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The right to live gives us a right to die

Human beings' inalienable right to life means we also have the right to die, says an editorial in this week's BMJ.

7 Apr 2005

Depression overtakes back pain for incapacity benefit claims

Common mental disorders, such as depression and anxiety, now account for more incapacity benefit claims than musculoskeletal conditions like low back pain, say researchers in this week’s BMJ.

7 Apr 2005

UK approval procedures will drive research overseas

Approval procedures for UK research will “accelerate the migration of clinical studies to other parts of the world,” warn researchers in a letter to this week’s BMJ.

7 Apr 2005

Unchaperoned examinations risk misconduct allegations

Doctors who continue performing intimate examinations unchaperoned risk allegations of misconduct, warn researchers in a letter to this week’s BMJ.

7 Apr 2005

Make room for daddy, say University of Florida autism experts

Autism is a developmental disability that typically appears during the first three years of life and is characterized by problems interacting and communicating with others. Caring for an autistic child can be a relentless and labor-intensive task — one that is overwhelmingly performed by mothers, says UF nursing researcher Jennifer Elder.

7 Apr 2005

Use of smokeless tobacco helped hard-to-quit smokers give up their habit

The study, published in the January-March issue of the Journal of Psychoactive Drugs, reports on subjects who were contacted seven years after completion of a smoking cessation program that replaced cigarettes with smokeless tobacco products as a harm-reduction strategy.

7 Apr 2005

Findings will stir new research in bacterial evolution

Bacteria acquired up to 90 percent of their genetic material from distantly related bacteria species, according to new research from The University of Arizona in Tucson.

7 Apr 2005

New technology and treatments for heart and lung patients drive revisions

The process for prioritizing heart and lung transplant candidates and determining the treatments they receive while awaiting donor organs is under review by the International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation (ISHLT) during its Annual Meeting and Scientific Session this week in Philadelphia.

7 Apr 2005

Researchers shed light on the brain cell damage caused by Alzheimer's disease

The researchers hope that by gaining a better understanding of the disease's cellular impacts, progress can be made towards developing a treatment. The research is reported in the current edition of the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease, published by IOS publishers.

7 Apr 2005

Level I trauma centers boost head injury survival

Head injury patients transferred to level I trauma centers are more likely to survive than if they're transferred to level II facilities, an Oregon Health & Science University study has found.

7 Apr 2005

Pfizer withdraws Bextra from market

Despite an expert panel stating last month that the three COX-2 drugs Vioxx, Bextra and Celebrex were safe enough to be marketed, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has this week told drug manufacturer Pfizer to remove the drug Bextra from the market and a statement by Pfizer confirms that the European Union regulators have done the same.

7 Apr 2005

Researchers set a new standard in the design and engineering of nuclear hormone receptor-based genetic on-off switches

Researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have set a new standard in the design and engineering of nuclear hormone receptor-based genetic on-off switches, without causing new problems or aggravating existing ones.

7 Apr 2005

Molecular motors cooperate in moving cellular cargo

Researchers using an extremely fast and accurate imaging technique have shed light on the tiny movements of molecular motors that shuttle material within living cells. The motors cooperate in a delicate choreography of steps, rather than engaging in the brute-force tug of war many scientists had imagined.

7 Apr 2005

Research helps understand how the malaria parasite disguises itself to avoid detection by the immune system

Scientists are making strides in understanding how the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum disguises itself to avoid detection by the immune system. The findings could lead to the development of new drugs for a disease that causes more than 300 million acute illnesses and at least one million deaths each year, most of them in developing countries.

7 Apr 2005

Naltrexone combined with psychotherapy helps treat alcohol dependence

Long-acting injections of the drug naltrexone, combined with psychotherapy, significantly reduced heavy drinking in patients being treated for alcohol dependence, according to a study in the Journal of the American Medical Association by a Yale School of Medicine researcher.

7 Apr 2005

Oncolytic viruses may one day help treat brain tumors

New research shows that a virus designed to kill cancer cells can significantly increase the survival of mice with an incurable human brain tumor, even in some animals with advanced disease.

7 Apr 2005

Some people with autism and large heads may have an increased risk of cancer

A gene that is changed in many forms of cancer has also been found to show similar changes in some forms of autism, according to preliminary research.

7 Apr 2005

Role of oxidative stress (OS) in dialysis patients

An article published in Hemodialysis International discusses the role of oxidative stress (OS) in dialysis patients, an imbalance which can result in long-term health problems. Potential therapeutic options to restore balance in patients are also reviewed.

7 Apr 2005

Infection with Chlamydia pneumoniae may increase the risk of heart attack in young men

Preliminary research suggests infection with Chlamydia pneumoniae may increase the risk of heart attack in young men, according to an article in the April 15 issue of Clinical Infectious Diseases.

7 Apr 2005

Why different tissues in the human body vary in their susceptibility to "amyloid" diseases

Researchers at The Scripps Research Institute are reporting the results of a recent study that addresses why different tissues in the human body vary in their susceptibility to "amyloid" diseases, which include Alzheimer's disease and a cluster of ailments called the familial amyloidoses.

7 Apr 2005