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No good evidence that private treatment centres are value for money

There is no good evidence that independent sector treatment centres have provided additional capacity, value for money, or high quality care, argue researchers in this week's BMJ.

22 Feb 2008

New understanding of how big molecules bind will lead to better drugs, synthetic organic materials

Biological and medical research is on the threshold of a new era based on better understanding of how large organic molecules bind together and recognise each other.

22 Feb 2008

New clinician's guide to prevention and treatment of osteoporosis

The National Osteoporosis Foundation has released its new "Clinician's Guide to Prevention and Treatment of Osteoporosis" which represents a new era for healthcare providers in the evaluation and treatment of people with low bone mass or osteoporosis.

22 Feb 2008

New electron microscope identifies atoms

A new electron microscope recently installed in Cornell's Duffield Hall is enabling scientists for the first time to form images that uniquely identify individual atoms in a crystal and see how those atoms bond to one another.

22 Feb 2008

Link between excessive food intake and insulin resistance

For quite some time now, scientists suspected the so-called hexosamine pathway - a small side business of the main sugar processing enterprise inside a cell - to be involved in the development of insulin resistance.

22 Feb 2008

Moderate level of aerobic fitness may lower stroke risk

A moderate level of aerobic fitness can significantly reduce stroke risk for men and women, according to a large, long-running study presented at the American Stroke Association's International Stroke Conference 2008.

22 Feb 2008

Extending laser wavelengths

Scientists hope that research being conducted in Binghamton University's Department of Physics, Applied Physics and Astronomy will create lasers that work at wavelengths currently inaccessible.

22 Feb 2008

Kidney donor age linked to aortic siffening

Transplantation of kidneys from older donors is followed by increased stiffening of the recipient's aorta - which may help to explain the higher rates of cardiovascular disease and death in patients receiving kidneys from "expanded criteria" donors, reports a study in the April Journal of the American Society of Nephrology.

22 Feb 2008

Involved patients not always the healthiest

Patients who say they want to take an active role in their health care could be unhealthier in some respects than patients who prefer to let their doctors lead the way, according to new research published in the Annals of Behavioral Medicine.

22 Feb 2008

Insulin administered intranasally may lower food intake in men, improve memory in women

Insulin administered intranasally, acutely decreases food intake in men but not women and in contrast, the compound improves memory function in women but not men according to a new study accepted for publication in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism (JCEM).

22 Feb 2008

Curcumin reduces heart enlargement and may prevent heart failure

Eating curcumin, a natural ingredient in the spice turmeric, may dramatically reduce the chance of developing heart failure, researchers at the Peter Munk Cardiac Centre of the Toronto General Hospital have discovered.

22 Feb 2008

Wireless devices increasingly helping people with disabilities

Mirroring a trend among the general public, an increasing number of people with disabilities regularly use wireless technologies, including cell phones - and find them easier to use.

22 Feb 2008

Guidelines for evaluation of psychological side-effects of brain injury

In her PhD, defended at the University of the Basque Country, Maria Luisa de Francisco Maiz provided a clinical-forensic evaluation of brain injuries and also a study on the variables that influence the length of "legal time periods".

21 Feb 2008

New proof-of-principle findings that thymic involution can be reversed in humans

Scientists at the Gladstone Institute of Virology and Immunology (GIVI) and the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) have found that therapy can be used to stimulate the production of vital immune cells, called "T- cells," in adults with HIV infection.

21 Feb 2008

Genetic tags reveal secrets of memories' staying power in mice

A better understanding of how memory works is emerging from a newfound ability to link a learning experience in a mouse to consequent changes in the inner workings of its neurons.

21 Feb 2008

Genetic defect causes immune deficiency and balance disorder

A genetic defect that causes a severe immune deficiency in humans may also produce balance disorders, according to a new study by researchers at the University of Iowa, The Jackson Laboratory and East Carolina University.

21 Feb 2008

Female-to-male transsexuals have higher androgen levels, not polycystic ovary syndrome

Contrary to previous studies, female-to-male transsexuals do not have a higher prevalence of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), though they do have significantly higher androgen levels, according to a new study accepted for publication in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism (JCEM).

21 Feb 2008