Critical need for more viral load testing

Most clinics in resource-limited settings cannot afford to carry out viral load testing. Read more >>

Long-term relationships need more than being in love

According to Australian researchers, what keeps a couple together comes down to far more than just being in love. Read more >>

Free monitoring for The Sunflower Fund

Aware of the dependence of non-profit organisations on media exposure and awareness for fundraising, Newsclip stated yesterday, Wednesday, 15 July 2009, that it will provide monitoring services to The Sunflower Fund for the next 12 months. Read more >>

Athlone School for the Blind seeks donors

Project "Radio Horizon" is for learners at Athlone School for the Blind, to give them opportunities for work in a radio station for the sight impaired, but funding is urgently required. “Platinum” and “Diamond” donors are urgently sought, the school announced recently. Read more >>

SA swine flu count rises, but ‘no need to panic'

The number of cases of swine flu detected in SA has risen to 75 as at 14 July 2009. But the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) said yesterday there was no need to panic as the novel A/H1N1 influenza was mild, and similar to many seasonal pandemics. Read more >>

Researchers discover how flu damages lung tissue

A protein in influenza virus that helps it multiply also damages lung epithelial cells, causing fluid build-up in the lungs, according to new research from the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) and Southern Research Institute. Publishing online this week in the journal of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology, the researchers say the findings give new insight into how flu attacks the lungs and provides targets for new treatments. Read more >>

New discovery on DNA repair mechanism

Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have shed new light on a process that fixes breaks in the genetic material of the body's cells. Their findings could lead to ways of enhancing chemotherapy drugs that destroy cancer cells by damaging their DNA. Read more >>

Turmeric spice and Vitamin D may help clear amyloid plaques found in Alzheimer's

UCLA scientists and colleagues from UC Riverside and the Human BioMolecular Research Institute have found that a form of Vitamin D, together with a chemical found in turmeric spice called curcumin, may help stimulate the immune system to clear the brain of amyloid beta, which forms the plaques considered the hallmark of Alzheimer's disease. Read more >>

Promising target for new class of antibiotics

Special pathway makes bacteria vulnerable - and it's a new target for tailored antibiotics. Read more >>

SA writers shine in Carter Centre Fellowships

Two South Africans, Glynis Horning and Metzi van der Merwe, are among 10 recipients of the twelfth annual Rosalynn Carter Fellowships for Mental Health Journalism, named last week by the Mental Health Programme of The Carter Centre in Atlanta, Georgia. Read more >>

Scientists create new way to study brain function

Scientists at Duke University and the University of North Carolina have devised a chemical technique that promises to allow neuroscientists to discover the function of any population of neurons in an animal brain, and provide clues to treating and preventing brain disease. Read more >>

Skin cancer researchers throw new light on tumour growth

Three researchers from the Dermatology Research Foundation at the University of Sydney have identified a compound produced by certain fatal skin cancer tumours, providing new hope for developing treatments. Read more >>

Carnosine may help prevent, treat cataracts

Researchers are reporting evidence from tissue culture experiments that the popular dietary supplement carnosine may help to prevent and treat cataracts, a clouding of the lens of the eye that is a leading cause of vision loss worldwide. Read more >>

New breast pumping technique helps preemies' moms to improve milk supply

Mothers of premature infants shouldn't rely solely on breast pumps to establish and maintain their breast milk supply, researchers at Lucile Packard Children's hospital and the Stanford University School of Medicine have found. Moms already have a simple, safe and free tool for assisting breast milk production: their own hands. Read more >>

Bath time is danger time

Bath time is a risky business for young children. Read more >>

Why oral contraceptives fail for obese women

Researchers have identified a potential biological mechanism that could explain why oral contraceptives may be less effective at preventing pregnancy in obese women, as some epidemiological studies have indicated. Read more >>