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Scientists show that HIV's evolution in the body does not occur at a constant rate

HIV is so deadly largely because it evolves so rapidly. With a single virus as the origin of an infection, most patients will quickly come to harbor thousands of different versions of HIV, all a little bit different and all competing with one another to most efficiently infect that person's cells. Its rapid and unique evolution in every patient is what allows HIV to evade the body's defenses and gives the virus great skill at developing resistance to a pantheon of antiviral drugs.

12 Dec 2008

Men inherit tendency to have more sons or more daughters from their parents

A Newcastle University study involving thousands of families is helping prospective parents work out whether they are likely to have sons or daughters.

12 Dec 2008

AstraZeneca responds to FDA advisory committees' recommendation on SYMBICORT

On December 11, 2008, the Joint Advisory Committees of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) - including the Drug Safety & Risk Management Advisory Committee, the Pediatric Advisory Committee, and the Pulmonary-Allergy Drugs Advisory Committee - completed a review of the benefits and risks of asthma medications containing long-acting beta-agonists (LABAs).

12 Dec 2008

An evidence-based approach to theories of medical decision making and health

As a way to help both the sick and their medical care providers to make the best healthcare decisions possible, a special section of the current November/December 2008 issue of Medical Decision Making examines three current evidenced-based theories that can help to improve assessments, assist in prevention programs, and help with intervention efforts.

12 Dec 2008

Enzyme that mutates antibodies also targets a cancer-causing oncogene

Rockefeller University scientists have discovered that the same enzyme that enables the immune system's defensive creativity is also responsible for a particular genetic malfunction - a translocation of one piece of DNA to the wrong chromosome - that causes Burkitt's lymphoma.

12 Dec 2008

Amputees can experience prosthetic hand as their own

Scientists at Karolinska Institutet and Lund University in Sweden have succeeded in inducing people with an amputated arm to experience a prosthetic rubber hand as belonging to their own body.

12 Dec 2008

Researchers create model of different components that contribute to an obesity-prone home food environment

What parents make available for their children to eat can contribute to an obesity-prone home food environment, according to researchers at Kansas State University.

12 Dec 2008

Losing sense of smell may indicate Parkinson's

Many individuals with Parkinson's disease are able to recall losing their sense of smell well before the onset of more commonly recognized symptoms such as tremors, impaired dexterity, speech problems, memory loss and decreased cognitive ability.

12 Dec 2008

PreMD files provisional patent application for new method of quantifying cancer biomarkers

Predictive medicine company PreMD Inc. has announced that it has filed a provisional patent application that describes a new simplified method of quantifying immunohistochemical staining of biomarkers. The provisional patent application was filed with the United States Patent and Trademark office.

11 Dec 2008

Vaxfectin-formulated H5N1 pandemic influenza achieves T-cell responses and cross-clade reactivity in humans

Vical Incorporated has announced that the company's Vaxfectin-formulated H5N1 pandemic influenza DNA vaccines induced T-cell responses against a matching strain of influenza virus and demonstrated cross-clade antibody responses against a different strain in a Phase 1 clinical trial.

11 Dec 2008

AEterna Zentari completes recruitment for phase 3 trial with Cetrorelix in benign prostatic hyperplasia

AEterna Zentaris Inc. has reported it has reached its goal of recruiting 500 patients for the safety study of the Phase 3 program in benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) with its flagship product candidate, cetrorelix, a novel investigational luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone (LHRH) antagonist.

11 Dec 2008

Implantable hemodynamic monitor may help manage diastolic heart failure

An implantable hemodynamic monitor (IHM) may help to guide medical treatment in a large subgroup of patients with heart failure-those with diastolic heart failure (DHF), reports a study in the December Journal of Cardiac Failure, published by Elsevier.

11 Dec 2008

Mathematical models of adaptive immunity

More than five million people die every year from infectious diseases, despite the availability of numerous antibiotics and vaccines. The discovery of penicillin to treat bacterial infections, along with the development of vaccines for previously incurable virus diseases such as polio and smallpox, achieved great reductions in mortality during the mid-20th century.

11 Dec 2008

Warning on heavy toilet seats and toddler penis injuries

UK doctors have expressed considerable concerns about the growing trend for heavy wooden and ornamental toilet seats after a number of male toddlers were admitted with crush injuries to their penises.

11 Dec 2008

Decline in teen marijuana use stalls - trends in cigarette and alcohol use continues to fall

There are signs that the ongoing decline in teen marijuana use in recent years has stalled; however the downward trend in cigarette and alcohol use continues, according to the 2008 Monitoring the Future (MTF) Survey. Results were announced today at a news conference.

11 Dec 2008

An enzyme that mutates antibodies also targets a cancer-causing oncogene

The human immune system is in a perpetual state of self-experimentation. It expertly mutates and shuffles the DNA of its own cells to evolve new defenses against the vast array of microbes that try to invade our bodies. But when the genetic experiment goes awry, the result can be a deadly cancer.

11 Dec 2008

University at Buffalo driver simulation study targets high-risk teen drivers

Using the bells and whistles of a state-of-the-art entertainment arcade, a University at Buffalo Graduate School of Education project aims to improve the driving habits of teenagers at the very top of the risk pool, and at the same time bring child and parent together for a happier, better functioning family.

11 Dec 2008