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Groups better at solving problems than individuals

Study shows that the collective efforts of groups may be useful in boosting problem-solving skills. It found groups of three, four, or five perform better on complex problem solving than the best of an equivalent number of individuals.

24 Apr 2006

Rare abdominal cancer diagnosis being looked at in a different manner

Their experience treating a rare type of abdominal cancer has helped physicians at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center make a new discovery that may change the way it is diagnosed.

24 Apr 2006

Study shows drugs work differently in the brains of men and women

A Johns Hopkins discovery could lead to tailored treatments for drug abuse and neurological diseases after providing what is believed to be the first evidence in people that amphetamines have a greater effect on men's brains than women's.

24 Apr 2006

Breast cancer survivors turning their backs on recommended mammograms

A new study finds use of annual mammography among breast cancer survivors, who are at increased risk of a recurrence or a new malignancy in the other breast, dropped off after a few years. During the five year study period, only one in three women in this high-risk population had received regular annual mammograms.

24 Apr 2006

Non-Smokers with lung cancer respond better to treatment than smokers

Smoking history contributes to poor outcomes in the treatment of lung cancer, according to a new study. Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) lung cancer patients who have never smoked before in their life have better overall survival rates and respond better to chemotherapy than current or former smokers.

24 Apr 2006

Direct link between childhood obesity and junk food advertising

A team of researchers from the Harvard School of Public health (HSPH) and the Children's Hospital in Boston have found that children who spend more time watching TV were more likely to eat more of the calorie-dense, low nutrient foods advertised on television.

24 Apr 2006

Time for Russians to get serious about HIV/AIDS

Rapidly growing numbers of HIV-infections in Russia has prompted President Vladimir Putin to order officials to do more to inform Russians about the dangers of HIV/AIDS.

24 Apr 2006

Vaginal gel zaps AIDS virus - gives women control

According to the researchers if current trials are satisfactory, a safe and effective gel which protects women from the AIDS virus may be available by 2010.

24 Apr 2006

Genetic clue found to Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

According to researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), in the United States, there may well be a genetic reason why some people develop Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS).

24 Apr 2006

Foreign doctors up in arms over new UK immigration rules

The National Health Service (NHS) in the UK appears to stagger from one crisis to another, and now hundreds of overseas doctors have staged a demonstration outside the Department of Health over a change in the immigration rules which will force many of them to leave the UK.

24 Apr 2006

25% of British school children are clinically obese

According to researchers over 25% of British school children are clinically obese and they lay the blame squarely on junk food and a lack of exercise.

24 Apr 2006

Kidney treatments may be improved with new understanding of cell death mechanism

Finding how two proteins conspire to get kidney cells to self-destruct when oxygen supplies are low may one day improve dismal mortality rates for ischemic renal failure, researchers say.

23 Apr 2006

Poor health related to inadequate housing for immigrant farmworkers in the USA

Many Hispanic farmworker families in North Carolina live in inadequate housing that puts them at higher risk of exposure to disease, toxins and overcrowding that can affect their psychological well-being, according to new research by Wake Forest University School of Medicine.

23 Apr 2006

Foot problems change social behaviour - but it doesn't have to be that way

With the average person taking 9,000 steps per day -- more than 600 miles each year -- when feet start to hurt or change in shape, it can really impact a person's life. In fact, according to a new survey, of people who report having foot issues in the past five years, two out of three report that these foot issues, which range from blisters to bunions and heel pain, have changed the kind of shoes they wear, how active they are, where and how far they walk, and so on.

23 Apr 2006

Bullying pushes overweight kids away from sport, increasing health problems

Most kids are bullied at some point in their lives, but overweight children are more often the targets of bullies' slings and arrows. Now a new UF study reveals this frequently leads them to avoid situations where they have been picked on before, such as gym class and sports.

23 Apr 2006

Yale researchers show how smell works within the brain

Yale scientists have systematically plotted the responses of the entire Drosophila (fruit fly) olfactory system, providing the first multi-dimensional map of the range of odorants sensed and the regions of the brain that are stimulated.

23 Apr 2006

Research into toxins points to development of better medicines

Researchers have combined magnetic resonance spectroscopy with special protein synthesis procedures to uncover how potassium channels and toxins combine and change in structure. This work could make it possible to develop medications for high blood pressure and many other diseases connected to potassium channel failure .

23 Apr 2006

Concerns for inexpensive fertility drug appears to be unfounded

Concerns about the use of letrozole, an easy-to-use and inexpensive drug for the treatment of infertility, appear to be unfounded, according to a major study co-authored by Dr. Togas Tulandi, Director of Division of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility, McGill University Health Centre (MUHC) and Chief of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the Jewish General Hospital, and Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at McGill University.

23 Apr 2006

Birth defects from rubella almost eradicated in the USA

Congenital rubella syndrome, a birth defect caused by the rubella virus (also known as German measles), has practically been eliminated in the U.S., according to a statement published in the April 2006 issue of Birth Defects Research Part A, the official journal of The Teratology Society.

23 Apr 2006

Penn researchers discover gene that creates "second skeleton" bone disorder

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have located the "skeleton key," a gene that, when damaged, causes the body's skeletal muscles and soft connective tissue to undergo a metamorphosis into bone, progressively locking joints in place and rendering movement impossible.

23 Apr 2006