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Strong social gradient in the metabolic syndrome

It is well documented that individuals with higher social status have lower risk of coronary heart disease (CHD). This is generally not explained by differences in lifestyle factors such as smoking and lack of exercise.

6 Sep 2005

Health groups file brief urging tougher remedies in tobacco lawsuit

The six public health organizations that intervened in the federal government's tobacco lawsuit filed a brief last Wednesday urging the judge to strengthen the remedies proposed by the government

6 Sep 2005

Companies offering plastic surgery as a prize are violating a well-recognised code of ethics of good medical practice

The British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons, the not-for-profit organisation established for the advancement of education and practice of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery for public benefit, has warned that companies offering plastic surgery as a prize are violating a well-recognised code of ethics of good medical practice.

6 Sep 2005

Many pubs would stop serving food to get round the Government's proposed smokefree law

...according to the first national survey of publicans on the issue. The survey was commissioned by Cancer Research UK and Action on Smoking and Health (ASH).

6 Sep 2005

Chinese scientists clone a goat

It was released on August 24, 2005 by Prof. Chen Dayuan (Da-Yuan Chen) from the CAS Institute of Zoology that the first success in cloning Asian Yellow Goat by nuclear transfer had recently been achieved in east China's Shandong Province.

6 Sep 2005

Surgeons have, for the first time, successfully removed a tumour with the aid of new 3-D computer modelling software

German cancer surgeons have, for the first time, successfully removed a tumour with the aid of new 3-D computer modelling software which the designers say will make these operations safer and more accurate.

6 Sep 2005

Shot in the arm for vaccines

A Flinders University research program to develop new forms of vaccine against infectious diseases has received over $3 million in funding from the United States Government's National Institutes of Health.

6 Sep 2005

Scientists suggest new approach for targeting patients with brittle bones

Scientists from the Garvan Institute of Medical Research in Sydney, Australia, are suggesting a new approach to determining the risk of fracture in individuals with the brittle bone disease, osteoporosis, which could have treatment implications.

6 Sep 2005

DNA research: learning the language of genes

Griffith University's Dr Christine Wells is one of just a handful of women scientists in the global FANTOM consortium which has announced a major breakthrough in unraveling the mammalian genome.

6 Sep 2005

Significant new breakthroughs in understanding how the genes in mammals are controlled

An international consortium of genome research institutes and investigators, including Jackson Laboratory Staff Scientists Carol J. Bult, Ph.D., and Martin Ringwald, Ph.D., has reported significant new breakthroughs in understanding how the genes in mammals are controlled.

6 Sep 2005

Relationship between parental perception of neighborhood safety and obesity

If mothers of preschoolers perceive their neighborhood as unsafe, their children tend to watch more television, but differ little in amounts of outdoor play or overweight, compared to peers in safer neighborhoods. Drawing from a study of three-year-olds in 20 U.S. cities, researchers reported these findings in the September issue of Pediatrics.

6 Sep 2005

Observation of adult behavior may influence preschool children to view smoking as normal

When pretending to shop for a social evening, children two to six years old were nearly four times as likely to choose cigarettes if their parents smoked and children who viewed PG-13- or R-rated movies were five times as likely to choose wine or beer, according to a study in the September issue of Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine.

6 Sep 2005

New ways to enhance or block fertilization

Researchers have capitalized on the unique properties of a sperm cell to follow cell membrane fusion as it occurs during fertilization, tracking the full cascade of events for the first time. The findings could reveal new ways to enhance or block fertilization, as well as how to control the secretion of neurotransmitters and hormones such as insulin.

6 Sep 2005

When it comes to controlling pain, positive thinking can be as powerful as a shot of morphine

...according to new brain imaging research at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center. Lowering participants' expectations about pain levels reduced both pain-related brain activity and how much pain they felt.

6 Sep 2005

Amnioinfusion does not reduce the risk of meconium aspiration syndrome

An international randomized trial, funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), has revealed that amnioinfusion, the infusion of saline into the uterus, does not reduce the risk of meconium aspiration syndrome (MAS), as previously believed.

6 Sep 2005

Med Services Europe obtains rights to out-license portfolio of prescription pharmaceuticals

Med Services Europe GmbH, a "Virtual European Headquarters" for Pharmaceutical and Medical Manufacturers, announced that it has obtained rights to out-license a portfolio of prescription pharmaceuticals.

6 Sep 2005

Stents may be too expensive to use in all patients

A device that improves outcome in patients with coronary artery disease may be too expensive to use in all patients, suggests a study published early online and in the upcoming issue of The Lancet.

6 Sep 2005

Design of wide-spectrum inhibitors targeting coronavirus main proteases

Coronaviruses - the family of viruses that causes the common cold - gained widespread recognition when the deadly severe acute respiratory syndrome, familiarly known as SARS, killed at least 800 people in 2003.

6 Sep 2005

More insight into the end-of-life decision-making process

A Dutch study found that end-of-life decisions (ELD) are an important aspect of end-of-life care for children between one and 17 years old and that those decisions include choices to refrain from life-prolonging treatment and to relieve pain or symptoms, according to a report in the September issue of Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine.

6 Sep 2005

The Measles Initiative partnership a significant reason for success

The results from a new study published in The Lancet demonstrate that high- quality measles immunization campaigns and improvements in routine immunization services have reduced measles cases by 91% in 19 African nations from 2000-2003, preventing an estimated 90,000 child deaths in 2003 alone.

6 Sep 2005