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Being overweight may independently increase risk for developing coronary heart disease

Being moderately overweight or obese appears to increase the risk for developing coronary heart disease events independent of traditional cardiovascular risk factors, according to a meta-analysis of previously published studies in the September 10 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

11 Sep 2007

Antidepressant citalopram shows promise in treating symptoms of dementia

Researchers have found surprising evidence that an antidepressant (citalopram) may perform as well as a commonly-prescribed antipsychotic (risperidone) in the alleviation of severe agitation and psychotic symptoms of dementia.

11 Sep 2007

Coding and noncoding genes are involved in and cooperate in human tumorigenesis

A new study provides evidence that noncoding RNAs and interactions between noncoding genes play a much greater role in human cancer than was previously understood.

11 Sep 2007

Adverse drug events on the rise

The number of serious adverse drug events reported to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) more than doubled between 1998 and 2005, as did deaths associated with adverse drug events, according to a report in the September 10 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

11 Sep 2007

Miracle diets are useless to get a stable negative energy balance

After summer holidays, miracle-diet adherents stick to these diets to lose the weight gained in the last months in record time.

11 Sep 2007

Two drugs equally effective for heart patients undergoing angioplasty

In lifesaving procedures to open blocked heart arteries a key question has persisted for years: Is use of the more expensive drug, abciximab, justified over use of the less-expensive eptifibatide

11 Sep 2007

$52.5 million settlement against Sepracor approved

Judge Morris E. Lasker of the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts has granted final approval of a $52.5 million settlement in two separate but related securities class actions against Sepracor Inc., a Massachusetts-based pharmaceutical company.

11 Sep 2007

Merck/Gilead once-a-day AIDS pill not available in most places

AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) today called on Gilead Sciences and Merck to immediately register and distribute the three-in-one, once daily lifesaving HIV treatment, Atripla, in developing countries.

10 Sep 2007

Too much salt in childrens' food raises their blood pressure

According to scientists in Britain, children as young as four are eating so much salt it is compromising their health by raising their blood pressure.

10 Sep 2007

Millions unaware they have potentially fatal high blood pressure

According to a medical charity in the UK more than five million Britons are living with potentially fatal high blood pressure and are unaware of it.

10 Sep 2007

Mothers-to-be in Britain will get £200 to spend on healthy food

Mothers-to-be in Britain are being given a grant by the government to spend on healthy food.

10 Sep 2007

Brooklyn woman infected with West Nile virus

According to health officials in New York a 41-year-old woman from Brooklyn has become the year's first known human case of the West Nile virus in New York State.

10 Sep 2007

$2 million bail bond for pair accused of illegal cosmetic surgery

A court in San Jose has slapped a $1 million bail bond each on two people accused of performing illegal plastic surgeries.

10 Sep 2007

Poorly maintained drains the culprit in British foot-and-mouth outbreak

An official report into the foot-and-mouth disease outbreak in Surrey, England has found that the source was most likely a leaking drain on the nearby Pirbright laboratory site.

10 Sep 2007

Addiction to chocolate

Chocolate is the most widely and frequently craved food. People readily admit to being 'addicted to chocolate' or willingly label themselves as 'chocoholics'. A popular explanation for this is that chocolate contains mood-enhancing (psychoactive) ingredients that give it special appeal.

10 Sep 2007

Occupational vocal cord dysfunction

Researchers from the UAB and the Vall d'Hebron Hospital have diagnosed two patients affected with vocal cord dysfunction, which causes coughing and difficulty in breathing due to irritating agents that are breathed in at the workplace.

10 Sep 2007

Novel enzyme may offer huge range of potential therapeutic agents

By guiding an enzyme down a new evolutionary pathway, a team of University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers has created a new form of an enzyme capable of producing a range of potential new therapeutic agents with anticancer and antibiotic properties.

10 Sep 2007

Genetic causes of rheumatoid arthritis

The human genome has now been thoroughly screened in the hunt for the genetic causes of rheumatoid arthritis. The results, which both confirms previous hypotheses and turn the spotlight on entirely new genes, are presented in two articles in the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine.

10 Sep 2007

Women more at risk from sleep deprivation than men

New research led by researchers at Warwick Medical School at the University of Warwick reveals that women's health is much more at risk from sleep deprivation than men's.

10 Sep 2007

New genetic risk factor for rheumatoid arthritis and lupus

A genetic variation has been identified that increases the risk of two chronic, autoimmune inflammatory diseases: rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and systemic lupus erythematosus (lupus).

10 Sep 2007