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Half of all Australians still believe a tan is healthy

New research showing half of all Australians still believe a tan is healthy has added to cancer experts’ fears of a prolonged national skin cancer epidemic.

6 Oct 2004

Call for elderly and children to be vaccinated first in response to flu vaccine shortage

Just one week after being reassured by corporate and federal officials that the United States would have a record supply of flu vaccine available, the Chairman of the U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging reacted sharply today concerning the nation’s pending flu vaccine shortage.

5 Oct 2004

Balance between vasodilation and vasoconstriction in exercising muscle may change with age

The “fight or flight” mechanism is one of the best-known physiological responses. It increases our ability to respond to stressful situations. One way to look at exercise – physiologically -- is as a non-life-threatening example of a stressful situation.

5 Oct 2004

Researchers to develop dietary agents to reduce risk of cataracts for astronauts

Astronauts are at increased risk of cataracts because of space radiation. In fact, it is estimated during a long space flight to Mars and back, about one quarter of the crew would become blind because of space radiation-induced cataracts. Other groups which are at increased risk are jet crews, radiation workers and radiation accident cleanup workers.

5 Oct 2004

Reliability theory explains human aging

The quest to understand and control aging has led University of Chicago biologists Leonid Gavrilov and Natalia Gavrilova to draw inspiration from what might seem an unlikely source: reliability engineering.

4 Oct 2004

Patent pending discovery could help type 2 diabetics

Scientists from MitoChroma Research have recently announced a patent-pending discovery that could complement current medical management modalities for Type 2 Diabetes, insulin resistance and the set of related conditions called "Metabolic Syndrome."

4 Oct 2004

First U.S. program to allow citizens to purchase lower cost, safe prescription drugs from Europe and Canada

Illinois Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich and Congressman Rahm Emanuel (D-Chicago) were joined in Chicago today by Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle to launch the new I-SaveRx prescription drug importation program -- the first program in the nation to allow citizens to purchase lower cost, safe prescription drugs from Europe and Canada.

4 Oct 2004

New national resource for medical researchers to be known as the Center on Proteolytic Pathways

The National Institutes of Health (“NIH”) has selected The Burnham Institute to develop a national resource for medical researchers to be known as the “Center on Proteolytic Pathways”.

4 Oct 2004

Unrecognized iron deficiency can impair immunity in older women

Iron deficiency, which can masquerade as routine, old-age symptoms, was found to impair measures of immunity from 28 percent to 50 percent in a group of seemingly healthy, well-nourished, homebound, older women, age 60 and above, in a Penn State study.

29 Sep 2004

Last year over 36,000 Americans died from exposure to the flu

Another 200,000 people were hospitalized with symptoms of the illness. The flu and pneumonia (the most common complication of the flu) combined are the fifth leading cause of death among Americans age 65 and older.

29 Sep 2004

Chiron CEO to appear before the U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging

Chiron Corporation announced that president and chief executive officer Howard Pien will appear before the U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging in Washington, D.C., today in a hearing titled, "Combating the Flu: Keeping Seniors Alive."

28 Sep 2004

Findings have implications for understanding psychiatric and neurological disease that affect the hippocampus

Spatial memory is more vulnerable than object recognition memory when damage occurs in the brain’s memory processing center, the hippocampus, according to memory specialists at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) School of Medicine

27 Sep 2004

Prostate cancer treatment leads to declines in sexual and urinary function

Treatment for prostate cancer leads to significant five-year declines in sexual and urinary function, according to a new study. However, general and other specific health-related quality of life factors, such as bowel function, are not affected.

27 Sep 2004

Medicare drug card savings growing, new data show

Seniors are now saving more money with the new Medicare-approved drug discount cards, the nation’s top Medicare official announced today at a forum held by the U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging.

23 Sep 2004

First generation of human retinal cells in the laboratory from human embryonic stem cells

Some of these retinal tissues such as Retinal Pigment Epithelium (RPE) may provide a novel therapeutic strategy for such devastating diseases as macular degeneration, retinitis pigmentosa, and other retinal degenerative diseases.

23 Sep 2004

Research shows how psychosocial factors can bring on rapid decline in health

Why do some older people experience a rapid decline in their physical and functional health while some of their peers remain healthy and active?

22 Sep 2004

University of Arizona spin-off investigates DNA damage to human skin

Niadyne, Inc., a Tucson-based spin-off biopharmaceutical company co-founded by two University of Arizona professors, has received a Small Business Innovation Research grant of nearly $750,000 to continue investigating the prevention of DNA damage to human skin

22 Sep 2004

Mediterranean diet lowers risk of all-causes of death

Individuals 70 to 90 years old who adhered to a Mediterranean-type diet and several healthy lifestyle habits had a more than 50 percent lower death rate than those who did not, according to a study in the September 22/29 issue of JAMA.

21 Sep 2004

Walking helps elderly men stave off dementia and Alzheimer's disease

Elderly men who are sedentary or walk less than a quarter of a mile per day are nearly twice as likely to develop dementia and Alzheimer's disease compared to men who walk more than two miles per day, according to a study of over 2,200 Japanese-American men in Hawaii.

21 Sep 2004

Streptococcus bacteria uses sword and shield to fight white blood cells

A single gene called cylE within the important bacterial pathogen Group B Streptococcus (GBS), controls two factors that act together as a “sword” and “shield” to protect the bacteria from the killing effects of the immune system’s white blood cells

21 Sep 2004