Miscellaneous News

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Year wait for spinal surgery forces boy to fly to India for operation

A mother who has been told her son may have to wait a year for a spine operation to restore his mobility, is to fly him to India for the procedure.

7 Aug 2005

U.S. company wants to commercialise breast milk

It has long been acknowledged that breast milk, with its minerals, digestive enzymes and antibodies, keeps babies healthy and boosts their intelligence.

7 Aug 2005

Participation of doctors and medical bodies in the abuse of prisoners is a stain on medical ethics

The direct or indirect participation of doctors and medical bodies in the abuse of prisoners is a stain on medical ethics, states a Comment in this week's issue of The Lancet.

4 Aug 2005

Table salt fluoridation can reduce the prevalence of dental caries

Table salt fluoridation can reduce the prevalence of dental caries up to 84 percent, according to a new book published by the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), "Promoting Oral Health: The Use of Salt Fluoridation to Prevent Dental Caries".

4 Aug 2005

Sources of magnetic fields in the home

The UKCCS published the results of exposure to power frequency magnetic fields in 1999 followed by a paper on residential proximity to power lines in 2000.

4 Aug 2005

NicStic - world's first smokeless and tobacco-free cigarette to go on sale

According to Swissmedic, the Swiss Agency for Therapeutic Products, the NicStic is not a medicinal product and the way has been cleared for its commercial production.

4 Aug 2005

Updated view of global nutrition

While nutritional status has improved worldwide over the past fifty years, new nutrition-related problems have also emerged. In an article recently published in The Journal of Nutrition, Eileen Kennedy DSc, RD, dean of the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University, offers an updated view of global nutrition.

4 Aug 2005

Florida federal health agency worker charged with anthrax hoax

A woman who works at the National Institutes of Health in Rockville, Maryland, was arrested in Maryland on Monday, after making a threat to infect Florida property assessors with anthrax for revoking her tax exemption.

3 Aug 2005

Brain-dead mother has baby girl

Twenty six year old Susan Torres, who has been has been kept alive for almost three months, since a stroke in May, has given birth to a baby girl, two months prematurely.

3 Aug 2005

Australia has the lowest rate of smoking in the world

...according to a new Australian Institute of Health and Welfare study on Statistics in Drug Use in Australia 2004.

2 Aug 2005

The wonders of watermelon

On a hot summer day, nothing refreshes quite like a crisp, juicy slice of cool watermelon. Whether you're chomping into watermelon, enjoying it as part of a fruit salad or slurping on a watermelon smoothie, that red pulp provides a powerhouse of nutritional value.

2 Aug 2005

Tobacco industry is continuing its targeted marketing to teens via candy-flavored cigarettes

Advertising and promotion for these products uses hip-hop imagery, attractive women, and other imagery to appeal to youth in similar ways that Joe Camel did a decade ago.

2 Aug 2005

Australian Medical Association backs mandatory use of ethanol in petrol on health grounds

Australian Medical Association (AMA) President, Dr Mukesh Haikerwal, has written to the Australian Government's Biofuels Taskforce detailing the AMA's support for the mandatory use of ethanol in petrol in the interests of protecting and improving human health.

2 Aug 2005

Elderly need to make sure they get enough vitamin B12

These days, most health warnings about vitamins focus on the danger of overdose. For vitamin B12, though, it's more likely that people are getting too little. In fact, B12 deficiency is the most common nutritional deficiency in the developing world and possibly in the United States as well, reports the August issue of the Harvard Health Letter.

2 Aug 2005

Respected medical journal worried at lack of international cooperation in investigating scientific fraud

In a rather worrying development this week, prestige medical publication the British Medical Journal (BMJ) has expressed concern about the validity of a paper it published in 1992 written by Dr Ram B Singh of Moradabad, India.

1 Aug 2005

U.S. beaches getting dirtier and some are disappearing

The National Resources Defense Council (NRDC) has said this week that more and more U.S. beaches are being closed due to contamination, partly because there is more pollution and partly because of better monitoring.

31 Jul 2005

British High Court overturns earlier "right-to-food" ruling

The General Medical Council in the UK has won its appeal in the High Court against a ruling which earlier gave a seriously-ill patient the right to stop doctors withdrawing food and drink.

28 Jul 2005

Cancer dye Sudan 1 found in curry powders

The UK's Food Standards Agency (FSA) said today that batches of curry powder have been withdrawn from sale after they were found to contain the banned dye Sudan 1.

28 Jul 2005

Effects of ostracism are a health concern

Ostracism is more powerful now than ever because people have fewer strong family and friend support systems to fall back on when faced with exclusion in relationships, the workplace or even Internet chat rooms, says a Purdue University social psychologist.

28 Jul 2005

Participants in the gene therapy market discover new ways to improve clinical efficiency and generate revenue

The gene therapy market has had limited success with products during the clinical development process. Due to toxicological complications and poor therapy efficacy, healthcare authorities have suspended several gene therapy trials worldwide.

28 Jul 2005