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Medicaid beneficiaries living with HIV/AIDS in Mississippi are about to be denied access to medications

A law that takes effect tomorrow, July 1, limits Mississippi Medicaid beneficiaries to two brand-name drugs. But controlling HIV infection requires three drugs, and all of them are brand name.

30 Jun 2005

Protein that was thought to simply turn genes on and off now looks to be more like a cellular dimmer switch

The scientists showed for the first time that when certain parts of a protein molecule are modified - flexible, randomly structured regions believed to be only minor players in the protein world - they become important in turning genes on and off, but in a way that resembles a dimmer switch rather than an on-off switch.

30 Jun 2005

Researchers have identified a highly specific pathway that causes inflammation in lung tissue

...a discovery that could help in the design of more targeted treatments for patients with various lung diseases, including cystic fibrosis.

30 Jun 2005

Sense and science has prevailed, claim BMA

Sense and science has prevailed, claimed the BMA today as MSPs passed legislation that will bring an end to smoking in enclosed public places by spring next year.

30 Jun 2005

Threat from Avian Influenza remains

At the request of the Vietnamese Ministry of Health, World Health Organization (WHO) sent a team of international experts to Viet Nam last week to assess laboratory and epidemiological data on recent cases and determine whether the present level of pandemic alert should be increased.

30 Jun 2005

Daclizumab effective at reducing organ rejection and risk of infection in heart transplant patients

A new study shows that a drug, called daclizumab, is effective at reducing organ rejection and risk of infection in heart transplant patients. The multi-center study by cardiologists from the United States, Sweden, Germany and Canada will be published in the June 30 issue of The New England Journal of Medicine.

30 Jun 2005

Children generally negative about smoking

One-third of children enrolled in a family smoking prevention program believed they could smoke without becoming addicted, according to a new study. Yet, overall, the researchers found most of the children generally had negative attitudes about smoking.

30 Jun 2005

Americans oppose budget cuts to Medicaid

According to a new national survey released this week in the U.S., the majority of Americans regard the state-federal low-income health care program as very important and strongly oppose budget cuts to Medicaid.

30 Jun 2005

Bird flu pandemic no longer imminent

In the best news yet in the bird flu scenario, international scientists have now downgraded the risk of an imminent pandemic, saying the indications are that the virus has not mutated.

30 Jun 2005

Teflon likely to cause cancer

In a new report scientists say that a chemical compound used to make Teflon, possibly causes cancer.

30 Jun 2005

Ethnic groups in the U.S. more at risk of colorectal cancer

A new study has found that people of Hispanic, black and other U.S. ethnic groups have a 10 to 60 percent greater risk of being diagnosed with advanced colorectal cancer, and a 20 to 30 percent higher risk of dying from the disease compared to non-Hispanic whites.

30 Jun 2005

Studies compare hepatitis B drugs

According to a new study Roche's brand of interferon can help control the potentially deadly liver infection, hepatitis B, better than a competitor's drug.

30 Jun 2005

California reports first case of West Nile virus this year

The first human case of West Nile virus infection in California this year has been reported in a 47-year-old Tulare County man.

30 Jun 2005

Tai Chi can reduce falls in the elderly

According to researchers in South Korea, a structured Tai Chi program improved the balance and physical strength in a group of older people with an average age of 78.

30 Jun 2005

Undetected autism in women manifests as anorexia nervosa

According to a leading expert, severe cases of anorexia may be the result of undetected autism in women.

30 Jun 2005

Conservatives and sexual abstinence groups battle with FDA over condoms - they offer little protection against STD's

Although condoms are an effective method of contraception and stop the spread of AIDS, evidence that they protect against other sexually transmitted diseases is scant.

30 Jun 2005

Another death takes Vietnam's bird flu toll to 39

The death of a 73-year-old Vietnamese from bird flu, has taken the country's death toll from the epidemic to 39.

30 Jun 2005

British doctors debate abortion laws

In Britain doctors at the British Medical Association (BMA) conference in Manchester, are debating whether the legal time limit for abortion should be reduced from 24 to 20 weeks.

30 Jun 2005

Another 10 children with polio in Indonesia

The World Health Organisation (WHO) says another ten children have contracted polio in Indonesia, which brings the number affected by the outbreak of the paralysing disease to 65.

30 Jun 2005

Twenty-seven per cent of accidental deaths in Britain were due to transport accidents in 2003

For males, transport accidents were the most common form of accidental death (37 per cent). For females, transport accidents comprised 15 per cent of accidental deaths. Where the cause of the accident was known, falls were the most common cause of accidental death for females (28 per cent).

30 Jun 2005