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School meals system failing needy children

New research just published by researchers at the University of Dundee demonstrates that the current system of free school meals is failing many of the most needy children.

28 Sep 2005

Clostridium botulinum exposed

A discovery by Institute of Food Research (IFR) scientists is set to improve the food industry’s ability to predict foodborne botulism.

28 Sep 2005

Tuberculosis infection prevention by quick testing

With a new DNA test, tuberculosis infection can be revealed so quickly that a patient doesn’t have time to infect others. This can be an important key to effective control of the disease.

28 Sep 2005

Robots to shed light on sexual disease

It won’t be long before automated DNA test contribute to providing more knowledge about the up to now nearly unknown sexually transmitted mycoplasma – truly more widespread than chlamydia. Mycoplasma is a bacterial infection of the genitals.

28 Sep 2005

Simulator helps stroke patients learn to drive again

A high-fidelity simulator that allows people to practice driving on a computer-generated course can help stroke patients learn to drive again, researchers have found.

27 Sep 2005

Survival of heart attack patients placed on beta-blocker therapy corresponds to specific variations in their genes

Survival of heart attack and unstable angina patients placed on beta-blocker therapy corresponds to specific variations in their genes, according to a study by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and the Mid America Heart Institute in Kansas City.

27 Sep 2005

Patients with panic disorder have nearly double the risk for coronary heart disease,

...and those also diagnosed with depression are at almost three times the risk, according to new research.

27 Sep 2005

Unwed mothers are less likely than other women to improve their socio-economic status through marriage

Unwed mothers are significantly less likely to marry and more likely to cohabit than women without children. If they do marry, their husbands are more likely to have poor job prospects.

27 Sep 2005

Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) treatment using hypnotherapy

Up to eight million people in Britain suffer from IBS, with symptoms including diarrhoea, pain and bloating. The condition can seriously affect sufferers' quality of life and finding treatment can be difficult, leading many doctors to feel they can do little to help.

From The University of Manchester 27 Sep 2005

Phytoestrogens linked with a lower lung cancer risk

A diet higher in plant-derived compounds known as phytoestrogens is linked with a lower lung cancer risk, according to a study in the current issue of Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).

27 Sep 2005

Possible therapy that could control blood pressure

A newly developed virus that introduces a blood pressure-lowering gene into cells and enables that gene to maintain blood pressure at healthy levels for four months promises to take gene therapy for the disorder a step closer to reality, said researchers at Baylor College of Medicine in a report released online in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

27 Sep 2005

Equine flu virus jumps to dogs

A Cornell University virologist has isolated a highly contagious equine flu virus that is spreading a sometimes-fatal respiratory flu among dogs, and is responsible for a major dog-flu outbreak in New York state. There is no evidence that the virus could infect people.

27 Sep 2005

Longer hospital stays do not mean better care

Physicians at The Johns Hopkins Hospital (JHH) have disproved the notion that longer hospital stays mean better care. They have successfully cut back on wait times across one dozen hospital departments and, as a result, reduced to well below six the average number of days patients with congestive heart failure, a need for dialysis or surgery, and many other conditions must spend in the hospital.

27 Sep 2005

Patients with irritable bowel syndrome use over 50 percent more health resources than people without the disorder

Even though there are definitive guidelines to diagnose IBS through simple blood tests, many IBS patients have additional procedures and surgeries that rarely result in relief or any additional diagnostic findings.

27 Sep 2005

Treatment of Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD) in children

The Nonalcoholic Steatohepatitis (NASH) Clinical Research Network has launched its second clinical trial to study NASH, a liver disease that resembles alcoholic liver disease but occurs in patients who drink little or no alcohol. The first trial, launched in January of this year, focuses on adults, while the second trial studies the disease in children.

27 Sep 2005

Fndings could lead to a treatment for idiopathic interstitial pneumonia

An incurable, deadly lung disorder, "idiopathic interstitial pneumonia" (IIP), whose causes were mysterious arises from a combination of a genetic predisposition and damage due to inhaled chemicals, notably from cigarette smoking, Duke University Medical Center researchers have found.

27 Sep 2005

Heavy smokers can reduce their risk of lung cancer if they decrease smoking by 50 percent

Despite efforts to prevent people from beginning smoking and to encourage smoking cessation, the overall prevalence of cigarette smoking is still high and many smokers are unable or unwilling to completely quit.

27 Sep 2005

Gene variants and beta-blockers associated with increased risk of death

Patients with certain gene variants who were prescribed beta-blocker drugs after acute coronary syndrome (ACS) had an increased risk of death over the next three years, according to a study in the September 28 issue of Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).

27 Sep 2005

Recommendations for fellowship training in pediatric cardiology

The American College of Cardiology Foundation (ACCF), the American Heart Association (AHA), and the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) have joined forces to develop important first-ever recommendations for fellowship training in pediatric cardiology.

27 Sep 2005

Digital mammography and breast cancer in older women

Digital mammography that uses computers to detect breast cancer found significantly (up to 28%) more cancers than screen film mammography in women 50 and younger, premenopausal and perimenopausal women, and women with dense breasts, according to results from one of the largest breast cancer screening studies ever performed.

27 Sep 2005