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New diagnostic tests for bird flu

On the final day of the recent HPA conference, delegates heard about work that the Agency is carrying out to prepare for an avian flu pandemic.

16 Sep 2004

New high-tech pacifier helps babies who are born prematurely

The pacifier also may reduce the incidence or severity of certain developmental disabilities that appear in early childhood and beyond as well as possibly boost IQ.

16 Sep 2004

Cryoablation preferred option for treatment of breast fibroadenoma

Sanarus Inc., a developer of minimally invasive diagnostic and treatment tools for breast disease, announced today that twelve-month follow-up data from a peer-reviewed, prospective multicenter study demonstrates that cryoablation is a preferred first-line treatment for breast fibroadenoma for women who do not want to undergo open surgery.

14 Sep 2004

Non-surgical needle biopsies in the lung may eliminate the need for children to undergo surgery

A pediatric study published in the September Journal of Vascular and Interventional Radiology shows non-surgical needle biopsies in the lung were 91 percent successful in providing sufficient tissue to determine a diagnosis.

14 Sep 2004

Statistical method for faster prognosis of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases

A large number of diseases − including Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, and mad cow disease − are the result of proteins that erroneously assume the wrong shape, causing them to stick to each other.

13 Sep 2004

Researchers have discovered a possible way to distinguish lethal from localized prostate cancers

If future studies show their test -- measuring the level of activity of a signaling pathway called Hedgehog -- can predict which prostate cancers will spread, the results could revolutionize decision making processes for prostate cancer patients, the researchers say.

13 Sep 2004

New genetic test can predict cleft lip or palate

Researchers have developed a new genetic test that can help predict whether parents who have one child with the "isolated" form of cleft lip or palate are likely to have a second child with the same birth defect. Isolated clefts account for 70 percent of all cleft lip and palate cases.

10 Sep 2004

University of Utah gets patent approval relating to methods of rapid nucleic acid amplification

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has issued the University of Utah U.S. patent No. U.S. 6,787,338 (the '338 patent) relating to methods of rapid nucleic acid amplification.

8 Sep 2004

Enhanced technology with improved features drives the mobile medical imaging equipment market

The increasing demand for digitisation among hospitals and high price of static modalities are driving demand for mobile medical imaging equipment.

8 Sep 2004

First biological assessment tool for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

On the eve of the first National ADHD Awareness Day, the first biological assessment tool for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder is being introduced in Denver.

7 Sep 2004

New multilingual chronic obstructive pulmonary disease website

The European Respiratory Society has launched a new multilingual website specifically targeted at patients with chronic bronchitis, emphysema or other “chronic obstructive pulmonary disease” (COPD), group of conditions in which the patient has an expiratory airflow obstruction that causes air to become trapped in the lung and limit the ability to exhale.

5 Sep 2004

CT scans may be delivering as much radiation as a low-dose atomic bomb

Those full-body CT scans advertised at some health care centers may be delivering as much radiation as a low-dose atomic bomb, according to a new study. And that means people who get them could be raising their cancer risk, researchers from Columbia University report in the journal Radiology (Vol. 232, No. 3:735-738).

5 Sep 2004

Rural doctors less likely to diagnose depression in men than in women

It is known that doctors are generally less likely to diagnose depression in men than in women. Little research has been undertaken to explore the reasons for this in rural settings, or to compare GPs' and male patients' assessments of perceived depression.

2 Sep 2004

Risk of thyroid cancer rises with increasing radiation dose

The risk of thyroid cancer rises with increasing radiation dose, according to the most thorough risk analysis for thyroid cancer to date among people who grew up in the shadow of the 1986 Chernobyl power-plant disaster.

2 Sep 2004

Researchers accurately pinpoint the types of lymphoma, Hodgkins or non-Hodgkins

“There are many types and subtypes of lymphoma, some of which are easy to detect, but many that are very difficult to identify,” says Antonio Giordano, M.D., Ph.D., director of the Sbarro Institute at Temple and one of the study’s principal investigators.

1 Sep 2004

ANSTO challenges doctors’ claims on reactor-produced nuclear medicines

“Such claims are raised regularly by certain groups but have not been found to be justified on either technical or commercial grounds.”

31 Aug 2004

Research provides definitive evidence that radiation risk is associated with full-body CT scans

The risk of cancer mortality from a single full-body computed tomography (CT) scan is modest, but not negligible, and the risks resulting from elective annual scans are much higher, according to a study published in the September issue of the journal Radiology.

31 Aug 2004