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Radical prostatectomy may be a safe option for the treatment of prostate cancer

Prostate cancer is the most common non-skin cancer in American men and the third most common cause of cancer death. In patients with localized disease, radical prostatectomy is associated with lower disease-specific mortality, lower rates of local progression and metastases, and higher overall survival compared with conservative management.

18 Oct 2005

Single men are less likely to seek radiation re-treatment for pain caused by prostate cancer

"Patients often experience a great deal of pain if their cancer spreads to the bone," explained Andre Konski, M.D., M.B.A., M.A., F.A.C.R., director of clinical research in the radiation oncology department at Fox Chase Cancer Center and lead author of the paper on the Radiation Therapy Oncology Group study (RTOG 97-14).

18 Oct 2005

Aβ and Fyn cooperate to cause Alzheimer-like changes in the brain

Reporting in two companion papers in the October 19 issue of the Journal of Neuroscience, investigators from the Gladstone Institute of Neurological Disease show in genetically engineered mouse models of the disease that the accumulation of Alzheimer-related neurotoxic amyloid-beta (Aâ) peptides can deplete key proteins in a specific memory center of the brain.

18 Oct 2005

Newly discovered role of MECP2 gene in Rett Syndrome

Huda Zoghbi, of Baylor College of Medicine and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Juan Young, also of Baylor and colleagues report in the online Early Edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, posted the week of October 17, 2005, that the Rett Syndrome gene, MECP2, regulates RNA splicing.

18 Oct 2005

Study demonstrates feasibility of a revolutionary, minimally invasive approach to introducing an electrical lead to stimulate the heart

Correcting the timing of heart contractions through cardiac resynchronization therapy can be a lifesaver for people with advanced heart failure. But the procedure, as it is done today, fails in about 15 percent of patients.

18 Oct 2005

Cutting-edge research to develop this range of next-generation biomedical devices

Revolutionary new self-diagnostic devices to provide early warning of deadly and debilitating illnesses like cancer, diabetes and heart disease are the aim of a Euro 22.5m Science Foundation Ireland research facility to be established at Dublin City University.

18 Oct 2005

Epidurals in labour and delivery reduce pain but can increase the risk of needing forceps

Epidurals in labour and delivery reduce pain but can increase the risk of needing forceps Pain relief is an important issue for women in labour and epidurals are increasingly used.

18 Oct 2005

Not enough evidence to recommend routine bed rest for hypertension in pregnancy

Currently there is a lack of evidence that keeping pregnant women with high blood pressure in bed for a prolonged period of time improves the chance of a healthy delivery. Prolonged bed rest is disruptive to women's lives, carries the risk of generating blood clots, and may be expensive.

18 Oct 2005

No credible evidence behind claims of harm from the MMR vaccination

There was no credible evidence behind claims of harm from the MMR vaccination. This is the conclusion drawn by the Cochrane Review Authors, an international team of researchers, after carefully drawing together all of the evidence found in 31 high quality studies from around the world.

18 Oct 2005

Discovery increases the yield of stem cells from umbilical cord blood

A team of bioengineers led by the University of Toronto has discovered a way to increase the yield of stem cells from umbilical cord blood, to an extent which could broaden therapeutic use of these cells.

18 Oct 2005

No evidence of a "safe" threshold with environmental toxins

Four of the most widespread environmental toxins - lead, trihalomethanes (found in drinking water), ionizing radiation from indoor radon gas, and tobacco smoke - can cause serious damage to health even at very low levels, say researchers in the open access journal PLoS Medicine.

18 Oct 2005

Protein involved in 'mad cow' disease

The journal Brain Research has recently published the results of research work by scientists from the University of Navarra.

18 Oct 2005

Hertfordshire group to adopt a new approach to weight loss

A new group which will help women who are seriously overweight to lose weight and keep it off run by the University of Hertfordshire will start in Stevenage in January.

18 Oct 2005

Bird Flu now confirmed in Greece

Greece has become the first country in the European Union to confirm its first case of bird flu, although cases are being tackled in Turkey and Romania.

18 Oct 2005

New prostate cancer test far more accurate

At present in order to predict prostate cancer outcomes, doctors rely on measures that suggest how far the tumour has spread and how abnormal the cancer cells appear under the microscope.

18 Oct 2005

Pathological liars found to have less gray matter

In a new study Dr. Adrian Raine and Yaling Yang of the University of Southern California, and colleagues found that individuals who habitually lied and cheated had less gray matter and more white matter in their prefrontal cortex than normal people.

18 Oct 2005

More doubt cast on benefit of beta blockers for high blood pressure

A comprehensive study has produced more evidence that a drug widely used to treat high blood pressure may not be the best option for many patients.

18 Oct 2005

Cannabis smoke less likely to cause cancer than tobacco smoke

According to a leading U.S. expert, cannabis smoke is less likely to cause cancer than tobacco smoke.

18 Oct 2005

Discovery could lead to tests for the clinic or battlefield to diagnose ailments with just a few drops of blood

A way to detect fragments of broken brain cells that leak into the bloodstream may help doctors more quickly and precisely treat people with severe head injuries or brain diseases, say researchers at the University of Florida's McKnight Brain Institute.

17 Oct 2005

Black women with chronic pain experience more psychological distress

Black women with chronic pain experience more psychological distress, physical impairments and post-traumatic stress disorder than white women with chronic pain, a finding that researchers say should help lead to a narrowing of the gap in the treatment of chronic pain between black and white women.

17 Oct 2005