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One third of stunting and a quarter of deaths among under 3s in poor countries could be prevented

If existing maternal and child nutrition interventions were implemented in poor countries, cases of stunting among under 3s could be reduced by a third, and deaths by up to a quarter, according to new research being published today.

24 Jan 2008

NSAIDs are effective for short-term relief of low-back pain

Non steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs; such as aspirin and ibuprofen) can help reduce symptoms of low back pain that doesn't involve sciatica, a Cochrane Systematic Review has found.

24 Jan 2008

Northwestern Memorial trial may wean kidney transplant patients off antirejection drugs

After a transplant surgery, anti-rejection drugs for the organ recipient are a must, but with prolonged use can have serious side effects, including infections, heart disease and cancer.

24 Jan 2008

No high quality studies on reducing MRSA infection in nursing homes for elderly people

Nursing homes for older people provide environments where bacteria such as meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) are likely to thrive.

24 Jan 2008

No clear evidence that antidepressants assist in the management of chronic low back pain

Doctors commonly prescribe antidepressants for patients with low back pain for three main reasons; to relieve pain; reduce mild depression and improve a person's mood; and improve sleep.

24 Jan 2008

Nitrogen fixation process in plants to combat drought in various species of legumes

The regulation of the biological fixation of nitrogen in hydric stress conditions varies with the different species of legume plants studied.

24 Jan 2008

New method enables design, production of extremely novel drugs

A new chemical synthesis method based on a catalyst worth many times the price of gold and providing a far more efficient and economical method than traditional ones for designing and manufacturing extremely novel pharmaceutical compounds is described by its University at Buffalo developers in a review article in the current issue of Nature.

24 Jan 2008

Music therapy may offer hope for people with depression

A therapist may be able to use music to help some patients fight depression and improve, restore and maintain their health, states a Systematic Review from The Cochrane Library.

24 Jan 2008

The decline of modern day fertility

Researchers at the University of Sheffield have shown that mothers are choosing to have fewer children in order to give their children the best start in life, but by doing so are going against millenia of human evolution.

24 Jan 2008

Low-income US children less likely to have access to qualified teachers

Children from low-income families in the United States do not have the same access to qualified teachers as do wealthier students, according to a University of Missouri study. Compared to 46 countries, the United States had the fourth largest opportunity gap, the difference between students of high and low socioeconomic status in their access to qualified teachers.

24 Jan 2008

Less education may lead to delayed awareness of Alzheimer's onset

A review of epidemiological data has found evidence that people who spend fewer years in school may experience a slight but statistically significant delay in the realization that they're having cognitive problems that could be Alzheimer's disease.

24 Jan 2008

Intensive education can help patients with acute low-back pain

People with low-back pain who were given an additional individual two and a half-hour education session with a trained specialist on top of their usual care did better than those given normal care alone.

24 Jan 2008

Health insurance co-payments deter mammography use

When faced with even a modest health insurance co-payment for a mammogram, significantly fewer women receive these potentially life-saving breast cancer screenings, according to a new study by Brown University and Harvard Medical School researchers.

24 Jan 2008

Hawthorn extract helps the heart

Taking hawthorn extract can help control symptoms of chronic heart disease such as low abilities to work and walk, and also improve a range of heart-related measurements.

24 Jan 2008

Handwashing can reduce diarrhea episodes by about one third

Both in institutions and in communities, interventions that promote hand washing lead to significant reductions in the incidence of diarrhoea.

24 Jan 2008

Genetic difference predicts antidepressant response

Researchers have identified subtle genetic variations that predict the efficacy of two widely used antidepressant drugs.

24 Jan 2008

Few strategies exist to prevent MRSA spread in nursing homes

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureu (MRSA) is making news as a dangerous, sometimes fatal disease for hospital patients, and in recent cases, students.

24 Jan 2008

Experimental procedure induces tolerance to mismatched kidney transplants

Four of five patients participating in a trial of an experimental protocol designed to induce immune tolerance to HLA-mismatched kidney transplants have been able to discontinue immunosuppressive drugs.

24 Jan 2008

Evolutionary phenomenon in mice may explain human infertility

Scientists at the University of Liverpool have found that field mice have evolved a unique way of ensuring faster fertilisation, a phenomenon which could explain some cases of infertility in humans.

24 Jan 2008