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Vasodilators first choice for some heart patients

Few front-line medications exist for treating hospitalized patients with acute decompensated heart failure, a stage of heart failure marked by heightened severity and often-lengthy hospital stays with frequent readmissions. Now, a study suggests the list of preferred drugs for treating the disease might be even shorter.

6 Jul 2005

Showering in manganese-contaminated water could have permanent effects on the nervous system

A new analysis based on animal studies suggests that showering in manganese-contaminated water for a decade or more could have permanent effects on the nervous system. The damage may occur even at levels of manganese considered safe by the Environmental Protection Agency, according to researchers from Wake Forest University School of Medicine.

6 Jul 2005

Exercise and back support improves balance in elderly

By wearing a unique weighted back support device and participating in a special exercise program, women over 60 with osteoporosis-caused curvature of the spine improved their balance and experienced diminished back pain, giving researchers at Mayo Clinic a promising therapy to reduce falls among this population.

6 Jul 2005

Call for greater use of angiograms in Canada

More tests need to be prescribed to save and prolong the lives of Canadians living with coronary artery disease, says a study released from the University of Alberta.

6 Jul 2005

Could reality TV save academic medicine?

Imagine a future where medical schools are answerable to shareholders, where patients decide how doctors should be trained, or where academics compete on TV game shows to win research grants...

6 Jul 2005

G8 must focus on healthcare to save millions of lives

Millions of people are dying in the developing world because of poor access to cheap medicines and basic healthcare, the BMA says today (Wednesday, 6 July, 2005) ahead of the G8 summit.

6 Jul 2005

Vitamin E supplements do not protect healthy women against heart attacks and stroke

Vitamin E supplements do not protect healthy women against heart attacks and stroke, according to new results from the Women's Health Study, a long-term clinical trial of the effect of vitamin E and aspirin on both the prevention of cardiovascular disease and of cancer.

5 Jul 2005

Television in the bedroom bad for kids, computer good

A study of elementary school students found that children who had television sets in their bedrooms scored significantly lower on school achievement tests than children without TVs in their bedrooms.

5 Jul 2005

Disruption of a single gene, Nrf2, plays a critical role in determining the susceptibility to asthma

A research team led by Shyam Biswal , PhD, at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health found the absence of Nrf2 exacerbated allergen-mediated asthma in mice models.

5 Jul 2005

HIV testing of all pregnant women recommended

In an update of its 1996 guidelines for HIV screening, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force is now recommending that all pregnant women be tested for the virus.

5 Jul 2005

It's the truth - pain hurts women more than men

Researchers at Bath University are disputing the common belief that women are able to tolerate pain better than men; they claim that in fact the opposite is true.

5 Jul 2005

Withdrawn experimental drug found to reverse Parkinson's brain damage

Neuroscientists at Frenchay hospital in Bristol have discovered that an experimental drug for Parkinson's disease has been shown to trigger new nerve growth in the brain, the first time any treatment has been found to reverse the brain damage caused by the condition.

5 Jul 2005

Anti-cancer claims for green tea 'unlikely', says FDA

In what will come as a surprise, and a disappointment to many advcates, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said last week that drinking green tea is highly unlikely to help prevent breast, prostate or any other type of cancer.

5 Jul 2005

Product claiming to protect against anthrax lacks credentials or approval

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration says Bio-Germ, a lotion being promoted by a Texas businessman lacks federal approval and could face scrutiny for claims made on its Web site.

5 Jul 2005

Quebec wants delay in ban on private medical insurance

The Supreme Court of Canada is considering a request from Quebec for an 18-month delay of its landmark judgment banning private medical insurance.

5 Jul 2005

General Medical Council wrong place to deal with medicine and the law

According to an article in the current edition of the prestigious medical journal The Lancet, Professor Roy Meadow should not be found guilty of serious professional misconduct.

4 Jul 2005

Changes to prenatal genetic testing could mean more babies born with abnornalities

A study in the UK suggests that a proposed change to the type of prenatal genetic testing offered to couples in the UK, could possibly result in certain chromosome abnormalities being missed.

4 Jul 2005

HIV epidemic in Moscow needs urgent measures

U.S. researchers say that HIV infection rates in vulnerable groups in Moscow could be between 30-120 times higher than those found in the general population.

4 Jul 2005

Progress on prison health prevented by political prejudice

An article in the Lancet says that measures to improve the health of prisoners should be based on evidence and not on political prejudice.

4 Jul 2005

British men refuse to recognise they are fat

A new survey by Cancer Research UK, released to launch their Man Alive Campaign, is suggesting that 25% of British men are "in denial" about their waist measurement, and most men, when questioned were unaware that being overweight, obese, or inactive, increases the risk of cancer.

4 Jul 2005