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Depression may hasten the progression of heart disease

In a study of 32 people with heart failure, the 14 patients who felt the most depressed had nearly twice the levels of this protein in their blood.

7 Sep 2005

Smart solution to one of the biggest challenges facing the optics and electromagnetics sector

Researchers have devised a strikingly simple method of producing materials which bend light the 'wrong' way - a significant development as lenses with minimal distortion can be made from flat slabs of these negatively-refracting materials.

7 Sep 2005

Radiation oncologists around the country open their doors to Gulf Coast patients

Many victims of Hurricane Katrina are also cancer patients undergoing radiation therapy treatments. To help patients displaced by the storm, the American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology is compiling a list of radiation therapy facilities around the country who are willing and able to treat patients who have been evacuated from the area.

7 Sep 2005

Nitric oxide could one day help women in their 30s and 40s remain fertile longer

Researchers have found that an important chemical compound, nitric oxide, appears to slow or reverse the aging of eggs in mouse ovaries. The finding suggests nitric oxide could one day help women in their 30s and 40s remain fertile longer and increase their chances of having healthy babies, the scientists say.

7 Sep 2005

Bacteria lurking in household dust produce chemicals that may trigger asthma

These bacterial chemicals, called endotoxins, particularly those found on bedroom floors, were linked with increased respiratory problems in adults.

7 Sep 2005

Two die from mosquito-borne disease, experts say public must protect themslves from bites

According to health officials, a rare mosquito-borne disease has killed a young girl and an elderly man who lived in neighboring towns,and they are urging people to protect themselves against the insects.

7 Sep 2005

More heart victims die when clot-buster drug is used before angioplasty

Currently it is fairly common practice to give heart attack patients a clot-busting drug a few hours before planned angioplasty.

7 Sep 2005

Health officials insist they were prepared for Katrina

Federal health officials in the U.S. are defending themselves against criticism that the government was not prepared to deal with disaster left by Hurricane Katrina.

7 Sep 2005

MRC call for proposals in experimental medicine

The Medical Research Council (MRC) has launched a Call for Proposals in experimental medicine today as part of its £15 million commitment to promote the translation of laboratory research into clinical practice for the benefit of patients.

7 Sep 2005

Government ignoring underlying capacity problems says

Dr Hamish Meldrum, chairman of the BMA's General Practitioners Committee (GPC), commenting on the Government's access announcement, said the Government was failing to tackle the underlying capacity problem behind the current difficulties in booking GP appointments.

7 Sep 2005

Stressgen granted new U.S. patent for treatment of Hepatitis B

Stressgen Biotechnologies announced today that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office granted Patent Number 6,921,534 covering fusion protein compositions comprised of a hepatitis B virus (HBV) antigen fused to a heat shock protein (Hsp), as well as DNA encoding such fusion proteins, and methods of treating an HBV infection using these fusion proteins.

7 Sep 2005

Parents advised to turn off the TV, encourage outdoor play

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.

7 Sep 2005

Researchers discover discrete region of the monkey brain that processes pitch

Johns Hopkins researchers have discovered a discrete region of the monkey brain that processes pitch, the relative high and low points of sound, by recognizing a single musical note played by different instruments.

7 Sep 2005

Researchers develop screening test for cells that activate immune system

UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers are the first to create a large-scale, cell-based screening method that identifies which compounds activate immune-response cells that hold promise for future cancer-fighting vaccines.

7 Sep 2005

Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain warns of internet medicines risk

The Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain has welcomed the Centre for Reform's report, Online pharmacy: patient choice or patient peril, and warns that people are dicing with danger if they use rogue internet websites to bypass safety rules and obtain medicines without a doctor’s prescription.

7 Sep 2005

Collaborators seek parasite invasion blockers

A malaria research team, including WEHI Structural Biologist, Professor Ray Norton, has received a US$1 million grant from the US National Institutes of Health to develop more effective malaria treatments.

7 Sep 2005

Call for more donations of brains to help researchers discover new treatments for neurological disorders

Speaking at the BA Festival of Science, at Trinity College, Dublin, Dr Kirstin Goldring from Imperial College London and Charing Cross Hospital is calling for more donations of brains to help researchers discover new treatments for neurological disorders.

7 Sep 2005

Putting the risk of breast cancer and postmenopausal Hormone Therapy (HT) into perspective

Two similar comprehensive literature reviews and an editorial about the varying risk with different postmenopausal hormone therapy regimens have been published this month in Human Reproduction Update.

7 Sep 2005

Methoxychlor (MXC) may interfere with proper development and function of the reproductive tract, leading to reduced fertility in women

The researchers found that MXC, which was manufactured as a safer replacement for the now-banned DDT, alters the estrogen-regulated gene Hoxa10 in the reproductive tract and reduces the ability of the uterus to support embryo implantation. The researchers used mice and then human cell lines to confirm their findings.

7 Sep 2005

Simple word test could identify early Alzheimer's

British scientists believe that a simple word test could be used to identify people who might be suffering from the very early stages of Alzheimer's disease.

7 Sep 2005