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Top 12 health issues facing Australian children

Alarming levels of poorer health within indigenous children and those from lower socio-economic backgrounds tops a new list of 12 major issues threatening the future health of Australia.

10 Oct 2005

Cells inside the hair follicle are true multipotent stem cells

Using an animal model, a research team led by Yann Barrandon at the EPFL (Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne) and the CHUV (Lausanne University Hospital) has discovered that certain cells inside the hair follicle are true multipotent stem cells, capable of developing into the many different cell types needed for hair growth and follicle replacement.

5 Oct 2005

Researchers identify gene defect in mice that causes cyclical hair loss and skin cancer

Researchers at Jefferson Medical College and at the Wadsworth Center in New York have identified a gene defect in mice resulting in a range of abnormalities, from cyclical hair loss and skin cancer to severe problems in normal skin development.

4 Oct 2005

United States has a major weight problem and it will get worse

A large, community-based study -- considered the first study to assess the long-term risk of developing overweight and obesity in adults -- found that over 30 years, nine out of 10 men and seven out of 10 women were overweight or became overweight. In addition, more than one in three were obese or became obese.

4 Oct 2005

The biomedical and sociological effects of sleep restriction

In spring 2005 a large European research and training network was established to investigate the causes and implications of poor sleep from the medical as well as from the social point of view.

3 Oct 2005

100 year old technology to fight MRSA

A technique that has been around for more than one hundred years is being used in new research as a way of killing methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) using light. The research to be reported today at the British Pharmaceutical Conference in Manchester, is being undertaken by researchers from Queen's University Belfast.

28 Sep 2005

Revolutionary new study into the psychology of disfigurement

The Centre for Appearance Research (CAR) at the University of the West of England, Bristol has been awarded a record-breaking half a million pounds by a new charity called the Healing Foundation to fund a new study into the psychology of disfigurement.

28 Sep 2005

Key cellular switch that controls glucose production in liver cells

In many patients with type 2 diabetes, the liver acts like a sugar factory on overtime, churning out glucose throughout the day, even when blood sugar levels are high. Scientists at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies discovered a key cellular switch that controls glucose production in liver cells.

12 Sep 2005

Afghan refugee children and young adults prone to injury

Pakistan is home to 2 million Afghan refugees who fled a communist coup and Soviet occupation in 1978. A study by researchers from the Johns Hopkins University found that Afghan refugees under the age of 29 years experience more injuries than their older counterparts and children in developed countries.

10 Sep 2005

When it comes to pain - mind over matter works

According to experts in the U.S., they have strong scientific proof that mind over matter works for relieving pain.

10 Sep 2005

Spray-on skin to be trialed on burns victims after great results

British doctors are about to conduct the first major trial of "spray-on" skin after the technique saved the life of a man with 90 per cent burns.

7 Sep 2005

When it comes to controlling pain, positive thinking can be as powerful as a shot of morphine

...according to new brain imaging research at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center. Lowering participants' expectations about pain levels reduced both pain-related brain activity and how much pain they felt.

6 Sep 2005

Human tissue grown from stem cells, available for transplant in the next four years

A team of researchers from the University of Liverpool in the UK have embarked on an ambitious project which could see human tissue grown from stem cells, available for transplant in the next four years.

5 Sep 2005

Study provides first steps toward individualized treatment of serious injuries

A multi-institutional research collaborative has begun to decipher the complex interplay of genes that underlies the body's response to major injuries.

1 Sep 2005

When it comes to inflammation, too much of a good thing can be deadly

In some severely injured patients, this normal healing process can develop into a lethal, whole-body response, including bloodstream infection (sepsis) and multiple organ failure. How and why inflammation turns from healing to harming is still mysterious, so doctors can't accurately predict how each injured patient will fare.

31 Aug 2005

Pigment explains why red heads are more at risk of skin cancer

A team of scientists have discovered that tiny chemical differences in how our skin reacts to ultraviolet light could explain why red heads are more likely to suffer skin cancer.

29 Aug 2005

UCI study helps identify one reason why women have lower stroke risk than men

Estrogen's role as an inhibitor of toxic-free radicals in cerebral blood vessels may be a key reason why premenopausal women have a lower stroke risk than men.

26 Aug 2005

Researchers test experimental drug Neuprex on infants undergoing heart surgery

UT Southwestern Medical Center is the only institution in the nation approved by the Food and Drug Administration to test an experimental drug on infants undergoing heart surgery to see whether it can help them avoid potentially lethal infections and improve survival.

22 Aug 2005

New skin from fetal cells great success in children with burns

Swiss researchers have used skin constructed from fetal skin cells to treat eight children with burns.

21 Aug 2005

Decline in energy production by mitochondria appears to be a key problem leading to insulin resistance

A detectable decline in energy production by mitochondria - the organelles that are the cell's furnace for energy production - seems to be a key problem leading to insulin resistance, and thus to type 2 diabetes, according to studies by Howard Hughes Medical Institute researchers.

16 Aug 2005