Medical News

RSS

African health leaders vow to keep polio eradication goal

Following a year in which Africa grappled with an escalating polio epidemic, ministers of health of the key affected countries today concluded that the spread of polio was slowing in most countries. They agreed to step up their vigilance and their vaccination programmes in order to meet polio eradication targets this year.

17 Jan 2005

Lifting weights can help people with multiple sclerosis

Lifting weights can improve muscle strength and quality of life for people afflicted with the degenerative disease multiple sclerosis, a new University of Florida study finds.

17 Jan 2005

More data needed on what's effective for hot flashes

A University of Michigan expert on menopause says a new study that indicates placebos work as well as antidepressant drugs to help hot flashes shows how much more research is needed about what gives patients relief.

17 Jan 2005

Botox may help people with movement disorders

The long-term effects of botulinum toxin type A (Botox) in patients with severe movement disorders confirm the safety of the toxin's use in controlled dosages, according to a recent study at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston.

17 Jan 2005

New technology an option for severe nearsightedness

A new surgical procedure that has improved eyesight in people who have severe nearsightedness and face a dearth of treatments has made its way to western New York.

17 Jan 2005

People who prefer the couch to the track are more at risk for obesity, diabetes, cancer and heart disease

Lack of exercise is killing people. People who prefer the couch to the track are more at risk for obesity, diabetes, cancer and heart disease to name just a few results of a sedentary lifestyle. But what motivates people to get moving?

17 Jan 2005

American endocrinologists aim to keep patients safe

As medicine becomes more complex and patients live longer and better lives, it also becomes more difficult to keep them safe.

17 Jan 2005

Researchers attack cervical cancer

As more and more promising results of clinical trials on vaccination against human papillomaviruses are published, the more likely it becomes that an HPV vaccine will be the first licensed immunization against a sexually transmitted disease.

17 Jan 2005

Alvesco now available for asthma sufferers in the United Kingdom

Altana AG has announced that Alvesco (Ciclesonide), a novel inhaled corticosteroid (ICS) for the treatment of adults (18+ years) suffering from persistent asthma is now available for the first time in the United Kingdom (UK).

17 Jan 2005

Damp and mould in homes causes asthma

Researchers at the University of Birmingham's Institute for Occupational and Environmental Medicine are citing damp and mould in homes as a cause of asthma. The study is published in the Environmental Health Perspectives journal and links the University of Birmingham with the University of Helsinki, Finland and the Diwan College, Taiwan.

17 Jan 2005

Prototype needle-free drug and vaccine delivery device

Dr Mark Kendall, an Oxford University Research Lecturer in Engineering and Associate Director of the PowderJect Centre for Gene and Drug Delivery Research, has been named one of the top younger engineers in the country for his research into needle-free vaccine delivery technology.

17 Jan 2005

Anti-seizure drugs slow aging in roundworms

Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have discovered that a class of anti-seizure medications slows the rate of aging in roundworms. The worms, when exposed to drugs used to treat epilepsy in humans, lived longer and retained youthful functions longer than normal.

17 Jan 2005

Researchers have identified the cellular receptor for the JC virus

Researchers funded in part by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) have identified the cellular receptor for the JC virus, which causes the fatal neurological disease progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML).

17 Jan 2005

Scientists are a step closer to developing drug targets to treat fungal meningitis

Scientists are a step closer to developing drug targets to treat fungal meningitis -- the infection linked to at least three deaths on Vancouver Island -- thanks to the sequencing of two Cryptococcus genomes by an international team that included researchers at the University of British Columbia and the BC Cancer Agency's Michael Smith Genome Sciences Centre in Vancouver.

17 Jan 2005

Biopharmaceutical market generated revenues of USD 45.0 billion in 2004

New analysis from Frost & Sullivan, Strategic Analysis of the World Plant Molecular Farming Market, reveals that the biopharmaceutical market generated revenues of USD 45.0 billion in 2004. It is likely to reach USD 98.2 billion by 2011.

17 Jan 2005

Food, exercise and regular physical activity still key to American health

The American Cancer Society (ACS), American Diabetes Association (ADA), and American Heart Association (AHA) commend the U.S. Departments of Health and Human Services (DHHS) and Agriculture (USDA) on the release of the 2005 Dietary Guidelines for Americans.

17 Jan 2005

Millions of Canadians at risk because of avoidable delays in diagnosis and treatment of high blood pressure

New guidelines released by the Canadian Heart and Stroke Foundation reveal the health of millions of Canadians is being placed at risk because of avoidable delays in diagnosis and treatment of high blood pressure (hypertension).

17 Jan 2005

Molecular pathway turns a juvenile heart into an adult heart

Researchers at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) School of Medicine have discovered the molecular sequence of events in mice that turn a juvenile heart into an adult heart capable of responding to increased workloads.

17 Jan 2005

Human Genome Project may have made traditional race-based measurements of human differences obsolete

New and sophisticated methods for studying the relationship between human genetic differences, the environment, health and behavior, all made possible by the completion of the Human Genome Project, have made traditional race-based measurements of human differences obsolete

17 Jan 2005

Doctors fail to recognise depressive symptoms in more than 40 per cent of older patients

Dr Jeff Looi, a Senior Lecturer at the ANU Medical School, said that while 15 per cent of Australians over 65 have depression, many are not diagnosed by their GP.

17 Jan 2005