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High-resolution images reveal the molecular rearrangements that rotavirus uses to break into cells

High-resolution images constructed by researchers at Children's Hospital Boston and Harvard Medical School reveal the molecular rearrangements that rotavirus – the most common cause of severe, dehydrating diarrhea and vomiting in children worldwide – uses to break into cells.

25 Aug 2004

Children who take steroid drugs for nephrotic syndrome do not suffer bone loss

Childhood nephrotic syndrome, which affects 3 out of 100,000 children, is the most common chronic kidney disease in children. Although it does not impair kidney function, it weakens the body's ability to remove water and salt from the blood, and causes swelling in the belly, legs, and around the eyes.

25 Aug 2004

A new test for bowel cancer could be on the horizon

The test detects an enzyme, called Tumour M2-PK, which is a by-product of tumour growth. The enzyme leaks from the cancerous tissue into the bowel and can then be found in faeces.

25 Aug 2004

Concerns about the education of medical students

Concerns are raised about the education of medical students, as a BMA report reveals that most young doctors have never considered careers in teaching and research.

25 Aug 2004

Besides helping infants’ lungs mature, sighs may “reset” breathing regulation mechanism

As if new parents don’t have enough to worry about getting in synch with their infants, many of them wonder “what’s with these sighs?”

25 Aug 2004

Less invasive procedure to repair aortic aneurysm could reduce death by two-thirds

Early results of a UK study published online by THE LANCET suggest that a surgical procedure to repair aortic aneurysm that is less invasive than conventional open surgery could reduce death within a month of surgery by around two-thirds.

25 Aug 2004

Cleaning products and solvents increase risk of asthma

Exposure to the fumes emitted from solvents and cleaning products at home may increase the risk of childhood asthma, suggests a study by Australian researchers from Curtin University and the University of Sydney.

25 Aug 2004

Facilities for stroke patients should match those of heart patients

People who have had a stroke need and deserve similar facilities for monitoring and care to those who have had a heart attack. All acute hospitals have coronary care units, but not all hospitals have stroke units.

24 Aug 2004

Revamped competitive strategies a must to sustain growth in the mature European wound closure markets

Growing emphasis on reducing hospital expenditure and drastic reductions in healthcare budgets are affecting the prices of various wound closure products (such as sutures, mechanical closure devices, wound strips and skin adhesives) across Europe.

24 Aug 2004

Clinicians have been able to reduce mortality rates in HIV positive children from 15 to 3 percent

"This is perhaps the first time that it has been demonstrated that HIV positive children can be successfully treated with antiretroviral therapy in resource-limited settings and the outcomes are comparable to those we have seen in U.S. pediatric antiretroviral clinical trials,"

23 Aug 2004

Researchers find how cancers, particularly lymphomas, develop and might be prevented

Researchers at Children's Hospital Boston have begun unraveling the mystery of how B lymphocytes - key infection-fighting cells in the body - are able to create many different kinds of specialized antibodies through selective gene mutations, while being protected from random mutations that could give rise to cancers.

23 Aug 2004

David Brailer surpasses Bush as most powerful person in healthcare for 2004

David Brailer, National Healthcare IT Coordinator, has been voted by readers of Modern Healthcare as the most powerful person in healthcare for 2004.

23 Aug 2004

A trip to Mars might sound appealing, but it would be a one-way-trip

A space traveller’s dream of one day holidaying on Mars might sound appealing, but it would be a one-way-trip according to Australian researchers at the University of Queensland.

23 Aug 2004

Cholesterol guidelines advise more intensive treatment

Cardiologists at Temple University Hospital are working with area primary care physicians to help educate patients who are at moderate-to- high risk for heart attack about new guidelines for lowering cholesterol.

23 Aug 2004

Worldwide evidence says better care will halt heart failure epidemic

An international team of researchers from Australia, Canada, Italy and Scotland studying the results of heart failure management have found that managed care from specialist teams of health professionals can improve survival rates by up to 25 per cent.

23 Aug 2004

Excessive use of diathermy could lead to increased haemorrhage rates

The postoperative haemorrhage rate in tonsillectomies which use ‘hot techniques’ such as diathermy and coblation to stop bleeding could be over three times greater than operations which use cold steel techniques, conclude authors of a study in this week’s issue of THE LANCET.

23 Aug 2004

Effectiveness of gingko to treat early dementia

Researchers in London are to explore the effectiveness of gingko, a complementary medicine traditionally used to treat circulatory problems, as a treatment for early dementia.

23 Aug 2004

Peginterferon and Ribavirin combination promising for those with HIV and HCV

Since the introduction of highly active combination drug therapy for HIV, liver failure attributable to infection with the hepatitis C virus (HCV) has become a leading cause of death among those infected with the virus that causes AIDS.

22 Aug 2004

Pfizer drug effectively treats overactive bladder symptoms

Women with mixed incontinence, a combination of overactive bladder and stress incontinence, reported a greater treatment benefit for overactive bladder symptoms from DETROL® LA (tolterodine tartrate extended release capsules) than placebo, according to new study results published in the August issue of Urology.

21 Aug 2004

$Longer rehabilitation by six months helps elderly patients to more fully recover from hip fractures$

Longer rehabilitation by six months helps elderly patients to more fully recover from hip fractures

Extending supervised outpatient rehabilitation by six months helps elderly patients more fully recover from hip fractures, according to the first controlled study of its kind. The study also showed for the first time that these patients, previously thought to be too frail for weight training, can benefit from progressive resistance exercise training.

20 Aug 2004