Blood News and Research

RSS

U.S. surplus mercury strategy welcomed prior to UN negotiations

Department of Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman cited recognition of health and environmental concerns as prime reasons why DOE "has no current plans to sell" their stockpile of over 1,200 metric tons of mercury.

3 Jan 2007

Era of beer belly pride long gone

Four out of five men with beer bellies could die young, and they might not realise it.

3 Jan 2007

Effect of vitamin supplementation on neonatal morbidity and mortality

Undernourished women who take a vitamin and mineral supplement while pregnant may be less likely than women taking only iron and folic acid supplements to have babies weighing less than 2,500 grams, and their newborns may be less likely to have morbidity in the first seven days of life.

2 Jan 2007

High uric acid levels indicate risk for cognitive problems in old age

Researchers at the Johns Hopkins and Yale university medical schools have found that a simple blood test to measure uric acid, a measure of kidney function, might reveal a risk factor for cognitive problems in old age.

2 Jan 2007

Common-sense measures to stop ICU infections

Hospitals will quickly slash the rate of common, costly and potentially lethal catheter-related bloodstream infections in their intensive care units (ICUs) by using cheap, low-tech, common-sense measures like hand washing, timely removal of unneeded catheters, and use of sites other than the groin to place lines when possible, according to a report from safety experts at Johns Hopkins in the New England Journal of Medicine.

2 Jan 2007

Chronic cough and phlegm means greater risk of developing chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

Young adults (ages 20 to 44) with normal lung function who later develop chronic cough and phlegm have a fourfold higher risk of developing chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

2 Jan 2007

In vivo tumor targeting and radionuclide imaging with self-assembled nanoparticles

In an attempt to determine what factors make one nanoparticle better than another at targeting tumors, a team of investigators in Korea have conducted a systematic tumor-targeting study of a variety of self-assembling nanoparticles.

18 Dec 2006

Mammalian pharmacokinetics of carbon nanotubes using intrinsic near-infrared fluorescence

In the first experiments of their kind, researchers have determined that carbon nanotubes injected directly into the bloodstream of research lab animals cause no immediate adverse health effects and circulate for more than one hour before they are removed by the liver.

18 Dec 2006

FeCo/graphitic-shell nanocrystals as advanced magnetic-resonance-imaging and near-infrared agents

Alloys of iron and cobalt generate powerful magnetic signals that could be useful in nanoparticles designed to detect tumors using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).

18 Dec 2006

More Americans have their blood pressure under control

According to a new study far more Americans now have their blood pressure under control which is good news especially with regard to the risks of heart attack, stroke and other diseases.

12 Dec 2006

New oral contraceptive not such a bitter pill

A company in the United States has come up with the first chewable birth control tablet.

11 Dec 2006

Health officials accused over cover up in deaths from vCJD

A cover up on the part of British health authorities meant a man who had been infected with CJD from contaminated blood during a transfusion was not told until he was dying what was really wrong with him.

11 Dec 2006

AIDS and malaria go hand in hand

Researchers believe they may well be a link between two of the biggest killers in Africa, Malaria and AIDS.

11 Dec 2006

Drug-coated heart stents to carry a warning

An advisory panel for the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the U.S. has recommended that the drug-coated stents used in patients with cardiovascular disease should carry a warning.

11 Dec 2006

Substantial new scientific evidence supports medics in Libyan HIV court case

A team of international scientists have produced new information that questions the evidence against the six medics on trial in Libya accused of deliberately infecting Libyan children with HIV.

11 Dec 2006

Forget about being fat and just get fit!

Researchers in Britain say that obese people can become healthier without losing weight.

6 Dec 2006

CJD closes operating theatres in Canada

All surgery at a hospital in Ontario Canada has been halted after it was discovered that a patient undergoing neurosurgery on November 30th may have had the fatal brain-wasting disease Creutzfeldt-Jakob (CJD).

6 Dec 2006

New diabetes drug Rimonabant again proves to be a good option

A new study has found that a new diabetic drug helped improve blood sugar control and also promoted weight loss in people with type 2 diabetes.

6 Dec 2006

FDA advisory panel on drug-eluting stents to include physicians with industry ties

FDA will waive rules that prohibit advisory panel members from having financial ties to companies whose products are being reviewed to allow six physicians with ties to Johnson & Johnson and other heart device manufacturers to serve on a panel examining the possible health risks of drug-eluting stents, Bloomberg/South Florida Sun-Sentinel reports.

5 Dec 2006

Vascular targeted nanoparticles for imaging and treatment of brain tumors

Combining two promising approaches to diagnosing and treating cancer, a multidisciplinary research team at the University of Michigan has created a targeted multifunctional polymer nanoparticle that successfully images and kills brain tumors in laboratory animals.

4 Dec 2006