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Inactive gene may explain higher incidence of prostate cancer in African-Americans compared to Caucasians

Among African-Americans with prostate cancer, a tumor-suppressing gene called GSTP1 is inactivated at a rate 3.5 times higher than among Caucasians, according to a study conducted at the San Francisco VA Medical Center (SFVAMC).

16 Jun 2005

Scientists have tracked down the biological trigger that gives rise to Van Buchem disease

...a hereditary, disfiguring bone disorder that can cause blindness and deafness. The findings provide insight into long-range gene regulation and could lead to new treatments for osteoporosis and other crippling bone disorders.

16 Jun 2005

Pandemics such as Ebola, SARS, and avian influenza demands a more holistic approach to disease control

The threat of potential pandemics such as Ebola, SARS, and avian influenza demands a more holistic approach to disease control, one that prevents diseases from crossing the divide between humans, their livestock, and wildlife, according to the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) in the most recent issue of the journal Foreign Affairs.

16 Jun 2005

People who have had a minor stroke have a 43% chance of another stroke or vascular event within 10-years

Although worldwide fatality rates from cerebrovascular disease have fallen, stroke remains one of the most serious neurological problems, and leaves many patients with a chronic disability.

16 Jun 2005

Open debate about illegal drug use is needed

Open debate about illegal drug use is needed to gain accurate, impartial information about the true extent of usage and the acute and long-term health effects, states an editorial in this week’s issue of The Lancet.

16 Jun 2005

U.S. scientists have successfully engineered blood vessels from human vascular cells in the lab

Tissue engineering has made considerable progress in the past decade, but advances have stopped short of clinical application for most tissues. For elderly patients tissue-engineered arteries could provide grafts for bypass surgery.

16 Jun 2005

Single course of one antibiotic can successfully treat elephantiasis

A single course of one antibiotic can successfully treat elephantiasis (filariasis) - a parasitic worm disease that is one of the most common causes of global disability, concludes a study published in this week’s issue of The Lancet.

16 Jun 2005

BMA calls on government to tackle healthcare skills drain at G8

The G8 nations must address the exodus of healthcare workers from the developing world if they are to tackle global poverty, the British Medical Association and the Royal College of Nursing tell the government today (Friday 17 June, 2005).

16 Jun 2005

Planned home births a safe otption shows finds new study

Planned home births for low risk women in the United States are associated with similar safety and less medical intervention as low risk hospital births, finds a study in this week’s BMJ.

16 Jun 2005

European working time directive may put doctors' and patients' lives at risk

Introduced in August 2004, it aims to reduce working hours in order to improve workers’ health and safety, but the current NHS shift system could threaten doctors’ and, moreover, patients’ safety, argue Professor Roy Pounder and colleagues.

16 Jun 2005

People with a history of epilepsy are at increased risk of developing schizophrenia

The study involved 2.27 million people who were born in Denmark between 1950 and 1987, and were identified from national registers. Personal and family histories of epilepsy and psychosis were obtained, and individuals were monitored for up to 25 years.

16 Jun 2005

Should everyone over 50 be taking aspirin?

Experts go head to head in this week’s BMJ over whether everyone over 50 should take a daily aspirin to reduce their risk of heart attacks and strokes.

16 Jun 2005

BMA calls on trusts to stop removing junior doctors' on-call accommodation

Commenting on an editorial in Friday’s British Medical Journal warning that shift systems for junior doctors may affect patient safety, Mr Simon Eccles, chairman of the BMA’s Junior Doctors’ Committee, says today (Friday 17 June, 2005):

16 Jun 2005

Research challenges the evolutionary paradigm that continuous alterations occur during the course of genome evolution

Researchers report today that regions of the human genome have been hotspots for acquiring duplicated DNA sequences - but only at specific time-points during evolution.

16 Jun 2005

Study shows fewer Canadian retailers selling cigarettes to youth

For the first time, the Canada's national rates of retailers refusing to sell tobacco products to youth have exceeded the Federal Tobacco Control Strategy's 10-year target objective of 80% or greater.

16 Jun 2005

Dental care needs for HIV patients continue to rise

People with HIV now are living longer and the number of dental patients treated monthly at the Oregon Health & Science University School of Dentistry's Russell Street Clinic continues to grow.

16 Jun 2005

Immune system discovery could help in the treatment of bowel cancer

Scientists investigating whipworms, parasites that infect one-fifth of the world's population as well as livestock and domestic animals, have discovered a new way that the body effectively eliminates the parasites.

From The University of Manchester 16 Jun 2005

Indigenous health gap wider in New Zealand

The health gap between Maori and European New Zealanders is wider than that between American Indians and the US majority white population in the United States, a researcher from The University of Auckland has found.

16 Jun 2005

Buprenorphine treatment for opioid addiction shows promise

Patients who receive buprenorphine treatment for opioid addiction in an office-based setting are more likely than those receiving methadone treatment to be young men, new to drug use, and with no history of methadone treatment, Yale School of Medicine researchers report in a study published in Drug and Alcohol Dependence.

16 Jun 2005

Service learning improves the social skills of students with mental impairments

Previous studies on the effectiveness of service learning programs on social skills of students with moderate cognitive impairments were primarily anecdotal.

16 Jun 2005