying one of the processes that plays a role in naïve and memory T-cells' growth and production could one day lead to better vaccines and possibly more effective cancer immunotherapy, said researchers at Baylor College of Medicine and Texas Children's Hospital in a report that appears in the current edition of Nature Immunology.

3 May 2009

Discovery of gene associated with narcolepsy

Scientists funded by the National Institutes of Health have identified a gene associated with narcolepsy, a disorder that causes disabling daytime sleepiness, sleep attacks, irresistible bouts of sleep that can strike at any time, and disturbed sleep at night. The gene has a known role in the immune system, which strongly suggests that autoimmunity, in which the immune system turns against the body's own tissues, plays an important role in the disorder.

3 May 2009

New kind of treatment for sexually transmitted diseases

Yale researchers describe a breakthrough in safe and effective administration of potential antiviral drugs - small interfering RNA (siRNA) molecules that silence genes - the first step in development of a new kind of treatment for sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). The work is reported May 4 as an advance online publication of Nature Materials.

3 May 2009

Research uncovers possible basis of memories for different smells

Ben W. Strowbridge, Ph.D, associate professor of Neuroscience and Physiology/Biophysics, and Yuan Gao, a Ph.D. student in the neurosciences program at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, are the first to discover a form of synaptic memory in the olfactory bulb, the part of the brain that processes the sense of smell.

3 May 2009

Women more vulnerable to the cancer-causing effects of smoking tobacco

Women may be more vulnerable than men to the cancer-causing effects of smoking tobacco, according to new results reported this week at the European Multidisciplinary Conference in Thoracic Oncology (EMCTO), Lugano, Switzerland.

3 May 2009

Personalizing therapy the key strategy for survival in lung cancer

Cancer vaccines and targeted therapies are beginning to offer new treatment options following surgery for patients with early stages of lung cancer, experts said at the first European Multidisciplinary Conference in Thoracic Oncology (EMCTO) in Lugano, Switzerland (1-3 May 2009).

3 May 2009

HIV/AIDS expert urges routine HIV testing

Two influential medical organizations, along with researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB), have announced they strongly recommend universal and routine testing for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) to help curb the AIDS epidemic. HIV infects more than 30 million globally; during last year alone, more than 2 million worldwide died from AIDS, which is caused by HIV.

3 May 2009

RNA production revs up during cell-to-cell contact

MicroRNAs are single-stranded snippets that, not long ago, were given short shrift as genetic junk. Now that studies have shown they regulate genes involved in normal functioning as well as diseases such as cancer, everyone wants to know: What regulates microRNAs?

3 May 2009

Chemical found in medical devices impairs heart function

Researchers at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine have found that a chemical commonly used in the production of such medical plastic devices as intravenous (IV) bags and catheters can impair heart function in rats.

3 May 2009

Research model shows best way to deal with a flu pandemic

According to the latest available research, should a global influenza pandemic become a reality, small stockpiles of a secondary flu medication, provided they are used early enough in local outbreaks, could extend the effectiveness of large primary stockpiles of drugs such as Tamiflu.

30 Apr 2009

Many patients in intensive care are deficient in vitamin D

Australian researchers have discovered that many critically ill patients in intensive care are deficient in vitamin D.

30 Apr 2009

VA electronic health records system could be low-cost option for non-VA hospitals

The Veterans Health Administration's open-source electronic health records system could be an effective and low-cost option for non-Veterans Affairs hospitals that are seeking to implement such a system but have been held back by the cost, the Wall Street Journal reports.

30 Apr 2009

Obama discusses progress, prospects on major initiatives at events marking 100 days in office

President Obama on Wednesday held a town hall meeting in Missouri and a news conference in Washington, D.C., to discuss progress on issues such as health care during the first 100 days of his presidency, the Washington Post reports.

30 Apr 2009