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War on AIDS needs food

The five billion dollars earmarked by U.S. President George W. Bush to fight HIV/AIDS could be wasted if his administration does not increase food aid resources, asserted the head of a leading development organization.

4 May 2005

6,000 UK breast screenings to be reviewed because of concerns

Women who had breast cancer screening at a hospital in Essex are to have their records reviewed after "inconsistencies" were found.

4 May 2005

Fear stops some parents vaccinating their children

A new study has found that the majority of parents who choose not to vaccinate their children do so out of fear that the vaccine will cause more harm than the disease it prevents.

4 May 2005

Second polio case reported in Indonesia

Another case of polio has been diagnosed in the Javanese village where little 18-month-old Fikri Ramdani lives. Fikri is the first polio case confirmed in Indonesia in the latest re-appearance of the disease which has been virtually wiped out in the majority of developed countries.

4 May 2005

New study confirms 'wait and see' approach best for some prostate cancers

Men diagnosed with low-grade localized prostate cancer who opt not to undergo aggressive treatment for the disease are unlikely to die of the disease, even after 20 years, according to researchers in Connecticut.

4 May 2005

National survey reveals critical barriers to improving women's health

For American women, being healthy is far more than getting a good checkup or being disease-free. According to "Women Talk," the first annual national women's health survey from the National Women's Health Resource Center (NWHRC), being healthy means both physical and emotional wellness and having a healthy family.

4 May 2005

Internet may help prevent blindness in Medicaid patients with diabetes

A Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center team is launching a high-tech study to determine if early screening using a special camera and images transmitted over the Internet can prevent blindness in Medicaid patients with diabetes.

4 May 2005

Pregnancy, no insurance don't mix, midwives say

Being uninsured and pregnant in this country should be recognized as a risk factor for the health of the mother and baby, said the American College of Nurse-Midwives (ACNM) as the organization marked Cover The Uninsured Week (May 1-8, 2005). ACNM is troubled by how this condition – uninsured and pregnant – is severely impacting the financial well-being of taxpayer-financed health care programs, while solutions such as broader access to midwifery care are left unexplored.

4 May 2005

Specific variants of genes predict bleeding after heart surgery

Duke University Medical Center researchers have found that the presence of specific variants of genes that control clotting and the contractility, or "tone," of blood vessels can double the ability of physicians to predict those heart surgery patients at greatest risk of bleeding after surgery.

4 May 2005

Psychological treatment most effective treatment for pediatric obsessive-compulsive disorder

Psychological treatment that teaches children to face their fears is the most effective treatment for pediatric obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), according to a new Mayo Clinic analysis of previously published research.

4 May 2005

Scalpel-free surgery could reduce risk of HIV and Hepatitis exposure for health care workers in city hospitals

While the incidence of disease from HIV and hepatitis is increasing in the United States, little is known about their prevalence in patients undergoing surgery. Now, researchers have shown that nearly 40 percent of surgeries at The Johns Hopkins Hospital occur in patients who tested positive for a bloodborne germ.

4 May 2005

Genetically modified rice in China benefits farmers' health

Farmers growing genetically modified rice in field trials in China report higher crop yields, reduced pesticide use and fewer pesticide-related health problems, according to a study by researchers in China and at the University of California, Davis, and Rutgers University.

4 May 2005

Impact of acupuncture goes beyond the acknowledged placebo effect

Researchers at the University of Southampton and University College London have shown for the first time that the impact of acupuncture goes beyond the acknowledged placebo effect caused by the patient's own expectation of feeling benefit from the treatment.

4 May 2005

Does it ever occur to you that Angelina Jolie is really phat?

A weird world of modern slang has evolved since the days when a beautiful woman was a fox, a young man was a dude and couples made out.

4 May 2005

Researchers unravel how nature releases the torque built up in DNA at the molecular level

A Dutch led international team of researchers has unravelled how nature releases the torque built up in DNA at the molecular level. The researchers from Delft University of Technology, the Ecole Normale Supérieure in Paris and the Sloan-Kettering Institute in New York published their findings in the 31 March 2005 issue of Nature. An artistic impression of the enzyme at work is featured on the cover of this issue.

4 May 2005

Newly identified fly genes provide clue to tumour growth

Researchers from the Oxford University Department of Human Anatomy and Genetics have found a new class of genes that are critical for cell growth and may be involved in the uncontrolled growth that takes place in cancer. The discovery could provide a key to future tumour therapies.

4 May 2005

Researchers develop new method for facile identification of proteins in bacterial cells

Researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health have developed a new method for identifying specific proteins in whole cell extracts of microorganisms using traditional peptide mass fingerprinting (PMF).

4 May 2005

Glucose byproduct prevents brain damage after diabetic coma

A natural, non-toxic byproduct of glucose may prevent brain cell death and cognitive impairment in diabetics following an episode of severely low blood sugar, according to researchers at the San Francisco VA Medical Center (SFVAMC).

4 May 2005

More than 70 percent could better manage asthma triggers, EPA survey finds

In the first national awareness survey on environmental asthma triggers, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has found that fewer than 30 percent of people with asthma are taking simple steps to reduce exposure to asthma triggers. Exposure to asthma triggers such as secondhand smoke, cockroaches, dust mites, mold, and ozone can cause asthma in young children or set off asthma attacks.

4 May 2005

Polio strikes Indonesia

One decade after recording the last case of polio in Indonesia, a 20 month-old girl from Sukabumi district in West Java has been paralysed by poliovirus type one (P1). She had never been immunized against polio. Several more suspected cases have been identified in the immediate area and are being investigated.

4 May 2005