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Children who have at least one parent who smokes have 5.5 times higher levels of cotinine

Having a mother that smokes was found to have the biggest independent effect on cotinine in the urine , quadrupling it. Having a smoking father doubled the amount of cotinine, one of chemicals produced when the body breaks down nicotine from inhaled smoke to get rid of it.

20 Jun 2007

Coffee protects against involuntary eye spasm

People who drink coffee are less likely to develop an involuntary eye spasm called primary late onset blepharospasm, which makes them blink uncontrollably and can leave them effectively ‘blind', according to a study published online ahead of print in the Journal of Neurology Neurosurgery and Psychiatry .

20 Jun 2007

Two complementary commanders in charge of the brain

A probe of the upper echelons of the human brain's chain-of-command has found strong evidence that there are not one but two complementary commanders in charge of the brain, according to neuroscientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

20 Jun 2007

CARVER + Shock for safer food

Like Johnny Appleseed of yore, the Food and Drug Administration is scattering food-defense programs across the US so that the country's million or so food processors can better secure their food against possible contamination by terrorists.

20 Jun 2007

Novel therapeutic cancer strategy

Cancer sometimes involves processes that should only occur in the embryo being mistakenly reactivated in adult cells.

20 Jun 2007

Intraoperative radiation therapy for breast cancer

Princess Margaret Hospital (PMH) breast cancer specialists are using a new way to treat patients by delivering a one-time dose of radiation during surgery.

20 Jun 2007

Child expert says pureed food for babies is unnecessary and harmful

A leading child care expert in Britain says that feeding babies pureed food is unnecessary and could be harmful to their health.

20 Jun 2007

Six medics back in court in Tripoli amid hopes for compensation deal

The Palestinian doctor sentenced to death along with five Bulgarian nurses for allegedly infecting 426 Libyan children with the HIV virus has been Bulgarian citizenship.

20 Jun 2007

Reports of abnormal behaviour sends Tamiflu back to the drawing board

The manufacturers of the bird flu drug Tamiflu are about to repeat basic research and clinical trials on the high profile influenza drug.

20 Jun 2007

New database tells which sunscreens are safe and effective

According to a nonprofit research organization in the United States not all sunscreens offer adequate protection from the sun's harmful rays and some can in fact harm the skin.

20 Jun 2007

Doubt cast on reliabilty of current models for breast cancer risk

A new study has challenged the accuracy of models currently used to predict a woman's risk of breast cancer.

20 Jun 2007

Blackcurrants the best fruit of all

Researchers in the UK say when it comes to health giving properties the blackcurrant is more nutritious than any other fruit.

20 Jun 2007

Women can avoid breast reduction surgery by being fitted for their bras

Doctors in Britain are calling for women to be offered free bra-fittings on the National Health Service (NHS) in an effort to reduce unnecessary breast reductions.

20 Jun 2007

Babies with parents who smoke have cotinine in their urine

British scientists say babies with parents who smoke have five times as much cotinine, a nicotine byproduct, in their urine than infants whose parents are non-smokers.

20 Jun 2007

Even pre-diabetes 'ups' the risk for heart disease

Australian researchers have found that even before the disease becomes full blown diabetes increases a persons risk for heart disease.

20 Jun 2007

Death rate for women with diabetes higher than that of men

A new analysis of data from three large national databases finds that in the 29 years between 1971 and 2000, the death rate of men with diabetes has dropped significantly, in line with the overall decline of the death rate for all Americans.

19 Jun 2007

Global stockpile of H5N1 vaccines

The World Health Organization (WHO) today announced that it is working with vaccine manufacturers to move ahead on plans to create a global stockpile of vaccine for the H5N1 avian influenza virus.

19 Jun 2007

Foie gras can speed amyloid development

University of Tennessee Graduate School of Medicine professor and researcher Alan Solomon, M.D., director of the Human Immunology and Cancer/Alzheimer's Disease and Amyloid-Related Disorders Research Program, led a team that discovered a link between foie gras prepared from goose or duck liver and the type of amyloid found in rheumatoid arthritis or tuberculosis.

19 Jun 2007

Orphan drug status granted to Immtech for malaria treatment pafuramidine

Immtech Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted orphan drug designation for pafuramidine (DB289) for the treatment of malaria.

19 Jun 2007

New genome sequencing technology quickly detects rare viral mutations

Rare, previously undetectable drug-resistant forms of HIV have been identified by Yale School of Medicine researcher Michael Kozal, M.D., using an innovative genome sequencing technology that quickly detects rare viral mutations.

19 Jun 2007