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Vaccine Treatment and Evaluation Units (VTEUs) supply the nurse power necessary to beat back or altogether prevent infectious disease

Flu. Smallpox. Anthrax. Whooping cough. The words represent a veritable murderers' row of infectious agents whose death toll runs in the millions.

23 Dec 2004

Bacteria can use a sonar-like system to spot other cells

For the first time, scientists have found that bacteria can use a Sonar-like system to spot other cells (either normal body cells or other bacteria) and target them for destruction.

23 Dec 2004

Why hair turns grey

Few things about growing older are as inevitable and obvious as "going gray," yet scientists have been unable to explain the precise cause of this usually unwelcome transformation.

23 Dec 2004

Wireless technology does not affect pacemakers and defibrillators

With the dynamic evolution of wireless technology, Mayo Clinic researchers have been concerned about the potential effects of electromagnetic interference on heart pacemakers and implantable cardioverter-defibrillators.

22 Dec 2004

40-year tale of investigation and innovation into the challenge of hip implant failure

A remarkable story of how a new disease was inadvertently caused by successful medical treatment, ultimately understood, and eventually defeated by scientific innovation is being told a major player in the process.

22 Dec 2004

Relatives of lung cancer patients up to 3.5 times greater risk of developing lung cancer

First-degree relatives of lung cancer patients have a 2 to 3.5 times greater risk of developing lung cancer than the general population, and tobacco smoke plays a major role, even among those with a genetic predisposition, according to a study in the December 22/29 issue of JAMA.

22 Dec 2004

FDA approves Enablex for the treatment of overactive bladder

Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Enablex® (darifenacin) extended-release tablets (7.5mg and 15mg) for the treatment of overactive bladder (OAB) with symptoms of urge urinary incontinence, urgency and frequency.

22 Dec 2004

Botox may be a possible treatment for sufferers of Tourette's syndrome

Researchers at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston are using botulinum toxin type A (Botox) to treat the neurological disorder, which can cause involuntary motor and vocal tics.

21 Dec 2004

Customising cancer treatment

At the Norwegian Radium Hospital in Oslo, scientists are approaching methods that will improve the patients' chances of survival and reduce unnecessary treatment.

21 Dec 2004

Certain leukemia oncogenes switch on genetic programs that govern self-renewal, a unique stem cell characteristic

Researchers have discovered that specific cancer-causing genes associated with leukemias can transform mature white blood cells into leukemic cells that have all the properties of stem cells.

21 Dec 2004

Essential oils have been found to kill the deadly MRSA bacteria

Essential oils usually used in aromatherapy have been found to kill the deadly MRSA bacteria according to research carried out at The University of Manchester.

From The University of Manchester 21 Dec 2004

Out-of-office blood pressure readings help predict CVD risk

Blood pressure readings taken at home with approved devices can be a useful addition to blood pressure management, and may even predict cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk better than readings from the doctor’s office alone, according to a scientific statement issued today by the American Heart Association.

21 Dec 2004

BMA survey shows too many consultant vacancies remain unfilled

A significant number of hospital consultant posts remain vacant after three months or more and in many cases trusts are not actively trying to fill these vacancies, according to figures released today (21/12/04) by the British Medical Association (BMA).

21 Dec 2004

Australia leads the way in new screening technology for babies

Australia is one of the first countries in the world to implement new screening technology across all States that will help detect an increased number of diseases in newborns.

21 Dec 2004

Biological clock affects the patterns of heart-rate control in healthy individuals

In a newly reported, first-ever finding, physicists from Boston University and physiologists from Boston’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH) have found that the body’s biological clock affects the patterns of heart-rate control in healthy individuals independent of sleep/wake cycle or other behavior influences.

21 Dec 2004

20 new policies adopted by American Public Health Association

The American Public Health Association recently adopted 20 policies addressing a broad range of issues in public health from underage alcohol consumption and nutrition labeling in restaurants to the supply of flu vaccinations and threats to immigrants’ health care.

21 Dec 2004

The burgeoning Indian AIDS epidemic

India, home to one-sixth of the human race, has an AIDS epidemic. Five million Indians are living with HIV infection. The stakes are high; the government is racing against time.

21 Dec 2004

The costs of caring for elderly patients hospitalized for colon surgery are not reduced by Medicare HMOs

The costs of caring for elderly Florida patients hospitalized for colon surgery are not reduced by Medicare HMOs, report University of South Florida researchers in the December issue of the Archives of Surgery.

21 Dec 2004

Blocking gene's activity may control deadly skin cancer without harming normal cells

Researchers at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Children's Hospital Boston have discovered that malignant melanoma, the potentially lethal skin cancer, can't grow without a steady supply of a protein that normal cells can do without.

20 Dec 2004

Timing of radiation and antiangiogenic therapy impacts treatment effectiveness

Agents designed to attack blood vessels that feed a growing tumor are effective against tumor growth in laboratory experiments. However, results of early clinical trials with these inhibitors have not yet exhibited the same success observed in animal models.

20 Dec 2004