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Scientists show nuclear protein Ezh2 helps establish previously unknown signaling pathway in cells

Since 2001, scientists have wrestled with the discovery that there are fewer genes in humans than biological processes linked to those genes over the course of a human lifespan. One way to understand genetically coded events is by studying epigenetics, the regulation and heritability of genes at a cellular level due to molecular changes to the many proteins (called histones) that package DNA in a cell's nucleus.

23 May 2005

Hydroxycitric acid delays intestinal glucose absorption - indirect insulin/sugar effect could point to therapeutic effect

In this obesity-obsessed world, the dream ingredient must be something that tastes good enough to be a condiment or flavoring and yet somehow helps us keep our weight down. Consider hydroxycitric acid (HCA), known variously as Brindle berry or Malabar tamarind, which is used in Indian and Thai food as a condiment and flavoring agent.

22 May 2005

FDA recommends approval of the investigational anti-HIV drug tipranavir

Boehringer Ingelheim today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) Antiviral Drugs Advisory Committee recommended the approval of the investigational anti-HIV drug tipranavir (11-3). Tipranavir is a non-peptidic protease inhibitor that requires boosting with low-dose ritonavir and must be used in combination with other antiretroviral agents.

20 May 2005

World Bank and IMF preventing transfer of foreign aid to HIV/AIDS programmes

Multilateral financial organisations that aim to reduce poverty are preventing foreign aid from reaching HIV/AIDS programs in developing countries, states an article in this week’s issue of The Lancet.

19 May 2005

Patients with type 2 diabetes who participate in group education programs require less medication

Group-based education resulted in improved diabetes control as reflected by blood glucose levels and patients’ knowledge of diabetes. Evidence also suggested that participants in diabetes group education programs may reduce their blood pressure and body weight and increase self-empowerment, quality of life, self-management skills and treatment satisfaction.

18 May 2005

Hydroxycitric acid slows glucose uptake, cuts insulin peaks

18 May 2005

Antiretroviral therapy may prevent excess risk of some cancers in people with HIV

In people infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), highly active anti-retroviral therapy (HAART) may prevent most excess cases of Kaposi sarcoma and non-Hodgkin lymphoma, according to a new study in the March 16 issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

18 May 2005

Roche to discontinue the sale and distribution of Fortovase (saquinavir)

Roche announced today that it has decided to discontinue the sale and distribution of Fortovase (saquinavir), as clinical demand for the drug has declined significantly due to the availability of a new formulation of Invirase (saquinavir mesylate), which increasingly has become the preferred formulation of saquinavir.

18 May 2005

Radioimmunotherapy streamlines non-Hodgkin's lymphoma treatment

Researchers at the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California and colleagues have found a way to streamline a new form of treatment for patients with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.

18 May 2005

HIV/AIDS is the biggest killers in every South African province except the Western Cape

A new report by the Medical Research Council in South Africa has quantified the leading causes of death in each province for the first time, and has found that HIV and Aids are the biggest killers in every province except the Western Cape.

17 May 2005

The Gates Foundation approach to the world's health problems has its critics

A recent article in The Lancet criticized the premise that a Grand Challenge to scientific and technological know-how is the best route to combating malaria, HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and other diseases that kills millions of people each year.

16 May 2005

New drug which quickly dissolves blood clots and returns circulation to normal

Cardiovascular patients now have a greater chance of surviving heart attacks after Chinese scientists developed a new drug which quickly dissolves blood clots and returns circulation to normal.

15 May 2005

Humans more prone to cancer than chimpanzees

Chimpanzees and humans share a common ancestor, and even today 99 percent of the two species' DNA is identical. But since the paths of man and chimp diverged 5 million years ago, that one percent of genetic difference appears to have changed humans in an unexpected way: It could have made people more prone to cancer.

15 May 2005

Aspirin aids recovery following heart bypass surgery

Many patients who regularly take aspirin to thin their blood prior to undergoing coronary artery bypass surgery, have in the past been told to stop the aspirin a week before the operation, but new research has found that they may be better off taking it.

11 May 2005

UK needs to end reliance on overseas doctors and nurses

Health bodies in the UK are warning that there is a "major emergency" in the developing world due to the the increasing migration of healthcare workers.

11 May 2005

Earlier treatment of perinatal HIV associated with decreased HIV progression

In a study in the May 11 JAMA, earlier treatment of children with HIV infection with ART is associated with less HIV progression and improved survival rates.

10 May 2005

Asymptomatic HIV-infected newborns may benefit from early drug treatment

Identifying and treating HIV-infected newborns is a race against the clock, according to a study from the Stanford University School of Medicine and Lucile Packard Children's Hospital.

10 May 2005

BMA calls for mass child vaccinations for hepatitis B virus (HBV)

The British Medical Association (BMA) has today called for all children in the UK to be immunised against a potentially fatal liver disease caused by the hepatitis B virus (HBV).

9 May 2005

Men with HIV combat stigma, stress with Mom's love

Despite fears of shame and stigma, most HIV-positive men choose to confide their health status to their mothers, according to a new University of Florida study. When deciding whether to tell, the men’s need for their mothers’ emotional and socioeconomic support outweighed those fears, researchers found.

8 May 2005

FDA seeks to ban gay men from donating sperm

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA), to the dismay of gay-rights activists, is recommending that any man who has had sex with another man in the previous five years be barred from serving as an anonymous sperm donor.

8 May 2005