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BMA calls on government to tackle healthcare skills drain at G8

The G8 nations must address the exodus of healthcare workers from the developing world if they are to tackle global poverty, the British Medical Association and the Royal College of Nursing tell the government today (Friday 17 June, 2005).

16 Jun 2005

Planned home births a safe otption shows finds new study

Planned home births for low risk women in the United States are associated with similar safety and less medical intervention as low risk hospital births, finds a study in this week’s BMJ.

16 Jun 2005

European working time directive may put doctors' and patients' lives at risk

Introduced in August 2004, it aims to reduce working hours in order to improve workers’ health and safety, but the current NHS shift system could threaten doctors’ and, moreover, patients’ safety, argue Professor Roy Pounder and colleagues.

16 Jun 2005

People with a history of epilepsy are at increased risk of developing schizophrenia

The study involved 2.27 million people who were born in Denmark between 1950 and 1987, and were identified from national registers. Personal and family histories of epilepsy and psychosis were obtained, and individuals were monitored for up to 25 years.

16 Jun 2005

Should everyone over 50 be taking aspirin?

Experts go head to head in this week’s BMJ over whether everyone over 50 should take a daily aspirin to reduce their risk of heart attacks and strokes.

16 Jun 2005

BMA calls on trusts to stop removing junior doctors' on-call accommodation

Commenting on an editorial in Friday’s British Medical Journal warning that shift systems for junior doctors may affect patient safety, Mr Simon Eccles, chairman of the BMA’s Junior Doctors’ Committee, says today (Friday 17 June, 2005):

16 Jun 2005

Research challenges the evolutionary paradigm that continuous alterations occur during the course of genome evolution

Researchers report today that regions of the human genome have been hotspots for acquiring duplicated DNA sequences - but only at specific time-points during evolution.

16 Jun 2005

Study shows fewer Canadian retailers selling cigarettes to youth

For the first time, the Canada's national rates of retailers refusing to sell tobacco products to youth have exceeded the Federal Tobacco Control Strategy's 10-year target objective of 80% or greater.

16 Jun 2005

Dental care needs for HIV patients continue to rise

People with HIV now are living longer and the number of dental patients treated monthly at the Oregon Health & Science University School of Dentistry's Russell Street Clinic continues to grow.

16 Jun 2005

Immune system discovery could help in the treatment of bowel cancer

Scientists investigating whipworms, parasites that infect one-fifth of the world's population as well as livestock and domestic animals, have discovered a new way that the body effectively eliminates the parasites.

From The University of Manchester 16 Jun 2005

Indigenous health gap wider in New Zealand

The health gap between Maori and European New Zealanders is wider than that between American Indians and the US majority white population in the United States, a researcher from The University of Auckland has found.

16 Jun 2005

Buprenorphine treatment for opioid addiction shows promise

Patients who receive buprenorphine treatment for opioid addiction in an office-based setting are more likely than those receiving methadone treatment to be young men, new to drug use, and with no history of methadone treatment, Yale School of Medicine researchers report in a study published in Drug and Alcohol Dependence.

16 Jun 2005

Service learning improves the social skills of students with mental impairments

Previous studies on the effectiveness of service learning programs on social skills of students with moderate cognitive impairments were primarily anecdotal.

16 Jun 2005

Columbia University launches multi-year campaign to support stem cell researc

Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC) has announced that it is halfway toward realizing the first phase of a multi-year campaign to build upon the university’s groundbreaking stem cell research and lead the effort to fully realize the therapeutic potential of stem cells.

16 Jun 2005

Tentative approval for Lamivudine tablets

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has announced the tentative approval of Lamivudine Tablets manufactured by Aurobindo Pharma LTD. Hyderabad, India.

16 Jun 2005

Chromium picolinate significantly reduces weight gain associated with common antidiabetic medication

...according to a study released today. Researchers at the Pennington Biomedical Research Center (PBRC), who conducted the study, also found that chromium significantly improved blood sugar control and insulin sensitivity.

16 Jun 2005

Neurocrine Biosciences issued new U.S. patent

Neurocrine Biosciences announced today the issuance of U.S. Patent No. 6,903,106 covering a novel polymorphic form (different crystal structure) of its proprietary compound indiplon for the treatment of insomnia.

16 Jun 2005

Hydroxyurea may prevent complications such as organ damage and stunted growth in treatment of sickle cell disease

Treating babies who have sickle cell disease (SCD) with oral liquid hydroxyurea appears to prevent the onset of long-term complications triggered by this disease, according to results of a preliminary study by investigators at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.

16 Jun 2005

Immunomedics awarded U.S. and Australian patents

Immunomedics announced that it has received notices that the U.S. and Australian patent offices have allowed claims in respective patent applications covering methods for treating a wide range of autoimmune diseases using monoclonal antibodies that bind to the CD22 antigen present on B-lymphocytes.

16 Jun 2005

Vical receives $12 Million HIV vaccine order

Vical Incorporated announced today the receipt of approximately $12.1 million in production orders for multiple clinical lots of DNA vaccines against HIV for the Vaccine Research Center (VRC) at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, under a subcontract managed by SAIC-Frederick, Inc.

16 Jun 2005