Medical News

RSS

A male contraceptive pill - but will they take it?

British scientists say a male contraceptive pill could be on the market within five years.

28 Nov 2006

South Korea to cull pigs, cats and dogs as well as poultry, to stop bird flu

In an attempt to halt the further spread of the current outbreak of bird flu in South Korea, as well as culling 236,000 poultry, the Agriculture Ministry also plans to cull hundreds of pigs, dogs and cats in the area.

28 Nov 2006

New bird flu drug will provide new line of defence

Flu experts say a new flu drug with the ability to kill deadly strains of bird flu promises to provide a much needed third option should a pandemic occur.

28 Nov 2006

Chikungunya fever rampant in Sri Lanka's north

The Sri Lankan government has confirmed that the viral fever spreading rapidly amongst people in Jaffna, is the mosquito-borne Chikungunya fever.

28 Nov 2006

68,000 women a year die from botched abortions

According to a new study as many as 68,000 women each year die as a result of botched abortion procedures and another 5 million develop infections and complications.

28 Nov 2006

Fat children sleep better when they exercise

Researchers in the United States say that doing some form of aerobic exercise during the daytime might improve the sleep-related breathing problems experienced by many children who are overweight or obese.

28 Nov 2006

Cytogen issued new patent covering oral drug delivery agents

Cytogen Corporation has announced that it has been issued United States patent number 7,135,457 covering its oral drug delivery agents - random peptide compositions that bind to gastro-intestinal tract (GIT) transport receptors.

28 Nov 2006

Poor memory and slow reactions linked to heart attacks

According to British research, people with a below average mental agility are prone to heart attacks.

27 Nov 2006

Folic acid shown to prevent heart attacks and stroke

British researchers have found enough scientific evidence to support the claim that folic acid is both an easy and inexpensive way to reduce heart disease and strokes.

27 Nov 2006

Check that Thanksgiving ham and turkey

In the latest food scare in the United States thousands of pounds of ham and turkey have been recalled because they are suspected of contamination with listeria.

27 Nov 2006

Bird flu crops up again in South Korea

South Korea has found the H5N1 strain of bird flu in chickens at a poultry farm.

27 Nov 2006

Man sent to prison for knowingly spreading HIV

A man in the U.S. infected with HIV, who knowingly exposed three women to the virus, has been sentenced to almost three years in prison.

27 Nov 2006

Finance Committee approves $181M loan to California's Stem Cell Research Institute

The California Stem Cell Research and Cures Finance Committee on Monday unanimously approved a $181 million loan to the state's stem cell research institute, the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, in an effort to start the program, which has been stalled by lawsuits, the Los Angeles Times reports (La Ganga, Los Angeles Times, 11/21).

23 Nov 2006

Incoming Congress should enact legislation to reduce abortion rate

Although "[t]aking substantial steps to reduce the abortion rate will not settle the larger ethical argument over the practice," the "election of a new congressional majority" for the 110th Congress should "open the way for a better approach to the abortion question," Washington Post columnist E.J. Dionne writes in a Post opinion piece.

23 Nov 2006

Nicaragua bans all abortions

Nicaraguan President Enrique Bolanos on Friday signed into law a bill that bans abortion in all cases, the New York Times reports (McKinley, New York Times, 11/20).

23 Nov 2006

Many cancer patients, family members cite positives in experience

Almost two out of three cancer patients and their families believe that "something good has come out of their experience," according to a recent telephone survey jointly conducted by USA Today, the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Harvard School of Public Health (Szabo, USA Today, 11/21).

23 Nov 2006

Target to expand discounted generic drug program to all pharmacies

The Minneapolis-based company said all of its 1,287 pharmacies now will offer a 30-day supply of certain generic drugs for $4. The company previously offered the program only in states where Wal-Mart was offering generic drugs at the same price (Reuters/New York Times, 11/21).

23 Nov 2006

74 House members pressure Amnesty International to reject abortion proposal

Seventy-four House members in a letter recently sent to Amnesty International USA Executive Director Larry Cox call on the group to reject a proposal that would support access to abortion in cases of rape, incest, sexual assault or to save the life of the woman, the AP/Los Angeles Times reports.

23 Nov 2006

Australia, cloning and abortion drug mifepristone examined

The New York Times on Tuesday examined the political debates in Australia over the legalization earlier this year of the medical abortion drug mifepristone and whether to pass legislation that would legalize some forms of cloning of human embryos for therapeutic purposes.

23 Nov 2006

Birth rate among teens at record low and C-sections at record high

The birth rate among U.S. women and girls ages 15 to 19 declined to a record low in 2005, while the rate of infants delivered by cesarean section increased to a record high of 30.2% of all births, according to data from a preliminary report released on Tuesday by the CDC's National Center for Health Statistics, USA Today reports.

23 Nov 2006