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Men with sweet tooths more prone to alcoholism

Men who have a sweet tooth and who have trouble controlling their behavior are more prone to alcoholism, and these factors combined were better predictors of the disease than any single individual trait, a recent analysis has found.

15 Sep 2004

Poll reveals public confusion over NHS "bureaucrats"

An ICM poll, commissioned jointly by UNISON and the NHS Confederation, shows that the public believe that only half of NHS staff are directly involved in patient care, yet the real figure is 84%. Support staff make up just 16% of the workforce.

15 Sep 2004

Prozac, Paxil, Wellbutrin, Zoloft, Celexa, Effexor, Luvox and Remeron should have "Black Box" warnings

A panel of experts has voted 15 to 8 in favour of the Federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) adding black box warnings to certain medications used to treat depression in children and teenagers.

14 Sep 2004

New research into how women view their bodies

New research into how women view their bodies aims to challenge the as yet untested belief that thin, glamorous, perfect female models in advertising are socially desirable and "sell" products to the consumer more successfully than other body types.

14 Sep 2004

Cars that tell people where to go

A three-year Macquarie University research project has studied the differences in how humans and computers talk - by analysing how each give driving directions.

14 Sep 2004

Experts discuss antibiotic resistance, tuberculosis, malaria, vaccines, maternal mortality, childhood diseases and health sector reform

New challenges ahead and the unfinished agenda in public health in the Americas" will be the focus of joint efforts by the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)

14 Sep 2004

Early use of combination-drug treatments could improve HIV survival rates

Survival rates of HIV-positive patients could be improved if combination-drug treatment were begun earlier than current clinical guidelines now recommend, according to a new study by researchers from The New York Academy of Medicine and the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health.

14 Sep 2004

67 percent of older Americans report trouble sleeping

Sleep for people over 55 often involves waking up several times during the night, not being able to get back to sleep and waking up earlier than desired in the morning.

14 Sep 2004

Role of gene identified in development of tumours in children

Medical researchers from Children’s Cancer Institute Australia for Medical Research (CCIA) have made significant progress in understanding tumour initiation in the aggressive, debilitating childhood cancer, neuroblastoma

14 Sep 2004

New test to determine whether tuberculosis sufferers are taking their prescribed antibiotics

Antibiotics are highly effective against TB, but must be taken daily over long periods. It is essential to monitor patients to ensure that they take their treatment regularly, as drug resistant TB is caused when patients discontinue their treatment.

14 Sep 2004

Bush AIDS plan is using expensive, brand name drugs, rather than keeping its promise to use the lowest cost drugs available

Global AIDS Alliance reacted today to the statement of the Bush Administration regarding its global AIDS programs.

14 Sep 2004

Cryoablation preferred option for treatment of breast fibroadenoma

Sanarus Inc., a developer of minimally invasive diagnostic and treatment tools for breast disease, announced today that twelve-month follow-up data from a peer-reviewed, prospective multicenter study demonstrates that cryoablation is a preferred first-line treatment for breast fibroadenoma for women who do not want to undergo open surgery.

14 Sep 2004

Drinking by youth at disturbingly high levels

Although the prevalence of underage drinking has decreased since its peak in the late 1970s, drinking by youth has stabilized over the past decade at disturbingly high levels.

14 Sep 2004

Important discovery that will increase the understanding of multiple sclerosis

Scientists at the University of California, Santa Barbara have made an important discovery that will increase the understanding of multiple sclerosis, a debilitating disease of the central nervous system in which the myelin sheath, an insulating membrane surrounding the nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord, start to unravel for reasons as yet unknown.

14 Sep 2004

Health Affairs study examines 25 years of children’s health coverage

In recent years, rising health insurance costs have likely played a key role in the decline of American children with private health coverage, according to a study by researchers at the Center for Studying Health System Change (HSC) and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) published in the September/October edition of the journal Health Affairs.

14 Sep 2004

Estimates may overstate toll of sudden cardiac death

Researchers trying to get a precise picture of sudden cardiac death in Portland, Ore. found that checking with ambulance services, medical examiners and hospitals revealed the actual number of cases was only about one-third the total estimated by a commonly used method that involves reviews of death certificates, according to a new study in the Sept. 15, 2004 issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

14 Sep 2004

Findings that may help explain links between the stress of traumatic events and increased risk of cardiac death

Reporting findings that may help explain links between the stress of traumatic events and increased risk of cardiac death, researchers said the rate of potentially life-threatening heart arrhythmias doubled during the month after the World Trade Center terrorist attack in 2001 in patients with implantable cardioverter-defibrillators, not only in the New York area, but also in Florida

14 Sep 2004

Campaign to reduce high salt consumption in the UK

Every day at least 26 million people eat more than the recommended daily limit of 6g of salt. Men are eating the most with a daily average of 11.0g of salt while women consume an average of 8.1g a day

14 Sep 2004

Knowing which treatments work and which don't is an important first step in improving children's health care, but it's not enough

University of South Florida pediatrician Dr. Lisa Simpson says she knew enough to ignore a physician’s recommendation that treating repeated ear infections with ear tubes was important to her son’s eventual speech and language outcomes.

14 Sep 2004

Non-surgical needle biopsies in the lung may eliminate the need for children to undergo surgery

A pediatric study published in the September Journal of Vascular and Interventional Radiology shows non-surgical needle biopsies in the lung were 91 percent successful in providing sufficient tissue to determine a diagnosis.

14 Sep 2004