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Antibacterial wipes may spread bacteria

Antibacterial wipes which have become increasingly popular in many homes, nursing homes, schools and hospitals, may not it seems be the answer when it comes to getting rid of dangerous bacteria.

3 Jun 2008

Report reveals disturbing information about young Australians

The report offers comprehensive up-to-date information on injury incidence, including transport accidents, intentional self-harm and suicide, assault and accidental poisoning, hospitalisations and deaths among young people in Australia.

3 Jun 2008

More evidence red wine keep hearts young

How, scientists wonder, do the French get away with a clean bill of heart health despite a diet loaded with saturated fats?

3 Jun 2008

U of M sets new standard of care for recessive dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa

Physicians at the University of Minnesota and University of Minnesota Children's Hospital, Fairview have set the path to a cure for a young boy's fatal genetic skin disease, recessive dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa (RDEB), by using a cord blood and bone marrow transplant. Nate Liao, a 25-month-old from Clarksburg, N.J., underwent the experimental therapy in October 2007.

3 Jun 2008

Antimicrobial wipes can spread pathogens after first use

A new study by a team of researchers at the Welsh School of Pharmacy, Cardiff University, Wales, UK, has found that antimicrobial-containing wipes currently used to decontaminate surfaces in hospitals can spread pathogens after first use.

3 Jun 2008

Clostridium difficile killed on exposure to surfaces made of copper and its alloys, brass and bronze

Scientists in the Environmental Healthcare Unit at the University of Southampton in the U.K. have found that infectious bacterium Clostridium difficile is killed when exposed to surfaces made of copper and its alloys, brass and bronze. The results of the study have been published in the February 2008 issue of the Journal of Hospital Infection.

3 Jun 2008

Silver rings to alleviate symptoms of arthritis

Research by academics at the University of Southampton in collaboration with occupational therapy clinicians into the effectiveness of wearing a particular type of silver ring to alleviate symptoms of arthritis has won an award.

3 Jun 2008

Optimising use of ventilators to treat patients while minimising risk of injury

The ventilators on an intensive care ward of a hospital offer a vital lifeline to the sickest and most vulnerable patients, providing the oxygen that keeps them alive when they are unable to breathe for themselves.

3 Jun 2008

A magnetically contolled camera pill

Images from inside the body? It can be done with tiny cameras which the patient has to swallow. In the past there was no way of controlling the device as it passed through the body. Now it can be steered and stopped where desired, and even deliver images of the esophagus.

3 Jun 2008

Latest drug scare in China sees six dead

In the last 10 days six people have died in east China's Jiangxi province after being injected with human immunoglobulin at a hospital in the provincial capital Nanchang.

3 Jun 2008

Premature and low weight babies more likely to be autistic

According to new research children born prematurely and children born with a low-birth weight are more likely to develop autism.

3 Jun 2008

New method for obstetric care leads to healthier newborns and mothers

An alternative method for obstetric care has led to lower neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) admission rates, higher uncomplicated vaginal birth (UVB) rates, and a lower mean Adverse Outcome Index (AOI) score, according to a new study from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and published in this month's issue of the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology.

3 Jun 2008

Preventable adverse events in hospitals occur 3 times more among patients with deafness, blindness or psychiatric disorders

Preventable adverse events in hospitals occur 3 times more often among patients with communication problems, such as deafness, blindness, psychiatric disorders and multiple health issues or comorbidities, found researchers in this study of nearly 2,400 patient records from 20 hospitals in Quebec.

2 Jun 2008

NGAL protein levels in simple urine test speed diagnosis of failing kidneys

Walk into any emergency department complaining of chest pain and you are likely to have blood drawn. Within hours it should be clear whether you've had a heart attack, based on enzyme levels in your blood and whether those levels reveal the tissue damage normally associated with a heart attack or other major cardiac event.

2 Jun 2008

By 2024 one in seven women will be diagnosed with breast cancer

Experts in Britain are predicting that by 2024 one in seven women will be diagnosed with breast cancer if there is not an improvement in public health trends.

2 Jun 2008

Australian dementia sufferers may wear tracking devices

The Australian Federal Government is said to be considering using electronic wrist tags on people with dementia; the tracking bracelets would be a way of monitoring those suffering from Alzheimer's disease.

2 Jun 2008

Less than 1 in 5 patients receive treatment to prevent venous thrombosis after surgery

Fewer than 1 in 5 patients received post-discharge therapy to prevent life-threatening blood clots - venous thrombosis - after hip- or knee-replacement surgery, report Rahme and colleagues in a retrospective cohort study. Venous thrombosis is one of the leading causes of death among hospital patients. However, elderly patients have a 70% lower chance of dying within 3 months if they take an anticoagulant drug to prevent blood clots.

2 Jun 2008

Personal genomes may lead to personalized vitamin supplements

As the cost of sequencing a single human genome drops rapidly, with one company predicting a price of $100 per person in five years, soon the only reason not to look at your "personal genome" will be fear of what bad news lies in your genes.

2 Jun 2008

Improving cancer diagnosis and support services for Asian patients

There is a need to remove the major ethnic inequalities which still exist in access to cancer services and outcomes, according to the latest edition of Science & Public Affairs.

2 Jun 2008

Low levels of vitamin D appear common in healthy children

Many healthy infants and toddlers may have low levels of vitamin D, and about one-third of those appear to have some evidence of reduced bone mineral content on X-rays, according to a report in the June issue of Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine.

2 Jun 2008