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French surgeons ready to perform second face transplant

The French surgical team that carried out the world's first face transplant amid a storm of controversy, has apparently already selected a potential recipient for a second operation.

14 Dec 2005

Canadians call for decriminalisation of prostitution

In a new report the Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network has called for the federal government to decriminalize prostitution.

14 Dec 2005

Companies warned about shonky bird flu remedies

The appearance of so-called bird flu remedies which have hit the market in the U.S. have prompted the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to issue warnings to nine companies.

14 Dec 2005

Heart drug designed for U.S. blacks a cheaper option

According to researchers a new heart-failure drug designed especially for blacks could reduce the amount it costs to treat the disease by as much as 34 percent.

14 Dec 2005

More good news - Femara helps prevent the return of breast cancer

In more good news for women suffering from breast cancer a study by the the Swiss drugmaker Novartis has shown that their drug Femara benefits women with hormone-sensitive early breast cancer.

14 Dec 2005

Pfizer to fund independent trial on Celebrex and heart risks

Drug company Pfizer Inc., the maker of Celebrex, will pay for an international study of 20,000 people.

14 Dec 2005

High fibre diet gives little protection against bowel cancer

The once accepted doctrine that a high fibre diet prevents cancer has been challenged by new dietary research.

14 Dec 2005

Gene mapping project promises new targeted cancer therapies

Government researchers in the United States have this week launched a pilot project to find all the little genetic changes that cause cancer in the hope it will lead to a whole new world of targeted cancer therapy.

14 Dec 2005

MorphoSys signs agreement with Merck

MorphoSys AG announced today that it has signed a five-year license agreement with U.S. pharmaceutical company Merck & Co., Inc. for the use of MorphoSys’s HuCAL GOLD and AutoCAL technologies in research and development of human therapeutic antibodies.

14 Dec 2005

The glow points the way: coupled enzyme test helps in the search for the right biocatalyst

The chemical industry is going biological: the use of biocatalysts, called enzymes, allows many products to be prepared very efficiently, economically, and in an environmentally safe manner.

From The University of Manchester 14 Dec 2005

Poor diet and little exercise makes Scottish kids fatties

Health experts say that Scottish children are among the most overweight in the world.

14 Dec 2005

Ninth death from bird flu in Indonesia

Top health officials in Indonesia have confirmed a ninth human death in the country from bird flu.

14 Dec 2005

Eye cell implants improve lives of Parkinson's sufferers

U.S. researchers say that people with Parkinson's disease showed a marked improvement after surgeons implanted in their brains chemical-producing cells taken from the eye of a dead donor.

14 Dec 2005

Epilepsy surgery improves depression

According to a new multicenter study patients with epilepsy which does not respond to drug therapy, and who also have depression or anxiety, surgery used to treat the epilepsy often results in improvements in the psychiatric symptoms.

14 Dec 2005

It's all in the mind so think that pain away

According to U.S. researchers chronic discomfort can be reduced by brain manipulation and people in chronic pain can "think away" their suffering by learning to manipulate the activity of the brain.

14 Dec 2005

Diets bad for your mental health

British psychologists say that skinny people are more likely to be unhappy and commit suicide than those who are overweight.

14 Dec 2005

Vitamin D keeps lungs healthy - CHEST study

Vitamin D may play a role in keeping our lungs healthy, with greater concentrations of vitamin D resulting in greater lung health benefits. A study in the December issue of CHEST, the peer-reviewed journal of the American College of Chest Physicians (ACCP), shows that patients with higher concentrations of vitamin D had significantly better lung function, compared with patients with lower concentrations of vitamin D.

13 Dec 2005

Fat surrounding internal thoracic artery of humans produces a factor which can relax the artery

A team of McMaster researchers has discovered that fat tissue surrounding thoracic arteries may be beneficial in patients undergoing coronary bypass surgery.

13 Dec 2005

Cocaine abuse may increase risk of Parkinson's disease

Adults who abuse cocaine might increase their risk of developing Parkinson's disease (PD), and pregnant women who abuse cocaine could increase the risk of their children developing PD later in life, according to results of laboratory studies performed by investigators at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.

13 Dec 2005

Tea lowers ovarian cancer risk

Women who drank at least two cups of tea a day had a lower risk of ovarian cancer than those who did not drink tea, according to a study in the December 12/26 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine.

13 Dec 2005