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First evidence of the molecular link between inflammation and cancer

The investigators found that a gene called I-kappa-B kinase (IKK beta), a pro-inflammatory gene, acts differently in two cell types to cause cancer. When IKK beta was deleted, the cancer incidence and tumor growth in mice was decreased by nearly 80 percent.

5 Aug 2004

Rheumatoid arthritis and early indicators of disease

A chronic autoimmune disease marked by severe inflammation and joint, rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a major cause of pain and disability.

5 Aug 2004

New guidelines for water, salt and potassium intake of Americans

Nutrition experts from the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies have released new guidelines for water, salt and potassium intake of Americans.

5 Aug 2004

24-year long asthma study is answering doctors' questions about asthma and its causes

Doctors have concluded that children do not usually outgrow asthma after puberty as was previously assumed. There are also other factors that contribute to the onset of asthma in test subjects, including infection and obesity.

5 Aug 2004

Current estimates have cardiovascular disease (CVD) accounting for 17 million deaths annually

Renowned public health specialist, Professor Stephen Leeder, will present the central findings of a report highlighting the disturbing trend towards a growth in cardiovascular disease in developing countries, at a special colloquium to be held at The University of Sydney.

5 Aug 2004

New clinical study to determine how people with rheumatoid arthritis evaluate improvements in disease symptoms

A new clinical study to determine how people with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) evaluate improvements in disease symptoms will be carried out by the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS), part of the Department of Health and Human Services' National Institutes of Health.

5 Aug 2004

Overactive brain circuit brings on depression

A brain imaging study by the NIH's National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) has found that an emotion-regulating brain circuit is overactive in people prone to depression – even when they are not depressed.

5 Aug 2004

Approval of cholesterol-lowering therapy Lipitor for the prevention of cardiovascular disease

Pfizer has announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved its cholesterol-lowering therapy Lipitor® (atorvastatin calcium) for the prevention of cardiovascular disease by reducing heart attack risk in people with normal to mildly elevated cholesterol levels who have other cardiovascular risk factors.

5 Aug 2004

Protein loss plays role in acute T-cell leukemia

The loss of a key protein (Smad3) in a pathway that helps prevent tumors from forming is specific to one form of childhood leukemia, but not to other pediatric and adult forms of leukemia, according to a new study published in the August 5, 2004, New England Journal of Medicine.

5 Aug 2004

Atherosclerosis at menopause slowed by diet and exercise

Thickening of artery walls accelerates as women enter menopause, but these signs of the progression of atherosclerosis can be slowed by a lower-fat diet and increased physical activity, according to a new study in the Aug. 4, 2004, issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

5 Aug 2004

Blood vessel plug - amplatzer ductal occluder, performs well in trial

In the largest and longest trial yet of a device called the Amplatzer ductal occluder, a duct that shunts blood flow away from the lungs during fetal development but sometimes fails to close after birth, was successfully closed in almost all patients, according to a new study in the Aug. 4, 2004, issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

5 Aug 2004

Spitfire fighter device helps monitor aortic aneurysm

Researchers at the University of Warwick have found a way of using a test devised in the 1930s, and used to gauge the stress on the superchargers in wartime spitfire fighter planes, to model the stress that surgical procedures would put on an aortic aneurysm.

5 Aug 2004

As medicine targets personal DNA profiles, researchers examine ethics and patient experiences

Researchers at the University of York are beginning a major study into the ethical and personal issues raised by a potential revolution in healthcare, which could incorporate individualised medical care – pharmacogenetics - into clinical practice.

5 Aug 2004

Heavy drinking by college students poses many serious dangers

As American college students gear up to head back to campus later this month, they'll look forward to all the usual college traditions: football games, late-night discussions, and pizza with new friends after classes.

3 Aug 2004

As the saying goes “breast milk is best”

As the saying goes “breast milk is best,” and more than 85 percent of new moms who give birth at the University of Michigan Health System agree and continue to breastfeed their new bundle of joy, on average, for the first six months.

3 Aug 2004

Researchers study whether people’s genetic makeup could make them more likely to develop osteoarthritis of the knee and hip

Researchers at The University of Nottingham are studying whether people’s genetic makeup could make them more likely to develop osteoarthritis of the knee and hip — the most common medical condition to affect the joints.

3 Aug 2004