The Disease Groups community of South Africa

Bristol researchers to help tackle the global problem of antibiotic resistance

Mon, 28 Nov 2011 13:15:00 +0200

Antibiotic resistance has become an escalating health issue that threatens our ability to control bacterial infections. To help tackle this global health problem an international collaboration, comprising researchers from the UK and Canada, has been awarded around £4.5 million to develop new strategies for treating 'superbugs'.
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Popular colorectal cancer drug may cause permanent nerve damage

Mon, 10 Oct 2011 10:01:00 +0200

Oxaliplatin, a platinum-based anticancer drug that's made enormous headway in recent years against colorectal cancer, appears to cause nerve damage that may be permanent and worsens even months after treatment ends. The chemotherapy side effect, described by Johns Hopkins researchers in the September issue of Neurology, was discovered in what is believed to be the first effort to track oxaliplatin-based nerve damage through relatively cheap and easy punch skin biopsies.
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Results of medication studies in top medical journals may be misleading to readers

Fri, 26 Aug 2011 09:19:00 +0200

A UCLA-Harvard study has highlighted three types of confusing outcome measures. Studies about medications published in the most influential medical journals are frequently designed in a way that yields misleading or confusing results, new research suggests.
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Metallic copper surfaces kill bacteria on contact

Thu, 17 Feb 2011 13:16:00 +0200

Metallic copper surfaces kill microbes on contact, decimating their populations, according to a paper in the February 2011 issue of the journal Applied and Environmental Microbiology.
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Finding cures by the numbers

Tue, 08 Feb 2011 13:28:00 +0200

Researchers develop new method for drug discovery using math to combat HIV, other diseases.
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New WHO report highlights second-hand smoke danger

Fri, 26 Nov 2010 09:25:00 +0200

A report, a first of its kind, that assessed all deaths related to tobacco showed that second-hand smoke sickens millions and kills more than 600 000 people worldwide each year, including more than 165 000 children under 5.
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Study finds no link between mould growth and development of asthma, allergy among children

Fri, 26 Nov 2010 09:17:00 +0200

A recent PhD study shows that there is no link between mould-spore concentrations in the indoor air and development of asthma and allergy among children.
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Researchers to develop vaccine for plague

Tue, 21 Sep 2010 14:20:00 +0200

Given the many pressing concerns of the day, fear of plague probably isn't what causes most Americans to lose sleep. But for those whose responsibility it is to combat bioterrorism, plague is among the highest priorities. Those charged with that mission include scientists like medical researcher Steve Smiley, whose lab at the Trudeau Institute is working to develop a vaccine that will protect the public against weaponised forms of plague.
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Diabetes set to cripple healthcare in Africa

Thu, 09 Sep 2010 09:58:00 +0200

Diabetes is fast becoming a silent epidemic with over 300 million people worldwide living with the disease, 80% of these are living in developing countries where they have little or no access to proper medical care. In sub-Saharan Africa the disease is becoming what the United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon has called a "public emergency (unfolding) in slow motion".
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Hospital offers reassurance, and an update

Wed, 08 Sep 2010 14:03:00 +0200

Netcare Olivedale Hospital today, 8 September 2010, issued a further update following the death of two brothers at the facility a number of days ago. The hospital stated that no new cases of the illness have been reported to date and that close personal contacts all remain in good health.
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