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Burch colposuspension can prevent urinary incontinence after prolapse surgery

Women who undergo surgery to correct pelvic organ prolapse - a condition in which the vagina and nearby organs lose support and fall out of position - often find that the surgery comes with a bothersome tradeoff: urinary stress incontinence.

19 Apr 2006

Bubonic plague confirmed in Los Angeles woman

Los Angeles County health officials have confirmed a case of bubonic plague in an adult woman. This is the first human case of plague in a Los Angeles County resident since 1984.

19 Apr 2006

New research links metabolism and appetite suppression, opening door to obesity treatments

A team led by a Canadian researcher has discovered a process by which a small protein acts directly within muscles to increase the body's metabolism to burn fat while simultaneously suppressing appetite.

19 Apr 2006

New finding provides researchers with renewable source for macrophages and neutrophils

A new approach to generating large quantities of two types of white blood cells that are critical for destroying invading bacteria, viruses and other pathogens in humans has been developed by researchers at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) School of Medicine.

19 Apr 2006

Treating populations infected with both HIV and latent TB could speed the emergence of drug-resistant TB

In 2005, 46 regional Ministers of Health in Africa declared that a dramatic rise in tuberculosis (TB) cases was cause for emergency.

19 Apr 2006

Commercial fishermen do not face significant health risks from routine occupational exposure to Pfiesteria in estuaries

According to a study recently accepted for publication by Environmental Health Perspectives, researchers found no correlation between specific human health effects in "watermen" (commercial fishermen) and low-level exposure to the dinoflagellate Pfiesteria in areas of the Chesapeake Bay.

19 Apr 2006

Novel and important benefits of vitamin D and the problems associated with vitamin D deficiency

...will be discussed at the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists (AACE) Fifteenth Annual Meeting and Clinical Congress, April 26-30, at the Hyatt Regency Chicago.

19 Apr 2006

Expert warns of dangers of carbon monoxide

As parts of the UK continue to experience cold temperatures the lead clinical toxicologist at Guy's and St Thomas' and international poisons expert, Dr Alison Jones, has warned people to be alert to the dangers of carbon monoxide poisoning caused by faulty heating appliances.

19 Apr 2006

New research shows specific mechanisms may not exist for facial recognition

New research from Georgetown University Medical Center suggests that the brain may not have developed a specific ability for "understanding faces" but instead uses the same kind of pattern recognition techniques to distinguish between people as it uses to search for differences between other groups of objects, such as plants, animals and cars.

19 Apr 2006

Convictions in $45 million illegal blood diversion scheme

Florida pharmaceutical wholesale distributor, convicted on March 29, 2006, of more than two hundred and forty-seven criminal counts as the result of an extensive OCI investigation of an illegal medical products diversion scheme which defrauded the Medicaid and Medicare programs of more than $45,000,000.

19 Apr 2006

Breast implants shown to be associated with a decreased breast cancer risk

The longest follow-up study to date of cancer incidence among women with silicone breast implants shows having implants does not put women at an increased risk for cancer, in fact, breast implants were actually shown to be associated with a decreased breast cancer risk.

19 Apr 2006

Western Australia measles warning

The West Australian Department of Health has issued an alert following notification of five cases of measles in Western Australia over the Easter period.

19 Apr 2006

Calcium supplements may be little help for healthy kids

There's little question that most kids get too little calcium, but a new review of evidence casts doubt on the value of supplements and calcium-fortified foods to build stronger bones.

19 Apr 2006

Rising costs and new Government accounting standards could threaten status quo of relatively generous public-sector benefit

Generous public employee health benefits have survived major threats so far, but the growing gap between public- and private-sector benefits, coupled with new accounting rules for government agencies, could force public officials to make more far-reaching benefit changes

19 Apr 2006

"Malaria free Aceh" campaign launches in Indonesia

Everyone has experienced it - the buzzing sound of mosquitoes interrupting a restful night's sleep. In Indonesia's Aceh province, the hardest-hit area of the 2005 catastrophic tsunami, mosquitoes are more than just an annoyance. They carry a deadly disease - malaria.

19 Apr 2006

Steep decline in competition in the nation's health insurance markets

In addition, the study found that in 95 percent of markets, a single insurer had a market share of 30 percent or greater, and in 56 percent of the markets, a single insurer had a market share of 50 percent or greater.

19 Apr 2006

New tool taps drool for clues to childhood stress

In four separate studies of mothers and their infants, preschoolers, kids and teens, a multi-university research team has shown, for the first time, that a simple test of a little drool can provide new insight into the role of social stressors, including relationships with parents and teachers, in child development.

19 Apr 2006

New guidelines for pulmonary complications

Pulmonary complications, including pneumonia and respiratory failure, are a common - and dangerous - problem for patients following major surgery.

19 Apr 2006

$1.5 billion needed to cover years supply of pediatric vaccines

A six-month stockpile of recommended pediatric vaccines would cost $1 billion and could cover more than 90 percent of U.S. children during a six-month interruption in production, say researchers at two Illinois universities.

19 Apr 2006

Study could lead to development of differential treatments for pain in men versus women

A study conducted by investigators at Georgia State University and the Atlanta-based Center for Behavioral Neuroscience (CBN) reports that anatomical and functional differences in the brain may explain sex differences in the experience of pain and in the effects of certain drugs on pain.

19 Apr 2006