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From potent painkillers to humble cough syrups, the same medicines that help patients misused by teens

From potent painkillers to humble cough syrups, the same medicines that can help patients can also be misused to produce a high feeling. And they can hurt teens or hook them into addiction just as easily as other illicit drugs.

1 Jul 2004

Mucus may be the key to new treatments for cystic fibrosis

The surprising finding that people with cystic fibrosis (CF) produce too little airway mucus – rather than too much, as it commonly believed

1 Jul 2004

Testing for the SARS coronavirus by using a patients tear drops

A team of ophthalmologists, virologists and infectious disease specialists from the National University Hospital, Singapore, Tan Tock Seng Hospital and Singapore General Hospital made their discovery working with teardrops taken from 36 patients in April last year. All of the 36 were suspected of having SARS.

22 Jun 2004

Lingering outbreak of pertussis in four Chicago-area counties

Dr. Eric E. Whitaker, state public health director, today urged parents to ensure their children have been properly immunized against this highly contagious disease and asked that persons exhibiting symptoms to immediately seek medical care.

20 Jun 2004

Results from study of Rituxan in rheumatoid arthritis show promise

Genentech, Inc., Biogen Idec and Roche have announced that the New England Journal of Medicine published the results of a Phase IIa study showing that two doses of Rituxan® (Rituximab), administered two weeks apart, improved symptoms in patients with moderate-to-severe rheumatoid arthritis (RA) for up to 48 weeks when combined with methotrexate (MTX), compared to MTX alone.

16 Jun 2004

Drug Tarceva improves survival chance for patients with advanced lung cancer

Roche OSI Pharmaceuticals and Genentech today announced that their investigational drug Tarceva(TM) (erlotinib) achieved a significant 42.5% improvement in median survival compared to placebo in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

5 Jun 2004

Health-care providers can now review and update immunization records for patients online

Health-care providers can now review and update immunization records for patients online using the new and improved Web-based CHILD Profile Immunization Registry. The system is operated by the Department of Health and makes it easier for health-care professionals to keep track of immunization records.

25 May 2004

Pulsed-dye laser surgery for voice disorders better all round

The newly developed pulsed-dye laser surgery for voice disorders has been found to be faster, cheaper, better tolerated, and less complicated than standard surgery that requires general anesthesia, more time and a longer recovery, surgeons reported here today at an international conference on problems associated with laryngopharyngeal reflux.

21 May 2004

What's the fourth biggest killer in America? Over 51% of Americans don't know either

More than half of Americans (51 percent) have never even heard of a disease that is the fourth leading killer in this country, according to results of a nationwide survey released today by the National Women’s Health Resource Center (NWHRC).

11 May 2004

Chronic respiratory symptoms are prominent among Alaska Native children

Chronic respiratory symptoms are prominent among Alaska Native children in the Yukon-Kuskokwim delta (YK delta) region of Alaska, with symptoms varying greatly within the geographic location.

10 May 2004

Australian expansion of school-based Meningococcal C Vaccination program

Australian Minister for Health, Morris Iemma today announced the expansion of the NSW school-based Meningococcal C Vaccination program to include immunisation for high school students in the new school term

5 May 2004

New research shows public health consequences of 9/11 disaster

Longitudinal studies of firefighters, rescue workers and other personnel who responded to the collapse of the World Trade Center following the September 11, 2001 attacks have confirmed the presence of a positive relationship between the intensity and duration of their exposures to airborne pollutants and the severity of their pulmonary symptoms.

3 May 2004

Intranasal influenza vaccine may help induce broader immunity in children than the traditional flu shot

MedImmune, Inc. has announced clinical data showing that a live, attenuated intranasal influenza vaccine (LAIV) may help induce broader immunity in children against drifted influenza strains when compared to the traditional flu shot (TIV).

2 May 2004

Immunization back on agenda as whooping cough increases

Immunization for pertussis, also known as whooping cough, began in the mid-1940s and resulted in a sharp decline of this serious illness over the next 25 years. Over the last two decades, however, as immunity has waned, pertussis has re-emerged in the United States, with the greatest increase seen in adolescents, adults and young infants.

1 May 2004

People infected with anthrax continued to report health problems, poor life adjustment, and psychological distress

In 2001, bioterrorist activities involving the U.S. Postal Service infected 22 individuals with Bacillus anthracis (anthrax), according to background information in the article. Six survivors had inhalational anthrax and 11 cutaneous anthrax disease. Little is known about potential long-term health effects of bioterrorism-related anthrax infection.

29 Apr 2004

Canada kicks off National Immunization Awareness Week

Marking National Immunization Awareness Week, Canada's health ministers today encouraged parents and care givers across the country to have their children immunized.

28 Apr 2004

Inspire announces positive results in cystic fibrosis study

Inspire Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced top-line results in a Phase II study of INS37217 Respiratory in patients with mild cystic fibrosis (CF) lung disease.

27 Apr 2004

Morning cough six times more likely to disappear if you stop smoking

It seems logical enough: if you stop smoking, there is every chance that certain tobacco-related complaints will improve or even disappear. Yet no long-term study has ever been undertaken to confirm or disprove this piece of folk wisdom. A cohort study to be published in April's European Respiratory Journal (ERJ) will now fill that gap.

27 Apr 2004

Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) overview

Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) is an atypical form of pneumonia that first appeared in November 2002 in Guangdong Province, China.

24 Apr 2004

First Chinese case of case of SARS since January 2004

On April 22, 2004, the Chinese Ministry of Health reported a possible case of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) in a 20-year-old woman who works as a nurse in a hospital in Beijing. If confirmed, this will be the first case of SARS since January 2004, when Chinese health authorities confirmed SARS coronavirus (SARS-CoV) infection in three persons in Guangdong Province.

23 Apr 2004