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Double-punch approach to vaccine design more effective

A study revealing new information about how viral proteins move between cells and alert the immune system suggests that a double-punch approach to vaccine design would make them more effective.

1 Jun 2004

Daily reduction in the flexibility of blood vessels maybe why heart attacks occur in the early morning

Mayo Clinic researchers have discovered a daily reduction in the flexibility of blood vessels, which may help explain why heart attacks and strokes occur most frequently in the early morning hours. The findings are published June 1 in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association.

1 Jun 2004

New UK HIV infection data

In the first three months of 2004, 1389 new diagnoses of HIV infection in the UK were reported. This brought the cumulative total to 62,709 since surveillance began in 1982.

1 Jun 2004

The new European Health Insurance Card explained

The European Health Insurance Card has come into circulation today (1st June 2004). The aim of the card is to simplify procedures for accessing the healthcare system in another Member State.

1 Jun 2004

Yo-yo dieting may have a lasting negative impact on immune function

Yo-yo dieting, in which a person repeatedly loses and regains weight, may have a lasting negative impact on immune function, according to new findings by researchers at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.

1 Jun 2004

Being tired can be as bad as being drunk when driving

"Being tired can be as bad as being drunk, in terms of its effect upon performance," says safety expert, Dr Ann Williamson, who led the study by the University of NSW Injury Risk Management Research Centre.

1 Jun 2004

Novel molecular targeting technologies to deliver gene-silencing therapy

Researchers have combined novel molecular targeting technologies to deliver gene-silencing therapy specifically to tumor cells shielded by a normally impermeable obstacle, the blood brain barrier.

1 Jun 2004

Higher rate of cancer in meat industry

A study of over 6600 meat industry workers around New Zealand has found a significantly high rate of cancers, particularly lung cancer, which may be caused by exposure to cancer causing agents carried by animals.

31 May 2004

There are still benefits from hormone therapy after menopause

Despite the highly publicized closing of the Women’s Health Initiative study, the scientific community should not rule out that women may benefit from hormone therapy after menopause, say researchers at UC Davis, Duke and Harvard Universities.

31 May 2004

Women exposed in adulthood to cytomegalovirus may be at greater risk of breast cancer

A study just published in the prestigious British Journal of Cancer by researchers at the University of Otago's Christchurch School of Medicine and Health Sciences and Dunedin School of Medicine, and the University of Melbourne, has found evidence of a link between a common virus and breast cancer in women under the age of 40 years.

31 May 2004

American Heart reports on acute ischemic stroke and increased risk of bleeding in the brain

High blood levels of a cell-regulating protein in patients with acute ischemic stroke can identify those with an increased risk of bleeding in the brain, according to a report in today’s rapid access issue of Stroke: Journal of the American Heart Association.

27 May 2004

Blueprint for rational design of vaccines that induce desired T-cell responses

Investigators from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, have conducted studies in mice to gain a new picture of how the immune system’s “killer” T cells are prompted to destroy infected cells. Their insights provide a blueprint for rational design of vaccines that induce desired T-cell responses.

27 May 2004

Smoking causes diseases in nearly every organ of the body

U.S. Surgeon General Richard H. Carmona today released a new comprehensive report on smoking and health, revealing for the first time that smoking causes diseases in nearly every organ of the body.

27 May 2004

The Health Protection Agency starts surveillance programme for human cases of West Nile virus infection

The Health Protection Agency is starting its annual enhanced surveillance programme for possible human cases of West Nile virus infection. The scheme, which has been used for the last three years, operates during the summer, when there is West Nile virus activity in other countries.

27 May 2004

Cigarette smoking linked to leukemia

Cigarette smoking has been linked to acute myelogenous leukemia, according to The Health Consequences of Smoking: A Report of the Surgeon General, released today.

27 May 2004

Training in chronic care medicine is poor

In a national survey of practicing family physicians, pediatricians, internists and surgeons, the majority reported that their training in chronic care medicine was too thin overall to meet the demands of their practices.

27 May 2004

Weight loss medication Xenical® more effective than lifestyle changes alone in managing weight

The weight loss medication Xenical® (orlistat) has been shown to be significantly more effective than lifestyle changes alone in managing weight in overweight adolescents, according to new study results presented today at ECO2004, Prague, Czech Republic.

27 May 2004

New study challenges current thinking about varied response to hepatitis C treatment in different racial groups

Results of a new study published in the current issue of the New England Journal of Medicine show that in patients who have chronic hepatitis C, genotype 1 -- the most common form of the disease and difficult to treat successfully -- non-Hispanic whites achieved one of the highest response rates reported to date, but response rates in African Americans were significantly lower.

27 May 2004

Link between oral bacterium and premature babies

For years, scientists have noticed a particular oral bacterium can be found in the amniotic fluid of about 20 percent of women with premature babies.

27 May 2004

Human Genome Sciences has begun dosing patients with chronic hep C drug

Human Genome Sciences, Inc. announced today that it has begun dosing patients in a Phase 2 clinical trial of Albuferon™ (albumin-interferon alpha) in patients with chronic hepatitis C who are naïve to interferon-alpha treatments.

27 May 2004