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BMJ reviews EU patient information laws

In 2002 the European parliament voted resoundingly against allowing drug companies to provide information about their products directly to patients.

3 Apr 2007

Protein alpha synuclein plays important role in regulation of dopamine function

SNCA mutations can lead to significant problems, such as the neurodegenerative disorder Parkinson's disease, which is caused by a substantially reduced production of dopamine.

3 Apr 2007

Severe dengue infections may go unrecognized in international travelers

Severe cases of a common travelers' infection may not be recognized if doctors rely on the World Health Organization's (WHO) guidelines for identifying it, according to a new study published in the April 15 issue of The Journal of Infectious Diseases, now available online.

3 Apr 2007

Self-regulation plays major role in early child achievement

Although intelligence is generally thought to play a key role in children's early academic achievement, aspects of children's self-regulation abilities, including the ability to alternately shift and focus attention and to inhibit impulsive responding--are uniquely related to early academic success and account for greater variation in early academic progress than do measures of intelligence.

3 Apr 2007

Research may explain some of the sex differences in academic and vocational careers

Children in early grades may like a subject in which they don?t feel very competent, or they may feel competent in a subject in spite of poor grades.

3 Apr 2007

Scientists solve puzzle of osteoclasts

Breaking down bone is a tough job. Yet, our bones undergo remodeling every day of our lives, as old material is cleared away so that new bone can form.

3 Apr 2007

Key protein identified in immune response to malaria and TB

An international team of researchers has identified a key protein involved in the immune system's response to malaria, tuberculosis (TB) and a number of other infectious diseases.

3 Apr 2007

What makes a simple biological clock tick?

An interdisciplinary team of researchers at Vanderbilt University has analyzed the simplest known biological clock and figured out what makes it tick.

3 Apr 2007

Chronic reading problems and depression appear to be related, especially among low-income children

A new study done by researchers at the University of Delaware and West Chester University of Pennsylvania found that low-income children who take part in reading assistance programs in fifth grade are more depressed, anxious, and withdrawn than their peers, especially when they have chronic reading problems.

3 Apr 2007

New hope for a rabies cure

The appeal, by Rodney Willoughby, M.D., associate professor of pediatrics, appears in the April 2007 issue of Scientific American.

3 Apr 2007

Unusual protein helps cell bypass damage when making new DNA

Scientists have discovered how an unusual protein helps a cell bypass damage when making new DNA, thereby averting the cell's self-destruction.

3 Apr 2007

Preventive health examinations may provide opportunities for cancer screening

Health plan members who receive preventive health examinations, as opposed to going to a physician only when they are sick, appear more likely to undergo testing for colorectal, breast and prostate cancers, according to a report in the March 26 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

3 Apr 2007

Policies aimed at increasing preschool teacher education alone are unlikely to improve quality or children's learning

Policymakers are increasingly requiring that public preschool teachers have at least a bachelor's degree, preferably in early childhood education.

3 Apr 2007

Polymers show promise for gene delivery

Virginia Tech polymer scientists have developed a new family of gene vectors , novel polymers that can ferry genetic material across the cell membrane so that it can be incorporated into the machinery of the cell.

3 Apr 2007

Where you live might play a bigger role in your risk for heart disease than your ethnicity or race

New research reveals that rural residents were more knowledgeable about healthy eating and heart disease risk than urban residents, but that urban residents were more motivated and optimistic about getting healthy.

3 Apr 2007

Physicians may be obstacles to breast reconstruction

Significant differences in plastic surgery referral practices by general surgeons treating newly diagnosed breast cancer patients partially explain the low rates of breast reconstructive surgery in the United States, according to a new study.

3 Apr 2007

Trial of percutaneous coronary intervention added to optimal medical therapy in patients with stable coronary heart disease

Percutaneous coronary interventions (PCI) involve opening partially blocked arteries to improve blood flow to the heart. These procedures are performed more than 1 million times a year.

3 Apr 2007

Effective postoperative pain control using continuous peripheral nerve block reduces days of hospitalization

Effective postoperative pain control using continuous peripheral nerve block reduced average length-of-stay by nearly a day, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine physicians reported today during the 81st Clinical and Scientific Congress of the International Anesthesia Research Society at the Buena Vista Palace in Orlando, Fla.

3 Apr 2007

We need to balance out our intake of omega-6 and omega-3 fatty acids

A new study suggests that people whose diets contain dramatically more of one kind of polyunsaturated fatty acid than another may be at greater risk for both clinical depression and certain inflammatory diseases.

3 Apr 2007