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Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) rates in women skyrocket

The death rate for one of the most lethal diseases in North America has skyrocketed for women in the last 20 years, and a team of researchers from the University of British Columbia and the B.C. Centre of Excellence for Women's Health wants to find out why.

19 Jul 2005

New way to fight antibiotic-resistant Staphylococcus infections

Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and Children’s Hospital and Health Center, San Diego have discovered that "Staph" bacteria use a protective golden armor to ward off the immune system, a finding with the potential to lead to new treatments for serious infections now increasingly resistant to standard antibiotics.

19 Jul 2005

'Big Gun' government official needed to oversee U.S. animal disease programs

A National Academy of Sciences panel has said this week that one high ranking government official may be the best way to consolidate U.S. animal disease oversights in order to protect consumers from mad cow disease, bird flu and other serious animal ailments that can jump species.

19 Jul 2005

Quit smoking to heal that gum disease and live longer!

According to a new study, smokers are at least 6 times more likely to develop gum disease than non-smokers.

19 Jul 2005

Vagal nerve stimulation, an innovative therapy for depression

The Saint Louis University Health Sciences Center medical team involved in the research and development of an innovative therapy for depression - vagal nerve stimulation (VNS) - is starting a new clinic for patients who have treatment-resistant depression.

19 Jul 2005

The more a man sits at his desk, the more likely he is to be overweight

...says a new Australian study suggesting that the workplace may play an important role in the growing obesity epidemic.

19 Jul 2005

Smokers who give up are much less likely to lose their teeth prematurely

Dental researchers at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne, UK, observed a group of cigarette smokers with chronic gum disease over one year and found some symptoms were more likely to improve in the people who quit during the study period.

18 Jul 2005

New treatment option for bad breath

More than 90 million Americans can sigh comfortably because of new relief for their bad breath. Dental experts today revealed research highlighting a new treatment option that can eliminate halitosis or chronic bad breath at the Academy of General Dentistry's (AGD) 53rd Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C.

18 Jul 2005

Scientists sequence the genomes of three species of parasites responsible for causing diseases that kill or cripple millions

Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) scientists who participated in the project say the sequencing of the genomes of the parasitic protozoa that cause Chagas disease, African sleeping sickness, and leishmaniasis, could significantly impact world health. Some of the genes discovered may prove to be good drug and vaccine targets.

17 Jul 2005

Five basic steps to help doctors identify and treat insomnia in elderly patients

Researchers outline five basic steps to help doctors identify and treat insomnia in elderly patients. This article is published in a special insomnia themed supplement of the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.

14 Jul 2005

Efforts to help parents of young children move out of poverty likely to have long-term benefits for children's school performance and social-emotional well being

It is well known that children who live in poverty have more trouble in school and more problems socially than other children. Now investigators funded by the National Institute of Child Health and Development (NICHD) find that while children who live in chronic poverty from birth through age 9 score lowest on tests of school readiness and social competence, poverty at any time during early childhood is detrimental.

14 Jul 2005

FDA panel says asthma drugs should stay on market but must carry warnings

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) advisory panel has declared that three asthma drugs are safe enough to stay on the market, after concerns that in rare cases they raise the risk of severe asthma.

14 Jul 2005

Decline in activity in the transition from childhood to adulthood could be responsible for increased weight gain in US girls

Obesity is either caused by an increase in energy intake, or reduced energy expenditure, or both. However, it is difficult to state with certainty the cause of obesity.

13 Jul 2005

Single mutation in a human sodium channel gene can trigger pain in people with primary erythromelalgia

Yale School of Medicine researchers report the first demonstration that a single mutation in a human sodium channel gene can trigger pain in people with an inherited pain syndrome known as primary erythromelalgia, according to a study published this month in the journal Brain.

13 Jul 2005

Researchers identify six genes associated with lymphocytic bronchitis - could mean new test, treatments

Researchers at the San Francisco VA Medical Center (SFVAMC) and the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) have identified six genes associated with lymphocytic bronchitis, which is thought to lead to obliterative bronchitis (OB), the most common cause of long-term failure of transplanted lungs.

13 Jul 2005

Australian product promotes healing in venous stasis ulcers

Novogen has announced the results of a Phase II clinical trial of its investigational wound healing compound, Glucoprime, in venous stasis ulcers.

13 Jul 2005

Most people with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) are not depressed

Contrary to what you might think, most people with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) are not depressed. They are also not more likely to get depressed as the end of life approaches, and they are not more likely to be depressed if they want to die or hasten their own death.

11 Jul 2005

New approach to preventing or reversing heart failure

Duke University Medical Center researchers have identified a new protein that plays a critical role in enabling the heart to respond to such external stimuli as exercise or stress, as well as in the progressive loss of heart function that is heart failure, the researchers said.

11 Jul 2005

Acupuncture no help for fibromyalgia sufferers

Fibromyalgia is a condition that causes pain and tenderness in the head, shoulders, upper back, thighs, and abdomen and sufferers also often have headaches, fatigue, anxiety, depression, and sleep problems.

7 Jul 2005

Neurological complication may result from rapid withdrawal from pregabalin

A report in the July Annals of Neurology describes a serious adverse event experienced by a participant in a clinical trial that may raise a new caution about the use of antiepileptic drugs for conditions other than epilepsy.

6 Jul 2005