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French face transplant patient in fight to stop tissue rejection

At a medical conference in Tucson Arizona, the French surgeons responsible for carrying out the world's first face transplant have admitted they had to fight for several days against the first signs of rejection.

19 Jan 2006

FDA unpopular over label liability revamp

The Food and Drug Administration in the U.S. has said that federally approved drug labels pre-empt state liability laws and are part of a revamp of the lengthy, hard-to-read instructions that come with medicines.

19 Jan 2006

Salt water treatment for cystic fibrosis both effective and cheap

Two teams of scientists working half a world apart, have identified what they believe is a simple, effective and inexpensive treatment to reduce lung problems associated with cystic fibrosis.

19 Jan 2006

Pitt team develop wireless treatment for depression, seizures

Researchers from the University of Pittsburgh, with the help of a team of Pittsburgh high school science teachers, have developed a wireless device that is implanted in the neck to fight depression and epileptic seizures.

19 Jan 2006

Galapagos and Cancer Research Technology announce new anti-cancer drug discovery collaboration

Galapagos NV and Cancer Research Technology ("CRT"), specialists in oncology drug discovery and commercialization, a wholly owned company of Cancer Research UK, announced today that they have entered into a new collaboration in anti-cancer drug discovery research.

19 Jan 2006

Caretek Medical signs feasibility agreement with major pharma for protein based drug

Caretek Medical Ltd, an Oxford-based company developing an innovative needle-free drug delivery system, today announced that it has signed a feasibility study agreement with a major global pharmaceutical company.

19 Jan 2006

UIC surgeons first to use robot for living-donor kidney-pancreas transplant

Surgeons at the University of Illinois Medical Center at Chicago are the first in the world to use robotic surgery to successfully remove a kidney and pancreas from a living-donor as part of a successful transplantation.

19 Jan 2006

Two-thirds killed in teen crashes are other vehicle users and pedestrians

According to the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety the majority of people killed in teen driver crashes are people other than the teen driver themselves.

19 Jan 2006

Euthanasia in Britain

It is understood that euthanasia is extremely rare in the UK and few doctors want it legalised, but campaigners for euthanasia have long argued terminally-ill patients are helped to die in secret.

19 Jan 2006

New study gives insight into the dairy and weight loss link

A new clinical trial published today in Obesity Research (the journal of NAASO, the Obesity Society) provides more insight into why consuming dairy foods is linked to weight and fat loss.

18 Jan 2006

Lab-on-chip can detect bird flu in humans

European microchip maker STMicroelectronics is planning to market a disposable laboratory microchip that can confirm within about an hour a human case of bird flu.

18 Jan 2006

$2 billion to fight bird flu

At an international conference in Beijing almost $2 billion has been pledged to stop the spread of bird flu.

18 Jan 2006

New initiative to transform US Public Health Service Commissioned Corps

HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt today announced an initiative to transform the United States Public Health Service (USPHS) Commissioned Corps, which will enable this critical emergency response resource to address public health challenges more quickly and efficiently.

18 Jan 2006

Aspirin reduces strokes in women and heart attacks in men

Researchers have found in an analysis of previous studies, that the use of aspirin significantly reduces the risk of cardiovascular events in women and in men.

18 Jan 2006

New microRNA mechanism for regulating brain function

Non-coding regions of the genome - those that don't code for proteins - are now known to include important elements that regulate gene activity. Among those elements are microRNAs, tiny, recently discovered RNA molecules that suppress gene expression.

18 Jan 2006

Genetics plays a role in drug-seeking behavior

Inbred strains of rats differ in how aggressively they seek cocaine after a few weeks of use, researchers say.

18 Jan 2006

More monitoring needed for patients taking diuretics

One in five patients taking diuretics commonly prescribed for high blood pressure or heart conditions end up with reduced sodium and potassium levels, according to a study published in the January issue of the British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology.

18 Jan 2006

New findings about messenger molecule raise hopes for new drug

Uppsala University scientists have developed a new method for measuring the concentration of the messenger substance for cells, cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP), in individual living cells.

18 Jan 2006

Compounds in blackcurrants could prevent Alzheimer's disease

Compounds in blackcurrants could prevent Alzheimer's disease and the characteristics of British berries suggest they do it best, writes Jennifer Rohn in Chemistry & Industry magazine.

18 Jan 2006

Sensory attenuation

Anticipating our own touch - for example in tickling oneself - reduces its impact, says Queen's psychologist Dr. Randy Flanagan, a member of the university's Centre for Neuroscience Studies. This is evidence of an important human adaptation that helps us interact with objects in our environment.

18 Jan 2006