Monday, June 12, 2006

Contents

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National News

Tough curbs on Prozac prescribed for children - The Guardian 12/06/06

Prozac is to be licensed for treating children over eight with depression, but regulators have imposed an unprecedented restriction on its use, ordering that it may not be prescribed unless talking therapies have failed, and even then a course of the drug must be accompanied by counselling.

Letters: Prozac and children - The Independent 12/06/06

Crystal meth to get class A listing in bid to limit use - The Guardian 12/06/06

Crystal meth, the highly addictive stimulant, is to be officially ranked as a class A drug in Britain following warnings from senior police that it could become mainstream within the next two to three years.

Doctor behind MMR scare to face four charges of misconduct over research - The Guardian 12/06/06

Andrew Wakefield, the doctor behind the scare over a potential link between the MMR jab and autism in children, is to face four charges relating to unprofessional conduct at the General Medical Council, it is reported today.

In the dock: the man who caused the great MMR scare - The Independent 12/06/06
MMR critic charged with professional misconduct - The Times 12/06/06
MMR doctor 'to face GMC charges' - BBC Health News 12/06/06

Health panel: How can I stop the ringing in my ears? - The Observer 11/06/06

She is 44, and over the past six months has become increasingly concerned about sporadic ringing in her ears. Is this tinnitus? And if so, what's the best way to deal with it?

Inquiry reveals jail racism is rife - The Observer 11/06/06

The inquiry into the murder of the Asian teenager Zahid Mubarek by a racist cellmate will paint a damning picture of institutional racism and of individual errors from junior prison officer to ministerial level, The Observer can reveal.

Prison system is racist – report - The Sunday Times 11/06/06

Is being a good dad ruining your career? - The Observer 11/06/06

Fifteen years after women first tried to have it all, men now want the same. But is it possible both to impress the boss and be an attentive father? New dad Rafael Behr on the struggle to juggle career with fatherhood

Alternative health - The Observer 11/06/06

The perils of summer from anti-malaria drugs to prickly heat and ugly bare feet

What makes women happy? - The Observer 11/06/06

Self help, surgery, sex? Money, power, career? The options for women now are endless. But has too much choice killed off contentment? By Geraldine Bedell

What I know about women ... - The Observer 11/06/06

Clean bill of health or whitewash? - The Observer 11/06/06

Social auditors aim to ensure that foreign factories meet basic welfare standards. But are they just a charade, asks Nick Mathiason

The good news about boys ... they do eventually grow up - The Observer 11/06/06

Last week, Will Hutton touched a nerve with many readers when he asked why teenage boys suddenly turn into monsters. But, he learns, there may be cause for optimism

Stephen Pritchard: The readers editor on ... the downside of Google - The Observer 11/06/06

Back in the days when dinosaurs roamed the earth, journalists seeking enlightenment and chasing a deadline relied on their dogeared contacts books to find experts, spokesmen and pundits. Today, we still reach for those phone numbers, but we also have an infinitely more powerful aid in our research - the internet.

Feature: Yvonne Roberts on teenage fathers - The Guardian 10/06/06

We regard them as so feckless, expect so little of them, that we don't even know how many teenage fathers there are in Britain. Yvonne Roberts meets three

Patients who hit nurses face £1,000 fine - The Guardian 10/06/06

Patients who hit a nurse or cause a nuisance on NHS premises in England will be fined up to £1,000 on top of any other criminal penalties, the health minister Caroline Flint announced last night.

Conflict over zero tolerance in the NHS - The Guardian 12/06/06
1,000 fines for patients who insult or threaten NHS staff - The Times 10/06/06
1,000 fines for abusing NHS workers - The Telegraph 10/06/06
Clampdown on abuse of NHS staff - BBC Health News 10/06/06
Bullies Who Threaten NHS Staff Face 1,000 Fines As New Figures Reveal 1 In 22 NHS Workers Suffer Violence, UK - Medical News Today 11/06/06

Emma Mitchell: Coping with osteoarthritis - The Guardian 10/06/06

I am 56 and have been diagnosed with osteoarthritis. I am taking ibuprofen for pain relief and a glucosamine supplement. My friend, who suffers from arthritis, recently took part in a trial for a new cream called Celafen, containing Celadrin. What do you think of it?

Infertility clinics' role criticised - The Guardian 10/06/06

Infertility patients are not getting the deal they deserve from clinics and those who need donor sperm or eggs are being "sold short", the head of fertility regulation in the UK will say today.

Enjoy the weather - but smog brings a health warning - The Guardian 10/06/06

You can punch the air, conga across the living room, or drench yourself in spilled beer. But, say government health experts, there is one thing England supporters looking to celebrate a possible victory this afternoon should definitely avoid: football.

Smog likely as weekend temperature set to soar - The Independent 10/06/06
Fears grow for elderly and sick as heatwave hits Britain - The Times 10/06/06

Bad Science - The Guardian 10/06/06

When I am finally assassinated by an axe-wielding electrosensitive homeopathic anti-vaccine campaigner - and that day surely cannot be far off now - I should like to be remembered, primarily, for my childishness and immaturity. Occasionally, however, I like to write about serious issues. And I don't just mean the increase in mumps cases from 94 people in 1996 to 43,322 in 2005. No.

Critical points about sickness cover - The Guardian 10/06/06

The FSA has warned of bad advice and of customers refused payouts. Phillip Inman reports

The weight of evidence - The Guardian 10/06/06

Somewhere in Britain this morning there will be several hundred worried families. Their children will have been caught with cannabis last night and they will be charged with either possession or dealing. The current system is a perilous game of chance, under which, although the risks of being caught are marginal, for the few who are the consequences can be ruinous. About 3.6 million people, mostly young, use the drug at some point in a year, but only 45,000 in the last statistics (2004) were caught for possession and 2,200 for dealing. Serious though this situation is, the future looks even grimmer. As our home affairs editor reported this week, new tough proposals drawn up by the Home Office would make drug users caught with even small amounts of cannabis - sufficient for just 10 joints - liable to be classified as dealers. The current maximum for this offence is 14 years. Drug policy has swung from one extreme to another in the space of just six months.

People always ask me ... - The Guardian 10/06/06

People think that all pathology is to do with death when, in reality, the majority of it is to do with the living in order to come to a decision about diagnosis. Families can be terrified by pathology; they think it's all grisly but it's not and I love my work. If you give a right diagnosis proper treatment can be started on a patient.

Skirting the issue - The Guardian 10/06/06

Tony Blair wants the NHS to form even closer relationships with the private sector. I suggest they choose their links carefully - there cannot be much confidence in the advice from Richard Lapthorne "to fire one-third of the managers who were opposed to the board's policies" (Report, June 7). This comes from the chairman of Cable and Wireless which has continued to fail while undergoing repeated change.

Former male nurse wins sex discrimination case - The Guardian 10/06/06

A former student male nurse yesterday won a landmark sex discrimination case against NHS hospitals that refused to let him perform intimate medical procedures on women patients unless he was accompanied by a female chaperone.

Male nurse wins sex bias claim against NHS trust - The Times 10/06/06
'Mistrusted' male nurse wins sex bias case - The Telegraph 10/06/06
Male nurse wins sex discrimination case - The Telegraph 09/06/06
Discrimination case win for nurse - BBC Health News 09/06/06

Asda accused of risking food hygiene to cut costs - The Independent 12/06/06

Asda is so keen to fulfil its advertising slogan of providing "more for less" that it cuts corners and puts food hygiene at risk, supermarket employees say.

Cliff vs the Asbo kids - The Independent 11/06/06

Local councils to follow Australian experiment of driving away hoodlums with uncool music

Brain food: Why the Government wants your child to takeOmega-3, the fish oil supplement - The Independent 11/06/06

A tiny daily capsule can have a dramatic effect on pupils who usually play up in class, improving behaviour and work. Now all youngsters may be given them. Marie Woolf and Jeremy Laurance report

Fish oil for pupils may improve behaviour - The Guardian 12/06/06
Plan to give pupils fish oil capsules - The Sunday Times 11/06/06
Fish oil supplements considered for schoolchildren - Daily Mail 11/06/06

Breast cancer drug: Too late for Tamar - The Independent 11/06/06

The breast cancer drug Herceptin is to be available to all. But patients are dying because other drugs are being withheld

Press and public could be banned from inquests - The Times 12/06/06

CORONERS will be able to ban the media from reporting hundreds of inquests under radical reforms outlined today.

Shipman inquiry findings rejected in coroners Bill - The Telegraph 12/06/06
Coroners reform plans 'overdue' - BBC Health News 11/06/06

NHS advisers 'a waste of cash' - The Times 12/06/06

THE cost of hiring management consultants to advise on cutting NHS budgets was condemned yesterday by a leading union which said that some consultancy contracts were now reaching £150,000.

Consultancies rake in record 2bn revenues - The Guardian 12/06/06

Saving the NHS - The Times 12/06/06

Surely the £512 million NHS deficit isn’t that much. Less than £10 each — I would be happy to cough up my share.

The price of success - The Times 12/06/06

New research shows that high earners are prone to stress, anxiety and unhappiness

Money, possessions, appearances: it's an illness - The Times 12/06/06

Booze and cigs, eastern salt and stomach cancer - The Times 12/06/06

Whatever the cause, there is new hope In France a medical student might find that a caricature of a typical sufferer from oesophageal or gastric cancer would show an old man with a glass of calvados in his hand, a full bottle beside him and a cigarette hanging from his lips.

Adrian Cooper: 'You have insomnia . . . it's whirling brain syndrome' - The Times 12/06/06

Adrian Cooper describes himself as a “positive sort of bloke who doesn’t think he needs to ask for help”. So when he found himself working perpetual 13-hour days, eating badly, feeling constantly irritated and sometimes binge drinking, it was not difficult to make the connection between his demanding job and his unsatisfactory life outside it. Yet he was slow to react to what he now recognises was a situation that had serious implications for his health.

Surely one little puff can't hurt? - The Times 12/06/06

Yes it can, even if you smoke only five a day. Our correspondent has the artery scan to prove it

Urban Worrier - The Times 12/06/06

Will Tony the Tiger score for England?

My mum died young. How can I tell my son the facts of death? - The Times 12/06/06

This might be a bit weird and very premature but I am worried about explaining my mum’s death to my son. He is only ten months old but I don’t want him to worry about me dying young. My mum died unexpectedly from cancer at 34. She had only five months from prognosis to death. I was 13 at the time. As a child I was occasionally very anxious about my parents dying, usually because of reading books in which the heroes were orphans. My mum told me not to worry and promised that it would never happen. She always said if we were to die, we would all die together and no-one would be left behind. I don’t want to follow the same approach with my son.

Scotland heading towards junkie ghettoes, says drugs expert - The Sunday Times 11/06/06

DRUG-FREE communities where residents are randomly tested to weed out addicts could become commonplace in as little as 20 years according to Scotland’s leading drugs expert.
Doubts cast on DNA pioneer - The Sunday Times 11/06/06

The scientist who discovered the building blocks of life was treated by superiors as a glory seeker who “pulled out the plum” from the work of colleagues, writes Peter Day.

Focus: What price a good night's sleep? - The Sunday Times 11/06/06

Scientists are on a quest to develop a pill that replaces the natural kip. John Arlidge reports on how shuteye has become a multi-billion-pound lifestyle product

Soaring child depression alarms GPs - The Sunday Times 11/06/06

MORE than 1,000 youngsters under the age of 15 were treated for depression last year, according to figures published by the Scottish executive.

Shock tactics in war on heroin addiction - The Sunday Times 11/06/06

HEROIN addicts are to be offered a form of electric shock therapy to kick their addiction under a pilot project backed by Jack McConnell.

iSoft boss in the firing line - The Sunday Times 11/06/06

THE chairman of the troubled software firm iSoft, John Weston, is moving to oust the beleaguered chief executive Tim Whiston. iSoft, which is involved in the radical upgrade to the NHS’s computer system, restated its accounts last week and admitted it was in talks with its bankers. Shares in the firm fell almost 40% after the announcement.

That gut feeling - The Sunday Times 11/06/06

Cancer, cellulite, depression — Pierre Pallardy believes they all begin in the stomach. Can the healer of Picasso, Chanel and Frank Sinatra really be right, asks Kate Spicer

Natural iron supplement; food intolerance/allergies; exploring homeopathy - The Sunday 11/06/06

I have been prescribed iron tablets by my doctor for heavy periods, but I would prefer to find a natural alternative. I still look pale and lack energy, so I am not even sure they are helping. What do you suggest?

Real IVF costs 'hidden' - The Times 10/06/06

MORE than a third of IVF patients paid more than they expected for treatment, the head of the Government’s fertility watchdog said yesterday.

Smoke without fire - The Times 10/06/06

Stories behind the news. We are often swayed, to our detriment, by scare stories. We need to be told the facts

In a sorry state of mind - The Times 10/06/06

Were the motorists who drove past Cait Atkins lacking in empathy? Science has the answer, says Kate Wighton

Inside story: dyscalculia - The Times 10/06/06

Doing maths had Hilary Freeman’s head in a spin; then she did a series of psychological tests

Doctors who had a taste of their own medicine - The Times 10/06/06

Many of the most important medical advances have resulted from scientists who experimented on themselves. Whether foolhardy or selfless, Wendy Moore salutes these maverick medic

The missing member of the family - The Times 10/06/06

Children whose parents die young don’t always get the emotional support they need, says Catriona Wrottesley

Stressed? Just chill with the kids - The Times 10/06/06

From three in a tub in Cyprus to a rambling country house hotel in Dorset there are child-friendly spas that make life easy for all the family

Junk medicine: biodiversity - The Times 10/06/06

Why we need all the species

Dr Copperfield: inside the mind of a GP - The Times 10/06/06

Looking for somewhere special to be ill? Somewhere to give that latest bout of diarrhoea and vomiting the lavish attention it deserves? Somewhere with a sense of occasion, which makes your gastroenteritis memorable by pampering you with polished silver sick bowls and crisp, linen incontinence pads? Then look no farther than your nearest Michelin star surgery.

Romance with a keyboard - The Times 10/06/06

I'm lonely and not very technically minded but I want to try out chat rooms and, perhaps, cyber sex. What should I do - and is it safe for women?

What's up doc? Looking at your nails - The Times 10/06/06

Why bother? The doctor is checking for signs of disease. If the eyes are windows on the soul, the nails may be the port-hole to pathology.

All we are saying: give chickpeas a chance - The Times 10/06/06

How green is your festival? Anna Shephard looks at the eco-credentials of this summer's gathering

So is this food organic? - The Times 10/06/06

Granny's home truths. The picky-eater

At your table: non-fruit ice-cream - The Times 10/06/06

Scooping up home-made goodness

Menu mentor - The Times 10/06/06

Jane Clarke's weekly guide to nutritious eating out: Cafe Revive at M&S

Gabby Logan's ten-minute toner: chest - The Times 10/06/06

Loads of pecs appeal. If you want to keep fit and healthy, it pays to build up a regular rhythm

Wild and free on a world stage - The Times 10/06/06

The actor James Fleet, 54, finds it hard to be still and do nothing, so he listens to his inner explorer and heads for the hills

Depressed men suffer in silence, says research - The Telegraph 12/06/06

Men who suffer from depression or anxiety are much less likely than women to seek medical help, because of pressure to keep up a macho front, health campaigners have claimed

Britain 'hits lowest point at 2.16pm' - The Telegraph 11/06/06

It's official - the post-lunchtime slump strikes at precisely 2.16pm, according to new research.

Thousands of diabetics' sight at risk as care trusts hold back screening cash - The Telegraph 11/06/06

Fewer than half of all primary care trusts in England and Wales have hit national targets on screening diabetes sufferers for a serious eye problem, putting the sight of thousands of patients at risk.

Pregnant mothers warned of risk to baby in vitamin E - The Telegraph 11/06/06

Experts are warning women not to take Vitamin E supplements during pregnancy because it may harm the unborn child.

Nish Joshi's Q & A - The Telegraph 11/06/06

For two to three years I have found that my fingers and toes get very cold, especially in winter. I don't know if it is due to cholesterol or poor circulation, but I am trying to eat more fruits and vegetables. Are there any foods I should avoid, or herbs which may help?

When I look at Brown's Britain, I start to feel very, very angry - The Telegraph 11/06/06

Summer is the time of year when Americans are most likely to visit Britain, and Britons to visit America. Last week, I bumped into one of my Harvard students in the West End. We had both just been to the theatre, I to marvel at Jeremy Irons's enthralling portrayal (in Embers) of a man betrayed by his closest friend.

Business profile: 'There are no sacred cows' - The Telegraph 11/06/06

OFT boss John Fingleton is already taking on supermarkets and airports. And he does not even rule out the NHS. Topaz Amoore meets him

Unhealthy delays - The Telegraph 11/06/06

Problems dog the £6.2bn NHS IT project, but its chief executive, Richard Granger, insists to Sylvia Pfeifer that there is a difference between reality and what is being reported

Minister 'in dark' on child slaves - The Telegraph 11/06/06

The Government has no idea how many children are being brought to Britain to be used as slave labour, ministers have admitted.

Get a life: what's it all about? - The Telegraph 10/06/06

Part one of self-help guru Nina Grunfeld's eight-step guide to wellbeing

New ager: Ayurveda - The Telegraph 10/06/06

Judith Woods on Ayurveda, an ancient Indian healing system based on the idea of balancing our three life forces

Prepare for Age of the Oldie 'as life expectancy rises at rate of five hours a day' - The Telegraph 10/06/06

Life expectancy in Britain has been increasing at a rate of five hours every day and threatens to outpace pensions reform, an expert said yesterday. In the light of the evidence of the past two centuries, Prof Tom Kirkwood, the director of the Institute for Ageing and Health at the University of Newcastle, said people were living for around two years longer each decade.

Second virus outbreak on luxury liner - The Telegraph 10/06/06

A luxury cruise liner has been hit by a virus outbreak, its second in less than two weeks.

Health card charge warning - The Telegraph 10/06/06

The Department of Health has warned British travellers to beware of bogus websites that charge an application fee for the new European Health Insurance Card (EHIC), the replacement for the old E111 form. The card entitles Britons to free (or reduced) basic medical treatment in most European countries.

Shropshire Four to get Herceptin on NHS - The Telegraph 10/06/06

Four women in Shropshire were celebrating yesterday after their primary care trust relented and agreed to pay for their Herceptin treatment to help stave off the threat of breast cancer.

Have you tried Hush Puppies, Posh? - The Telegraph 09/06/06

The first lady of footballers' wives has been hiding an ugly secret - the perfectly polished Mrs Beckham has... a bunion. But she's not alone: in the US there is even a talk show dedicated to these bony excrescences. Tom Leonard finds out how you get them and if they can be cured

Vitamin E linked to stillbirths - Daily Mail 12/06/06

Pregnant women should avoid taking vitamin E supplements after a study showed they may double the risk of a stillbirth, experts have warned.

Doctors call for 'fat tax' on Coca-Cola and Pepsi - Daily Mail 12/06/06

Doctors will this week declare war on America's soft drinks industry by calling for a 'fat tax' to combat the nation's obesity epidemic.

'Brain-boosting' computer games launched for middle-aged players - Daily Mail 09/06/06

Computer games have long been criticised for rotting the brain, but a new wave of games that claim to boost brain cells instead are being launched in Britain.

For £8,000, a cat that won't make you sneeze - Daily Mail 09/06/06

Scientists have developed a breed of cat that will not trigger allergies in humans.

Diabetes diet rethink - The Mirror 12/06/06

THE Co-op is withdrawing diabetic foods from 380 stores today, declaring them a waste of money.

Brit Baby is Eye Op Pioneer - The Mirror 12/06/06

A BABY boy aged seven weeks is to become the youngest British child to have pioneering surgery to restore his sight.

Football bid to aid mental health - BBC Health News 11/06/06

A Scottish fantasy World Cup game has been launched to encourage men to get in touch with their feelings.

Call to scrap diabetes treat food - BBC Health News 11/06/06

Retailers are being urged to withdraw diabetes treat food and drinks.

Health risk from bad food hygiene - BBC Health News 11/06/06

Britons are putting themselves and their families at risk of food poisoning because of bad habits in the kitchen, a survey suggests.

Lung test for children under five - BBC Health News 11/06/06

Experts have developed a way of accurately testing lung function in young children with breathing problems.

Trial for drug overdose treatment - BBC Health News 11/06/06

Councillors and drug groups in Glasgow and Lanarkshire are to pilot use of the anti-opiate revival drug Naloxone.

Contraceptive pill aid for women - BBC Health News 10/06/06

An electronic device which reminds women whether or not they have taken their daily contraceptive pill has been designed by a university student.

Scotland in sperm donor 'crisis' - BBC Health News 09/06/06

Scotland is facing a critical shortage of sperm donors, according to the chair of the British Fertility Society.

Radiotherapy cell damage blocked - BBC Health News 09/06/06

Gene therapy could be used to shield healthy bone marrow stem cells from the effects of radiotherapy treatment for cancer, research suggests.

Thousand jobs to go at NHS trust - BBC Health News 09/06/06

Up to 1,100 posts are to be lost at a hospital trust as it attempts to cut its pay bill by £18m.

Baby attack doctor can keep job - BBC Health News 09/06/06

A hospital consultant who fractured a baby's skull when he threw her on to the floor has escaped being struck off.

Increase In NHS Dentistry Has Yet To Materialise, Says Dentists' Leader, UK - Medical News Today 12/06/06

The Government's changes to NHS dentistry have yet to show signs of increasing availability of NHS dentistry for patients, according to new research from the British Dental Association.

Awareness Culture Is Vital For The Safety Of Hajj/Umrah Pilgrims - Medical News Today 12/06/06

A team of Senior British Doctors from Association of British Hujjaj (pilgrims) UK [ABH], the only National Hajj Specific Organisation, welcomes the recent initiative taken by the Saudi Ministry of Health, asking their embassies overseas to ensure that all prospective pilgrims must be vaccinated and protected against infectious diseases such as yellow fever, meningitis, polio and influenza before issuing them entry visa.

Lord Warner Sings Praises Of Canary Wharf NHS Commuter Walk-In Centre, UK - Medical News Today 12/06/06

Health Minister Lord Warner will officially open the Canary Wharf NHS Commuter Walk-in Centre today, with the promise that people will get the chance to see a doctor or nurse in a location ideal for busy city workers, close to Canary Wharf tube station and the South Quay Docklands Light Railway station.

High Performing Trusts Apply For Foundation Status, UK - Medical News Today 12/06/06

Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt today welcomed a further wave of sixteen trusts applying for Foundation trust status, including five Mental Health trusts.

RCGP - Latest Statement On Practice Accreditation, 8 June 2006, UK - Medical News Today 11/06/06

The Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) has announced today (Thursday 8 June, 2006) that it is suspending talks with the Department of Health over practice accreditation in England, following concerns from its Members that the scheme could be misused as a ‘star ratings' system and implications for GP workloads.

The Surrey Ion Beam Centre In Collaboration With The Gray Cancer Institute To Build The World's First Vertical Nanobeam To Enable Cancer Care To Be In - Medical News Today 11/06/06

The University of Surrey Ion Beam Centre (IBC) in collaboration with the Gray Cancer Institute is working on a £1.2M project which is underpinned by a prestigious grant of £800k from the Wolfson Foundation. The funding will be used to build the world's first vertical scanning focussed nanobeam which will be used to analyse how radiation affects living cells. Radiation therapy is second only to surgery as a cure for cancer in the UK and so this research has a large potential impact on patient survival and quality of life. The new beam line will also be used to look at the processes which may lead to cancer and the risks associated with low level exposure to radiation (e.g. in structures built on or out of granite).

Opening Of Tayside Children's Hospital - Medical News Today 11/06/06

The £10 million Tayside Children's Hospital at Ninewells in Dundee was formally opened on Wednesday June 7th by TV and radio personality Fred MacAulay.

Health Tips For The World Cup Fans - Medical News Today 10/06/06

Soccer fans are reminded to stay health-conscious while watching World Cup games which will kickoff tomorrow.

Study Aims To Cut Deaths From Severe Infection In British Hospital Wards - Medical News Today 09/06/06

Researchers at the University of Edinburgh are aiming to reduce the risks posed by a life-threatening condition which affects four in ten of Scottish intensive care patients. The project will measure the extent of severe sepsis - life-threatening bacterial infection - in Scottish hospitals.

Herceptin Recommended For All Early Stage Breast Cancer Patients, UK - Medical News Today 09/06/06

The National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE), UK, says Herceptin should be prescribed to all early stage breast cancer patients in England and Wales, in its draft guidance. NICE is the National Health Service (NHS) watchdog. The final guidance will be published in July, 2006.

An End To The Postcode Lottery Of Herceptin, Says Cancerbackup, UK - Medical News Today 12/06/06
NICE Issues Draft Guidance On Trastuzumab (Herceptin) For Early Breast Cancer - Medical News Today 11/06/06

Generic Statins Could Save England's NHS £2 Billion Over 5 Years - Medical News Today 09/06/06

A report in the British Medical Journal says that England's NHS could save in excess of £2 billion over a five year period if prescriptions were switched to generic statins.

Blood Infections Caused By New Football Boots - Medical News Today 09/06/06

Young football (soccer) players face a slightly raised risk of blood infection from foot blisters caused by new boots. Toxic shock syndrome is extremely unusual among British children, of the 40 cases each year most of them are associated with tampon use.

New Way To Assess Risk Of Heart Disease In Ethnic Groups - Medical News Today 09/06/06

A new web-based calculator will better assess the risk of heart disease in British black and minority ethnic groups. These groups are often wrongly assessed.

International News
Cowen raps doctors for A&E crisis - The Sunday Times 11/06/06

BRIAN COWEN, the finance minister, has accused hospital consultants of prolonging the accident and emergency (A&E) hospital crisis by resisting reform of their public service contracts.

Hospital gives in on harvest of stem cells - The Sunday Times 11/06/06

A CAVAN hospital has relented to a pregnant woman’s request that she be allowed to harvest stem cells from her baby’s umbilical cord when she gives birth. Cavan General entered into a confidential deal with Catherina McCauley to have the procedure carried out after her case was highlighted by The Sunday Times.

Cancer risk is hidden in a bottle of dye - The Sunday Times 11/06/06

CELEBRITIES such as Madonna and Victoria Beckham change their hair colour almost as often as their designer shoes. But new research findings suggest that women who dye their hair may be putting themselves at higher risk of some types of cancer.

Kissing it better - The Times 10/06/06

IT’S THE height of the hay fever season and scientists have come up with a new cure — kissing.

What's wrong with today's youth? Not a lot, but they won't eat their greens - The Times 10/06/06

THEY are less likely to take cocaine, have sex or drink-drive. Bucking the widely held belief that each generation is more depraved than the last, a national survey indicates that today’s American teenagers are better behaved in almost every way than previous generations.

Fewer US Teens Engaging In Health Risk Behaviours - Medical News Today 09/06/06

Sunscreen thyroid effect concerns - BBC Health News 10/06/06

Fears have been raised about the potential of sunscreens to disrupt the balance of thyroid hormones.

Paying To Prevent Diabetes Is Cost Effective - Medical News Today 12/06/06

Sixty million Americans, nearly one-third of the U.S. adult population, are pre-diabetic. A study published in the June issue of the journal Diabetes Care has found that it would be cost effective for Medicare to pay for diabetes prevention at age 50 rather than to deny prevention benefits until age 65 when many individuals will have already developed the disease.

New HIV Drug To Move Into Wider Trials, Could Offer Hope To People With Drug-Resistant Strains - Medical News Today 12/06/06

An experimental antiretroviral drug developed by Watertown, Mass.-based Panacos Pharmaceuticals -- which has been shown to reduce HIV viral loads by as much as 90% -- will enter further human trials this month, BBC News reports (BBC News, 6/8).

Most Beaches Continue To Meet European Union Standards - Medical News Today 12/06/06

A large majority of bathing sites across the EU-25 continued to meet EU cleanliness standards in 2005, according to the annual bathing water report presented by the European Commission today. However, the proportion of compliant sites decreased slightly in coastal areas and more significantly at inland bathing sites like lakes and rivers. Coming just before the bathing season begins, the report provides useful water quality information for the millions of people who visit Europe's beaches each summer. While 96% of coastal bathing sites met the mandatory standards of the EU bathing water directive[1] last year, the proportion of inland waters in compliance continued to fall, decreasing by almost four percentage points to 86%. These falls were mainly due to insufficient sampling of water quality which counts as non compliance.

Avian Influenza H5 Virus Confirmed In Geese In Hungary - Medical News Today 12/06/06

The Hungarian authorities have informed the European Commission of a confirmed outbreak of avian influenza in a domestic flock of geese in Bács-Kiskun, in the south of the country. The tests carried out so far have shown that is a H5 highly pathogenic strain, while it is still to be determined whether or not this is the H5N1 strain. Samples will be sent to the Community Reference Laboratory for Avian Influenza in Weybridge for further tests. The flock was situated in a county where cases of highly pathogenic avian influenza occurred in wild birds earlier this year (see IP/06/179). Although the measures applied in response to the wild bird cases had been lifted, a high level of surveillance was maintained in the area, which enabled the rapid detection of the outbreak in the domestic geese.

Dia-B Believes Bark Could Help Diabetes Sufferers - Medical News Today 12/06/06

Melbourne based biotechnology group Dia-B Tech Limited believes that it has found a natural alternative to anti-diabetes drug insulin in the bark of a species of vine found in rainforests of the Pacific Islands.

HuMax-CD38 Shows Unique Property In Preclinical Studies - Medical News Today 12/06/06

Genmab A/S (CSE: GEN) announced that HuMax-CD38 was shown to inhibit the enzymatic activity of the CD38 molecule in preclinical studies. HuMax-CD38 is the first antibody known to block the ectoenzymatic activity of CD38. This special property may contribute to the effectiveness of HuMax-CD38 in killing both primary multiple myeloma and plasma cell leukemia cells.

AUA 2006 - EAU Lecture On Bladder Markers Given By Dr. Teillac - Medical News Today 12/06/06

Dr. Pierre Teillac, Secretary General of the EAU, Paris France presented the EAU lecture at the plenary session of the AUA meeting on Tuesday, May 23 2006. His topic was prognostic markers in bladder cancer.

AUA 2006 - Urologic Care - Poster Session On General And Epidemiological Trends And Socioeconomics - Medical News Today 12/06/06

This session presented many patient group and population studies on urologic care. Many of the posters reported failure of urologists to follow prescribed algorithms and pathways. It was a very large session, with 39 posters listed. For that reason, some reviews will be shorter than others.

AUA 2006 - Surgical Treatments Of BPH - Medical News Today 12/06/06

This session focused on the surgical treatments of BPH. One of the very interesting presentations was from Albertson et al (ABST 1425) focusing on practice patterns of urologists certifying or recertifying with the American Board of Urology. TURP was utilized most commonly in both groups. However, the younger urologists were more likely to perform TURP rather than microwave or laser than their older colleagues.

AUA 2006 - State-of-the-Art Talk On Prostate PIN, Atypia And Atrophy Presented By Dr. Epstein - Medical News Today 12/06/06

Dr. Jonathan Epstein, Johns Hopkins University gave a State-of-the Art Lecture on “Significance of PIN, Atypia and Atrophy on Prostate Biopsy” at the plenary session of the AUA on Tuesday May 23, 2006. He stated that atrophy and inflammation are factors that contribute to carcinogenesis of CaP.

Society For Urodynamics And Female Urology Meeting - Medical News Today 12/06/06

The annual Society for Urodynamics and Female Urology meeting was held on Saturday May 20 at the Omni Hotel adjacent to the Georgia World Congress Center. The theme of the 3 hour meeting was “The Urethra” with the first portion of the meeting dedicated to the discussion of the normal, non-pathologic urethra and the second half covering salient features, evaluation and therapy of the abnormal urethra.

AUA 2006 - Geriatric Urological Society Meeting - Medical News Today 12/06/06

Three speakers led off the Scientific Portion of the meeting. First, Dr. Joe Ouslander discussed Overactive Bladder (OAB): Considerations in the Geriatric Patient.

AUA 2006 - Technetium-99M Sulfur Colloid Seminal Vesicle Scintigraphy; A Novel Approach For The Diagnosis Of Ejaculatory Duct Obstruction - Medical News Today 12/06/06

The authors present an intriguing approach for diagnosing ejaculatory duct obstruction. As they point out, there is no gold standard. Seminal vesicle scintigraphy was preformed after injecting Tc-99m sulfur colloid into the sv and, then again, after having the patients ejaculate.

AUA 2006 - Neurodegenerative Disease Microsatellite Expansions In Infertile Men Undertaking Assisted Reproductive Treatment - Medical News Today 12/06/06

This is a significant international study by an important investigative group. The authors hypothesize that there may be significant genetic abnormalities that have not been identified in infertile men.

AUA 2006 - Mitochondrial Activity In Patients With Asthenozoospermia - Medical News Today 12/06/06

The authors address an important and perplexing problem - asthospermia or low motility. They hypothesize that mitochondrial dysfunction of sperm may be the etiology.

AUA 2006 - Prostate Cancer Staging II Podium Session - Medical News Today 12/06/06

This session on staging addressed several areas of interest. With the growing stage shift in prostate tumors during the PSA era, concerns for overdetection of insignificant have grown. Several nomograms have been developed to contend with this issue and Currlin et al [ABST 1645] compared 10 available nomograms for there operational characteristics against a cohort of 646 patients with available clinical and histological data. The best fit to the clinical data was the Kattan (medium) nomogram with an area under the curve of 0.766. In general these tools were constrained by the limited specificity in the majority of cases.

AUA 2006 - Prostate Cancer Detection And Screening III - Medical News Today 12/06/06

The role of PSA in the contemporary era and the impact of premalignant conditions on future diagnosis were some of the issues discussed in this section. Figler et al, [ABST 1473] investigated the value of PSA in detecting significant tumors. A cohort of 2067 patients spanning 1993 to 2004 were divided in two epochs [1993-98 and 1999-2004] and evaluated with respect to prostate volume, percent Gleason grade 4/5, overall estimated tumor volume.

AUA 2006 - Prostate Cancer Localized III Discussed Poster Session - Medical News Today 12/06/06

Interesting topics in this section included investigations to evaluate the appropriateness of focal therapy, the natural history of treated disease and the outcomes of some significant clinical trials. Barber et al [ABST 1573] evaluated the characteristics of patients with a single positive core with regard to contralateral disease. The single core was defined as 40 percent or less, or 5mm or less, of one core among 6-12 cores of tissue.

AUA 2006 - Prostate Cancer Localized II Discussed Poster - Medical News Today 12/06/06

This session discussed long term outcomes in several techniques for treatment of localized disease and intermediate outcomes in the application of newer techniques. The outcomes with cryosurgery as a principle therapy [ABST 1129] and in the salvage setting [ABST 1132] were described by Katz and colleagues. In the primary report 182 patients were treated with a mean and median follow up of 35.4 and 30.5 months.

AUA 2006 - UCI Review: Renal Transplantation: Renal Vascular Surgery (I) PODIUM - Medical News Today 12/06/06

Dr. Alexandra Perks and the group from St. Michael's Hospital in Toronto, Canada, presented their experiences with Canadian nationals who had undergone renal transplantation procedures in countries outside continental North America and Western Europe and then presented to their institution.

AUA 2006 - Stone Disease: SWL & Invasive Therapy Including Ureteroscopy (II) - Podium Session - Medical News Today 12/06/06

Antony Devasia and his coworkers from Vellore, India, studied the effects of tamsulosin after ESWL for renal and ureteral stones. In this randomized, placebo controlled and double-blind study, daily administration of 0.4 mg of tamsulosin resulted in a higher stone clearance rate, lower requirement of analgesia and reduced need of secondary intervention, as compared to placebo. Although tamsulosin has been found to facilitate spontaneous passage of distal ureteral stones in prior studies, the current study seems to be the first evidence for a similarly beneficial effect after ESWL.

Many US Men Don't Know There Is A Hypertension And Erectile Dysfunction Link - Medical News Today 12/06/06

A new national survey of U.S. men ages 35 and older showed that approximately 8 of every 10 men who have high blood pressure (hypertension or HTN) (82%) were not aware of its connection to ED, and many were unaware of the connection between ED and other medical conditions that commonly affect men, such as high cholesterol (86%) and diabetes (73%).

New Test Identifies Patients Who Benefit From Targeted Cancer Drugs - Medical News Today 12/06/06

The Weisenthal Cancer Group announced that clinical data published at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) show that a new laboratory test it has developed accurately identified patients who would benefit from treatment with the molecularly-targeted anti-cancer therapies gefitinib (Iressa®, AstraZeneca) and erlotinib (Tarceva®, Genentech). The new test, called the EGFRxTM assay, predicted accurately for the survival of patients treated with the targeted drugs. The finding is important because the EGFRxTM test, which can also be applied to many emerging targeted cancer drugs, could help to help to solve the growing problem of knowing which patients should receive costly, new treatments that can have harmful side-effects and which work for some but not all cancer patients who receive them.

Januvatiom Phase III Studies Showed Significantly Reduced Blood Sugar Levels When Used As Monotherapy Or Add-On Treatment For Diabetes Type 2 - Medical News Today 12/06/06

Newly released Phase III studies presented at the American Diabetes Association (ADA) 66 th Annual Scientific Sessions demonstrated that JANUVIATM (sitagliptin), Merck Sharp and Dohme's (MSD) investigational oral, once-daily medicine for type 2 diabetes, significantly reduced blood sugar (glucose) levels when used as monotherapy or as an add-on treatment to two commonly used therapies (metformin or pioglitazone). Additionally, treatment with JANUVIA improved measures of beta cell function. Beta cells are cells in the pancreas that make and release insulin (a hormone that helps the body use glucose for energy).

Carers Of Elderly Deserve Better: ANU Study - Medical News Today 12/06/06

The education and training opportunities provided by nursing homes for staff who care for elderly residents is worryingly inadequate, particularly for those caring for dementia patients, according to a pilot study conducted by ANU researchers.

HPV Vaccine Unlikely To Increase Teen Sexual Behavior, Researcher Says - Medical News Today 12/06/06

Increased sexual activity among teenagers as a result of the approval of Merck's experimental human papillomavirus vaccine Gardasil is unlikely, CDC analyst Lauri Markowitz said on Tuesday during a presentation to HHS' National Vaccine Advisory Committee, CQ HealthBeat reports (CQ HealthBeat, 6/7). Both Merck's experimental HPV vaccine Gardasil and GlaxoSmithKline's experimental HPV vaccine Cervarix in clinical trials have been shown to be 100% effective in preventing infection with HPV strains 16 and 18, which together cause about 70% of cervical cancer cases (Kaiser Daily Women's Health Policy Report, 4/6). An FDA advisory committee last month recommended approval of Gardasil for girls and women ages nine to 26.

Gene Expression Can Occur In The Form Of Discrete ‘Pulses' Of Gene Activity - Medical News Today 11/06/06

Scientists at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University have observed for the first time that gene expression can occur in the form of discrete “pulses” of gene activity. The researchers used pioneering microscopy techniques, developed by Dr. Robert Singer and colleagues at Einstein, that for the first time allow scientists to directly watch the behavior of a single gene in real time. Their findings appeared in the current issue of Current Biology.

ASCO 2006 - Testicular Cancer Oral GU Presentation - Medical News Today 11/06/06

Two abstracts presented at the Genitourinary Cancer Oral Presentation session on 6/4/06 addressed the issue of the role of high dose chemotherapy with autologous stem cell transplant in patients with metastatic germ cell tumor.

ASCO 2006 - GU Oral Presentation: Prostate Cancer - Medical News Today 11/06/06

At the GU Oral Presentation, six prostate cancer abstracts were presented.

ASCO 2006 - Plenary Session: Renal Cell Cancer - Medical News Today 11/06/06

The treatment of patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma has relied upon the use of cytokine therapy such as interferon-alfa or interleukin-2. These treatments resulted in a minority of patients benefiting. While a small proportion of highly selected patients have derived long-term benefit from cytokine therapy, most do not. The median survival of patients with metastatic renal cell cancer treated with IFN-alfa is 4 - 6 months. Recently, promising results of targeted therapy for patients with metastatic renal cell cancer have been reported. Both surafenib and sunitimib, oral multitargeted inhibitors of VEGF and PDGF receptors, have demonstrated efficacy in the second-line setting, resulting in FDA approval. Two studies of targeted therapy in the first-line setting for patients with metastatic renal cell cancer were reported at the June 4, 2006 ASCO Plenary session.

ASCO 2006 - GU Oral Presentation: Testicular Cancer - Medical News Today 11/06/06

Three abstracts were presented at this session with the focus on imaging in the management of testicular germ cell tumors.

Biotech Industry Offers Enthusiastic, Active Support For New EU Biofuels Initiative - Medical News Today 11/06/06

The European association for bioindustries - EuropaBio - welcomes the Commission's launch today of the Biofuels Technology Platform and is pleased to announce the setting up of a Biofuels Task Force within EuropaBio to coordinate the industry input. The new Biofuels Task Force mission is “to advocate coherently favorable policies, strategies, regulations and their implementation for research, finance, and market access of Biofuels as one of the pillars of the competitive and sustainable European Knowledge Based Bio-Economy, increasing the value of plants and renewable materials of agricultural and forestry origin”.

Engineers Roll Up Their Sleeves To Solve Troubles In Health Care - Medical News Today 11/06/06

Engineers can play a major role in applying system and modeling tools to fix this nation's troubled health-care industry, a Purdue University researcher says.

Organon Starts Phase III Development Of Unique Combined Oral Contraceptive - Medical News Today 11/06/06

Organon, the human healthcare business unit of Akzo Nobel, announced today that it has started the phase III development program for NOMAC/E2, its novel combined oral contraceptive.

AIDS Patients Need To Be Well Fed To Respond To Anti-retroviral Therapy - Medical News Today 11/06/06

Since 2004, there has been an increased availability of anti-retroviral therapy (ART) for HIV/AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa. But surprisingly, there has been a high mortality rate following the beginning of ART in low-income countries.

Researchers Identify Protein Associated With Severe Preeclampsia - Medical News Today 11/06/06

Building on their earlier discovery which found that elevated levels of the sFlt1 placental protein leads to the onset of preeclampsia, researchers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC), in collaboration with a research team from The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, have identified a second protein which, in combination with sFlt1, escalates preeclampsia to a severe - and life-threatening -- state.

Non-Drug Interventions Prove Useful In Controlling Asthma Symptoms - Medical News Today 11/06/06

Asthmatics who undertake regular breathing exercises could expect to reduce their preventer medication levels by up to half and reliever use by up to 86%, if the results of a research paper published in the latest edition of Thorax are any indication.

New Bird Flu Outbreak In Western China Contained - Medical News Today 11/06/06

China's Agriculture Ministry says that a new H5N1 bird flu outbreak in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region of western China has been contained. Last Wednesday authorities reported an outbreak in a chicken farm in Hetian County.

Diabetes Cases Rise From 30 Million To 230 Million In 20 Years - Medical News Today 11/06/06

During the last 20 years the total number of people with diabetes worldwide has risen from 30 million to 230 million, according to the International Diabetes Federation. China and India now have the most diabetes sufferers in the world.

Treating Summer Insect Stings And Bites - Medical News Today 11/06/06

Buzzing bees, marching ants and swarms of mosquitos are just as much a part of summer as warm weather, blooming flowers and kids enjoying time off from school. And if your child has plans to spend the summer months outdoors playing, chances are he'll encounter some insects along the way.

SMAD4 And PTEN Play Key Roles In Liver Cancer Initiation - Medical News Today 11/06/06

Cholangiocellular carcinoma (CC) is the second most common type of primary liver cancer and is associated with a poor prognosis. It has been previously demonstrated that CCs possess alterations of a number of tumor-suppressor genes and oncogenes, however the key events that induce tumor formation have remained unclear. In a study appearing online in June in advance of print publication in the July issue of the Journal of Clinical Investigation, Chu-Xia Deng and colleagues from the NIH, generated a line of mice that develop CC by specifically disrupting expression of the tumor suppressor genes SMAD4 and PTEN in the livers of these mice.

T Cell Activity During The Immune Response: What Regulates The Regulators? - Medical News Today 11/06/06

Regulatory T cells (Tregs) are a specialized subpopulation of T cells that act to suppress activation of the immune system and in doing so help prevent aggressive immune responses against our own tissues. However little is known about how Tregs themselves are regulated. In a study appearing online in June in advance of print publication in the July issue of the Journal of Clinical Investigation, Irun R. Cohen and colleagues from the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, Israel, report that human heat shock protein 60 (HSP6) stimulates human Tregs. They show that administration of HSP60, or a peptide thereof, to cultures of human T cells significantly enhanced the ability of relatively low concentrations of Tregs to downregulate the activity of other T cells. They found that this involves signaling via Toll-like receptor 2 (TLR2). The results of this study provide important new insights into Treg signaling and how Tregs affect the immune function of regulated T cells. Clinically, the upregulation of Treg function has important implications for the control of autoimmune diseases and other inflammatory diseases such as lupus and rheumatoid arthritis.

Unfavourable Blood Fat Levels Predict Rheumatoid Arthritis Up To 10 Years Later - Medical News Today 11/06/06

An unfavourable ratio of blood fats could herald the development of the inflammatory joint disease rheumatoid arthritis up to 10 years later, suggests research published ahead of print in the Annals of Rheumatic Diseases.

Avoid Air Pollution While Exercising In The City - Medical News Today 11/06/06

As environmentalists have pointed out, it can be as dangerous to be outdoors behind a city bus -- walking or bicycling -- as it is to be in front of one. All the exhaust and smoke -- even when they have been reduced by clean air technology -- can damage a person's health. The dangers of urban air pollution are of special concern to those who exercise by running, bicycling, or skating. These individuals, while trying to help their bodies through exercise, should take care that they do not harm themselves through exposure to air pollution.

Non-Drug Interventions Prove Useful In Controlling Asthma Symptoms - Medical News Today 11/06/06

Asthmatics who undertake regular breathing exercises could expect to reduce their preventer medication levels by up to half and reliever use by up to 86%, if the results of a research paper published in the latest edition of Thorax are any indication.

Incidence Of Skin Cancer Growing Dramatically, Sun Exposure Plays A Significant Role - Medical News Today 11/06/06

The incidence of melanoma, a potentially fatal skin cancer, is increasing dramatically. It is currently the most common type of cancer in young women between the ages of 25 and 29.

Selective Enzyme Interaction Contributes To Cardiac Hypertrophy - Medical News Today 11/06/06

Nucleosomes package DNA into chromosomes inside the cell nucleus and help control gene expression. Enzymes known as Class IIa histone deacetylases (HDACs) cause histone deacetylation, which constricts the nucleosome and represses gene activation. Many enzymes known as serine/threonine kinases control where HDACs are localized inside the cell, but whether certain Class IIa HDACs respond selectively to specific kinases had not been previously determined. In a study appearing online in June in advance of print publication in the July issue of the Journal of Clinical Investigation, Eric Olson and colleagues from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center show that the enzyme calcium/calmodulin-dependent kinase II (CaMKII) signals specifically to HDAC4 by binding to a unique docking site on this enzyme that is absent in other class II HDACs. CaMKII-mediated phosphorylation of HDAC4 promotes the export of HDAC4 out of the cell nucleus, and prevents its entry into the nucleus, thereby lifting the HDAC-mediated repression of specific genes. The authors go on to show that CaMKII-mediated phosphorylation of HDAC4 in cardiac cells results in cardiomyocyte enlargement. The study provides new insight into CaMKII and HDAC signaling pathways in the regulation of cardiac growth.

HHMI Professor's Phage-hunters Strike Pay Dirt - Medical News Today 11/06/06

A handful of Pittsburgh high school and college students, openly encouraged to dig in the dirt around their homes and schools by their teachers and professors, have isolated and characterized 30 viruses that infect bacteria. As a result of their foray into the world of scientific discovery, the students are now co-authors of an upcoming research article in a peer-reviewed scientific journal.

HtrA1 Protein Contributes To The Development Of Resistance To Chemotherapy In Ovarian And Gastric Cancers - Medical News Today 11/06/06

While many cancer patients initially have a favorable response to chemotherapy for the treatment of solid tumors, resistance to treatment often develops. Resistance can be caused by many factors, including metabolism of the drug, a decrease in drug accumulation in tumor cells, altered expression of molecules involved in cell death, or further DNA mutation or modification that makes the drug ineffective. In a study appearing online in June in advance of print publication in the July issue of the Journal of Clinical Investigation, Viji Shridhar and colleagues from the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine show that 2 antitumor agents, cisplatin and paclitaxel, increase the expression of the protein HtrA1 in ovarian carcinoma cells, which induces cell death. Conversely, reduced HtrA1 expression reduced the effectiveness of cisplatin and paclitaxel.

New Resources From ECRI Help Healthcare Facilities Combat Dangerous Falls - Announcing Guide And Educational Web Conference - Medical News Today 11/06/06

Falls are common within healthcare institutions and can be life-threatening to the elderly or frail. The National Center for Injury Prevention and Control estimated that 10% of senior falls occurred in hospital settings in 2000. In fact, the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations has named falls prevention as one of its 2006 patient safety goals.

A Matter Of Fat: Ghrelin Hormone Promotes Storage Of Energy As Fat - Medical News Today 11/06/06

The hormone ghrelin is produced at high levels in the stomach when we are hungry and at decreased levels after meals. As such, this hormone plays a critical role in signaling the brain when we are hungry or full and has become an important focus of obesity research. In a study appearing online in June in advance of print publication in the July issue of the Journal of Clinical Investigation, Francoise Rohner-Jeanrenaud and colleagues from Centre Medical University, Geneva, show that signaling networks in the brain involving ghrelin not only promote food intake but also directly regulate the processing of nutrients by adipose cells. The authors showed that ghrelin administration into the brain of rats may "prime" adipose tissue to store energy as fat by altering the expression of genes that code for adipocyte enzymes involved in nutrient metabolism. The authors suggest that, with further research, drugs that interact with these enzymes and their receptors may be of potential therapeutic value in obesity.

World's Largest Osteoporosis Congress Closes; Significant Studies Released - Medical News Today 11/06/06

The largest world medical congress devoted specifically to osteoporosis ended in Toronto today, following five days in which nearly 4,000 participants from 98 countries learned of the latest research in this crippling bone disease and clinical strategies to treat patients more effectively.

Researcher Develops Better Way To Detect Shock - Medical News Today 11/06/06

A novel medical device in development may give providers a better measure than traditional means in gauging just how well a severely injured patient is faring, especially during long evacuation flights.

Indonesia Country Report Added To 2nd Bird Flu Summit In Washington DC, June 28th & 29th - Medical News Today 11/06/06

New-Fields Exhibitions today announced Dr. Sardikin Giriputro, Hospital Deputy Head, Sulianto Saroso Hospital for Infectious Diseases, and Dr. Hariadi Wibisono, Director of Vector-Borne Diseases Control Program Division of Indonesia will be providing up-to-date presentations on the status of the current human cases of Avian Influenza.

How Cow Warts, Clergy Sex Surveys Moved Along Cancer Vaccine - Medical News Today 11/06/06

The creation of a successful vaccine against cervical cancer, approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, is the culmination of research that occurred thanks not only to scientists and physicians, but also to generous farmers and veterinarians, priests and nuns willing to tell all - and some very patient cows.

Seeing Beyond The Gray Areas: New Tool Uncovers The Importance Of The Brain's White Matter - Medical News Today 11/06/06

A recent volume of the Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences brings together research from diverse communities on the potential for Diffusion Tension Imaging (DTI) to measure and model white matter tracts in the human brain.

AUA 2006 - Session On The History Of Urology - Medical News Today 11/06/06

R.M. Engel and R.S. Waldbaum chaired this session. It emphasized aspects of sexuality related to urology.

AUA 2006 - AUA Podium Session On Stone Disease: Evaluation And Medical Management - Medical News Today 11/06/06

Margaret Pearle and Dennis Venable moderated this very interesting session. (Abstract numbers follow the comments.)

AUA 2006 - Stone Disease: SWL & Invasive Therapy Including Ureteroscopy (I) Podium Session - Medical News Today 10/06/06

Yano Research Institute Releases Report On Japanese Generic Drug Market - Medical News Today 11/06/06

From November to December 2005, the company conducted a survey of 725 general practitioners (less than 20 beds) and 906 hospitals (more than 300 beds), and received valid responses from 554 general practitioners (GPs) and 176 hospitals (HPs).

Olympus Medical Systems To Launch Bronchovideoscope That Supports Autofluorescence Imaging - Medical News Today 11/06/06

Olympus Medical Systems announced on June 8 that it will launch the EVIS LUCERA Bronchovideoscope OLYMPUS BF TYPE F260, a from its videoscope series EVIS, on June 22.

The Youth: Changing Values - Medical News Today 11/06/06

Transformations in conditions of life are undoubtedly reflected in changes of a person's value system. Psychologists are particularly interested in changes of youth's vital values, since youth is the most sensitive and mobile part of the society. In Russia, the issue was investigated by Nadezhda Zhuravleva, research assistant of the Institute of Psychology, Russian Academy of Sciences.

Summertime Tips For Seniors To Stay Cool And Well - Medical News Today 10/06/06

Summer weather draws people outdoors to enjoy sunshine, outdoor activities and occasions that bring family and friends together. Along with these summertime benefits come the mixed blessings of heat. Seniors are particularly vulnerable in hot weather to heat exhaustion or worse.

Major Grant To IU School Of Medicine Will Expand HIV/AIDS Programs In Kenya - Medical News Today 10/06/06

The Indiana University School of Medicine has been awarded a $8.9 million federal grant to expand its highly regarded HIV/AIDS programs in Kenya, tripling the number of patients who will be receiving anti-retroviral drug treatments.

Health Affairs Web Exclusive Examines Drug Effectiveness Project; Medicare Rx Benefit Guide For People With Disabilities Published - Medical News Today 10/06/06

"Emerging Lessons From The Drug Effectiveness Review Project," Health Affairs: In a Health Affairs Web exclusive, Paul Neumann, director of the Center for the Evaluation of Value and Risk in Health at the Institute for Clinical Research and Health Policy Studies at Tufts-New England Medical Center and a professor at Tufts University School of Medicine, discusses the Drug Effectiveness Review Project, a collaboration of 15 states and two private organizations that was formed to use evidence-based medicine to influence drug formulary decisions. DERP highlighted challenges in implementing an evidence-based process to determine drug formularies, such as whether reviewers should consider the cost of medications and the appropriate role of the public in judging the evidence, Neumann writes. According to Neumann, DERP should consider cost-effectiveness in its reviews of drug classes (Neumann, Health Affairs, 6/6). Five related articles also are available online.

Latino Children In U.S. More Likely To Be Obese By Age Three Than Blacks, Whites,, Study Says - Medical News Today 10/06/06

Latino children in the U.S. are more likely to be obese by age three than black or white children, according to a study released on Monday by the Mathematica Policy Research, Reuters/Boston Globe reports. The report is based on a study of 2,452 children born in 75 U.S. hospitals who reached the age of three between 2001 and 2003. Findings show that 18% of all children are obese by age three, with rates of 25% among Hispanic children, 16% among black children and 14% among white children. According to Reuters/Globe, "disparity remained even after researchers accounted for socioeconomic factors -- such as household income, the mother's education level and whether the children had regular access to food."

FDA Decides To Track Pharmaceuticals - Medical News Today 10/06/06

The FDA has decided to track pharmaceuticals from the factory, to wholesaler to pharmacy. In fact, there is an 18-year-old law that requires wholesalers to track drugs from the factory to the retail outlet - the pharmacy. The FDA will now enforce this law.

High-tech drug tracking slower than hoped, US says - Reuters 09/06/06

Georgetown Research Leads To First Cancer Vaccine - Medical News Today 10/06/06

More than twenty years of collaborative research in the Georgetown lab of Dr. Richard Schlegel has resulted in a major medical breakthrough -- the world's first cancer vaccine. The vaccine's technology was generated by a team of Georgetown University researchers in the early 1990s and licensed for commercial development. On June 8, the Food and Drug Administration approved the vaccine, which scientists say could eliminate most new cases of cervical cancer worldwide. Called Gardasil, the vaccine blocks four strains of HPV, including two that give rise to nearly 75 percent of cervical cancer cases and two other strains that cause about 50 percent of genital warts.

Coalition To Develop Health Care IT Certification Guidelines, USA - Medical News Today 10/06/06

Twenty-two electronics and health care companies have formed a coalition that will develop certification guidelines for health care information technology products and lobby regulatory agencies to implement rules to encourage the use of those products, the Wall Street Journal reports. The coalition, which will operate as a not-for-profit organization called Continua Health Alliance, includes Intel, IBM, Cisco Systems, Samsung Electronics, Motorola, Philips Electronics, Medtronic, the GE Healthcare division of General Electric, Kaiser Permanente and Partners HealthCare System, among others.

Gene Discovery Opens Door To Tackling Disease - Medical News Today 10/06/06

Western Australian researchers have discovered a new gene that could lead to breakthroughs in breast and prostate cancer, as well as diabetes.

More Doctors Have Access To Health Information Technology, But Many Do Not Use It, Study Says - Medical News Today 10/06/06

The percentage of U.S. physicians who have access to information technology that can perform at least four of five clinical functions almost doubled over the past four years, but the percentage of doctors who use the tools remains low, according to a report released on Wednesday by the Center for Studying Health System Change, the AP/Houston Chronicle reports. For the report, HSC examined responses from two separate telephone surveys of members of the American Medical Association and the American Osteopathic Association.

More Than One-third Of Disaster Victims May Suffer From Stress Disorder - Medical News Today 10/06/06

In the year after a hurricane, tornado, terrorist attack or other natural or man-made disaster, 30 to 40 percent of adults who were directly affected may suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder, according to a University of Michigan researcher.

Men Infer Sexual Interest Before Women Do - Medical News Today 10/06/06

In the latest issue of Psychology of Women Quarterly, researchers find that men rate themselves and the women they just interacted with higher on sexual traits, such as flirtatiousness, than women rate men. The authors find that after a five-minute conversation with a stranger of the opposite gender, men were more likely to interpret ambiguous or friendly behavior as indicating sexual interest. "The findings suggest that men generally think in more sexual terms than women," the authors explain.

The Mystery Behind Love-hate Relationships - Medical News Today 10/06/06

People who see their relationships as either all good or all bad tend to have low self-esteem, according to a series of seven studies by Yale researchers published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.

MUHC Announces A Transplant First In Quebec - Medical News Today 10/06/06

Doctors at the MUHC have announced Quebec's first successful combined heart/liver transplant. The patient, Patrice Dionne, age 54 years, was transferred from the Institut de cardiologie de Quebec (l'hopital Laval) to the MUHC. The patient received his new heart and liver during a 6-hour operation on April 14, 2006 and was discharged 10 days later. The complex procedure involved 15 physicians, surgeons and other health care professionals. The MUHC conducts the most organ transplants in Quebec and has the most comprehensive multi-organ transplant program in the province.

UN Ambassadors To Analyze, Prioritize Major World Problems Using Copenhagen Consensus Framework At Georgetown University, June 16-17 - Medical News Today 10/06/06

An unprecedented, two-day conclave of distinguished United Nations Ambassadors, including U.S. Ambassador John Bolton and those from countries as diverse as Russia, China, India, Egypt, Zambia and Tanzania, will meet here June 16-17, under the co-sponsorship of the Copenhagen Consensus Center and Georgetown University, to analyze how best to cope with major global challenges with limited funds. Its overarching goal is to encourage member countries to prioritize spending for better results in solving world problems.

POZEN Inc. And GlaxoSmithKline Report Receipt Of Approvable Letter For Investigational Migraine Treatment - Medical News Today 10/06/06

POZEN Inc. (Nasdaq: POZN) and GlaxoSmithKline (NYSE: GSK) announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued an approvable letter for Trexima(TM). An approvable letter is an official notification from the FDA that contains conditions that must be satisfied prior to obtaining final U.S. marketing approval.

Ascension Orthopedics Receives FDA Approval For PyroCarbon Foot Implant - Medical News Today 10/06/06

Ascension Orthopedics, Inc. announced today that it has received FDA approval on the first PyroCarbon implant for the foot. The Ascension(R) PyroSphere(R) implant is designed for the fourth and fifth tarsometatarsal joints of the foot and is intended for people suffering from the debilitating effects of arthritis in the foot.

Drug Attacks Prostate Cancer In Mouse Model By Destroying Its Blood Supply - Medical News Today 10/06/06

A medication used to treat other types of cancer strangles drug-resistant, metastatic prostate cancer by cutting off its blood supply, researchers from The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center report in the June 7 issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

Millennium Files SNDA For VELCADE(R) (Bortezomib) For Injection In Treatment Of Relapsed Or Refractory Mantle Cell Lymphoma - Medical News Today 10/06

Millennium Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: MLNM) today announced the Company has filed a supplemental new drug application (sNDA) with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for VELCADE in the treatment of relapsed or refractory mantle cell lymphoma (MCL), an aggressive subtype of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) that is not curable. The filing is based on final data from the Phase II PINNACLE trial, one of the largest multi-center studies in relapsed MCL to date, which showed a 33 percent overall response rate and an eight percent complete response rate. Importantly, the median duration of response was 9.2 months; 13.5 months in patients achieving a complete response. These results are similar to four other Phase II clinical trials that recorded overall response rates of 30 to 40 percent with single-agent VELCADE.

New Research On The Mechanisms That Control Blood Cells Of Acute Myelogenous Leukemia Patients May Lead To Better Targeted Therapies - Medical News Today 10/06/06

New findings to be published in the journal Blood strongly suggest that new drugs under development for acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) patients would be much more effective if used in specific combinations most appropriate to the individual patient, leading to better and more specifically targeted therapies for these patients with fewer side-effects.

Higher Mortality Rate Among Black Women With Breast Cancer Could Be Explained By Type Of Tumor, Study Says - Medical News Today 09/06/06

Premenopausal black women are more than twice as likely as white women or postmenopausal black women to develop a more aggressive, "basal-like" subtype of breast cancer with genetic traits that make it difficult to treat, according to a study published in the June 7 edition of the Journal of the American Medical Association, the Long Island Newsday reports (Talan, Long Island Newsday, 6/7). Basal-like tumors -- which women with genetic mutations called BRCA1 tend to develop -- usually grow rapidly, spread quickly and are more likely to be fatal than other subtypes of breast cancer tumors, according to the New York Times.

AIDS Vaccine Research Central To Fighting HIV/AIDS Pandemic, Letter To Editor Says - Medical News Today 09/06/06

AIDS vaccine research is "crucial" if the world is going to "beat back" HIV/AIDS, Seth Berkley, president and CEO of the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative says in a Washington Post letter to the editor in response to a May 22 Post article. The article suggests the virus is "unassailable" and that attempts to develop new methods to fight it are "futile," Berkley writes, adding that these statements represent an "underestimat[ion]" of the "increased political and financial commitments" and "new scientific consortia" that are "tackling the most crucial scientific questions" surrounding the disease. He adds that such efforts are giving researchers "important clues" about new AIDS vaccine design. The "best hope of reversing the pandemic" is to find a vaccine, Berkley writes, concluding that there is a clear need for "greater attention to and resources for AIDS prevention" (Berkley, Washington Post, 6/7).

Large-scale Genomics Project Will Hunt Genes Behind Common Childhood Diseases - Medical News Today 09/06/06

The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia is launching an ambitious program to identify the genes responsible for common childhood diseases. Making use of advanced automated technology from the biotechnology company Illumina, Inc., the Hospital's new Center for Applied Genomics will house one of the world's largest programs for genotyping--the process of detecting gene variations, with the aim of linking them to particular illnesses.

Transcription Factor Protein's Role In Cell Death, Neurodegeneration And Schizophrenia - Medical News Today 09/06/06

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine discovered that a protein called Elk-1 interacts with mitochondria, the energy storehouse of a cell, suggesting that this protein - typically active in the nucleus -- could play a role in cell death and mitochondria-related diseases such as neurodegeneration and schizophrenia.

Afghanistan Should Support HIV Prevention Campaign, Editorial Says - Medical News Today 09/06/06

Afghanistan should support an extensive prevention campaign that aims to combat the spread of HIV, particularly among the younger generation, a Herat News Center editorial says. The government and social and civic organizations should "join hands" to create a program that will provide adequate information about the "obvious, imminent danger" of HIV/AIDS and methods to prevent the spread of the disease, the editorial says. According to the editorial, organizations and departments in the country need to make "concerted efforts" to educate the people about the virus; "well-informed" groups should use mosques and schools to publicize the campaign; media outlets should broadcast various programs concerning HIV/AIDS; and the World Health Organization should provide an "adequate budget" to print HIV prevention education material (Herat News Center, 6/4).

New Contrast Agents May Be On Horizon For Better Medical Imaging - Medical News Today 09/06/06

Research by scientists based at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign may lead to the development of a new breed of "multimodal" contrast agents that could work within a host of medical imaging platforms -- from ultrasound and computed tomography (CT) to magnetic resonance imaging and molecular imaging.

Novel Non-invasive Imaging Technology May Allow Precise Diagnosis Of Coronary Artery Disease - Medical News Today 09/06/06

A study focusing on a new non-invasive imaging technology - one that may enable more precise diagnosis of coronary artery disease and treatment tailoring in individual patients - was released by Israeli researchers at SNM's 53rd Annual Meeting June in San Diego.

NIH Holds State-of-the-science Conference On Tobacco Use, June 12-14 - Medical News Today 09/06/06

An impartial, independent panel will be charged with reviewing the available scientific evidence on prevention, cessation, and control of tobacco use. The panel will issue a statement of its findings on the final day of the conference, and will hold a press conference at 2:00 p.m. on Wednesday, June 14. Convened by the Office of Medical Applications of Research (OMAR) and the National Cancer Institute (NCI) of the NIH, this conference is free and open to the public and the media.

World Bank, Ukraine Health Ministry To Establish Working Group On TB, HIV/AIDS Project Grant - Medical News Today 09/06/06

Ukraine's Ministry of Health recently announced that it is establishing a working group with the World Bank to address the resumption of a project aimed at combating HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis in the country, the Ukrainian News reports (Ukrainian News, 6/5). The bank in April announced it was suspending the project because of the government's failure to launch the program and distribute funds. The government had spent 2% of the $60 million the World Bank allocated in January 2004 that was to be disbursed over a four-year period. The program was aimed at providing funds for medicines, training for health care workers and other prevention measures. It was targeted at high-risk groups such as injection drug users, commercial sex workers and prison inmates. Last month, the health ministry agreed to meet all of the bank's requirements for restructuring the project to have the suspended funds restored (Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report, 5/5). The decision to form the working group was made at a June 2 meeting between Ukraine's health minister and World Bank representatives in Washington, D.C. (Ukrainian News, 6/5).

American Liver Foundation Offers Information And Support For Families Coping With Biliary Artresia - Medical News Today 09/06/06

Fox News homeland security correspondent Catherine Herridge is in surgery today to donate part of her liver to her infant son, Peter, who was born in December with a liver condition known as biliary atresia. The surgery is expected to last 10 hours at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. Both mother and son face about two months of recovery after the surgery.

COX Enzymes Work Together In Ways That Suggest New Biological Roles, Drug Targets - Medical News Today 09/06/06

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and Queen's University, Ontario, Canada report in the online edition of Nature Medicine this week that the COX enzymes - well-known for their contrasting role in cardiovascular biology - interact physically to form a previously unrecognized biochemical partnership and function in the development of blood vessels in a mouse model. Collaborators Garret FitzGerald, MD, Director of Penn's Institute for Translational Medicine and Therapeutics, and Colin Funk from Queen's University, say that the findings suggest new biological, developmental, and therapeutic roles for COX enzymes and prompt a re-evaluation of basic assumptions about the role of COX enzymes in disease.

South China Morning Post Examines How NGOs, HIV/AIDS Groups In Africa Pay Incentives To Officials Attending Seminars - Medical News Today 09/06/06

The South China Morning Post on Tuesday examined how nongovernmental organizations and HIV/AIDS groups working in several African nations are paying millions of dollars in "allowance" fees and financial "motivation" to encourage government officials, health workers and others to attend HIV prevention meetings and workshops. In Uganda, some groups pay so-called "motivation fees" to HIV/AIDS conference participants, and a recent three-day training event in Malawi involving 25 participants cost a total of $500 in incentives, 20% of the overall event budget, the Morning Post reports.

Stroke Death Channel Found By UBC Researchers - Medical News Today 09/06/06

New therapies for stroke patients may soon be possible, thanks to a discovery made by a team of University of British Columbia neuroscience researchers who have found a new stroke death channel - the conduit through which key chemicals are lost from brain cells during stroke, causing the cell death that disables stroke victims.

Shorter Antibiotic Treatment For Community-Acquired Pneumonia Just As Good - Medical News Today 09/06/06

Antibiotic treatment for community-acquired infections is just as effective over a 3 day period as for the recommended 7-10 days. A report in the British Medical Journal says shorter treatment may also stem the growth of resistance rates.

Inter Press Service Examines Issue Of HIV-Positive People In Kenya Selling Antiretroviral Drugs To Buy Food - Medical News Today 09/06/06

The Inter Press Service on Friday examined how some HIV-positive people in Kenya are selling their antiretroviral drugs to buy food. Some people register at more than one treatment site so they can obtain extra drugs, which they then sell, Patricia Asero, a member of the Kenya Treatment Access Movement, said.

First Whole-genome Scan For Links To OCD Reveals Evidence For Genetic Susceptibility - Medical News Today 09/06/06

A federally funded team of researchers including several from Johns Hopkins have identified six regions of the human genome that might play a role in susceptibility to obsessive compulsive disorder, or OCD. The study was published online in June in Molecular Psychiatry.

Stevens Institute Of Technology Roundtable - Medical News Today 09/06/06

Dr. S. Vincent Grasso, an adjunct professor of chemistry and chemical biology at Stevens Institute of Technology and founder of Technology Integrations for Medical Applications Inc. (TIMA), and Thomas Cattabiani, special lecturer in chemistry and chemical ciology, co-hosted a roundtable discussion at Stevens concerning Advanced Data Security and Audit Protocols for Electronic Medical Records with the intention of creating a research lab at Stevens for addressing these issues.

First Trimester Use Of ACE Inhibitors Implicated In Birth Defects - Medical News Today 09/06/06

The Food and Drug Administration is examining study data from Vanderbilt University Medical Center researchers, published this week in the New England Journal of Medicine, to determine if new warnings should be placed on common blood pressure medications indicating an increased risk of birth defects for babies whose mothers take these medications during the first trimester of pregnancy.

Researchers To Develop Ultra-miniature Implantable Sensors To Measure Blood Flow - Medical News Today 09/06/06

Physicians and surgeons will someday monitor a patient's blood flow, blood pressure and temperature with tiny, implanted devices, thanks to research being conducted by a Cornell University professor and an Ithaca-area high-tech firm.

Consumer Reports Magazine Recommends Pregnant Women Limit Tuna Consumption - Medical News Today 09/06/06

The not-for-profit group Consumers Union in the July issue of Consumer Reports magazine recommends a tuna-free diet for pregnant women, the Chicago Tribune reports. The recommendations are based on data released by FDA and a Tribune investigative series published last year on the amount of mercury in fish (Hawthorne, Chicago Tribune, 6/5).

Heat Related Injuries - Medical News Today 09/06/06

"Heat-related injuries can range from a relatively minor problem like heat cramps to a more serious condition like heat stroke, which can be fatal," says Dr. Neal Flomenbaum, Chief of Emergency Medicine at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center.

Black Women More Likely Than Whites To Develop Aggressive, Deadly Form Of Breast Cancer - Medical News Today 09/06/06

Premenopausal black women are more than twice as likely as white women or postmenopausal black women to develop a more aggressive, "basal-like" subtype of breast cancer with genetic traits that make it difficult to treat, according to a study published in the June 7 edition of the Journal of the American Medical Association, the Long Island Newsday reports (Talan, Long Island Newsday, 6/7).

First Comprehensive Literature-derived Database Of Yeast Interactions - Medical News Today 09/06/06

Researchers have built the first comprehensive manually-generated, literature-based, database of genetic and protein interactions. The database, which doubles the amount of information available on interaction networks in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, will be a useful resource for both the yeast and the systems biology community. In a study published today in the open access journal Journal of Biology, researchers manually curated the entire literature for genetic and physical protein interactions in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, an important model system for human cells. The database enabled better predictions of gene functions and protein interactions than all previous data collections combined.

Lilly drug helps reduce diabetic vision loss: study - Reuters 11/06/06

An experimental drug by Eli Lilly and Co. showed promise in reducing vision loss caused by the effects of diabetes on the retina, according to combined data from a pair of late-stage clinical trials presented on Sunday.

Doctors group to target unhealthy diets - Reuters 11/06/06

Americans' unhealthy eating habits will be the target of the top U.S. physicians' group next week, when it votes on resolutions calling for reducing salt in food and for taxes on sugary soft drinks.

Pfizer says inhaled insulin safe over longer term - Reuters 10/06/06

Pfizer Inc. said on Saturday that new trial data show that its inhaled version of insulin, recently approved by regulators, safely controls blood sugar over a two-year period.

Italy econ minister raps G8 over vaccine setback - Reuters 10/06/06

The G8 missed an opportunity on Saturday to fight disease in the world's poorest countries, Italian Economy Minister Tommaso Padoa-Schioppa said after they failed to reach agreement on a vaccine program.

G8 will study vaccine pilot project proposal: source - Reuters 09/06/06

Doctors reluctant to step up diabetes drug doses - Reuters 10/06/06

Doctors are reluctant to increase doses of patients' medications, even when their blood sugar, blood pressure and other symptoms are clearly out of bounds, experts told a diabetes meeting on Saturday.

Hospital avoidable for some elderly with pneumonia - Reuters 10/06/06

Researchers in Canada have developed guidelines that help keep nursing home residents in the home and out of the hospital when they develop pneumonia, so long as their condition remains relatively stable.

Doctors group to target unhealthy diets - Reuters 09/06/06

Americans' unhealthy eating habits will be the target of the top U.S. physicians' group next week, when it votes on resolutions calling for reducing salt in food and for taxes on sugary soft drinks.

Respiratory virus cases on rise in western US - Reuters 09/06/06

Between January and March of this year, health departments from Arizona, New Mexico, North Dakota, Texas, and Washington State reported an increased incidence of a respiratory viral infection, called human hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS).

Cheshire and Merseyside News

MP backs bid to help carers work - Warrington Guardian 10/06/06

WARRINGTON North MP Helen Jones is calling on the Government to scrap a rule that restricts the income of carers.

Bed cuts considered - Warrington Guardian 10/06/06

A RADICAL plan to cut the number of beds for mentally ill people in Warrington by a third has been revealed.

Tribunal for '007 doctor' - Manchester Evening News 10/06/06

A CHESHIRE doctor who changed his name to James Bond and claimed film producers were to make a movie about his life faces a medical tribunal.

'A bloody scandal' - Warrington Guardian 09/06/06

A HAEMOPHILIAC who contracted hepatitis C after he received contaminated blood from a US prison is stepping up his call for a public inquiry into the scandal.

Debt relief for health boards in cash crisis - Chester Chrnicle 09/06/06

THE CHRONICLE has learnt that the government is to bail out the local cash-strapped NHS to the tune of about £20m

Helpline for skin disease sufferers - Liverpool Echo 09/06/06

A NEW national helpline for people with the skin disease psoriasis was launched in Liverpool yesterday

Cumbria and Lancashire News
Michelles Drug Battle Tribute - Lancashire Evening Telegraph 10/06/06

THE family of a breast cancer sufferer who died while fighting to get the drug herceptin are "over the moon" that it has now been made widely available.

Hospitals’ £10m loan prevents naming and shaming - Lancashire Evening Telegraph 09/06/06

EAST Lancashire's hospital authority escaped being named and shamed in NHS finance figures - but only because it took out a multi-million pound loan.

Hospital Guides Sought - Blackburn Citizen 09/06/06

VOLUNTEERS are being sought to work at the major new extension at Queen's Park Hospital, Blackburn.

Greater Manchester News

Asbestos Exposure To Blame For Joiners Death - Bolton Evening News 11/06/06

A JOINER died as a result of an industrial disease following exposure to asbestos, an inquest heard .

Schools Bid To Help Children To Live Longer - Bolton Evening News 10/06/06

SCHOOLS across the borough are to extend their opening times in a bid to improve the life expectancy in Bolton.

Doctors to join at one practice - Prestwich and Whitefield Guide 09/06/06

PRESTWICH Health Centre has taken over the town's Rectory Lane surgery left vacant following the retirement of Dr Michael Crane.

Baby Sam Comes Home - Bolton Evening News 09/06/06

TAKING your baby home from hospital for the first time is a big event in most people's lives.

MPs Are Told Of Patients Plight - Bolton Evening News 09/06/06

A TERMINALLY-ILL patient was treated in a "totally disgraceful" way at the Royal Bolton Hospital, an MP has told the House of Commons.

Hospital agony of dying grandad - Manchester Evening News 09/06/06
Rated 3 in Greater Manchester on Jun 11, 2006 at 08:33:29 GMT.
A TERMINALLY-ill patient was left in agony in his hospital bed without painkillers or fresh drinking water.

Tribunal for '007 doctor' - Manchester Evening News 10/06/06

A CHESHIRE doctor who changed his name to James Bond and claimed film producers were to make a movie about his life faces a medical tribunal.

Radiotherapy cell damage blocked - BBC Health News 09/06/06

Gene therapy could be used to shield healthy bone marrow stem cells from the effects of radiotherapy treatment for cancer, research suggests.

Posted by Kieran at 10:06 am

1 comments:

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12:50 pm

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