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Secondhand tobacco smoke harms children in China

The more Chinese children are exposed to secondhand tobacco smoke, the more they have symptoms like coughing at night, sneezing, phlegm without a cold, sneezing with itchy-watery eyes and impaired lung-function growth.

11 Oct 2011

Antivirulence drugs may fight infection and suppress resistance

Antivirulence drugs disarm pathogens rather than kill them, and although they could be effective in theory, antivirulence drugs have never been tested in humans. A new study to be published in the online journal mBio- on Tuesday, October 18 reveals these drugs have the potential to fight infection while avoiding the pitfalls of drug resistance.

11 Oct 2011

CRN responds to study on dietary supplements in older women

In response to the published study, "Dietary Supplements and Mortality Rate in Older Women," published in the Archives of Internal Medicine (a publication of the American Medical Association), the Council for Responsible Nutrition (CRN), the leading trade association representing the dietary supplement industry, issued the following two-part statement.

11 Oct 2011

Study to examine legal, ethical issues of providing genetic research results to relatives

A team of researchers, Gloria Petersen, Ph.D., of Mayo Clinic, Barbara Koenig, Ph.D., of the University of California, San Francisco, and Susan Wolf, J.D., of the University of Minnesota, have received a five-year, $2.5 million grant from the National Cancer Institute and the National Human Genome Research Institute to study the ethical and legal implications of providing genetic research results, such as DNA test results, from tissue donated to research bio banks to relatives of the donor.

11 Oct 2011

Rare and severe hypoglycemia could be genetic

The life-threatening condition depicts the fact that the body does not have enough energy to function. Scientists at the University of Cambridge say mutations in the AKT2 gene are to blame. Writing in the journal Science, they say there are already cancer drugs which target a similar process.

10 Oct 2011

Our brain may filter out negativity to provide a rosier picture: Study

A new study shows that a reason why optimists retain a positive outlook even in the face of reality could be that the brain rejects bad news. The study published in Nature Neuroscience adds that in some people, anything negative is practically ignored - with them retaining a positive world view.

10 Oct 2011

A new approach to cancer treatment

Scientists have discovered a mechanism that causes an aggressive type of lung cancer to re-grow following chemotherapy, offering hope for new therapies.

9 Oct 2011

The paralyzed could walk again with a “prosthetic exoskeleton”

The team claims that they have cleared a hurdle to the construction of a prosthetic suit that will enable the paralyzed to walk, as well as restore their sense of touch. They are working towards the opening day of the 2014 World Cup soccer tournament in Brazil when they hope to send in a young quadriplegic striding out to playing fields to open the games.

9 Oct 2011

NIH awards LSUHSC $9 million grant to develop pneumonia vaccine

Dr. Judd Shellito, Chief of the Section of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine at LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans, has been awarded approximately $9 million in grant funding to develop a vaccine against Pneumocystis, an important cause of pneumonia in people with HIV infection. This potentially fatal illness is the most common serious opportunistic infection in people with HIV.

7 Oct 2011

Gates Foundation accepting nominations for vaccine innovation award

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation announced on Thursday that "it is accepting nominations for the first Gates Vaccine Innovation Award to recognize, celebrate, and spur transformative ideas for achieving impact through the delivery of vaccines," according to a Gates Foundation press release.

7 Oct 2011

Cuts to U.S. military's HIV research program threaten HIV vaccine progress

Fred Sawe, deputy director of the Kenya Medical Research Institute/Walter Reed Project HIV Program in Kericho, Kenya, and Mitchell Warren, executive director of AVAC: Global Advocacy for HIV Prevention, report in Global Health Magazine that "[t]he Department of the Army is set to slash 73 percent of the U.S. Military HIV Research Program's (MHRP) Army research budget for FY13 through FY17," a move they write is a threat to HIV vaccine progress.

7 Oct 2011

Smoking susceptibility of young people linked to tobacco displays

Young people who find tobacco displays in shops attractive and who easily recall seeing the displays have a greater chance of becoming a smoker according to a new Cancer Research UK funded research study published in Nicotine and Tobacco Research today.

7 Oct 2011

People from lower socio-economic backgrounds are more fatalistic about cancer

People in lower paid jobs are pessimistic about the benefits of diagnosing cancer early and more scared than affluent people to see a doctor about an unusual symptom, new research shows.

7 Oct 2011

Experts urge government to ensure future reliability of national suicide statistics

The increasing use of "narrative verdicts" by coroners in England and Wales may be leading to greater underestimation of suicide rates, warn experts on bmj.com today, based on ongoing research part funded by the National Institute for Health Research.

7 Oct 2011

Study explores link between ads, parental influence and food choices made by children

Directly advertising food items to children worries many parents and health care providers, and the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Psychological Association have expressed concern about the negative impact of advertising on children's healthy food choices.

7 Oct 2011

African-Americans have higher overall post-scene of injury mortality rate than whites

New research based on post-hospital arrival data from U.S. trauma centers finds that even after adjusting for differences in injury severity, gun use, and other likely causes of race difference in death from assault, African-Americans have a significantly higher overall post-scene of injury mortality rate than whites.

7 Oct 2011

Liver cancer incidence rates continue to rise in North America

A new study finds liver cancer incidence rates continue to increase in some low-risk parts of the world such as North America, and are decreasing in some of the highest risk countries of Asia.

7 Oct 2011

Co-occurrence of medical and psychiatric disease is likely to affect QoL

This review provides evidence of a substantially reduced psychosocial and physical quality of life in medically ill patients with comorbid mental disorders. This patient-reported outcome highlights the importance of recognizing and treating comorbid mental disorders in the medically ill.

7 Oct 2011

Logistic regression models identify risk factors for open angle glaucoma

Early detection and diagnosis of open angle glaucoma important so that treatment can be used in the early stages of the disease developing to prevent or avoid further vision loss.

7 Oct 2011

Scientists discover how cells detect tissue damage and modify their repair properties

Scientists have discovered how cells detect tissue damage and modify their repair properties accordingly. The findings, published in the journal Developmental Cell, could open up new opportunities for improving tissue repair in patients following illness or surgery.

7 Oct 2011