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Why and when we started walking on two legs

Studying chimpanzees trained to use treadmills, a team of anthropologists has gathered new evidence suggesting our earliest apelike ancestors started walking on two legs because it required less energy than getting around on all fours.

24 Jul 2007

Link between low cholesterol levels and cancer

Millions of Americans take statins to lower their cholesterol, but how low should you go?

24 Jul 2007

NSAIDs can reduce colorectal cancer risk

A study of Medicare patients with osteoarthritis provides additional evidence that non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) such as aspirin reduce the risk of colorectal cancer.

24 Jul 2007

Studies assess blood clot prevalence outside hospital prevention in hospital

More cases of venous thromboembolism are diagnosed in the three months following hospitalization than during hospitalization, but less than half of inpatients receive medications to prevent blood clots from occurring, according to a report in the July 23 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine.

24 Jul 2007

New studies emphasize need for influenza and measles vaccinations in HIV-infected patients

Two new studies emphasize the importance of delivering measles and influenza vaccines to HIV-infected individuals.

24 Jul 2007

Patient involvement in decision making improves adherence to tuberculosis treatments

Tuberculosis (TB) is a major killer, causing up to two million deaths worldwide every year.

24 Jul 2007

Obese girls are half as likely to attend college as non-obese girls

Obese girls are half as likely to attend college as non-obese girls, according The study also shows obese girls are even less likely to enter college if they attend a high school where obesity is relatively uncommon. The findings appear in the July issue of the journal Sociology of Education.

24 Jul 2007

New joint replacement using crosslinked polyethylene put to first clinical use

Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) surgeons have performed the first total hip replacement using a joint socket lined with a novel material invented at the MGH.

24 Jul 2007

New algorithm matches any tumor cells to best possible anti-cancer treatments

Cancer patients don't have time to waste. Many go through several different treatments, however, to find one that is more effective against their particular type of tumor.

24 Jul 2007

New evidence for the existence of accumulator neurons

As any child knows, to answer the question, how many? one must start by adding up individual objects in a group.

24 Jul 2007

Allergen-free peanuts

An agricultural researcher at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University has developed a simple process to make allergen-free peanuts.

24 Jul 2007

Male circumcision reduces HIV risk by as much as 60%

Three clinical trials in Africa found that adult male circumcision reduced the risk of men acquiring HIV infection from heterosexual sex by 51-60%.

24 Jul 2007

Low literacy can shorten life

Not being able to read doesn't just make it harder to navigate each day. Low literacy impairs people's ability to obtain critical information about their health and can dramatically shorten their lives.

24 Jul 2007

Initiative to improve heart failure care at nation's hospitals makes major gains

A national initiative designed to improve heart-failure patient care in hospitals proved effective at increasing hospital adherence to key quality-of-care performance measures and reducing the length of hospital stays for patients.

24 Jul 2007

Gynecologist removes ovaries through patient's belly button

Using a new technique developed at Drexel University College of Medicine in Philadelphia, Stephanie A. King, M.D., Associate Professor and Chief of Gynecologic Oncology, removed a woman's ovaries through a single incision in the patient's belly button.

24 Jul 2007

Faith-based organizations serve neediest people

A study of welfare recipients in Indiana demonstrates that clients who seek social services from faith-based organizations (FBOs) are more likely to have experienced homelessness, not having enough to eat and other forms of extreme poverty in comparison to those who seek help only from nonreligious organizations (NROs).

24 Jul 2007