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New HIV drug will help millions

Statistics released by the World Health Organisation (WHO) indicate that as many as 33 million people worldwide are currently living with the HIV virus which also killed 2 million people in 2007.

20 Jan 2008

Abortions down in U.S. and everyone wonders why

The study by Guttmacher Institute researchers found that in 2005 the total number of abortions fell to a total of 1.2 million in 2005, way below the all-time high of 1.6 million abortions in 1990.

20 Jan 2008

Bird flu spreads in India

The latest bird-flu outbreak in India has now spread to two new districts in West Bengal, Nadia and Bardhaman where more dead birds have been found.

20 Jan 2008

British scientists given go-ahead for human-animal embryo research

Scientists in Britain have been given the go-ahead to create human-animal hybrid embryos for research.

20 Jan 2008

Untreated blood disorder leads to liver cancer and arthritis

Australian researchers have discovered that more than one quarter of men with hemochromatosis develop liver cancer, arthritis and other complications.

20 Jan 2008

Arthritis drug Etanercept clears up symptoms of psoriasis

New research from the United States has found that a drug commonly used to treat arthritis significantly reduces the symptoms of psoriasis in children.

20 Jan 2008

Selective publication means unfavorable drug studies rarely get published

A new report claims that almost a third of the research done on antidepressant drugs is never published in medical literature and most of those unpublished reports are unfavorable.

20 Jan 2008

National High Magnetic Field Lab receives $2 million to tackle tuberculosis

About 5,000 people around the world die from tuberculosis every day, but no effective new drugs have been developed to combat it in 40 years.

18 Jan 2008

Previously unknown Merkel cell polyomavirus linked to deadly skin cancer

A new strategy to hunt for human viruses described in this week's issue of the journal Science by the husband-and-wife team who found the cause of Kaposi's sarcoma has revealed a previously unknown virus strongly associated with another rare but deadly skin cancer called Merkel cell carcinoma.

18 Jan 2008

New genetic test for prostate cancer

Men with susceptibility for prostate cancer will soon be identifiable through a simple DNA test.

18 Jan 2008

Scientists uncover role of cancer stem cell marker: controlling gene expression

Scientists at Jefferson's Kimmel Cancer Center in Philadelphia have made an extraordinary advance in the understanding of the function of a gene previously shown to be part of an 11-gene "signature" that can predict which tumors will be aggressive and likely to spread.

18 Jan 2008

Hospitals commit to ambitious quality, safety and patient satisfaction goals

Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) and Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital-Needham (BID-Needham) are taking unprecedented steps to commit each hospital to attain specific patient safety and satisfaction goals that would establish a new standard of care at each facility.

18 Jan 2008

Europe should adopt WHO recommendations for particulate matter cuts

Europe must adopt the World Health Organization (WHO) standard on fine particulate matter pollution if it is to significantly curb needless premature deaths, concludes research in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health.

18 Jan 2008

Current state of the art in glycoscience

Sugars were once credited with magical healing powers but are now seen like salt as an evil necessary in small doses but the cause of numerous diseases such as diabetes if taken in excess.

18 Jan 2008

Discovery opens door to 'personalized' asthma therapy

In the last few years, "personalized medicine" using genetic or other molecular biology-based diagnostic tests to customize treatment for a particular patient has emerged as a powerful new tool for health care.

18 Jan 2008

Diet and lifestyle critical to recovery

Diet and lifestyle may play a much more significant role in a person's ability to respond favourably to certain drugs, including some cancer therapies, than previously understood, say scientists.

From The University of Manchester 18 Jan 2008

Contact lenses with imprinted electronic circuit and lights

Movie characters from the Terminator to the Bionic Woman use bionic eyes to zoom in on far-off scenes, have useful facts pop into their field of view, or create virtual crosshairs.

18 Jan 2008

Previously unknown chromosomal abnormalities play substantial role in autism

Genome-wide scans of families affected by autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have revealed new evidence that previously unknown chromosomal abnormalities have a substantial role in the prevalent developmental disorder, according to a report published online Jan. 17th in the American Journal of Human Genetics, a publication of Cell Press.

18 Jan 2008

Cancer stem cell marker also drives transcription in normal cells

New research links the recently discovered function of a multi-faceted transcriptional complex to control of gene expression in both normal cells and cancer stem cells.

18 Jan 2008

Calcium and vitamin D is more effective than calcium alone in preventing bone loss in elderly women

Previous studies have shown that high calcium intake can help prevent bone loss. This latest study, however, demonstrated that calcium therapy, although initially successful at preventing bone loss, was no different from placebo after three or five years.

18 Jan 2008