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Physiotherapists and pharmacists can help reduce knee pain and reliance on painkillers

Older people with knee pain who receive their main care from physiotherapists and pharmacists are more likely to experience improvements in pain levels and knee function, and are less likely to need NSAIDs (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, eg asprin and ibuprofen), according to a BMJ study.

23 Oct 2006

1,500 animal species practice homosexuality

Homosexuality is quite common in the animal kingdom, especially among herding animals. Many animals solve conflicts by practicing same gender sex.

23 Oct 2006

Further European investment in genomics

The Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) has announced continued funding, from 2007 to 2012, for its three research centres, CESAGen, EGENIS and INNOGEN, that, along with the ESRC Genomics Policy and Research Forum, make up the ESRC Genomics Network.

23 Oct 2006

Improvements in health education will not be sufficient to tackle the obesity crisis in Europe

The two-year study, which involved collecting the views of key stakeholders in nine EU countries that all show rising obesity, calls for a package of measures to deal with the issue.

23 Oct 2006

Mobile phone use should be banned in cars altogether

Hands-free mobile phones have failed to make the roads safer according to a University of Sussex psychologist.

23 Oct 2006

Flu vaccinations in Israel back on

According to Israeli health officials the deaths of four men who had received a flu jab were not connected to the vaccination and the flu vaccination programme will now be resumed.

23 Oct 2006

Evolutionary connection between food supply and brain size

In a study of orangutans living on the Indonesian islands of Borneo and Sumatra, scientists from Duke University and the University of Zurich have found what they say is the first demonstration in primates of an evolutionary connection between available food supplies and brain size.

23 Oct 2006

New smart anti-microbial approach to preventing tooth decay

Preventing cavities could one day involve the dental equivalent of a military surgical strike. A team of researchers supported by the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research report they have created a new smart anti-microbial treatment that can be chemically programmed in the laboratory to seek out and kill a specific cavity-causing species of bacteria, leaving the good bacteria untouched.

23 Oct 2006

Health hazards of global warming

Global warming could do more to hurt your health than simply threaten summertime heat stroke, says a public health physician.

23 Oct 2006

Period 2 gene - key component of the circadian time-keeping system

By investigating how animals can predict the timing of food availability, researchers have identified the first gene critical for anticipation of mealtime. This gene, called Period 2, is a key component of the circadian time-keeping system.

23 Oct 2006

Ecology of microbial invasions

Infectious disease can play a key role in mediating the outcome of competition between rival groups, as seen in the effects of disease-bearing conquistadors in the New World - or, on a much smaller ecological scale, the ability of bacteria to spread their viruses to competing bacteria.

23 Oct 2006

Identifying breast cancer patients most likely to benefit from Aromatase Inhibitor Therapy after adjuvant radiation and Tamoxifen

While some breast cancer survivors could benefit from adding aromatase inhibitors to the standard five years of tamoxifen, a new study shows the additional therapy should be weighed carefully for each individual.

23 Oct 2006

Older mothers cope just as well with a new baby

Californian scientists have found that women who become mothers after age 50 are physically and mentally as capable of fulfilling the role of a good mother as women who are much younger.

23 Oct 2006

Bias and accuracy of children's perceptions of peer acceptance

Children who can accurately assess how their classmates feel about them -- even if those feelings are negative -- are less likely to show symptoms of depression, according to Florida State University researchers.

23 Oct 2006

Study identifies different species of North American birds that could transmit bird flu

University of Georgia researchers have found that the common wood duck and laughing gull are very susceptible to highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza viruses and have the potential to transmit them.

23 Oct 2006

New imaging technique reveals differences in brains of people with autism

Using a new form of brain imaging known as diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), researchers in the Center for Cognitive Brain Imaging at Carnegie Mellon University have discovered that the so-called white matter in the brains of people with autism has lower structural integrity than in the brains of normal individuals.

23 Oct 2006

Peripheral arterial disease could predict life or death in heart patients

A growing health problem affecting older Americans puts them at higher risk for dying after heart surgery and other interventional procedures, such as heart catheterizations, according to findings published in the current edition of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology and co-authored by two leading University of Kentucky cardiologists.

23 Oct 2006

Compliance with medications lowers health care costs

Patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) who take medications as directed have decreased medical costs, researchers from the University of Chicago researchers report at the American College of Gastroenterology annual scientific meeting in Las Vegas. A second study from the same group, however, suggests that there is no simple way to improve compliance.

23 Oct 2006

New biologic treatment for tennis elbow

A person suffering from tennis elbow may not have to look any further than his or her own body for the most effective treatment, according to a study published in the November issue of The American Journal of Sports Medicine.

23 Oct 2006

Common gene variant increases risk of developing diabetes

Carrying two copies of a common variant of a particular gene doubles your chances of developing diabetes and puts you in a similar risk category to being clinically obese, according to a collaborative study led by UCL (University College London) researchers.

23 Oct 2006