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How your heart sounds could tell your heart attack risk

According to scientists in the United States, a doctor may be able to determine a person's risk of having a heart attack just by listening to their heart with a stethoscope.

11 May 2008

Access to generic HIV/AIDS drugs increasing following Thailand's decision to issue compulsory licenses, health official Says

Access to some antiretroviral drugs is increasing in Thailand because of the country's decision to issue compulsory licenses for certain medications, Winai Sawasdiworn, deputy secretary-general of the National Health Security Office, said recently, the Bangkok Post reports (Apiradee, Bangkok Post, 5/8).

11 May 2008

Men more likely to turn to alcohol when they feel down

Women and men tend to have different types of stress-related psychological disorders. Women have greater rates of depression and some types of anxiety disorders than men, while men have greater rates of alcohol-use disorders than women. A new study of emotional and alcohol-craving responses to stress has found that when men become upset, they are more likely than women to want alcohol.

11 May 2008

Childhood and adolescent obesity impacts cardiac health

Study findings presented at the May 2008 Pediatric Academic Societies and Asian Society for Pediatric Research Joint Meeting indicate that childhood and adolescent obesity negatively impacts vascular endothelial function, which relates to cardiac health.

11 May 2008

Binge drinking and driving

While many people believe that alcohol-impaired (AI) drivers are usually alcoholics, in fact, 80 percent of AI incidents are caused by binge drinkers. A recent study conducted among college students has found that binge drinkers, even when legally intoxicated, nonetheless believe they having adequate driving abilities.

11 May 2008

New clues into how preeclampsia may surface in some pregnancies

The COMT gene - known already for its role in schizophrenia - has been found to play a role in preeclampsia, according to a report in the advance on-line issue of Nature.

11 May 2008

New theory suggests how hepatitis C may cause rare immune disease

Of the hepatitis alphabet, the C variant may be the nastiest. In 1990, researchers observed that most patients with hepatitis C also develop a rare autoimmune disease called mixed cryoglobulinemia, a condition that frequently leads to cancer, arthritis or both.

10 May 2008

Radioactive carbon-14 determines the number of fat cells remains constant in all body types

The radioactive carbon-14 produced by above-ground nuclear testing in the 1950s and '60s has helped researchers determine that the number of fat cells in a human's body, whether lean or obese, is established during the teenage years. Changes in fat mass in adulthood can be attributed mainly to changes in fat cell volume, not an increase in the actual number of fat cells.

9 May 2008

Researchers step closer to finding ways to treat type 1 diabetes

Scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis working with diabetic mice have examined in unprecedented detail the immune cells long thought to be responsible for type 1 diabetes.

9 May 2008

Researchers launch lung cancer screening trial

Scientists are testing a new way of detecting lung cancer at an early stage in people at greatest risk of developing the disease.

9 May 2008

FDA approves new formulation of genetically engineered version of Factor VIIa plasma protein

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved a new formulation of the genetically engineered version of Factor VIIa, a plasma protein essential for the clotting of blood. The new formulation allows the product to be stored at room temperature (up to 81 degrees Fahrenheit) for up to two years.

9 May 2008

Link found between birth order and asthma symptoms

Among four year-olds attending Head Start programs in New York City, those who had older siblings were more likely to experience respiratory symptoms including an episode of wheezing in the past year than those who were oldest or only children.

9 May 2008

Rapid HIV tests highly effective in preventing mother-to-child HIV transmission in India

Rapid HIV tests have been found to be highly effective in preventing mother-to-child HIV transmission in clinical trials in India, according to a study published online Tuesday in PLoS Medicine, the Times of India reports (Sinha, Times of India, 5/7). For the study, the researchers used OraSure Technologies' OraQuick Advance Rapid HIV 1/2 Antibody Test (Derfel, Montreal Gazette, 5/6

8 May 2008

Study finds darapladib lowers biomarker for cardiovascular problems

Despite widespread use of cholesterol-lowering drugs, a significant number of cardiac patients continue to suffer heart attacks and stroke. Researchers theorize that high levels of an enzyme found in coronary plaques may be to blame, by making plaques more likely to rupture and block blood flow. The drug darapladib may offer a way to fight that risk, according to new research led by the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine.

8 May 2008

Discovery of new gene that causes cancer

Researchers at the OU Cancer Institute have identified a new gene that causes cancer. The ground-breaking research appears in Nature's cancer journal Oncogene.

8 May 2008

Skin flaps deliver cancer-fighting therapy

Using gene therapy, plastic surgeons have delivered cancer fighting proteins through skin flaps placed on cancerous tumors on rats with a 79 percent reduction in tumor volume, according to a study in the May issue of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, the official medical journal of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS).

8 May 2008

Study finds arthritis can be a barrier for adults seeking to manage diabetes through exercise

More than half of adults with diagnosed diabetes also have arthritis, a painful condition that can be a barrier to physical activity -- an important health strategy for managing diabetes, according to a study released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in today's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

8 May 2008

Mothers' high normal blood sugar levels place infants at risk for birth problems

Pregnant women with blood sugar levels in the higher range of normal - but not high enough to be considered diabetes - are more likely than women with lower blood sugar levels to give birth to babies at risk for many of the same problems seen in babies born to women with diabetes during pregnancy, according to a study funded in large part by the National Institutes of Health.

8 May 2008

New deadly superbug Steno an ever-increasing threat

Scientists in the Britain say hospitals could be facing an increasing threat from yet another deadly bacterial infection with the potential to rapidly develop a resistance to drugs.

8 May 2008

A new test could predict when to expect menopause

At a time when many women are holding back on starting a family until they feel both and emotionally financially secure, the question of just how fertile women are as they get older is of interest to many.

8 May 2008