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Morphine for euthanasia is a myth

Using morphine to end a person's life is a myth, argues a senior doctor in a letter to this week's British Medical Journal.

4 Mar 2007

Ink-jet printing of bone

A modified ink-jet printer can be used to directly print layer upon layer of artificial bone for quick-fix grafts used in reconstructive surgery.

4 Mar 2007

Treatment for gum disease could also help the heart

Scientists at University College London (UCL) have conducted the first clinical trial to demonstrate that an intensive treatment for periodontitis (gum disease) directly improves the health of blood vessels.

4 Mar 2007

University of Bristol to create new medical research centre

The University of Bristol has been awarded £2.7 million by the Medical Research Council (MRC) to create a new research centre which will apply knowledge from genetic analyses to large-scale studies of the health of the population. These investigations will aim to find the factors that are causing disease, which can then be influenced to reduce risk.

4 Mar 2007

Hepatitis B found in sweat of Olympic athletes

A researcher in Turkey says hepatitis B may be contracted by means of sweat during contact sports.

1 Mar 2007

New clues may explain why Graves' disease attacks muscle tissue behind eyes

UCLA researchers have uncovered new clues that may explain why Graves' disease (GD) attacks the muscle tissue behind the eyes, often causing them to bulge painfully from their sockets, as in the late actor Marty Feldman.

1 Mar 2007

Sunitinib halts progress of metastatic kidney cancer

Research has shown the efficacy of a pharmaceutical drug known as sunitinib which halts progress of metastatic kidney cancer.

1 Mar 2007

Salty British bread puts 7,000 lives at risk

Health campaigners in Britain say high levels of salt in bread sold in supermarkets is placing 7,000 lives a year at risk.

1 Mar 2007

Increasing number of hospitals banning gift bags containing samples of infant formula

An increasing number of hospitals across the U.S. in an effort to promote breast-feeding are banning free gift bags that contain samples of infant formula, which often are given to women when they leave the hospital after delivery, the Wall Street Journal reports.

1 Mar 2007

About 26% of U.S. girls, women ages 14 to 59 have HPV

Of U.S. women and girls ages 14 to 59, about 24.9 million women, or 26.8%, have the human papillomavirus, and about 2% of women and girls in the age group have HPV strains 16 or 18, which together cause about 70% of cervical cancer cases, according to a study published in the Feb. 28 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association, the Wall Street Journal reports.

1 Mar 2007

Scientists alter electrical properties of cells inducing regeneration

Scientists at Forsyth may have moved one step closer to regenerating human spinal cord tissue by artificially inducing a frog tadpole to re-grow its tail at a stage in its development when it is normally impossible. Using a variety of methods including a kind of gene therapy, the scientists altered the electrical properties of cells thus inducing regeneration.

28 Feb 2007

Exposure to diesel exhaust during commutes poses a serious public health risk

The Boston-based environmental research group reported today that even though we spend only a tiny portion of our day commuting, it's during the commute that we receive more than half our overall exposure to deadly fine particle pollution.

28 Feb 2007

Delays and lack of communication to primary care physicians common after hospital discharge

Primary care physicians often do not receive adequate patient information from the hospital-based physician following discharge, according to a review article in the February 28 issue of JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association.

28 Feb 2007

Link between growth of blood vessels critical to spread of cancer and copper in our bodies

Growing new blood vessels from existing ones - a process called angiogenesis - is important in growth, development and wound healing. But it also enables the spread of tumors throughout the body, so researchers have been scrambling for ways to stop angiogenesis in the fight against cancer.

28 Feb 2007

Vitamin D deficiency widespread among women during pregnancy

Even regular use of prenatal multivitamin supplements is not adequate to prevent vitamin D insufficiency, University of Pittsburgh researchers report in the current issue of the Journal of Nutrition, the publication of the American Society for Nutrition.

28 Feb 2007

Industry funded studies on breast cancer treatments more likely to have positive results

Industry-funded clinical trials of breast cancer medications report more favorable results than nonindustry supported research, according to a study published in the Feb. 26 online edition of the journal Cancer, the New York Times reports (Bakalar, New York Times, 2/27).

28 Feb 2007

California Appellate Court panel upholds constitutionality of State proposition promoting embryonic stem cell research

A three-judge panel of the California First District Court of Appeal in San Francisco on Monday ruled unanimously that California's Proposition 71 -- approved by voters in 2004 to provide $3 billion for human embryonic stem cell research -- is constitutional, the New York Times reports.

28 Feb 2007