Rise in alcohol deaths worldwide down to women drinkers

Canadian researchers have found that as many as 1 in 25 deaths worldwide can be attributed to alcohol and this rise since 2000 is mainly due to increases in the number of women drinking. Read more >>

Gifts and inducements: Code of Marketing Practice set to regulate the pharmaceutical industry

[Elsabé Klinck] Recent reports on gifts to politicians and the release of Transparency International's Global Corruption report have placed the spotlight on how business may influence decision-makers. It is not well-known that the health sector has various measures in place to ensure that decisions relating to the treatment of patients take place unfettered from undue influence. Read more >>

Swine flu successfully contained - dept

[Gabi Khumalo] PRETORIA: While the Department of Health continues to monitor the H1N1 Influenza following the first confirmed case of the virus in South Africa, it is confident that they have successfully contained the virus. Read more >>

Scientists investigate health benefits of molecule associated with male sexual arousal

Medical scientists at the University of Leicester are investigating how signalling molecules known to control blood pressure and penile erection act to regulate brain function and which have potential for treatments of migraine, chronic pain, epilepsy and Alzheimer's disease. The study in the MRC Toxicology Unit at the University of Leicester is being funded by the Medical Research Council (MRC). Read more >>

Patients turned away as KZN doctors' strike continues

Hospitals in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) have cancelled operations and were turning away patients as the doctors' strike entered its third day on Wednesday. Read more >>

Danone Clover launches childhood anti-hunger campaign

The dairy products manufacturer Danone Clover announced yesterday, Wednesday, 24 June 2009, the launch of its “Caring For Our Children” campaign, which is designed to alleviate hunger in previously disadvantaged school areas. Read more >>

Intervention strategies to curb spread of pandemic flu

Mathematicians, biostaticians and public health officials from Canada, Mexico and the United States will gather at Arizona State University this week to focus on understanding, possibly mitigating the spread of the H1N1 flu virus. They are planning to take up the challenge of proposing science-based strategies that can slow the spread of pandemic flu. Read more >>

Americans come up with first swine flu vaccine

It has been reported in the United States that an American company has produced the first vaccine against influenza A H1N1 (swine flu). Read more >>

Vitamin A has a role to play in combatting malaria in children

Vitamin A supplements can reduce malaria cases in children by one-third, study finds. Read more >>

Ghana launches public-private partnership to control malaria

Ghana's Ministry of Health recently launched the Nationwide Mosquito Control Programme (NAMCOP) in conjunction with the waste management company Zoomlion Ghana Limited, the Ghanaian Chronicle/allAfrica.com reports (Akweetey, Ghanaian Chronicle/allAfrica.com, 6/19). Read more >>

Goby fish may bring new drugs for high blood pressure

Medical scientists at the University of Leicester are investigating how a species of fish from the Pacific Ocean could help provide answers to tackling chronic conditions such as hereditary high blood pressure and kidney disease. Read more >>

How teenage girls can manage stress

Greater influence over everyday life, emotional support, and cultural and recreational activities help to enable teenage girls to withstand stress. Those were the results of a dissertation from the Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Sweden. Read more >>

Brits embracing the digestive health movement

The successful marketing of probiotic yogurt products such as Activia and Yakult means that UK consumers are more aware of the importance of digestive health issues than ever before. Terms such as lactobacillus casei immunitas and lactobacillus casei shirota, which at one time would have mystified consumers, are now becoming more widely understood. Read more >>

Shape launches Healthy Food Journal

Shape magazine has launched an A5, 48-page supplement to the July issue, entitled the Shape Food Journal. Now there is no excuse for not eating healthily says the journal's content editor, Kassabaine Petersen. Read more >>

Nothing to whine about

[Tshidi Mametsa] The list of benefits of drinking red wine is never ending. According to researchers wine consumption may have the following effects. Read more >>

'Trojan horse' cancer therapy beats tumours resistant to chemotherapy

A new therapy to treat cancer has been developed by Australian scientists and it promises to have far fewer unpleasant side effects than conventional treatments and should also be much cheaper. More importantly however is that the researchers at the Sydney-based biotechnology company EnGeneIC have come up with a 'Trojan horse' therapy which combats the resistance of tumours to chemotherapy drugs. Read more >>

Young adults who are overweight or obese have increased risk of pancreatic cancer

Young adults who are overweight or obese have an increased risk of pancreatic cancer, and being obese at an older age is associated with a lower overall survival rate for patients with pancreatic cancer, according to a study in the June 24 issue of JAMA, the Journal of the American Medical Association. Read more >>

Search for prostate cancer biomarkers continues

Collaboration in prostate cancer translational research in Europe is not only vital to sustain the progress achieved in recent years but also to streamline current efforts between researchers and clinicians and avoid duplication or overlaps. This was amongst the goals of the two-day Prostate Cancer Translational Research in Europe (PCTRE) Meeting which opened today in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Read more >>

Some parents misdiagnosing milk formula intolerance

Some parents may be unnecessarily switching infant milk formulas for their healthy infants. A study published in BioMed Central's open access Nutrition Journal, found that many parents misinterpret common baby behaviours as milk intolerance and needlessly switch formulas without consulting a health professional. Read more >>

Third, fourth cases of H1N1 confirmed in SA

PRETORIA: On Friday afternoon, 26 June 2009, the diagnosis of the third and fourth cases of H1N1, identified as swine flu, was confirmed in South Africa. Read more >>