Medical News

RSS

Protein target for Parkinson's disease

Researchers at Johns Hopkins' Institute for Cell Engineering (ICE) have discovered a protein that could be the best new target in the fight against Parkinson's disease since the brain-damaging condition was first tied to loss of the brain chemical dopamine.

2 Dec 2005

New anthrax antibody

A new anthrax antibody engineered by scientists at The University of Texas at Austin protects and defends against inhalation anthrax without the use of antibiotics and other more expensive antibodies.

2 Dec 2005

Needle-free methods of immunization

Samir Mitragotri, a professor of chemical engineering at the University of California, Santa Barbara, says the myriad shortcomings of injections have led to active research and development of needle-free methods of immunization.

2 Dec 2005

U.S. trained surgeon could face manslaughter charges in Australia

An enquiry in Australia has recommended that a U.S. trained surgeon should face manslaughter, grievous bodily harm, assault and fraud charges.

2 Dec 2005

Bats possible carriers of Ebola virus

According to recent research scientists say that three species of bats that are eaten by people in central Africa may be carriers of the Ebola virus that has killed hundreds of humans and great apes.

2 Dec 2005

Cole Porter was wrong - love only lasts a year!

According to scientists, those who say that true love lasts a lifetime have got it completely wrong and in fact it only lasts a year.

2 Dec 2005

EU advice for Africans - ignore Bush when it comes to AIDS

In what is seen as a major split with the United States over the AIDS pandemic, Europe, led by the UK, is tacitly urging African governments not to listen to the abstinence-focused agenda of the Bush administration.

2 Dec 2005

Marijuana damages teenage brains

Researchers say that teenagers who regularly smoke marijuana risk damaging a key brain pathway associated with language development and some predisposed to schizophrenia may contract the illness early.

2 Dec 2005

Elderly as much at risk with old mental health drugs as new ones

Researchers at the Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston are saying that many of the older drugs designed to treat mental problems such as delirium, agitation and psychosis may be even more hazardous to the elderly than newer medicines that now carry U.S. government warnings.

2 Dec 2005

More men pay for sex in the UK

Researchers at Imperial College London, say that the number of British men paying for sex has doubled during the last decade and the men were more likely to have had a sexually transmitted infection (STI).

2 Dec 2005

Swedish researchers knock out anthrax bacterium

Researchers at Stockholm University have found a substance that quickly knocks out the anthrax bacterium. The bacterium has been used in terrorist attacks in the U.S. and Japan, for example.

30 Nov 2005

Treatment of breast cancer in pregnancy

"The treatment of breast cancer when the patient is pregnant does not increase the risk of congenital anomalies", assures Dr. Guillermo Lopez, director of the Department of Gynaecology and Obstetrics at the University Hospital of the University of Navarra.

30 Nov 2005

Young women asking for the morning-after pill at UK pharmacies will be offered fast-tracked screening for Chlamydia

It is thought that up to one in ten young people under 25 have Chlamydia, a sexually transmitted infection that often has no symptoms and can lead to infertility, although it is very easily treated with just one dose of four tablets in the majority of cases.

From The University of Manchester 30 Nov 2005

Researchers identify a gene affecting blood pressure

Research published by University of Leicester researchers in the top journal "Circulation" identifies a gene that affects blood pressure levels in the general population.

30 Nov 2005

New technique reveals brain function

Researchers have a relatively good understanding of "where" and "when" the brain edits incoming information; the question is "how" does this happen. It may be that researchers at the University of Bergen have found the answer.

30 Nov 2005

Risk of severe asthma episodes predicted from fluctuation analysis of airway function

A startling new study published in the science journal Nature this week (Nature Vol 438, issue 7068, pp 667-670) reveals that inhalers used by asthmatics for symptomatic relief of their condition might actually increase the likelihood of an acute attack.

30 Nov 2005

Bacterial DNA and IVF contamination risk on New Scientist

Some children conceived by a common method of IVF could be carrying chunks of bacterial DNA in their chromosomes, according to a study in mice. The researchers who conducted the work say that such accidental genetic modification would be very rare, but they argue that fertility doctors should take more precautions to exclude it.

30 Nov 2005