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U.S., WHO sign MOU to help nations support International Health Regulations

The U.S. and the WHO on Monday signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) "to help developing nations strengthen their capabilities to support the International Health Regulations (IHR)," which is "an international agreement that requires WHO Member States to prevent and respond to acute public health risks that have the potential to cross borders and threaten people worldwide," according to a State Department press release.

21 Sep 2011

ASU scientists receive USDA grants to combat food-related illness

Roughly 1 in six Americans are sickened every year by food-borne ailments, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The effects of these illnesses range from acutely unpleasant to lethal, and the problem may be getting worse, as our food supply becomes more global, with an increasing number of antibiotic-resistant pathogens.

21 Sep 2011

Three reports evaluate global progress to meet MDGs 4 and 5

Three recent reports -- a one-year assessment released by the Partnership for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health of the WHO on Tuesday, an analysis by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington published on Tuesday in the Lancet, and a Save the Children report released on Monday entitled "No Child out of Reach" -- examine the progress of the global campaign to save mothers and children under five in developing nations and evaluate whether Millennium Development Goals 4 and 5, reducing child mortality by two-thirds between 1990 and 2015 and maternal deaths by three-quarters over the same period, can be met.

21 Sep 2011

UNC's new nanoparticle shows potential for cancer chemotherapy

A new type of nanoparticle developed in the laboratories at the University of North Carolina has shown potential for more effective delivery of chemotherapy to treat cancer.

21 Sep 2011

McDonald’s loses heart health ‘tick’ of approval

McDonald's will lose the right to display the National Heart Foundation of Australia's Tick on foods marketed as healthy options. The fast food giant pays about $300,000 a year so it can put the trademarked Tick next to fish burgers, salads and chicken wraps. But the Heart Foundation has told McDonald's it is removing the company's right to use the Tick, which has been used to promote its foods over the past five years.

21 Sep 2011

Woman with two wombs gives birth to miracle twins

A Florida woman with a rare medical condition has delivered twins -- one from each of her two uteruses. The 24-year-old mother, Andreea Barbosa and her husband, Miguel, conceived the twins without reproductive medicine. Nathan and Natalie Barbosa were born Sept. 15 at Morton Plant Hospital in Clearwater. They join 2-year-old sister, Izabella.

21 Sep 2011

World leaders should commit to closing health care worker gap

Recent U.N. statistics showing a drop in child mortality are both good and bad, because the number of child deaths continues to drop, but "progress isn't reaching all families around the world, and it isn't reaching newborn babies as often as older children," Joy Lawn, director of Global Evidence and Policy for Save the Children's Saving Newborn Lives program, writes in a GlobalPost opinion piece.

21 Sep 2011

Yoghurt consumption whilst pregnant linked to asthma and hay fever in offsping

Women who eat low-fat yoghurt while pregnant increase their chances of having children who develop asthma and hay fever, a study has found. Belief till now was completely the opposite.

21 Sep 2011

Children of parents with drink problem may consume more alcohol after stressful situations

If either of your parents has a drink problem, there is a greater risk that you will consume more alcohol after stressful situations, reveals current research from the Sahlgrenska Academy, at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden.

21 Sep 2011

Bird flu strikes Eastern India yet again as culling operations begin

On Tuesday, the federal government in India announced that it had ordered poultry farms in the eastern part of the country to cull chickens and destroy eggs to rein in an new outbreak of bird flu.

21 Sep 2011

Antivirals from shark cartilage compound squalamine

A unique compound originally isolated from sharks could prove to be a promising treatment for hepatitis B and C and other viral diseases, researchers say. Known as squalamine, the drug has not yet been tested as an antiviral agent in humans, but it has been given to hundreds of people enrolled in clinical trials designed to test its usefulness for other conditions. Researchers say they hope to begin human trials to test the compound’s antiviral activity within the next year.

21 Sep 2011

Polio in China

Polio has spread to China for the first time since 1999 after being imported from Pakistan, the World Health Organization (WHO) has confirmed. It said a strain of polio (WPV1) found in China was genetically linked with the type now circulating in Pakistan. At least seven cases have now been confirmed in China's western Xinjiang province, which borders Pakistan.

21 Sep 2011

Impotence after prostate cancer treatment

According to researchers patients undergoing treatment for prostate cancer could be at a risk of impotence. According to the new study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association there may be a formula to help gauge those risks for three common types of treatment, including surgery and radiation.

21 Sep 2011

New organ donation rules under consideration

Surgeons retrieving organs for transplant just after a donor's heart stops beating would no longer have to wait at least two minutes to be sure the heart doesn't spontaneously start beating again under new rules being considered by the group that coordinates organ allocation in the United States.

21 Sep 2011

Prediction models may effectively identify erectile function after prostate cancer surgery

The development of prediction models that included variables such as pretreatment sexual function, patient characteristics and treatment factors appear to be effective at predicting erectile function 2 years after prostatectomy, external radiotherapy, or brachytherapy for prostate cancer, according to a study in the September 21 issue of JAMA.

21 Sep 2011

CRANN partnership with Merck Millipore on research

CRANN, the Science Foundation Ireland funded nanoscience research institute, based at Trinity College Dublin, has today announced a new commercial partnership worth over €130,000 with Merck Millipore, a biotech and pharmaceutical company based in Cork. As part of the research programmes, CRANN will assist Merck Millipore to further develop the nanostructures of their products’ artificial membranes, that are widely used for medical and diagnostic devices, and to deliver new products with improved membrane performances. Artificial membranes are used in a wide array of products such as lab filtration devices, antibody screening kits and blood typing products.

21 Sep 2011

Pakistan officials move to contain dengue epidemic that has infected thousands

"On top of a raging insurgency and devastating seasonal floods, Pakistan is reeling from a particularly acute outbreak of dengue fever that has left local authorities scrambling to contain the epidemic" and has put a strain on the health care system, the Washington Post reports, adding that the disease "has already infected thousands across the country and killed as many as two dozen people."

21 Sep 2011

UAB surgeons perform second toe-to-thumb transplant

Cary Ramey has the word Carpe tattooed on the underside of his right wrist and Diem tattooed on the left. He loves extreme sports, especially mountain biking and "rock climbing without the ropes."

21 Sep 2011

World leaders unanimously approve NCD political declaration

World leaders attending the first-ever U.N. High-level Meeting on Non-communicable Diseases (NCDs) kicked off the summit on Monday by "unanimously approving a 'political declaration' meant to stem a rising tide of NCDs, now the world's leading killer," CNN reports.

21 Sep 2011

AIDS 2012 CCC selects Turning The Tide Together as theme for XIX international conference

The AIDS 2012 Conference Coordinating Committee (CCC) have selected Turning The Tide Together as the theme for the XIX International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2012), which will be held in Washington, D.C. from 22 - 27 July 2012.

21 Sep 2011