Research News and Research

RSS

Wal-Mart criticized for substandard wages and health care benefits

A number of Democrats this week in Iowa and this month nationwide have criticized Wal-Mart Stores, the largest private employer in the U.S., "for what they say are substandard wages and health care benefits," the New York Times reports.

17 Aug 2006

Rate of disabilities higher among U.S. residents with lower incomes

U.S. residents ages 55 and older with annual incomes less than the federal poverty level are more likely to have disabilities that limit routine physical activities than those with higher incomes, according to a study published on Thursday in the New England Journal of Medicine, Bloomberg/Dallas Morning News reports.

17 Aug 2006

Appointee to head National Cancer Institute discusses research funding cuts

John Niederhuber, a surgeon whom President Bush on Tuesday appointed as National Cancer Institute director, on Wednesday said that he hopes to find new nontoxic cancer medications but added that the agency likely will have to eliminate some programs because of budgetary issues, the New York Times reports.

17 Aug 2006

FDA approves Plavix for STEMI heart attacks

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) today approved the use of Plavix (clopidogrel bisulfate) for patients who have had a type of heart attack called acute ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI), who are not going to have coronary artery repair (angioplasty).

17 Aug 2006

Intensified action needed to halt a quarter of a million TB/HIV deaths a year of people living with AIDS

Leading HIV experts today called on the global HIV community to intensify collaboration on tuberculosis control, to prevent the deaths of a quarter of a million people living with HIV (PLHIV) a year.

17 Aug 2006

Study identifies prevention interventions set to reduce HIV infection in young people

For the first time, the effectiveness of different types of HIV interventions in schools, health services, media, communities, and for young people most at risk of HIV have been reviewed and graded for their usefulness.

17 Aug 2006

Chemotherapy and breast cancer - side effects underestimated

Researchers believe that the side effects of chemotherapy treatment for breast cancer are probably higher than thought.

16 Aug 2006

Natural HIV immunity

An international, multi-institutional research consortium is seeking to discover how a few HIV-infected individuals are naturally able to suppress replication of the virus.

16 Aug 2006

First treatment for Hunter disease

An article reporting results from a pivotal clinical trial that helped gain U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval for the first treatment for Hunter disease has been published online by the journal Genetics in Medicine.

16 Aug 2006

Autism affects the functioning of virtually the entire brain

A recent study provides evidence that autism affects the functioning of virtually the entire brain, and is not limited to the brain areas involved with social interactions, communication behaviors, and reasoning abilities, as had been previously thought.

16 Aug 2006

Date set for trial of Chinese human rights advocate Chen Guangcheng

The trial of human rights advocate Chen Guangcheng, who was arrested in the country's Shangdong province after trying to expose alleged human rights abuses associated with the enforcement of the country's one-child-per-family policy, is scheduled to begin on Friday in county court in Yinan, China, according to Chen's attorney Li Jinsong, the Associated Press reports.

16 Aug 2006

Anxiety during pregnancy does not negatively impact infant's health

A pregnant woman's feelings of anxiety do not negatively impact the outcome of her pregnancy, according to study published online in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, the New York Times reports.

16 Aug 2006

Breast cancer sufferers experience more side effects from chemo than previously thought

Women with breast cancer ages 64 and younger experience three to four times more serious side effects from chemotherapy than previously hypothesized, according to a study published in the Aug. 16 edition of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, the AP/Philadelphia Inquirer reports.

16 Aug 2006

Mesothelioma Applied Research Foundation achieves Federal appropriations for asbestos-cancer research

The Mesothelioma Applied Research Foundation (Meso Foundation) has announced two historic victories in federal research funding to combat the deadly asbestos-related cancer.

16 Aug 2006

Average Medicare drug benefit premium to remain unchanged at $24 in 2007

Medicare beneficiaries enrolled in the program's prescription drug benefit in 2007 will pay an average monthly premium of about $24, the same as the average monthly premium for this year, CMS Administrator Mark McClellan said Tuesday, the New York Times reports.

16 Aug 2006

Black leaders call for urgent program to increase HIV testing

U.S. black leaders on Monday at the XVI International AIDS Conference in Toronto pledged to make efforts to increase access to care and treatment for black U.S. residents and called for an urgent campaign to increase HIV testing and awareness among blacks in the country, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

16 Aug 2006

AIDS vaccine still long way off

Researchers are optimistic about a potential HIV/AIDS vaccine, even though none of the vaccines in development is likely to completely protect people from HIV transmission, participants at the XVI International AIDS Conference in Toronto said at a news conference Tuesday, Reuters reports.

16 Aug 2006

Teenagers' diets are low priority for poorer families

Research among parents in disadvantaged parts of Eastern Scotland reveals that dietary issues are considered less important than other risks facing their teenagers.

16 Aug 2006

About 4 million additional health workers needed worldwide to fight HIV/AIDS, WHO says

More than four million additional health workers will be needed in 60 countries to fight HIV/AIDS, according to a strategy the World Health Organization released Tuesday at the XVI International AIDS Conference in Toronto, the Wall Street Journal reports.

16 Aug 2006

HIV treatment access reaches over 1 million in sub-Saharan Africa

WHO HIV/AIDS Director Dr Kevin De Cock reported that the number of people receiving HIV antiretroviral therapy in sub-Saharan Africa has surpassed 1 million for the first time, a ten-fold increase in treatment access in the region since December 2003.

16 Aug 2006