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WHO ships Tamiflu to Indonesia just in case

A Hong Kong laboratory officially recognized by the World Health Organisation (WHO) has confirmed the latest four cases of bird flu infection in humans in Indonesia.

29 May 2006

WHO says Indonesian bird flu cluster does not show virus has mutated

The World Health Organisation (WHO) says that despite the cluster of seven members from the same Indonesian family dying of bird flu this month, it does not signify that the virus has mutated and is being transmitted from human to human.

25 May 2006

Heavy marijuana use not linked to lung cancer

Despite popular belief, a new study shows that people who smoke marijuana do not appear to be at increased risk of developing lung cancer.

24 May 2006

WHO says bird flu cluster shows no evidence of virus mutating

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has confirmed that a 32-year-old Indonesian man from Sumatra died on May 22 from the H5N1 strain of bird flu.

24 May 2006

Poor physical function associated with increased risk of dementia in older adults

Poor physical function may be associated with an increased risk for dementia and Alzheimer's disease in elderly adults, according to a report in the May 22 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine.

23 May 2006

Gene expression becomes heterogeneous with age

In a study of the effects of aging on gene expression, researchers have found that variation in gene expression among individuals tends to increase with age.

23 May 2006

Comprehensive care for complex, high-risk pregnancies

As many as 3 percent of all pregnancies result in the birth of a baby with chromosomal anomalies like Down syndrome or structural anomalies such as congenital heart disease.

23 May 2006

Sperm donor passes rare dangerous disease on to four children

According to a new report in the U.S., a sperm donor may have unwittingly passed an extremely rare and dangerous genetic ailment to five children born to four couples.

22 May 2006

Increased number of twin births could be down to dairy rich diets

According to new research in the U.S., a diet high in dairy products can greatly increase a woman's chances of having twins.

21 May 2006

vCJD may have infected far more people than previously thought

Scientists at the National CJD Surveillance Unit at the University of Edinburgh say that thousands may be infected with variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (vCJD) without showing signs or symptoms.

21 May 2006

Genetic testing can improve newborn screening tests for hearing defects

Researchers have identified several changes that could be made to existing newborn screening tests for hearing defects that could advance the standard of care in detecting deaf infants, according to an article in the New England Journal of Medicine.

17 May 2006

Novel animal model of lung adenocarcinoma

Drs. Katerina Politi, Harold Varmus and colleagues at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York have developed a novel animal model of lung adenocarcinoma that will be of great use in testing the efficacy of targeted therapies against human lung cancer.

17 May 2006

Sulforaphane shown to inhibit the occurrence of hereditary colon cancer

Need another reason to eat vegetables? A new study at Rutgers shows that certain vegetables - broccoli and cauliflower, in particular - have natural ingredients that may reduce the risk of developing hereditary cancers.

17 May 2006

Well-functioning lungs reduce risk of dementia

A middle-aged woman with well-functioning lungs runs less risk of developing Alzheimer's disease.

17 May 2006

Genetic cause of hearing loss in aging

Researchers at Indiana University School of Medicine have taken a step toward understanding the genetics that make people more susceptible to the loss of hearing as they age.

17 May 2006

Search for gene search for sporadic amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

Though it's the more common form of the disease, sporadic Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), which affects roughly 90 percent of those living with the fatal neurodegenerative illness, has been the one less studied, simply because, unlike familial ALS, no genes have turned up.

17 May 2006

Exercise shown to protect against skin and bowel cancer

Two studies have shown that exercise can protect against skin and bowel cancer, and they have identified new mechanisms that could be responsible for this effect.

17 May 2006

SOX2 neural stem cell gene important in eye development

Scientists at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have demonstrated that normal development of the eye requires the right amount of a neural stem cell gene be expressed at the right time and place.

16 May 2006

Common genetic variation makes some people more susceptible to coronary heart disease

Caucasians who carry this polymorphism, named K55R, were at significantly higher risk of coronary heart disease, independent of other risk factors, like cigarette smoking, diabetes, and hypertension.

16 May 2006

Exercise, diet may protect against colorectal cancer

Voluntary exercise and a restricted diet reduced the number and size of pre-cancerous polyps in the intestines of male mice and improved survival, according to a study by a University of Wisconsin-Madison research published in the journal Carcinogenesis.

16 May 2006