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Fat interferes with body's sugar sensors to trigger type 2 diabetes

Researchers from the United States have identified how a high-fat diet can trigger type 2 diabetes, in experiments on mice and human tissue. They reveal in their study published in the journal Nature Medicine that fat interferes with the body's sugar sensors. The authors add that deeper understanding of the processes involved could help them develop a cure.

15 Aug 2011

Arrythmia drug may work in stroke prevention: Study

The latest research has revealed that a new drug for treating people with an irregular heartbeat has fewer side effects than the standard treatment and is just as good at cutting the risk of stroke. Rivaroxaban, which is easier for people to take, is as effective as warfarin at preventing blood clots and thus lowering the risk of stroke for patients with atrial fibrillation say researchers.

15 Aug 2011

Britain’s hospital waits increase

According to the latest figures, the number of patients waiting more than four hours for treatment in accident and emergency departments has almost doubled in the space of a year. Figures show 161,422 patients were left waiting over four hours for major A&E treatment between April and June 2011 – 91% more than during the same period in 2010. A broader measure including minor injuries units and walk-in centres was also up 90%, to 165,279.

15 Aug 2011

Vampire bat causes rabies

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced the first death linked to a vampire bat. The victim’s mother reported that her son was bitten by a vampire bat on his heel while he was sleeping. At the time, the bite was not reported or treated in Mexico, where the bite occurred.

15 Aug 2011

Increase in public awareness leads to lower obesity in children

Increasing public awareness of the childhood obesity epidemic may be contributing to evidence of overall reductions in body mass index (BMI), a measure of obesity in children, according to the results of a nationwide study presented in Childhood Obesity, a peer-reviewed journal published by Mary Ann Liebert, Inc.

12 Aug 2011

Multi-prong approach needed to fight famine in Somalia

"The Obama administration deserves credit for acting in advance to ameliorate the effects" of drought in East Africa, a New York Times editorial states, noting that USAID has been working since last summer, when the crisis was predicted, to "plac[e] food and other supplies in Kenya, Djibouti and South Africa" and "working on programs to help Somalia and other countries improve food production to avert future crises."

12 Aug 2011

Kineta's next generation antiviral program receives $2.8 million NIH SBIR grant

Kineta, Inc. announced today its next generation antiviral program has received a 2.8 million dollar grant from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease, a part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Awarded under the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program, the prestigious phase two grant will provide on-going support for Kineta's work on a new class of antiviral drugs targeting an array of global, deadly viruses.

12 Aug 2011

Mixed reports from aid organizations in Somalia after al-Shabab pulls out of Mogadishu

The news from the Horn of Africa is "mixed," NPR's "All Things Considered" reports, adding, "More food is getting through and security has improved for now, but tens of thousands of children have already died and many more are at risk." According to NPR, "Aid groups were pleased last week when al-Shabab, which the U.S. considers a terrorist organization, pulled out of the capital, Mogadishu. That made a dangerous country a little bit less so for aid workers".

12 Aug 2011

National Center for Toxicological Research celebrates 40th birthday

A federal research center established by President Nixon in the Cold War era is celebrating its 40th birthday and its reputation as one of the world's premier science centers.

12 Aug 2011

Highlights: Appeals court upholds Ariz. abortion law; Ga. offers premium discount to workers in wellness programs

An Arizona appeals court ruled Thursday to allow key parts of a state law restricting abortions to take effect, including one that requires women to see a doctor in person the day before getting an abortion to hear about risks and alternatives.

12 Aug 2011

NCTR and state of Arkansas enter MOU to establish virtual Center of Excellence for Regulatory Science

An agreement to establish a virtual Center of Excellence for Regulatory Science was signed today between the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's National Center for Toxicological Research (NCTR) and the state of Arkansas.

12 Aug 2011

Clinton announces additional $17M for Horn of Africa, urges long-term investment in agriculture, food aid

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Thursday announced in a speech at the International Food Policy Research Institute that the U.S. has pledged an additional $17 million in emergency food aid to the Horn of Africa, with $12 million going to humanitarian operations in Somalia, VOA News reports.

12 Aug 2011

UH, Centerre Healthcare partner to construct new rehabilitation hospital in Beachwood

University Hospitals (UH) in Cleveland, OH, and Nashville-based Centerre Healthcare Corporation announced today a joint venture to construct a comprehensive inpatient rehabilitation hospital in Beachwood, OH.

12 Aug 2011

Maternal mortality rate in South Sudan estimated to be highest worldwide

The maternal mortality rate in Africa's newest nation, South Sudan, is estimated to be more than 2,000 maternal deaths per 100,000 births, "the highest in the world," MediaGlobal reports. "'In South Sudan, a woman has a bigger chance of dying during childbirth than to go to high school,' Jane Coyne, program manager from Medicins Sans Frontieres, told MediaGlobal," the news service writes.

12 Aug 2011

Faith influences health behaviors of American Muslim patients

The perceived role of God in illness and recovery is a primary influence upon the health care beliefs and behaviors of American Muslims, a first-of-its-kind study has discovered. Outreach and education efforts by the health care community can help address Muslim concerns and improve health care quality in this rapidly growing population, the report recommends.

12 Aug 2011

Lancet launches Global Health Portal

The Lancet has launched a Global Health Portal, which "offers free and unlimited access to all global health content in one location including Series, Regional Reports, multimedia content, and from our World Report and Perspectives sections," according to the journal's homepage.

12 Aug 2011

Episodic memory depends on the hippocampus

Memory is not a single process but is made up of several sub-processes relying on different areas of the brain. Episodic memory, the ability to remember specific events such as what you did yesterday, is known to be vulnerable to brain damage involving the hippocampus. The question is, what happens when damage to the hippocampus occurs very early in life?

12 Aug 2011

Pro-eugenic Yale psychologist's deception discovered

A University of New Hampshire researcher has discovered that a former Yale professor who espoused pro-eugenic beliefs manipulated his research findings so he could conclude that his Wisconsin home town was overflowing with mentally and morally "unfit" people.

12 Aug 2011

HIV prevention must include economic empowerment of women

"Transactional sex, sexual intercourse driven by material exchanges," occurs worldwide, but "[i]n poor regions with high HIV prevalence rates like sub-Saharan Africa … transactional sex poses an even higher threat to one's wellbeing and health because the chance of HIV infection is greater," Daniella Choi, staff member at the Center for Strategic & International Studies, writes in CSIS' Commission on Smart Global Health Policy blog.

12 Aug 2011

NAI reaches settlement with VPX over beta-alanine patent litigation

Natural Alternatives International, Inc., a leading formulator, manufacturer and marketer of customized nutritional supplements, today announced that it reached a settlement with one of the defendants to litigation pending before the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware, Vital Pharmaceutical, Inc..

12 Aug 2011