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Low-fat, plant-based diet is more effective at helping women lose weight

A low-fat, plant-based diet is more effective at helping women lose weight and improve insulin sensitivity than an omnivorous diet, shows a new study appearing in the September issue of The American Journal of Medicine.

10 Sep 2005

Two common weight loss supplements promoted as ephedra-free and safe for dieters caused increased heart rate among healthy people

...and could have harmful health effects in some people, according to a study by University of California - San Francisco (UCSF) scientists. Their placebo-controlled clinical study is the first to examine the pharmacological effects of these re-formulated dietary supplements.

10 Sep 2005

One in four cases of hospital MRSA bacteraemia occurs in new arrivals

One in four cases of MRSA blood stream infection in hospital occur in patients who have just arrived from the community. These patients tend to be older and have been in hospital before.

10 Sep 2005

New device for removing liver tumours with virtually no blood loss

The revolutionary new device uses radiofrequency energy to 'seal' tissue around a tumour site, allowing the tumour to be removed while preventing blood loss and other complications. The device has enabled surgeons to operate where previously it would have been too risky.

10 Sep 2005

Inhaled-insulin drug Exubera - monitoring programme to be launched by Pfizer

Drug company Pfizer says it is all set to launch a patient-monitoring scheme in order to assess the safety of its novel inhaled-insulin drug Exubera, if the product is approved for use.

10 Sep 2005

Depression may hasten the progression of heart disease

In a study of 32 people with heart failure, the 14 patients who felt the most depressed had nearly twice the levels of this protein in their blood.

7 Sep 2005

More heart victims die when clot-buster drug is used before angioplasty

Currently it is fairly common practice to give heart attack patients a clot-busting drug a few hours before planned angioplasty.

7 Sep 2005

Health officials insist they were prepared for Katrina

Federal health officials in the U.S. are defending themselves against criticism that the government was not prepared to deal with disaster left by Hurricane Katrina.

7 Sep 2005

Stressgen granted new U.S. patent for treatment of Hepatitis B

Stressgen Biotechnologies announced today that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office granted Patent Number 6,921,534 covering fusion protein compositions comprised of a hepatitis B virus (HBV) antigen fused to a heat shock protein (Hsp), as well as DNA encoding such fusion proteins, and methods of treating an HBV infection using these fusion proteins.

7 Sep 2005

Researchers develop screening test for cells that activate immune system

UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers are the first to create a large-scale, cell-based screening method that identifies which compounds activate immune-response cells that hold promise for future cancer-fighting vaccines.

7 Sep 2005

Collaborators seek parasite invasion blockers

A malaria research team, including WEHI Structural Biologist, Professor Ray Norton, has received a US$1 million grant from the US National Institutes of Health to develop more effective malaria treatments.

7 Sep 2005

A quirky or socially awkward approach to life might be the key to becoming a great artist, composer or inventor

New research in individuals with schizotypal personalities - people characterized by odd behavior and language but who are not psychotic or schizophrenic - offers the first neurological evidence that these individuals are more creative than normal or fully schizophrenic people, and rely more heavily on the right sides of their brains than the general population to access their creativity.

7 Sep 2005

Adlyfe receives award from the development of blood test for animal prion diseases

Adlyfe, Inc., a privately held biotech company headquartered in Rockville, MD, focused on early diagnostics for animal and human brain diseases announced the award today of a $650,000 two year grant from the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) in the UK for continued development of a sensitive early blood test for animal prion diseases.

7 Sep 2005

Testing for specific breast cancer genes unadvisable if no family history of disease exists

According to the Preventive Services Task Force in the U.S., routine testing for mutations in the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes, which have been linked to breast and ovarian cancer, are not advised unless women have a family history of the disease.

7 Sep 2005

New study dispels role of B vitamins in preventing heart attacks

According to the findings of a new study, by giving B vitamins to heart attack survivors their risk of having another attack is not reduced, and it may in fact do more harm than good.

6 Sep 2005

Researchers uncover how the inhaled form of anthrax disarms bacteria-fighting white blood cells before they can fend off the disease

The lethal toxin in anthrax paralyzes neutrophils, the white blood cells that act as the body's first defense against infection, by impairing how they build tiny filaments that allow them to crawl throughout the body and eat invading bacteria.

6 Sep 2005

Long hours equal to alcohol in impairing young doctors

Fatigued medical residents' performance on attention tests and on a driving simulator is comparable - or worse - than their performance after drinking three to four cocktails, according to research from Brown Medical School and University of Michigan.

6 Sep 2005

Part of largest randomised international trial program ever conducted in atrial fibrillation (AF) discontinued

Study treatments for the ACTIVE W trial of the ACTIVE (Atrial Fibrillation Clopidogrel Trial with Irbesartan for Prevention of Vascular Events) program have been discontinued due to a significant difference in efficacy, in favour of the standard oral anticoagulation (OAC) over antiplatelet therapy (clopidogrel plus aspirin).

6 Sep 2005

Fine-tuning fertility testing with take-home technology

A take-home fertility-testing kit under development in a Massey University laboratory will give women and couples further control over pregnancy planning.

6 Sep 2005

Strong social gradient in the metabolic syndrome

It is well documented that individuals with higher social status have lower risk of coronary heart disease (CHD). This is generally not explained by differences in lifestyle factors such as smoking and lack of exercise.

6 Sep 2005