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3 questions identify children at risk of passive smoking

Pediatricians can reliably identify children at risk for environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) exposure (secondhand smoke) by asking parents just three questions, according to an article in the May issue of Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

2 May 2005

Myogen's Ambrisentan granted orphan drug designation by Europeans

Myogen today announced that the Commission of the European Communities, with a favorable opinion of the Committee for Orphan Medicinal Products of the European Medicines Agency (EMEA), has granted orphan drug designation to ambrisentan for the treatment of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) and chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension.

2 May 2005

Loneliness and social network appear to make independent contributions to immunity

A new study at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh confirms how college challenges both mind and body, by demonstrating that lonely first-year students mounted a weaker immune response to the flu shot than did other students. The study appears in the May issue of Health Psychology, which is published by the American Psychological Association (APA).

2 May 2005

Blocking the COX-1 enzyme might be the answer in ovarian cancer treatment

Researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in a new report say that blocking the COX-1 enzyme - not COX-2 - might lead to a way to prevent and treat the most common and fatal form of ovarian cancer.

2 May 2005

Marburg virus - 275 confirmed cases

The World Health Organization (WHO) and health authorities in Angola have confirmed 275 cases including 255 deaths, in an outbreak of Marburg virus in north-western Angola since April 27 this year.

2 May 2005

Little known enzyme ACAT2 appears to be a factor in cardiovascular disease

New research suggests that a little-studied enzyme ACAT2, may play a major role in cardiovascular disease because it alters the molecular structure of cholesterol.

2 May 2005

African Americans disproportionately faced with stroke says the American Stroke Association

There are many faces of stroke. This year, 700,000 Americans of all ages, genders and ethnicities will have a new or recurrent stroke.

2 May 2005

Being a party animal is good for you!

Scientists in the US say that being the life and soul of the party apart from being great fun could be good for the heart.

1 May 2005

FDA gives go-ahead for new diabetes treatment

Sufferers from adult-onset diabetes, the most common form of the disease, will soon be able to access a new injectable diabetes treatment which when used with oral drugs, should be more effective in controlling their blood sugar.

1 May 2005

19 primary schoolchildren on HIV drugs after prank with needle

After an 8-year-old girl pricked her schoolmates with her mother's diabetes-testing needle nineteen primary school students have had to be been placed on drugs to fight HIV because one child in a group of nineteen was discovered to be HIV positive.

1 May 2005

Community efforts can reduce alcohol fatalities

Communities can decrease alcohol-related fatal crashes by providing better access to substance abuse treatment while reducing the availability of alcohol in the community, according to a new study supported by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). A report of the study appears in the April, 2005 issue of the journal Injury Prevention.

1 May 2005

New prognostic markers help identify risk of relapse

A recently completed clinical study has found new prognostic markers that may help clinicians identify those children with leukaemia who are at high risk of relapse and are most in need of intensified treatment to improve their chance of survival.

1 May 2005

Tumors of the pituitary gland are more common than thought

A recent study found that tumors of the pituitary gland are more common than many health care professionals realize, with national prevalence rates averaging 16.7 percent. To neurosurgeon Dr. Gail Rosseau, this isn't surprising.

1 May 2005

War veterans are more likely to be heavy drinkers, heavy smokers and obese

Men who fought in World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War are more likely to be heavy drinkers, heavy smokers and obese than men who are non-combat veterans or non-veterans, according to a study presented at the American Heart Association's 45th annual Conference of Cardiovascular Disease, Epidemiology and Prevention.

1 May 2005

Discrimination leads to coronary artery calcification in African-American women

The more discrimination African-American women report, the more likely they are to have coronary artery calcification, a buildup of calcium in the vessels that is associated with atherosclerosis, according to a study presented at the American Heart Association's 45th Annual Conference on Cardiovascular Disease Epidemiology and Prevention.

1 May 2005

Severely obese children have lipoprotein profiles that signal early risk of cardiovascular disease and the metabolic syndrome

"The message is urgent about the importance of prevention of cardiovascular disease in childhood. Lifestyle modification with appropriate diet and exercise can reduce cardiovascular risk in children," said lead author Daniel L. Preud'Homme, M.D., associate professor of medicine at the Wright State University School of Medicine and director of the lipid clinic at The Children's Medical Center, both in Dayton, Ohio.

1 May 2005

Fiber supplements may lower cardiovascular risk in type 2 diabetics

Fiber supplements lower "bad" low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol and increase "good" high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol in people with type 2 diabetes, according to a study presented at the American Heart Association's Sixth Annual Conference on Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology.

1 May 2005

Computerized tools for diagnosing heart attack could be inaccurate in some people

A computerized tool to help emergency room physicians determine whether a patient is having a heart attack may not work as well among some racial and ethnic groups, according to research of almost 12,000 patients at nine medical centers.

1 May 2005

Blocking the COX-1 enzyme might prevent and treat the most common and fatal form of ovarian cancer

Blocking the COX-1 enzyme - not COX-2 - might lead to a way to prevent and treat the most common and fatal form of ovarian cancer, researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center reported this week.

1 May 2005

Antibiotic minocycline might help alleviate HIV's negative effects on the brain and central nervous system

By studying animals, Johns Hopkins researchers have discovered that the antibiotic minocycline might help alleviate HIV's negative effects on the brain and central nervous system, problems that can develop even though antiretroviral therapy controls the virus elsewhere in the body.

1 May 2005