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Fifth from Indonesian family dies from bird flu

According to local health officials a fifth member of an Indonesian family has died of bird flu.

15 May 2006

Thanks to WHO effective combo malaria therapy will be de-rigueur

Following pressure from the World Health Organization (WHO), 13 pharmaceutical companies have agreed to comply with their recommendation that single-drug artemisinin medicines for the oral treatment of malaria need to be phased out.

15 May 2006

FDA warns of suicide risk with Paxil

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the U.S., has notified healthcare professionals in the States and the UK that the antidepressant Paxil produced by GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), appears to raise the risk of suicide in young adults.

15 May 2006

Juggle that career mum, you'll be healthier in the long run!

Despite what working women may feel on a bad day, the very act of having to juggle career, motherhood and being a partner may actually be keeping them healthy.

15 May 2006

Heroin plus pain killer proves to be a lethal combo

According to health officials and the Chicago police a deadly combination of heroin and a prescription pain killer has resulted in one death and 21 others becoming ill.

15 May 2006

Experts say Vioxx poses risks long after patients stop taking it

According to a leading American cardiologist patients who have taken the drug Vioxx are still at high risk of heart attacks or strokes even after they stop taking the medication.

14 May 2006

Bird flu - the battle could be over

Even though Dr. David Nabarro, chief pandemic flu coordinator for the United Nations says he is encouraged by how both Thailand and Vietnam had responded to the health crisis facing their domestic poultry, and their successful efforts to reduce the threat of the disease, the deadly H5N1 strain still remains a significant threat, especially to Indonesia and Africa.

14 May 2006

Twins joined at birth successfully undergo lengthy surgery

It took over seven hours but a team of 30 doctors, which included 18 surgeons from different specialties at the Mayo Clinic, to complete the surgery.

14 May 2006

Seniors should be last in line when it comes to bird flu jabs

According to two U.S. medical ethicists, because stocks of bird flu vaccine are likely to be in short supply, in the event of a bird flu pandemic, the young should have priority over the elderly, ill and disabled.

14 May 2006

Peanut - kiss not the culprit in Canadian teens death

According to a coroner in Quebec a severe asthma attack was responsible for the death of a 15 year old girl last November and not a peanut-contaminated kiss.

14 May 2006

What is it about grapefruit juice that affects some drugs?

Researchers in the United States say they have identified the compound in grapefruit juice that affects how some drugs are absorbed in the body and produces unwanted side effects.

14 May 2006

Fifty more deaths in Angola from cholera

According to the World Health Organization (WHO) another 50 people have died from cholera in Angola in the last week.

14 May 2006

Bird flu not spread on the wings of wild birds

According to a Dutch environmental organisation, the on-going fear that flocks of wild birds will spread the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu through Africa and Europe may be ill founded.

14 May 2006

Discovery of two gene variants associated with increased risk for early heart attack

Scientists at University of California - San Francisco (UCSF), Celera Genomics and The Cleveland Clinic have discovered two gene variants associated with a significantly increased risk for early heart attack, or myocardial infarction (MI).

12 May 2006

Improving care for Alzheimer disease sufferers

Behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia represent a major challenge in the care of older adults with Alzheimer disease.

12 May 2006

14 million Americans are visually impaired

A National Eye Institute (NEI) study has found that although 94 percent of Americans aged 12 and older have good vision, the remaining six percent, or 14 million, are visually impaired.

12 May 2006

Study holds promise for malarial susceptibility test

Cell and animal studies conducted jointly by scientists at Johns Hopkins, Yale and other institutions have uncovered at least one important contributor to the severe anemia that kills almost half of the 2 million people worldwide who die each year of malaria.

12 May 2006