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Removal of ovaries during hysterectomy

During hysterectomy operations, surgeons often remove a woman's ovaries as well as her uterus. Cochrane Researchers now say there is no evidence that removing the ovaries provides any additional benefit and warn surgeons to consider the procedure carefully.

16 Jul 2008

Review of techniques used in caesarean sections

Despite the routine delivery of babies by caesarean section, there is no consensus among medical practitioners on which is the best operating method to use.

16 Jul 2008

Cognitive behaviour therapy effective in treating chronic fatigue syndrome

Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) is a potentially long-lasting illness that can cause considerable distress and disability. Some estimates suggest it may affect as many as 1 in 100 of the population globally.

16 Jul 2008

Diet alone cannot control type 2 diabetes

Despite strong evidence that type 2 diabetes can be prevented or at least delayed by a combination of lifestyle changes and good dietary advice, a team of Cochrane Researchers found that there is no indication whether dietary advice alone can prevent the disease.

16 Jul 2008

Culturally tailored education can improve blood sugar control in type 2 diabetes

Using community-based health advocates, delivering information within same-gender groups or adapting dietary and lifestyle advice to fit a particular community's likely diet can help people with type 2 diabetes control their blood sugar levels, certainly for up to six months, following health education.

16 Jul 2008

Metrifonate and praziquantel for urinary schistosomiasis

In 2000 the World Health Organization (WHO) stopped recommending metrifonate for treating urinary schistosomiasis because the drug did not appear to be as effective as the treatment of choice, praziquantel.

16 Jul 2008

Zinc supplementation for childhood diarrhoea

Zinc supplementation benefits children suffering from diarrhoea in developing countries, but only in infants over six months old, Cochrane Researchers have found. Their study supports World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines for the treatment of diarrhoea with zinc, although not in the very young.

16 Jul 2008

After ankle surgery: mobilise with care

People recover faster after surgery for ankle fracture if they are given a cast or splint that can be removed to let them exercise the ankle, than if their foot is placed in an immobilising plaster cast. If the fracture is stable, then encouraging them to walk soon after surgery is also beneficial.

16 Jul 2008

Regularly use of salmeterol for asthma: more evidence of long-term problems

People with asthma who regularly use salmeterol are at a greater risk of non-fatal serious adverse events than those using placebos. This conclusion was arrived at by a team of Cochrane Researchers who drew together data from 26 trials involving 62,630 patients.

16 Jul 2008

Foot orthoses reduce foot pain caused by arthritis

Custom-made insoles known as foot orthoses can reduce foot pain caused by arthritis, overly prominent big toe joints and highly arched feet, a new systematic review shows.

16 Jul 2008

AFFiRiS GmbH alzheimer's vaccine progress

In the clinical phase I trial AFF001, AFFiRiS GmbH has now recruited the 24 Alzheimer patients planned for this trial. The trial aims to investigate the tolerability and safety of an innovative Alzheimer's vaccine (AFFITOPE AD01).

16 Jul 2008

AIDS Healthcare Foundation treatment proposal accepted by US Senate

AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) which provides AIDS care and treatment services to more than 79,000 individuals in 20 countries worldwide, applauded the U.S. Senate for passing the legislation (vote: 80/16) re-authorizing PEPFAR (the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief), the successful US global AIDS program.

16 Jul 2008

Obesity 'hikes up' pancreatic cancer risk in women

Obese women, who carry most of their excess weight around the stomach, are 70 per cent more likely to develop pancreatic cancer, according to a study published online in the British Journal of Cancer.

16 Jul 2008

$2 million computer will help unravel major medical ailments

A federal grant will allow Johns Hopkins researchers to purchase a powerful $2 million computer that will speed up their efforts to find new ways to diagnose and treat brain disease, heart illnesses, cancer and other medical ailments.

16 Jul 2008

Malaria prevention in schools reduces anaemia and improves educational potential in Kenyan school kids

Providing preventive treatment for malaria, given once per term, dramatically reduces rates of malaria infection and anaemia among schoolchildren, and significantly improves their cognitive ability, according to new research published in the Lancet.

16 Jul 2008

Old bones could hold the key to tuberculosis

Close to 50 boxes of human and animal bones excavated in Jericho and held in the University of Sydney's Nicholson Museum could hold the key for an international medical team to unlock the causes of tuberculosis.

16 Jul 2008

Cure for bird flu a step closer

Scientists and researchers have taken a big step closer to a cure for the most common strain of avian influenza, or "bird flu," the potential pandemic that has claimed more than 200 lives and infected nearly 400 people in 14 countries since it was identified in 2003.

15 Jul 2008

Researchers finds further evidence for genetic contribution to autism

Some parents of children with autism evaluate facial expressions differently than the rest of us--and in a way that is strikingly similar to autistic patients themselves, according to new research by neuroscientist Ralph Adolphs of the California Institute of Technology and psychiatrist Joe Piven at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

15 Jul 2008

Men and women react differently to temptation

Temptation may be everywhere, but it's how the different sexes react to flirtation that determines the effect it will have on their relationships. In a new study, psychologists determined men tend to look at their partners in a more negative light after meeting a single, attractive woman. On the other hand, women are likelier to work to strengthen their current relationships after meeting an available, attractive man.

15 Jul 2008

Possible link found between X-rays and prostate cancer

Researchers at The University of Nottingham have shown an association between certain past diagnostic radiation procedures and an increased risk of young-onset prostate cancer - a rare form of prostate cancer which affects about 10 per cent of all men diagnosed with the disease.

15 Jul 2008