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Gates Foundation, Grand Challenges to develop new diagnostics for tropical diseases

Grand Challenges Canada and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation have teamed up on an unprecedented global effort to discover and develop affordable, easy-to-use tools to help developing country health workers rapidly diagnose diseases in rural communities. The expected result: more timely and appropriate treatment of illnesses in poor countries, potentially saving countless lives.

16 Dec 2011

Detox diets useless – eat less and exercise more for good health

Detox diets may promise to help lose weight and purge the body of poisoning chemicals but the only thing that detox products will help lose is money, a British researcher says.

12 Dec 2011

Biochip can quickly predict blood poisoning

Is the patient suffering from blood poisoning? To answer this question, the doctor draws a blood sample and sends it to a central laboratory for testing. This takes up valuable time, which could cost the patient his life. In future, physicians will be able to analyze blood there and then and have the results within twenty minutes.

12 Dec 2011

Tips for parents to protect children from holiday dangers

The holidays are an exciting and busy time of year as parents race to finish the shopping, decorating and baking. As the number of days left in the calendar year winds down, be sure to allow plenty of time in that hectic schedule for playing with your child and sharing holiday traditions as a family. Nationwide Children's Hospital reminds parents to keep alert to various holiday dangers.

12 Dec 2011

Genetically identical Salmonella appear in 2 types, each with an infective advantage

An unusual regulatory mechanism that controls the swimmer/non-swimmer option in genetically identical Salmonella also impacts the bacteria's ability to cause infection.

9 Dec 2011

Roundup: Calif. to drop hospital report cards; Getting a doctor in N.Y. may depend on your neighborhood

The project was considered a pioneering effort when it started in 2004, but Jan Emerson-Shea, a spokesperson for the California Hospital Association, says the report cards have outlived their usefulness. "Today there are numerous places consumers can get information on the quality of care delivered by hospitals," Emerson-Shea says.

6 Dec 2011

Towards a national plan of action for rare diseases

"Rare diseases", by their very definition, occur in no more than 5 people out of every 10,000 inhabitants. Barely noticed by the general public, only around 1,000 of the currently 6,000 or so different rare diseases currently listed on the Internet platform Orphanet are treatable nowadays.

5 Dec 2011

Botulism toxins could be re-engineered for treating RA, asthma, psoriasis

The most poisonous substance on Earth - already used medically in small doses to treat certain nerve disorders and facial wrinkles - could be re-engineered for an expanded role in helping millions of people with rheumatoid arthritis, asthma, psoriasis and other diseases, scientists are reporting. Their study appears in ACS' journal Biochemistry.

1 Dec 2011

Incidences of self harm rises among adolescents: study

A recent large population based study shows that at least one in 12 teenagers commit self-harm. The commonest form of self harm is by cutting or burning, as a way of coping with depression, anxiety or other problems.

17 Nov 2011

Researchers get $7.5M grant to combat nerve agents

A $7.5 million award will help researchers harness the body’s own defenses to counteract nerve agents and create new types of antidotes for exposure to pesticides and other poisons.

14 Nov 2011

SAMHSA: Drug-related intentional poisonings result in 14,720 ED visits during 2009

Intentional poisoning refers to attempts to physically harm someone or render that person defenseless against crimes by deliberately getting them to ingest, inhale or in some other way take in a potentially harmful substance without their knowledge.

11 Nov 2011

High-powered magnets continue to be a safety risk to children

An increasing number of incident reports to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) indicate that high-powered magnets continue to be a safety risk to children. From toddlers to teens, children are swallowing these magnets and the consequences are severe.

10 Nov 2011

Faster, more sensitive test to detect ciguatera poisoning

Scientists are reporting development of a fast, reliable new test that could help people avoid a terrible type of food poisoning that comes from eating fish tainted with a difficult-to-detect toxin from marine algae growing in warm waters. The report appears in ACS' journal Analytical Chemistry.

10 Nov 2011

Inhaling low levels of CO reduces impact of environmental stress

According to scientists, carbon monoxide (CO), a tasteless, colorless and odorless gas, is not only a danger to the environment but also highly toxic to human beings. Found in the exhaust of vehicles and generators, CO has been dubbed the "silent killer" because excessive inhalation is lethal, poisoning the nervous system and heart.

9 Nov 2011

SafeMinds praises UNEP's draft treaty ban on use of mercury in pharma products

SafeMinds applauds UNEP's draft treaty language which does not exempt the use of mercury in pharmaceutical products, including vaccines, from the global ban. Governmental regulators, public health officials and pharmaceutical companies have recognized that the toxicity of mercury in pharmaceutical and personal care products, to which people are directly exposed, justifies a preventive approach to minimize all exposures.

24 Oct 2011

Use of bath salts as recreational drugs has greatly escalated in recent years

The use of bath salts as recreational drugs has greatly escalated in recent years. Researchers from the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma describe an incident of a man experiencing significant agitation, paranoia, and hallucinations who also exhibited violent behavior upon his emergency department arrival.

24 Oct 2011

Drunkorexia may affect long-term health of college students

It is well known that eating disorders are common among teens and college students. Heavy alcohol consumption is another well-known unhealthy habit of this age group. A new study from the University of Missouri shows that when college students combine these two unhealthy habits, their long-term health may be affected. "Drunkorexia" is a new term coined by the media to describe the combination of disordered eating and heavy alcohol consumption.

18 Oct 2011

Nearly 30% of homes with young children have acetaminophen products stored unsafely

Nearly 30 percent of homes with young children have acetaminophen products stored unsafely, and nearly all homes included at least one expired medication, according to a research abstract presented Monday, Oct. 17, at the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) National Conference and Exhibition in Boston.

18 Oct 2011

One in six mobile phones home for E. coli: Study

The London's School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine released a study in conjunction with the Queen Mary, University of London which suggests that Britons are not doing a good enough job of washing hands. Experts said the most likely reason for the potentially harmful bacteria festering on so many gadgets was people failing to wash their hands properly with soap after going to the toilet.

17 Oct 2011

Four companies receive NIAID contracts to develop broad-spectrum therapeutics

Four companies are to develop broad-spectrum therapeutics-antibiotics, antivirals and an antitoxin-to prevent or treat diseases caused by multiple types of bacteria or viruses, under contracts awarded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health.

14 Oct 2011