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Who needs health care - the well or the sick?

Shifting drug spending from the worried well in rich countries to those with treatable disease in poorer nations will benefit the health of everyone, argues a doctor in this week's BMJ.

21 Apr 2005

Counting the human cost of international trade

International trade is creating a global road safety crisis that only serves to inhibit development and perpetuate poverty, argues an expert in this week's BMJ.

21 Apr 2005

“Virtual Colonoscopy” effective in finding most polyps but may miss small ones

A type of noninvasive “virtual colonoscopy” can diagnose medium to large polyps as well as traditional colorectal probes can, but it may miss some smaller yet potentially cancerous growths, according to a new review of studies.

21 Apr 2005

Genes influence how heart failure patients respond to drugs

Genes dictate the color of our hair and eyes. They factor into whether we get cancer or heart disease. And, scientists increasingly recognize, they also ensure some patients will benefit from a prescription drug, while others develop adverse reactions or simply fail to respond at all.

21 Apr 2005

Golfers "yips" possibly a movement disorder

Researchers have found that a not uncommon condition among some golfers, Yips, a term used to denote a strong tendency to flinch or twitch during putting, may be a task-specific movement disorder akin to writer's cramp and musician's cramp.

21 Apr 2005

Dundee Diabetes Research Centre in Scotland

In a joint venture between two faculties with a common interest in Diabetes research, a facility, the Dundee Diabetes Research Centre has been launched reinforcing the city's standing as one of the world's key hubs of research into the disease.

21 Apr 2005

Global Health Service needed to fight AIDS

A report by the non-partisan Institute of Medicine is calling for the creation of a U.S. Global Health Service comprised of doctors, nurses and other health care workers to help combat HIV/AIDS in the world's hardest hit countries.

20 Apr 2005

Official Indian AIDS figures in dispute

A claim by AIDS expert Richard Feachem, that India now has the most HIV-positive people in the world has been dismissed by the Indian government.

20 Apr 2005

Emergency contraceptive Plan B now available over the counter in Canada

The emergency contraceptive drug Plan B will now be available over the counter in all of Canada as Health Canada yesterday ended the prescription requirement for Paladin Labs Inc.'s contraceptive.

20 Apr 2005

Overweight not as bad as once thought

Being overweight may not be very good for you but it now seems it is nowhere near as big a killer as the US government once thought.

20 Apr 2005

Canada approves use of cannabis spray for MS sufferers

In a world first Canada has taken the lead in approving the use of a cannabis spray that relieves pain in multiple sclerosis sufferers.

20 Apr 2005

Missing samples of deadly flu strain now found

World Health Organization (WHO) officials say that all but one of the deadly flu virus samples mistakenly sent to labs outside the United States have been destroyed.

20 Apr 2005

MyPyramid has a mixed response from experts

MyPyramid, the updated version of the U.S. Agriculture Department's, (USDA), familiar food pyramid, is getting a mixed response from nutritionists and other experts, who say some consumers might find the new model even more confusing than the old one.

20 Apr 2005

Inherited variations in mitochondrial DNA linked to renal and prostate cancer

More than 20 million men in the United States with a particular signature set of inherited characteristics and mutations in mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) are at significantly increased risk for developing renal and prostate cancers, according to research at Emory University.

20 Apr 2005

CDC playing politics over obesity

Leaders at Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) were criticized by The Center for Consumer Freedom (CCF) today for playing politics over obesity.

20 Apr 2005

Clinical study of MDX-010/MDX-1379 combination shows durable responses in patients with metastatic melanoma

Medarex, Inc. and Bristol-Myers Squibb Company announced today that complete or partial responses in seven of 56 patients with metastatic melanoma showed durability ranging from four months to the longest still ongoing at over 34 months, with five of the seven responses ongoing for more than two years.

20 Apr 2005

Fast Track designation for Terlipressin in type 1 hepatorenal syndrome

Protein Design Labs, Inc. and privately held Orphan Therapeutics, LLC today reported that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted Fast Track status to the development of terlipressin for the treatment of patients with type 1 hepatorenal syndrome (HRS).

20 Apr 2005

FDA expert panel to review Abiomed's artificial heart

Abiomed, Inc. today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will convene an expert panel of cardiovascular surgeons and cardiologists to review the groundbreaking technologies and clinical trial data behind the AbioCor artificial heart.

20 Apr 2005

Meat Institute defends hot dogs in recent pancreatic cancer study

In response to the report released today at the American Association for Cancer Research in Anaheim, California, attempting to link processed meats to pancreatic cancer, James L. Hodges, President of the American Meat Institute Foundation made the following comment:

20 Apr 2005

Child health teacher numbers at worrying levels

Concerns over the future of children's health care in the UK are being raised as new research shows the numbers of clinical teachers in this field have dropped dramatically in recent years.

20 Apr 2005