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Research findings could lead to more effective repellents

If you think it doesn't do much good to swipe the fly that's going after the potato salad, guess again. You may be discouraging the fly's colleagues from taking up the raid.

15 Sep 2004

Current methods of delivering health care to kids are woefully unable to cope with a pediatric disease pendulum

"There's a growing gap between where child health is moving and how we're attempting to deliver health care to kids," said pediatrician and health policy researcher Paul Wise, MD, MPH.

15 Sep 2004

Total abstinence is the only way to protect the unborn baby against Foetal Alcohol Syndrome

Is there a safe level of alcohol consumption during pregnancy? Biochemist Kathy Kitson says the answer is no – total abstinence is the only way to protect the unborn baby against Foetal Alcohol Syndrome.

15 Sep 2004

Time spent in same-sex activities may advantage boys but disadvantage girls

Ten-year-olds' free time activities -- as well as whom they spend their free time with -- are linked to gender development, academic interests, school grades and self esteem at age 12, a Penn State study shows.

15 Sep 2004

Spina bifida on the decline in Australia

The number of babies with spina bifida or similar abnormalities has declined by over 40 per cent since 1995, Australia's Minister for Health, Bronwyn Pike, said yesterday.

15 Sep 2004

HHS enhances Medicare drug card program to help seniors

Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy G. Thompson today announced new measures to help seniors get the lowest price possible for their medicines by allowing them -- for the first time -- to compare prices for similar drugs used to treat common diseases such as high cholesterol or blood pressure.

15 Sep 2004

Red Bull energy drink does not improve a person’s physical performance

Energy drinks – usually a mixture of caffeine, taurine, carbohydrates, B-complex vitamins and gluconolactone – have become very popular in recent years.

15 Sep 2004

Immunoglobulins might be promising treatment for Alzheimer's disease

Intravenous immunoglobulin might offer a promising treatment for Alzheimer's disease, suggests preliminary research in the Journal of Neurology Neurosurgery and Psychiatry.

15 Sep 2004

Central and Northern European countries top the league for time off work

Central and Northern European countries top the league when it comes to taking time off work, reveals a survey of 15 European Union (EU) member states reported in Occupational and Environmental Medicine.

15 Sep 2004

Men with sweet tooths more prone to alcoholism

Men who have a sweet tooth and who have trouble controlling their behavior are more prone to alcoholism, and these factors combined were better predictors of the disease than any single individual trait, a recent analysis has found.

15 Sep 2004

Poll reveals public confusion over NHS "bureaucrats"

An ICM poll, commissioned jointly by UNISON and the NHS Confederation, shows that the public believe that only half of NHS staff are directly involved in patient care, yet the real figure is 84%. Support staff make up just 16% of the workforce.

15 Sep 2004

Prozac, Paxil, Wellbutrin, Zoloft, Celexa, Effexor, Luvox and Remeron should have "Black Box" warnings

A panel of experts has voted 15 to 8 in favour of the Federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) adding black box warnings to certain medications used to treat depression in children and teenagers.

14 Sep 2004

New research into how women view their bodies

New research into how women view their bodies aims to challenge the as yet untested belief that thin, glamorous, perfect female models in advertising are socially desirable and "sell" products to the consumer more successfully than other body types.

14 Sep 2004

Cars that tell people where to go

A three-year Macquarie University research project has studied the differences in how humans and computers talk - by analysing how each give driving directions.

14 Sep 2004

Experts discuss antibiotic resistance, tuberculosis, malaria, vaccines, maternal mortality, childhood diseases and health sector reform

New challenges ahead and the unfinished agenda in public health in the Americas" will be the focus of joint efforts by the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)

14 Sep 2004

Early use of combination-drug treatments could improve HIV survival rates

Survival rates of HIV-positive patients could be improved if combination-drug treatment were begun earlier than current clinical guidelines now recommend, according to a new study by researchers from The New York Academy of Medicine and the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health.

14 Sep 2004