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Treatment helps 26% of black Americans with chronic hepatitis C

Twenty-six percent (26%) of black Americans (BA) with chronic hepatitis C who received treatment with Pegasys plus Copegus (peginterferon alfa-2a plus ribavirin) achieved a sustained virological response (SVR), according to study results published in the June 2004 issue of Hepatology.

1 Jun 2004

Yo-yo dieting may have a lasting negative impact on immune function

Yo-yo dieting, in which a person repeatedly loses and regains weight, may have a lasting negative impact on immune function, according to new findings by researchers at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.

1 Jun 2004

Being tired can be as bad as being drunk when driving

"Being tired can be as bad as being drunk, in terms of its effect upon performance," says safety expert, Dr Ann Williamson, who led the study by the University of NSW Injury Risk Management Research Centre.

1 Jun 2004

Louise Redknapp and Ronan Keating on cancer and how it affected them

Singer Louise Redknapp talks exclusively to the NHS about her fears that a fertility-threatening disease could threaten her plans for a family in a consumer-style magazine published today. Louise was diagnosed with endometriosis, a disease in which small pieces of the womb lining grow outside the womb, causing chronic pain and, in many cases, depression and fertility problems.

1 Jun 2004

Mothercare, John Lewis and Argos worst stores in UK for dangerous chemicals

High street stores must do more to phase out chemicals which may adversely affect human health, Friends of the Earth said today. The call coincides with a new survey by the environmental campaign group showing some stores are still not taking effective action to remove risky chemicals from their products.

1 Jun 2004

Novel molecular targeting technologies to deliver gene-silencing therapy

Researchers have combined novel molecular targeting technologies to deliver gene-silencing therapy specifically to tumor cells shielded by a normally impermeable obstacle, the blood brain barrier.

1 Jun 2004

Call for Bush Administration to remedy failures on mad cow disease

Carol Tucker Foreman, director of Consumer Federation of America's Food Policy Institute, joined Consumers Union, Public Citizen and R-CALF in calling on the Bush Administration to remedy failures and improve protection against BSE.

1 Jun 2004

New research on driver fatigue

Holiday drivers leaving home often put themselves in the same dangerous situations as shiftwork and contract commuters returning home.

1 Jun 2004

Engineered virus could be ideal for targeting cancers with lethal gene therapy

Scientists from Cancer Research UK have taken advantage of the selfish behaviour of cancer cells to target them with a genetically engineered virus.

1 Jun 2004

WHO launches this year's campaign for World No Tobacco Day

The World Health Organization (WHO) launches this year's campaign for World No Tobacco Day with the slogan: Tobacco and Poverty: a vicious circle, stressing the enormous economic costs of tobacco use and cultivation to families, communities and countries.

1 Jun 2004

Atkins high-fat-low-carbohydrate diet may have caused severe heart disease

A Florida businessman filed suit today against Atkins Nutritionals, Inc., and the Estate of Dr. Robert C. Atkins, claiming that the late diet author’s controversial high-fat, low-carbohydrate regimen caused severe heart disease, necessitating angioplasty and a stent. He is seeking a court injunction banning Atkins Nutritionals from marketing its products without a warning of potential health risks and asks for compensatory damages.

31 May 2004

Higher rate of cancer in meat industry

A study of over 6600 meat industry workers around New Zealand has found a significantly high rate of cancers, particularly lung cancer, which may be caused by exposure to cancer causing agents carried by animals.

31 May 2004

Vermont announces free or discounted nicotine patches and gum

Free or discounted nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) - nicotine patches and gum - will be provided for a limited time to all adult Vermonters who want to quit smoking cigarettes, thanks to a significant expansion of the Vermont Department of Health's NRT program announced.

31 May 2004

Autodesk engineering solution addresses healthcare design challenges

Autodesk, Inc., a leading design software and digital content company, has announced that engineering firms are increasingly using Autodesk(R) Building Systems to create, manage and share critical building design information for healthcare, biomedical research and biopharmaceutical projects.

31 May 2004

New monitor can reduce patients experiencing awareness during an operation by more than 80%

An Australian study headed by Melbourne’s Alfred hospital and published in The Lancet today is likely to change the way surgical anaesthesia is conducted throughout the world.

31 May 2004

Discovery of a key marker in breast cancer tumors

Cancer researchers at Georgetown University Medical Center have discovered a key marker in breast cancer tumors that may help determine which women with early stage breast cancer have a better chance of survival. The research appears in the June 1 issue of the Journal of Clinical Oncology.

31 May 2004

Greater the time spent in cars, higher the likelihood of obesity

A comprehensive study done by the Georgia Institute of Technology shows the built environment clearly relates to a person’s prospects for being overweight. Every additional 30 minutes a person spends in a car translates into a 3 percent greater chance of being obese.

31 May 2004

There are still benefits from hormone therapy after menopause

Despite the highly publicized closing of the Women’s Health Initiative study, the scientific community should not rule out that women may benefit from hormone therapy after menopause, say researchers at UC Davis, Duke and Harvard Universities.

31 May 2004

Breast reduction instead of removal a viable breast cancer alternative

Women at high risk of developing breast cancer may have an additional preventative alternative to having their breasts removed – breast reduction surgery, according to a study published in the June issue of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery®, the official medical journal of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS).

31 May 2004

NHS 24 appears to have improved out-of-hours medical care in Scotland

Patient satisfaction with out-of-hours medical care in Scotland has risen since the introduction of NHS 24 - but it is still too early to judge the long term success of the service. Integrating NHS 24 with existing health services has been more difficult than predicted.

31 May 2004