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Exercise and counseling could ease cancer-related fatigue

Cancer patients suffering from symptoms of fatigue might find some relief through regular exercise and psychological counseling to deal with stress, according to a new review.

24 Oct 2007

Advances in drug screening

With the discovery of suitable molecular targets - cellular molecules along pathways crucial for sustaining the life of cancer cells - comes the perplexing dilemma of where to find the next therapeutics that will bind to and disable those targets.

23 Oct 2007

Anti-tuberculosis program in South Africa may have inadvertently helped create new strain of XDR TB

In a new study published in the December 1 issue of Clinical Infectious Diseases, currently available online, researchers tracked the developing drug resistance of one particular strain of Mycobacterium tuberculosis over 12 years.

22 Oct 2007

Gold-like drugs to treat arthritis

Scientists at Duke University Medical Center may have solved the mystery surrounding the healing properties of gold - a discovery they say may renew interest in gold salts as a treatment for rheumatoid arthritis and other inflammatory diseases.

22 Oct 2007

Heparanase shows potential as cancer drug

Laboratory experiments have previously shown that cancer cells overproduce an enzyme, heparanase, which splits the body's own polysaccharide heparan sulfate into shorter fragments.

22 Oct 2007

Hispanics and African Americans are less likely to use commercial weight loss programs

A new analysis of a landmark weight loss survey suggests that Hispanics and African Americans are more likely than whites to use unproven dietary supplements for weight loss.

22 Oct 2007

Microbix Biosystems granted U.S. patent for its influenza vaccine

Microbix Biosystems Inc. has been granted a patent by the U.S. Patent Office for its technology - VIRUSMAX - which enables vaccine manufacturers to double the amount of influenza vaccine they produce each year.

22 Oct 2007

High-risk individuals less likely to follow through on HIV testing plans

One-fourth of individuals at high risk for contracting HIV report planning to be tested for the virus in the next year, but fewer appear to follow through on that intention than individuals who are at lower risk, according to a report in the October 22 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine.

22 Oct 2007

Hand hygiene initiative aims to decrease healthcare-associated infection in developing countries

An open-access commentary in the December 2007 issue of Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology examines a recently launched a global initiative by the World Health Organization (WHO) to combat healthcare-associated infection by improving hand hygiene in health care.

22 Oct 2007

Funding source a major determinant in findings regarding adverse effects in corticosteroid studies

Studies of inhaled corticosteroids, medications frequently prescribed for asthma and other respiratory problems, appear less likely to find adverse effects if they are funded by pharmaceutical companies than if they are funded by other sources, according to a report in the October 22 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

22 Oct 2007

FDA approves approved Ixempra (ixabepilone) for advanced breast cancer

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved Ixempra (ixabepilone), a new anti-cancer treatment, for use in patients with metastatic or locally advanced breast cancer who have not responded to certain other cancer drugs.

22 Oct 2007

Pathogen Simulation provides a new approach to the study of Epstein-Barr virus

Researchers at Tufts University School of Medicine in collaboration with the Virginia Bioinformatics Institute at Virginia Tech have created a computer program called Pathogen Simulation (PathSim) to study the progression of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) in humans.

22 Oct 2007

Free medications ensure anti-HIV drugs are taken in Africa

HIV-infected patients in the African country of Tanzania were more likely to stop taking their medications and to fail treatment if they had to pay for the drugs themselves.

22 Oct 2007

Australian researchers stelp closer to discovering the cause of epileptic seizures

Scientists still do not know what causes epileptic seizures, but researchers from Melbourne's Howard Florey Institute are one step closer to solving this puzzle with the help of their newly developed genetically modified epileptic mouse.

22 Oct 2007

Breakthrough reveals important human receptor structure that will aid drug development

Scientists at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology (LMB) in Cambridge have obtained the first clear images of the proteins that relay vital messages to cells.

22 Oct 2007

Discovery of two genes linked to a disabling form of arthritis called ankylosing spondylitis

An international team of researchers led by a Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center geneticist has discovered two genes linked to a disabling form of arthritis called ankylosing spondylitis, a painful and progressive disease in which some or all of the spine's vertebrae fuse together.

22 Oct 2007

Scale back on weight obsession, urges obesity expert

"We need to change how we look at obesity, stop obsessing on weight and BMI and, above all, redefine the proper clinical use of weight loss drugs," says noted obesity expert Dr. Jean-Pierre Després, delivering the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada Lecture at the Canadian Cardiovascular Congress 2007.

22 Oct 2007