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Spearmint tea - natural treatment for hirsutism

Turkish researchers say women who suffer from excessive hair growth (hirsutism) may be helped by drinking spearmint tea.

21 Feb 2007

Health care professionals should focus on women's lifetime heart disease risk

The 2007 Guidelines for Preventing Cardiovascular Disease in Women -- published today in a special women's health issue of Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association -- also include new directions for using aspirin, hormone therapy and vitamin and mineral supplements in heart disease and stroke prevention in women.

20 Feb 2007

New test identifies suitable lymphoma patients likely to respond to new therapy

Researchers at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University have discovered a genetic signature identifying cases of lymphoma that are uniquely susceptible to a newly developed molecular targeted therapy. As a result, physicians organizing clinical trials of the new therapy will be able to enroll patients who'll be most likely to benefit from it.

20 Feb 2007

Hormone prolactin key to repairing nerve cell damage

The mystery of why multiple sclerosis (MS) tends to go into remission while women are pregnant may be the secret to overcoming the devastating neurodegenerative disease, according to University of Calgary researchers who have shown that a pregnancy-related hormone is responsible for rebuilding the protective coating around nerve cells.

20 Feb 2007

Survivors of childhood cancers have a ninefold increased risk of developing a secondary sarcoma

Treatments for childhood cancer have resulted in a current overall cure rate of over 70 percent. However, long-term survivors of childhood cancer are at a higher risk of developing a secondary cancer than the general population.

20 Feb 2007

Chemotherapy drug bortezomib packs a one-two punch

Cancer can be wily, and those who treat the disease have amassed a wide array of weapons with which to fight it and kill tumors.

20 Feb 2007

Transmission of drug-resistant tuberculosis among treated patients in Shanghai

A newly released study suggests that the majority of cases of drug-resistant tuberculosis (TB) among patients undergoing treatment for the disease may be due to new infections, not acquired resistance.

20 Feb 2007

Researchers discover markers that identify breast cancer subtypes resistant to Herceptin

Using gene chips to profile tumors before treatment, researchers at Harvard and Yale Universities found markers that identified breast cancer subtypes resistant to Herceptin, the primary treatment for HER2-positive breast cancer. They say this advance could help further refine therapy for the 25 to 30 percent of breast cancer patients with this class of tumor.

20 Feb 2007

siRNA delivery into human T cells and primary cells with carbon-nanotube transporters

A promising approach to gene therapy involves short DNA fragments (interfering RNA) that bind to specific genes and block their "translation" into the corresponding, disease-related protein.

20 Feb 2007

Nanoparticles advance photodynamic therapy to kill tumor cells

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is a powerful approach for destroying tumors, one that uses light and a light-sensitive chemical to rapidly kill cells.

20 Feb 2007

An aspirin a day keeps heart disease away

According to new guidelines released by the American Heart Association, almost all women are at risk of heart disease and doctors should consider prescribing a daily aspirin for them.

20 Feb 2007

Updated guidelines provide definitive answers on HRT, aspirin, supplements

Health care professionals should focus on women's lifetime heart disease risk, not just short-term risk, according to updated American Heart Association guidelines.

20 Feb 2007

Avastin slows growth of gliomas

Avastin, a relatively new type of drug that shrinks cancerous tumors by cutting off their blood supply, can slow the growth of the most common and deadly form of brain cancer, a pilot study conducted at Duke University Medical Center has found.

20 Feb 2007

RNAi shows promise in gene therapy

Three years ago Mark Kay, MD, PhD, published the first results showing that a biological phenomenon called RNA interference could be an effective gene therapy technique. Since then he has used RNAi gene therapy to effectively shut down the viruses that cause hepatitis and HIV in mice.

19 Feb 2007

Plant-based omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids may have a protective effect on bone health

Normally, most of the omega-3 fatty acids in the diet are plant-derived and come mainly from soybean and canola oil. Other sources are flaxseed, flaxseed oil, walnuts and walnut oil.

19 Feb 2007

Cancer is a stem cell issue

There is an urgent reason to study stem cells: stem cells are at the heart of some, if not all, cancers. Mounting evidence implicates a clutch of rogue stem cells brandishing 'epigenetic' marks as the main culprits in cancer. Wiping out tumours for good, some biologists believe, depends on uprooting these wayward stem cells.

19 Feb 2007

Kaiser Permanente launches long term project to collect genetic data

California-based HMO Kaiser Permanente on Wednesday announced the creation of a decades-long research project that will collect and analyze genetic information from hundreds of thousands of adult members, the San Jose Mercury News reports.

19 Feb 2007

Genetic variations contribute to a person's risk for nicotine dependence

Americans are bombarded with antismoking messages, yet at least 65 million of us continue to light up. Genetic factors play an important role in this continuing addiction to cigarettes, suggest scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

18 Feb 2007

New targets in cancer mutation puzzle

University of Rochester scientists, while investigating the two most frequent types of mutations in cancer, discovered a possible new route to treatment that would take advantage of the mutations instead of trying to repair them.

18 Feb 2007

Smart bladder pacemaker

Duke University biomedical engineering researchers have moved a step closer to a "smart bladder pacemaker" that might one day restore bladder control in patients with spinal cord injury or neurological disease.

18 Feb 2007