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The link between combined HRT use and the risk of lobular breast cancers

Postmenopausal women who take combined estrogen/progestin hormone-replacement therapy for three years or more face a fourfold increased risk of developing various forms of lobular breast cancer, according to new findings by researchers at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.

15 Jan 2008

Smoking speeds progression of age-related macular degeneration

Smokers appear to have an increased long-term risk and greater progression of the eye disease age-related macular degeneration, according to a report in the January issue of Archives of Ophthalmology.

15 Jan 2008

Internet and IT increase physician disease reporting

With emerging diseases like the West Nile Virus, and re-emerging diseases such as the pandemic flu and drug-resistant tuberculosis, it's increasingly important to promptly detect a potential infectious outbreak within a community.

15 Jan 2008

Diets high in lutein, zeaxanthin and vitamin E lower risk for cataracts

Women who have higher dietary intake of lutein and zeaxanthin—compounds found in yellow or dark, leafy vegetables—as well as more vitamin E from food and supplements appear to have a lower risk for developing cataracts, according to a report in the January issue of Archives of Ophthalmology, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

15 Jan 2008

Discovery of seven new genes that influence blood cholesterol levels

An international study of 20,000 people found seven new genes that influence blood cholesterol levels, a major factor in heart disease, and confirmed 11 other genes previously thought to influence cholesterol.

15 Jan 2008

MRSA spike among gay men: More effective prevention needed for MRSA, HIV and other STDs

AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), today expressed concern over a recent study first reported publicly today in an 'Annals of Internal Medicine' article which found that sexually active gay men in San Francisco were 13 times as likely to contract methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), a drug-resistant strain of bacteria, than their heterosexual counterparts.

15 Jan 2008

New genetic variations associated with lipid levels, risk for coronary artery disease

Environmental and genetic factors influence a person's blood fat, or lipid levels, important risk factors for coronary artery disease (CAD). While there is some understanding of the environmental contribution, the role of genetics has been less defined.

14 Jan 2008

Study suggests link between genetic basis of height and arthritis

In studies involving more than 35,000 people and a survey across the entire human genome, an international team supported in part by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has found evidence that common genetic variants recently linked to osteoarthritis may also play a minor role in human height.

14 Jan 2008

AHF to Schwarzenegger: Re-consider proposed budget cuts in AIDS services

AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) has urged California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to reconsider and reverse $11 million of proposed budget cuts in AIDS services that will reduce and threaten vital lifesaving care and services for Californians living with HIV/AIDS as he seeks to close a $14 billion deficit in the state budget.

11 Jan 2008

Toronto quarantines passengers from Tel Aviv with flu symptoms

Passengers on an Air Canada flight from Tel Aviv were briefly quarantined on their arrival at Toronto airport because of a health scare.

10 Jan 2008

Heartening news for tipplers - moderate drinking plus exercise the key to a long life!

The latest research is adding to the growing body of evidence which suggests that moderate amounts of alcohol offer health benefits.

9 Jan 2008

France, Japan and Australia top in dealing with preventable deaths...U.S. bottom!

When it comes to dealing with preventable deaths researchers have found that the French, Japanese and Australians are at the top of the league and the Americans at the bottom.

9 Jan 2008

Four golden rules can give you 14 extra years of life

According to scientists in Britain there are four golden rules to living a longer healthier life and they say people who take them onboard live on average for another fourteen years.

9 Jan 2008

Teens find the benefits of sexual abstinence decline with age

The percentage of teens who report solely positive benefits from not having sex declines precipitously with age, according to a new study by scientists at the University of California, San Francisco.

9 Jan 2008

Study proves the co-pay connection in chronic disease

As 2008 begins, millions of Americans are having to dig deeper into their own pockets every time they refill a prescription or see a doctor.

9 Jan 2008

Moderate drinking and exercise key to a longer life

People who drink moderate amounts of alcohol and are physically active have a lower risk of death from heart disease and other causes than people who don't drink at all, according to new research.

9 Jan 2008

Dengue seen as potential threat to US public health

A disease most Americans have never heard of could soon become more prevalent if dengue, a flu-like illness that can turn deadly, continues to expand into temperate climates and increase in severity, according to a new commentary by Anthony S. Fauci, M.D., director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, and David M. Morens, M.D., Fauci's senior scientific advisor.

9 Jan 2008

Emerging diseases and environmental change

The EDEN Project, which was launched in 2004 on the initiative of CIRAD (French Agricultural Research Centre for International Development), IRD ((Institut de Recherche pour le Developpement) and the Institut Pasteur in Paris, to run for five years, associates 49 partners in 24 countries, most of them European.

9 Jan 2008

Americans pay the most for prescription drugs and still don't take them

An international study of dialysis patients shows that although U.S. residents have the highest out-of-pocket drug costs, even those who can afford their prescription drugs are far less likely to take them than patients in other countries.

9 Jan 2008

American women prefer overly aggressive treatments for breast cancer

Despite a 1990 consensus recommendation from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) that lumpectomy plus radiation was the treatment of choice for early stage breast cancer, the United States continues to have the highest rate of mastectomy surgery among industrialized countries.

9 Jan 2008