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Education lessens the effects of Alzheimer's

The scientists from the Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, say their research supports the 'cognitive reserve' hypothesis and individuals with levels of higher education levels score higher on cognitive tests despite having Alzheimer's disease.

10 Nov 2008

Families contesting wills mean charities miss out on bequests

According to a new study many charities never see the money left to them because more families are contesting wills following death.

10 Nov 2008

Food allergies are on the rise but effective treatment in the pipeline

Experts in the U.S. say food allergies are on the rise and although strict avoidance is currently the only treatment, new effective therapies are currently being developed.

10 Nov 2008

Sleep disorder linked to eye disease

Research has already suggested that sleep problems can cause more than just tiredness - they have been linked to cardiovascular disease, cerebrovascular disease and metabolic disorders, and are also thought to raise the risk of obesity and diabetes.

10 Nov 2008

Rheumatoid arthritis drugs too slow to stop damage

A study by New Zealand researchers has questioned the current treatment approaches for rheumatoid arthritis and say they may be too slow in controlling the start of the joint damage the disease causes.

10 Nov 2008

Australian Chinese team effort shows iron could save the lives of China's children

A team effort between Australian and Chinese scientists could save the lives of many Chinese babies.

10 Nov 2008

Eye problems the most common disorder for Australian children

According to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) roughly one in every six Australian children wears glasses - and eye disorders are the most common long-term health problem for Australia's youth.

10 Nov 2008

History of serious mental illness linked to stillborn babies

New research has revealed that women with a history of serious mental illness are much more likely to have babies that are stillborn or die within the first month of life.

10 Nov 2008

Flu shots cut the risk of blood clots forming in veins

According to new research by French scientists flu shots may reduce the risk of venous thrombotic embolism.

10 Nov 2008

Gene therapy for advanced heart failure shows promising results

Phase I results of the first clinical trial of gene therapy for patients with advanced heart failure show the approach to be promising, with improvements in several measures of the condition's severity.

10 Nov 2008

Can vitamins and minerals prevent hearing loss?

About 10 million people in the United States alone--from troops returning from war to students with music blasting through headphones--are suffering from impairing noise-induced hearing loss.

10 Nov 2008

New Australian software for counting hairs

Australian scientists have come up with a way of counting hairs - a boring manual job done by human assessors which is apparently open to variations, mistakes and human error.

10 Nov 2008

The smaller the mozzie the nastier the bite

Experts have found that the smaller the mosquito the more likely that it is infected with viruses which cause human diseases.

10 Nov 2008

Resverlogix Corp shows RVX-208 demonstrates increase in functional HDL particles

Resverlogix Corp. has announced key scientific data was presented in an oral presentation highlighting the novel features of RVX-208 at the American Heart Association Scientific Meeting. The presentation titled "Compound RVX-208 Modulates HDL-C Levels and Function in Non-human Primates and in Early Human Trials" was presented by Dr. Jacques Genest.

10 Nov 2008

Santaris Pharma releases positive data on LNA-based survivin inhibitor

Santaris Pharma announced today that SPC3042, a RNA-based antisense oligonucleotide developed using the company's proprietary Locked Nucleic Acid (LNA) technology, potently blocks survivin, a key survival protein in cancer cells, in both in vitro and in vivo models of prostate cancer. Importantly, SPC3042 works synergistically with the anticancer drug paclitaxel (Taxol) in both model systems.

10 Nov 2008

NEI releases complete data from age-related eye disease study

The National Eye Institute (NEI), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), announces the release of more than 10 years of data collected during the Age-Related Eye Disease Study (AREDS), which looked at the progression of age-related macular degeneration and age-related cataract in 4,757 adults aged 55 to 80.

10 Nov 2008

Study finds 25% of family caregivers of AD patients go to ER or are hospitalized

One quarter of all family caregivers of Alzheimer's disease patients succumb to the stress of providing care to a loved one and become hospital patients themselves, according to an Indiana University study published in the November 2008 issue of the Journal of General Internal Medicine.

10 Nov 2008

Medtronic announces U.S. trial data on transcatheter valve for congenital heart disease

Today at the annual scientific sessions of the American Heart Association, the first U.S. clinical trial data on the Melody transcatheter pulmonary valve were presented. These findings also represent the first U.S. data on transcatheter valves in a population with congenital heart disease and the first reported U.S. data on the use of a transcatheter valve in the pulmonary position. The Melody valve is currently investigational in the U.S.

10 Nov 2008

New legislation addresses Massachusetts primary care crisis

Massachusetts has taken an important step towards addressing its primary care provider shortage. Recently passed legislation (Chapter 305), championed by Senate President Therese Murray, addresses issues of access, quality and transparency in health care. The recognition of nurse practitioners as primary care providers is vital to this legislation and will immediately and dramatically increase the number of providers available to residents.

10 Nov 2008