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European Congress on Obesity deals with bariatric surgery techniques, outcomes and metabolic benefits

Europe is facing a "major health and social burden" as the obesity epidemic reaches crisis point, experts warned.

24 Apr 2007

Ellex Medical Lasers gains FDA approval for laser slit lamp

Ellex Medical Lasers has announced today that it has gained US FDA 510(k) approval to market the new Ellex 30XL laser slit lamp, which will be featured at the annual meeting of the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery (ASCRS) beginning April 27th, 2007 in San Diego, CA.

24 Apr 2007

Migraines may help women protect their memory

Women with a lifetime history of migraine showed less of a performance decline over time on cognitive tests than women who didn't have migraines.

24 Apr 2007

Chronic depression or depression that worsens over time may cause diabetes in older adults

This is the first national study to suggest that depression alone -- and not lifestyle factors like being overweight ,can trigger Type 2 diabetes in adults 65 and older, a population with a high prevalence of diabetes and depression. The report will be published April 23 in Archives of Internal Medicine.

24 Apr 2007

Potential therapeutic target for multiple sclerosis

Oregon Health & Science University neuroscientists are eyeing a protein as a potential therapeutic target for multiple sclerosis because de-activating it protects nerve fibers from damage.

24 Apr 2007

New direction for therapies to treat amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

Researchers from The Ludwig Institute and the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) School of Medicine have discovered that when motor neurons damaged by amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), or Lou Gehrig?s disease, inappropriately send the wrong signal, immune cells react by killing the messenger.

24 Apr 2007

Non-coplanar PCBs and related chemicals warrant serious attention for health reasons

Scientists have determined that a specific class of PCB causes significant developmental abnormalities in rat pups whose mothers were exposed to the toxicant in their food during pregnancy and during the early weeks when the pups were nursing.

24 Apr 2007

Cortex area thinner in youth with Alzheimer's-related gene

A part of the brain first affected by Alzheimer's disease is thinner in youth with a risk gene for the disorder, a brain imaging study by researchers at the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), one of the National Institutes of Health, has found.

24 Apr 2007

Qigong helped people during SARS outbreak

Oriental therapies can help chronically ill people stay strong and reduce stress levels during epidemics, according to research in the April issue of the UK-based Journal of Clinical Nursing.

24 Apr 2007

Wait times for cataract surgery and quality of life

When does the wait time for cataract surgery cross over from being inconvenient to affecting health and quality of life, Dr. William Hodge and colleagues report on their systematic review of studies that assessed the relation between wait times for cataract surgery and patient outcomes.

24 Apr 2007

BioForce Nanosciences sells Nano Enabler to Louisiana Tech

BioForce Nanosciences has announced the March sale of the Nano eNabler molecular printer to Louisiana Tech University in Ruston, Louisiana.

24 Apr 2007

Banning sweets from school lunches helps to combat childhood obesity

Nutritious school lunches and a ban on sweets, buns and sweetened drinks in school is a good strategy for reducing the risk of obesity in children, reveals a new study from Swedish medical university Karolinska Institutet.

24 Apr 2007

Avicena files composition of matter patent application for treatment of Lou Gehrig's disease

Avicena Group has announced that it has filed a composition of matter patent application with the United States Patent and Trademark Office for Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS, or Lou Gehrig's disease), a severe neurodegenerative disease.

24 Apr 2007

Are higher doses and higher costs for cholesterol drugs worth the extra money?

When it comes to cholesterol-lowering drugs, more is better. At least, that's what heart doctors and heart patients have been hearing in recent years.

24 Apr 2007

Naturally occurring compound found in many fruits and vegetables as well as red wine, selectively kills leukemia cells

These findings, which were published online March 20 in the Journal of Biological Chemistry and will be in press on May 4, offer hope for a more selective, less toxic therapy for leukemia.

24 Apr 2007

Alcoholics should avoid excessive physical and psychological stress during early abstinence

The hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis is a hormonal system that defends against stress, starvation and illnesses.

24 Apr 2007

Adjustable chairs reduce shoulder and neck pain

Adjustable-height chairs with ergonomically curved seats can significantly reduce neck and shoulder pain in garment workers, according to a new study in the April 20 issue of Spine.

24 Apr 2007

Agile Therapeutics to report on new generation of transdermal contraceptives

Dr. Thomas M. Rossi, President and Chief Executive Officer of Agile Therapeutics, Inc., will report on the company's progress in developing a new generation of transdermal contraceptives at the BIO 2007 annual international conference on biotechnology.

24 Apr 2007

Abbott continues drug blacklist in Thailand, says AIDS Healthcare Foundation

AIDS Healthcare Foundation has chastised Abbott Laboratories for its 'quid pro quo' offer to the Government of Thailand to lower its price for Abbott's key AIDS drug, Aluvia (a heat-stable tablet version of Kaletra) to approximately USD$800 per patient per year -- an offer contingent upon Abbott's demand that Thailand immediately halt issuing compulsory licenses for the generic manufacture of this lifesaving drug.

24 Apr 2007

AARP reaction to Medicare and Social Security Trustees reports

Regularly checking the financial health of critical programs such as Medicare and Social Security is wise. It gives Congress an idea of how much needs to be done to ensure these two programs continue to provide critically needed health and financial security for our nation's families, particularly older Americans and those with disabilities."

24 Apr 2007