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A healthy heart means all the usual plus don't fight with your spouse

According to researchers in the U.S. older couples who argue and row harm their hearts.

6 Mar 2006

Trials on MS drug Tysabri renews hope for sufferers

According to the results of two new trials the multiple sclerosis (MS) drug Tysabri significantly reduces the progression of the disease.

5 Mar 2006

Cannabis destroys cancer cells

Researchers investigating the role of cannabis in cancer therapy reveal it has the potential to destroy leukaemia cells, in a paper published in the March 2006 edition of Letters in Drug Design & Discovery.

1 Mar 2006

C-reactive protein helps identify progressive precancerous lesions in the lung

C-reactive protein (CRP), a biomarker for inflammation in the blood, can help to identify individuals whose abnormal precancerous lesions will advance closer to invasive lung cancer.

1 Mar 2006

Better tests needed for fuller view of head injuries

Concussion patients with a normal head CT scan may believe they are free of brain injury, but CT scans often miss damage at the molecular level, warns a University of Rochester Medical Center study.

1 Mar 2006

Study - Increases in weight after adenotonsillectomy in overweight children with obstructive sleep-disorder

A study by a University at Buffalo pediatric researcher investigating the causes of weight gain in children after they have their tonsils and adenoids removed to treat sleep-disordered breathing has shown that removing these tissues results in less fidgeting and other non-exercise motor activity.

1 Mar 2006

Achieving rapid door-to-balloon times: How top hospitals improve complex clinical systems

Some of the key elements for success in the rapid treatment of heart attacks have been identified by researchers at Yale School of Medicine in a recent issue of Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association.

1 Mar 2006

The incidence, distribution, and control of tuberculosis

A reduction in tuberculosis (TB) incidence, prevalence and death rate can be achieved by 2015 in most parts of the world, with the greatest challenges occurring in Africa and Eastern Europe, according to a projection by the Stop TB Department of the World Health Organization.

1 Mar 2006

Overactive thyroid gland linked to increased risk for atrial fibrillation

Having an overactive thyroid gland is linked with an increased risk for atrial fibrillation (a type of abnormal heart rhythm), but neither an over- or under active thyroid gland is associated with a higher risk for other cardiovascular problems or increased risk of death

1 Mar 2006

Study questions whether treatment is necessary for mild thyroid problems

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have found that leaving a mildly underactive thyroid gland (subclinical hypothyroidism) untreated does not lead to increased cardiovascular risk.

1 Mar 2006

Hydrogel scaffold materials used to create stable networks of blood vessels

Yale biomedical engineers have created an implantable system that can form and stabilize a functional network of fine blood vessels critical for supporting tissues in the body, according to a report in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

1 Mar 2006

Surgically menopausal women are at increased risk for low sexual desire

Researchers have published the first-ever multi-cultural prevalence study using multi-dimensional psychometrically valid outcomes to determine if women who undergo surgical menopause have a greater risk of low sexual interest compared with that of pre-menopausal or naturally menopausal women.

1 Mar 2006

Effective oral treatment of erectile dysfunction can improve relationships

The inability to perform sexually can have a significant negative psychosocial impact on a man's overall health including depression, anxiety, and low self-esteem.

1 Mar 2006

Physical symptoms that mark frailty often reversible

In a study to determine how older people progress through different states of frailty, researchers at Yale School of Medicine have found that the physical symptoms that mark frailty are often reversible and therefore amenable to intervention.

1 Mar 2006

Amifostine makes radiation more effective

Doctors in Brazil have concluded that the drug amifostine eases many of the most common side effects associated with patients receiving radiation therapy to treat their cancer while simultaneously making the cancer more susceptible to radiation.

1 Mar 2006

Delayed surgical treatment may combat overtreatment of prostate cancer

Delayed surgical treatment for patients with small, low-grade prostate cancer tumors was not associated with lowered curability, according to a study in the March 1 issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

1 Mar 2006

FDA approves Rituxan (Rituximab)

Rituxan is the first treatment for RA that selectively targets immune cells known as CD20-positive B-cells. Through this unique mechanism of action, Rituxan may affect multiple pathways by which B-cells are believed to contribute to the initiation and development of RA.

1 Mar 2006

Ancient DNA helps unearth potential hemophilia therapy

A cut can be life-threatening for people with hemophilia, whose bodies don't produce enough of a protein that prevents prolonged bleeding.

1 Mar 2006

Ethnicity the most important personal characteristic in predicting complementary medicine use

A survey of older adults in rural North Carolina shows that they widely use complementary medicine therapies, but tend to focus on folk or home remedies, such as taking a daily "tonic" of vinegar or using Epsom salts.

1 Mar 2006

Defective apoptosis of dendritic cells can be a critical component of autoimmune diseases

The failure of programming that sparks the death of dendritic cells - those that activate the immune system - can initiate autoimmune disease, said researchers from Baylor College of Medicine in a report that appears in the current issue of the journal Science.

1 Mar 2006