Keeping fit is good for the environment

Maintaining a healthy body weight is good news for the environment, according to a study which appears in the International Journal of Epidemiology. Read more >>

Inherited impulsivity predicts alcoholism

Solving the age-old chicken and the egg dilemma, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis researchers report that genetic predisposition to impulsivity is a trait predictive of alcoholism. The study appears on the July print issue of the journal Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, available online on April 22. Read more >>

Media ignores health consequences of drunk driving among celebrity DUI stories

The recent drinking and driving (DUI) arrests of celebrities - Paris Hilton, Nicole Ritchie, Michelle Rodriguez and Lindsay Lohan - yielded widespread news coverage, however, very little of it offered any public health context, according to a new report by researchers from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health's Centre for Injury Research and Policy. Read more >>

Rwanda introduces vaccine for pneumococcal disease

KIGALI: International leaders in global health will join Rwandan government officials at a press conference in the coming days in Kigali to announce the first national immunisation programme against pneumococcal disease in a developing country. Read more >>

Virgin Active secures rights for Zumba

Zumba Fitness plans to officially launch with Virgin Active during May this year. Zumba fuses hypnotic Latin rhythms and easy to follow moves to create a fitness program. Read more >>

Effective malaria treatments affordable and available to Africa's poor

[Eric Miller] A global effort to combat malaria was announced last week as international donors promised to provide affordable medication to millions in sub-Saharan Africa who suffer from the devastating disease. The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria is leading the initiative, known as the Affordable Medicines Facility for Malaria (AMFm). Read more >>

In-body stem cell therapy has enormous potential for bone injuries

Rarely will physicians use the word "miraculous" when discussing patient recoveries. But that's the very phrase orthopaedic physicians and scientists are using in upstate New York to describe their emerging stem cell research that could have a profound impact on the treatment of bone injuries. Results from preliminary work being released today, patients confined to wheelchairs were able to walk or live independently again because their broken bones finally healed. Read more >>

Researchers discover that gene switches on during development of epilepsy

A discovery made by researchers at Wake Forest University School of Medicine while studying mice may help explain how some people without a genetic predisposition to epilepsy can develop the disorder. Read more >>

Scientists make significant strides in identifying cause of bacterial infections

Several bacterial pathogens use toxins to manipulate human host cells, ultimately disturbing cellular signal transduction. Read more >>

Wireless body sensors to help prevent falls in seniors

When an older person is injured in a fall the cost is often significant, both in quality of life and medical expense. Read more >>

Research looks at the effect of sexual jokes, innuendo and flirtation in the workplace

Be careful of that raunchy joke that gets all the laughs. As funny as folks at work may find it, it's probably hurting morale. Read more >>

Exercise during pregnancy need not require stealing time from other activities

No one doubts that mothers - especially pregnant mothers - are among the busiest people on earth. Read more >>

Zambia: Sanitation backlog to blame for high child mortality

[Kelvin Kachingwe] LUSAKA: Dehydration caused by severe diarrhoea is a key cause of infant deaths in Zambia, a country with one of the highest child morality rates in the world, according to a new report by Zambia's health department. Read more >>

Improving maternal health for women in developing regions

[Tracy Lee] In northern Nigeria, merely trying to give birth puts women up against a struggle between life and death. Read more >>

Number of UK women dying from breast cancer hits record low

The number of women dying from breast cancer in the United Kingdom has fallen to less than 12 000 for the first time since national statistics were recorded almost 40 years ago, Cancer Research UK reveals today. Read more >>

Cape Medical Plan: the democratic medical aid - Cape Medical Plan

Medical aids have their origins in mutual help organisations dedicated to the health of their members. With time, most have morphed into large, impersonal businesses where pursuit of sustainability occupies their forebrains. Read more >>

Medical aid is not what it used to be - Cape Medical Plan

Nostalgia's not what it used to be, goes the saying and it also applies to medical aid, which has rapidly and dramatically changed over the last five years. Some say, it has been for the worse. Read more >>