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FDA approval for new cattle antibiotic will cause controversy

According to reports the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the United States is about to approve the use of another antibiotic in cattle.

4 Mar 2007

Risks of being a second twin

A nine year study published on the British Medical Journal website concludes that being a second born twin confers a small increased risk of suffering fatal complications during birth.

4 Mar 2007

Babies born to South Asian women are at a higher risk of perinatal mortality

Babies born to South Asian women are at a higher risk of perinatal mortality (death before, during or shortly after birth) than babies born to black or white women, concludes a study published online by the British Medical Journal.

4 Mar 2007

Further study of past flu pandemics key to future preparedness

Scientists and public health officials, wary that the H5N1 avian influenza virus could trigger an influenza pandemic, have looked to past pandemics, including the 1918 "Spanish Flu," for insight into pandemic planning.

28 Feb 2007

Antioxidant supplements beta carotene, vitamin A and E may increase risk of death

Contradicting claims of disease prevention, an analysis of previous studies indicates that the antioxidant supplements beta carotene, vitamin A, and vitamin E may increase the risk of death, according to a meta-analysis and review article in the February 28 issue of JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association.

28 Feb 2007

Benefits of breast-feeding might outweigh risk of vertical HIV transmission in developing countries

A series of studies presented Monday at the 14th Annual Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections in Los Angeles suggest that the benefits of breast-feeding in developing countries might outweigh the risk of vertical HIV transmission, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

28 Feb 2007

Nicotine use is highly addictive in primates

Tobacco dependence is the leading cause of mortality in Canada. Although most smokers express a desire to stop smoking, only a small number are able to succeed.

27 Feb 2007

Meta-analysis on antioxidants provides muddled conclusions

A new meta-analysis examining the effect of antioxidant supplements on all-cause mortality published in the Feb. 28, 2007 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) misuses meta-analysis methods to create generalized conclusions that may inappropriately confuse and alarm consumers who can benefit from supplementing with antioxidants, said the Council for Responsible Nutrition (CRN).

27 Feb 2007

Majority of South Africans with HIV have drug resistant TB

Researchers at a conference in Los Angeles have said that as many as 85% of HIV-positive South Africans are also infected with an extensively drug-resistant form of tuberculosis (TB), Extensive Drug Resistant TB (XDR-TB).

27 Feb 2007

Influence of inflammatory polyarthritis on cancer incidence and survival

Patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), a chronic inflammatory autoimmune disease, have a high risk of death from disease - at least double the risk of the general population, studies overwhelmingly show. Evidence has been less clear on whether RA patients are exceptionally vulnerable to dying from cancer.

27 Feb 2007

Gene therapy shows promise as treatment for diseased lower limbs at risk for amputation

New research suggests that gene therapy is a safe treatment method to explore in patients whose lower limbs are at risk for amputation because of poor circulation caused by blocked blood vessels.

27 Feb 2007

Global maternal health programs deserve 'far more support' from U.S. government

Maternal health programs "deserve far more support" from the U.S. in part because the country knows "exactly what to do to bring down maternal mortality and morbidity," New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof writes in an opinion piece.

27 Feb 2007

GAVI Alliance contributes US$139 million to UN Foundation to tackle measles

The United Nations Foundation (UN Foundation) announced today that it has received a US$139 million contribution from the GAVI Alliance to support the worldwide effort by the Measles Initiative to reduce measles deaths by 90 percent by 2010.

26 Feb 2007

Caffeine offers seniors protection against heart disease

According to researchers in the United States seniors who are regular drinkers of caffeinated beverages have a lower risk of coronary vascular disease and heart attacks.

26 Feb 2007

U.S. fetal death rate declines nationally, though racial/ethnic disparities remain

The rate of fetal deaths in the U.S. declined significantly from 1990 to 2003, but the rate remains higher among racial and ethnic minorities than among whites, according to a CDC report released on Wednesday, the Washington Times reports.

25 Feb 2007

Why are African American women more likely than White women to die from breast cancer?

Why are African American women 1.5 to 2.2 times more likely than White women to die from breast cancer, despite their lower incidence of the disease? Is it solely because they have less access to medical care? Maybe not, according to a new analysis that will appear in an upcoming issue of the International Journal of Surgery.

22 Feb 2007

Exchange of E. coli between humans and chimps in Uganda

Scientists from the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana have found that people employed in chimpanzee-focused research and tourism in a park in western Uganda are exchanging gastrointestinal bacteria - specifically Escherichia coli - with local chimpanzee populations. And some of the E. coli strains migrating to chimps are resistant to antibiotics used by humans in Uganda.

22 Feb 2007

Scientists identify specific enzymes that make meningitis hard to fight

Two enzymes in meningitis bacteria which prevent the body from successfully fighting off the disease, and make the infection extremely virulent, have been identified in new research published today.

22 Feb 2007

Experimental vector vaccine reduces stillbirths from cytomegalovirus

Researchers funded by the National Institutes of Health have developed an experimental vaccine that reduces stillbirths among rodents born to mothers infected with cytomegalovirus (CMV) - a common virus that can also cause mental retardation and hearing loss in newborn children who were infected in early fetal life.

21 Feb 2007

A black and white look at breast cancer mortality

African and African American women are more likely to die of breast cancer than their white counterparts because they tend to get the disease before the menopause, suggests new research from the University of East Anglia and the Children’s Hospital Boston in collaboration with researchers in the U.S. and Italy.

21 Feb 2007