Top stories
Medical
Maureen Kirkman, a pharmacist who has spent almost her entire working life in the pharmaceutical industry, the last 11 years as head: scientific and regulatory affairs at the Pharmaceutical Industry Association of South Africa (PIASA) - has been awarded Honorary Life Membership of PIASA for her contribution to the organisation and to the pharmaceutical industry as a whole.
Read more >>The Cancer Association of South Africa (CANSA) has rejected the chain email regarding Canola oil as false and has asked members of the public to reject and delete the fraudulent email and not pass it on.
Read more >>Chronic diseases
In 2006, financial planner Teresa Rainier and business owner Leni White met on a “liveaboard” holiday in the Red Sea. They had lots in common. They were both mothers, both lived in Port Elizabeth and they both loved diving, the reason for their trip to Egypt. (Liveaboards are scuba diving boats for tourists who spend their holiday on the boat.)
Read more >>CSI
On Saturday, 17 October 2009, 15 adventurous breast cancer survivors will clad up in their leathers, kick off their high heels and rev up the motors of their Harley's supplied by Harley-Davidson Motor Company and commence the second Journey of Hope Ride from Cape Town to Johannesburg. This eight-day journey ends in Johannesburg on 24 October.
Read more >>Infectious diseases
Diagnostic HYBRIDS announced that the US Food and Drug Administration has cleared an additional claim for the company's D3 UltraTM DFA Respiratory Virus Identification Kit, which confirms that the assay can detect the 2009 influenza A (H1N1)v virus.
Read more >>Medical Research
Scientists here are the first to demonstrate that the link between diesel fume exposure and cancer lies in the ability of diesel exhaust to induce the growth of new blood vessels that serve as a food supply for solid tumours.
Read more >>Researchers are studying ways of extending our healthy years, perhaps one day reversing the physiological aging process to the point where the human life span is virtually limitless. Is the prospect of living from now into eternity a cherished dream or a fearsome nightmare?
Read more >>A process that limits the number of times a cell divides works much differently than had been thought, opening the door to potential new anticancer therapies, researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Centre report in the Aug. 7 issue of the journal
Cell.
Read more >>Common drug shuts down gene therapy in rats, addressing safety concerns for humans.
Read more >>Medical Technology
Surgeons at The Montreal Children's Hospital of the McGill University Health Centre and McGill University used a novel approach for the first time in Canada to remove a tumour embedded in the upper face of Jayden Cambridge, an 18-month-old child. Using a new endoscopic technique, the surgeons entered from the toddler's scalp, above his hairline, to retrieve the tumour located in the middle of his forehead. Thanks to this new procedure, the little boy will be spared an unsightly scar, and instead has a tiny one hidden by his hair.
Read more >>In its quest to find new strategies to treat osteoarthritis and other diseases, a Boston University-led research team has reported finding a new computer tomography contrast agent for visualizing the special distributions of glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) - the anionic sugars that account for the strength of joint cartilage.
Read more >>Nutrition
New research at LIFE - Faculty of Life Sciences at University of Copenhagen shows that Vitamin C deficiency may impair the mental development of new-born babies.
Read more >>Obstetrics and Gynaecology
Having your baby at home is as safe as birth in the hospital, according to a new study published in the September Canadian Medical Association Journal. In Ontario, as in BC where the study was conducted, Registered Midwives are the only heath care professionals who attend home births.
Read more >>Oncology
Body mass in younger and older adulthood, and weight gain between these periods of life, may influence a man's risk for prostate cancer. This risk varies among different ethnic populations, according to results of a study in
Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.
Read more >>A study published today in the
New England Journal of Medicine reports a potential new investigational therapy for advanced and metastatic basal cell skin cancer tested at the Virginia G. Piper Cancer Centre at Scottsdale Healthcare and other sites appears to demonstrate tumour shrinkage and limited side effects in patients. Study data appears in
New England Journal of Medicine.
Read more >>Paediatrics
Group B Streptococcus (GBS), a bacterial pathogen that causes sepsis and meningitis in newborn infants, is able to shut down immune cell function in order to promote its own survival, according to researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and the Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences.
Read more >>New study finds the intrauterine environment may determine whether a child is destined to become obese.
Read more >>Pharmaceutical companies
AstraZeneca has been ranked first by the Funders in the annual Campbell Belman Managed Health Care (MHC) Confidence Predictor/Confidence Development for the eighth consecutive year. The annual survey aims to provide continuous, objective, and empirical feedback on the level of confidence ethical pharmaceutical companies enjoy among the medical profession when compared to their competitors.
Read more >>Tuberculosis
According to Dutch researcher Hanneke Later-Nijland, it may be possible to shorten the duration of treatment for tuberculosis. Due to the long duration of treatment, not every patient sees it through. Partly because of this, tuberculosis is one of the most lethal diseases in developing countries.
Read more >>Women's health
Dietary supplements claiming to help postmenopausal women with bone health may not be doing what they say, according to new research from Purdue University.
Read more >>A surgical procedure known as LUNA (laparoscopic uterosacral nerve ablation) did not result in improvements in chronic pelvic pain, painful menstruation, painful sexual intercourse or quality of life when compared with laparoscopic surgery that does not interrupt pelvic nerve connections, according to a study in the September 2 issue of
JAMA.
Read more >>About three-quarters of women newly diagnosed with breast cancer have a friend or family member with them at their first visit with a surgeon. And that person plays a significant role in the patient's decision of what type of surgery to have, according to a new study from the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Centre.
Read more >>
