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Teenage suicides and Tamiflu - is there a link?

Roche the maker of the anti-flu drug Tamiflu has reported to authorities in Japan the possible suicides of two teenage boys although the company says there was no clear evidence that the drug had contributed to their deaths.

14 Nov 2005

China checking another possible case of human bird flu

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), China is checking on a possible human case of bird flu in a northeastern province, the second part of the country to make such a precautionary diagnosis.

14 Nov 2005

Grandma was right all along, getting chilly can give you a cold

Welsh researchers have confirmed what your grandma always said was true that getting cold and chilly can give you a cold.

14 Nov 2005

Teenager died after having his lip pierced

At an inquest into his death the dangers of body piercing were underlined by a coroner following the death of the student from blood poisoning two months after having a ring put through his lip.

14 Nov 2005

"Luckiest man" - cured of AIDS - will have further tests

The British man thought to be the first person to have shaken off HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, is to undergo further clinical tests in the hope of a breakthrough in treating the condition.

14 Nov 2005

Doctors' surgeries open round the clock

In future patients in the UK will be able to see a GP in the evenings and at weekends.

14 Nov 2005

Warnings to be put on condoms

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is calling for warnings to be placed on condoms.

14 Nov 2005

Hospital liver transplant program suspended after 32 die waiting

Following reports in the media that a Southern California hospital had suspended its liver transplant program and had turned down scores of donor organs while 32 patients awaiting transplants had died, the facility has had it's certification of the liver transplant program revoked.

14 Nov 2005

Norvasc better than beta blockers for lowering blood pressure

According to a study presented at a meeting of the American Heart Association, Norvasc, was more effective at reducing blood pressure near the heart than standard, older treatments such as beta blockers.

14 Nov 2005

Edifoligide no better than placebo for clogged veins

A new drug, edifoligide, designed to prevent the clogging of veins used in coronary bypass surgery was no more effective than a placebo, according to the results of a Phase III clinical trial led by researchers at Duke Clinical Research Institute (DCRI).

14 Nov 2005

Race may play a role in whether a patient accepts surgical treatment for lung cancer

A study in the November issue of CHEST, the peer-reviewed journal of the American College of Chest Physicians (ACCP), found that blacks with lung cancer declined surgery at a higher rate than whites

14 Nov 2005

Early changes in the oxygenation of the skin may help predict foot disease in diabetes patients

Foot ulcerations are one of the most serious complications of diabetes, resulting in more than 80,000 lower-leg amputations each year in the U.S. alone.

14 Nov 2005

For older people, the risks outweigh the benefits of taking sleeping pills and other sedatives

Insomnia can often affect the quality of life for older people and between 5% and 33% of older people in the UK are prescribed sleeping pills such as benzodiazepine.

14 Nov 2005

$230 billion in health care spending nationally is devoted to insurance administration

Billing and insurance paperwork consume at least one out of every five dollars of private insurance health spending in California, according to a new study by health policy researchers.

14 Nov 2005

Nerve-cell dendrites splice messenger RNA

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have discovered that nerve-cell dendrites have the capacity to splice messenger RNA (pre-mRNA), a process once believed to only take place in the nucleus of cells.

14 Nov 2005

Olfactory epithelium plays a critical role in pheromone detection

Howard Hughes Medical Institute researchers have discovered that pheromones essential for mating behavior in mice are recognized by the nose and not by the vomeronasal system, as researchers had long suspected.

14 Nov 2005

Australian study highlights lateral genetic transfer

A University of Queensland study mapping the evolution of genes has shed light on the role of gene transfer in bacterial diseases.

14 Nov 2005

Meditation may slow down brain aging

The regular practice of meditation appears to produce structural changes in areas of the brain associated with attention and sensory processing.

14 Nov 2005

New respiratory synctial virus treatment for at-risk infants under study

A new, enhanced-potency onoclonal antibody designed to keep the sniffles from turning into a devasting illness in at-risk babies is under study at the Medical College of Georgia Children's Medical Center.

14 Nov 2005

Protein discovery may have implications for treating E. coli 0157:H7 infection

A discovery by Queen's researchers of a previously unknown protein may open the door to more effective treatment of a deadly strain of the E. coli bacteria.

14 Nov 2005