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Another bird flu case in Indonesia - expert says surveillance and strict control measures are the answer

Indonesian health authorities have announced another case of bird flu, bringing the country's total confirmed cases to 130 to date with 105 deaths.

31 Mar 2008

Middle-age spread a potent predictor of dementia

According to a new study overweight or obese people are at an increased risk of developing dementia or Alzheimer's disease.

31 Mar 2008

It takes a nose to know danger!

New research from the U.S. says the nose is a quick learner and can sniff out danger.

31 Mar 2008

Why don't kids walk to school anymore?

Maybe when we were their age, we walked five miles to school, rain or shine. So why don't most children today walk or bike to school?

28 Mar 2008

Umbilical cord blood cell therapy may reduce signs and symptoms of Alzheimer's disease

Targeted immune suppression using human umbilical cord blood cells may improve the pathology associated with Alzheimer's disease, a new study in a mouse model of this currently untreatable neurodegenerative condition reports.

28 Mar 2008

University of Kentucky physician revolutionizes gene research

A dramatic new study published in the most recent issue of Nature questions some of the mechanisms underlying a new class of drugs based on Nobel Prize-winning work designed to fight diseases ranging from macular degeneration to diabetes.

28 Mar 2008

Groundbreaking study validates Pittsburgh Compound-B in identifying Alzheimer's disease brain toxins

A groundbreaking study conducted by University of Pittsburgh Alzheimer's disease researchers reported in the journal Brain (currently online) confirms that Pittsburgh Compound-B (PiB) binds to the telltale beta-amyloid deposits found in the brains of patients with Alzheimer's disease.

28 Mar 2008

Researchers urge ethics guidelines for human-genome research

A global team of legal, scientific and ethics experts have put forward eight key recommendations to establish much needed guidelines for conducting human-genome sequencing research.

28 Mar 2008

PET confirmed as valuable cancer diagnostic and disease-staging tool

The recent release of data by the National Oncologic PET Registry (NOPR) showing that positron emission tomography (PET) produced scans revealing disease at a molecular level, which then caused physicians to change treatment plans for more than one-third of participating patients, has corroborated decades of nuclear medicine research.

28 Mar 2008

New insights into anti-cancer effects of NSAIDs

Researchers at the National Sun Yat-Sen University and Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan have revealed a new mechanism by which nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) attenuate tumor invasion and metastasis.

28 Mar 2008

Long-term use of mechanical ventilation contributes to the deterioration of human diaphragm muscle

A new study by University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine shows, for the first time in humans, that ventilators combined with diaphragm disuse contributes to muscle atrophy in the diaphragm in as little as eighteen hours.

28 Mar 2008

Key factor in brain development revealed, offers insight into lissencephaly

In the earliest days of brain development, the brain's first cells - neuroepithelial stem cells - divide continuously, producing a population of cells that eventually evolves into the various cells of the fully formed brain.

28 Mar 2008

Keeping in good shape in old age is harder for women

Women aged 65-plus find it harder than men of the same age to preserve muscle - which probably impacts on their ability to stay as strong and fit, according to new research.

28 Mar 2008

Study shows that a larger abdomen in midlife increases risk of dementia

People in their 40s with larger stomachs have a higher risk for dementia when they reach their 70s, according to a study published in the March 26, 2008, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology .

28 Mar 2008

International team of scientists discover clue to delay of life on Earth

Scientists from around the world have reconstructed changes in Earth's ancient ocean chemistry during a broad sweep of geological time, from about 2.5 to 0.5 billion years ago.

28 Mar 2008

Increasing access to antiretroviral drugs would drastically cut AIDS deaths in South Africa

More that 1.2 million deaths could be prevented in South Africa over the next five years by accelerating efforts to provide access to antiretroviral therapy (ART), according to a study released online today by the Journal of Infectious Diseases.

28 Mar 2008

Insulin-like growth factor found to have new role in development of brain's smell center

A human hormone known to stimulate the growth of cells throughout the body has a new role - helping to set up the proper nerve connections in the odor center of the brain, according to University of California, Berkeley, scientists.

28 Mar 2008

FDA makes recommendations on medical devices that treat blocked heart arteries

U.S. Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Andrew C. von Eschenbach has announced that the agency has issued draft guidelines to aid the development, testing and manufacture of coronary drug-eluting stents, devices used to treat blocked heart arteries.

28 Mar 2008

FDA deadlines may compromise drug safety by rushing approval

Many medications are approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on the brink of congressionally mandated deadlines, and those drugs are more likely to face later regulatory intervention than those approved with greater deliberation, researchers at Harvard University have found.

28 Mar 2008

Environmental factors linked to development of autoimmune diseases

Scientists working at the MRC National Institute for Medical Research have shown that environmental factors can influence the development of autoimmune diseases like multiple sclerosis.

28 Mar 2008