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Young people often serve as caregivers for parents with disabilities and chronic illnesses

According to the Journal, the number of young people caring for parents with debilitating conditions -- such as Lou Gehrig's disease, multiple sclerosis, lupus, cancer and heart disease -- is "large and expected to grow" as advances in medicine and technology allow people with such conditions to live longer.

7 Jan 2007

Medicare begins to cover ultrasounds to detect aortic aneurysms

Medicare on Jan. 1 began to cover ultrasounds to detect abdominal aortic aneurysms in beneficiaries at high risk for the condition, the Charlotte Observer reports.

7 Jan 2007

HHS and BioCryst advance development of new influenza drug

HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt announced that the Department has awarded a $102.6 million, four-year contract to BioCryst Pharmaceuticals, Inc. for advanced development of their influenza antiviral drug, peramivir.

7 Jan 2007

DNA vaccine for H5N1 avian influenza enters human trial

The first human trial of a DNA vaccine designed to prevent H5N1 avian influenza infection began on December 21, 2006, when the vaccine was administered to the first volunteer at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Clinical Center in Bethesda, MD.

3 Jan 2007

Uric acid holds potential for central nervous system damage

Uric acid is commonly associated with the excruciatingly painful joint disease known as gout, but it can also play a crucial role in the treatment of spinal cord injury and other central nervous system disorders, such as stroke, multiple sclerosis and Parkinson's disease, according to Rutgers' Bonnie Firestein.

3 Jan 2007

Men who father only daughters have a higher risk of prostate cancer

In a new and unique study to determine if genes on the Y chromosome are involved in prostate cancer, researchers at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health in conjunction with Hebrew University of Jerusalem found that men who had only daughters had a higher risk of prostate cancer than men who had at least one son, thus signifying a possible defect on the father's Y chromosome.

3 Jan 2007

Sigma-Aldrich grants Pfizer license to use ddRNAi

Sigma-Aldrich has announced that it has granted Pfizer a worldwide non-exclusive research license to utilize DNA-directed RNAi (ddRNAi) technology. Applications of the ddRNAi technology for research activities have been licensed exclusively by Sigma- Aldrich from Benitec Limited of Australia.

3 Jan 2007

NanoMed Pharmaceuticals issued new U.S. nanoparticle patent

NanoMed Pharmaceuticals has announced that founders Russell J. Mumper, Ph.D. and Michael Jay, Ph.D. have been issued U.S. Patent 7,153,525 entitled "Microemulsions As Precursors To Solid Nanoparticles."

3 Jan 2007

Bulimia may result from hormonal imbalance

Bulimia is normally regarded as a mental illness that should be treated with cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT).

3 Jan 2007

Herpes appears to play a role in bringing about Alzheimer's disease

A gene known to be a major risk factor for Alzheimer's disease puts out the welcome mat for the virus that causes cold sores, allowing the virus to be more active in the brain compared to other forms of the gene.

3 Jan 2007

UK medical education is being hit hard by a lack of funding and resources, says the BMA

In a response to the Education and Skills Committee inquiry the BMA highlights concerns about the current situation in medical education and voices opposition to the cap on student fees being lifted.

3 Jan 2007

Renegade ribonucleic acid

Researchers at Johns Hopkins have discovered that a tiny piece of genetic code apparently goes where no bit of it has gone before, and it gets there under its own internal code.

3 Jan 2007

Patients with sleep apnea see cognitive boost after 3 months of continuous positive airway pressure

Patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) may improve their memory by using continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP).

2 Jan 2007

FDA announces tentative approval of generic Zoloft

Lupin Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted tentative approval for the Company's Abbreviated New Drug Application (ANDA) for Sertraline Hydrochloride Tablets, 25mg, 50mg and 100mg.

2 Jan 2007

Homesickness prevention and treatment

A new report urges parents and children's doctors to change their thinking about homesickness among children, to see it as a nearly universal but highly preventable and treatable phenomenon -- rather than an unavoidable part of childhood.

2 Jan 2007

Chronic cough and phlegm means greater risk of developing chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

Young adults (ages 20 to 44) with normal lung function who later develop chronic cough and phlegm have a fourfold higher risk of developing chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

2 Jan 2007

Scientists visualize influenza virus particles

Scientists at the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS), and colleagues at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville have succeeded in imaging, in unprecedented detail, the virus that causes influenza.

2 Jan 2007

Rapid and label-free nanomechanical detection of biomarker transcripts in human RNA

Researchers from the Swiss Nanoscience Institute in Basel have developed a rapid method to detect the activity of a gene involved in controlling tumor growth.

18 Dec 2006

Characterizing the environmental, health, and safety implications of nanotechnology

A new analysis of the Federal government’s efforts to study the environmental, health, and safety (EHS) implications of nanotechnology concludes that sound management will play as important a role as good science when it comes to addressing these concerns.

18 Dec 2006

In vivo tumor targeting and radionuclide imaging with self-assembled nanoparticles

In an attempt to determine what factors make one nanoparticle better than another at targeting tumors, a team of investigators in Korea have conducted a systematic tumor-targeting study of a variety of self-assembling nanoparticles.

18 Dec 2006