Antiretroviral therapy improves health outcomes for HIV patients

High antiretroviral therapy adherence, which has been shown to be a major predictor of HIV disease progression and survival, is now associated with lower health care costs, according to researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Read more >>

Blood ban unfair to gay men, lawyer says

Gay blood donor claims discrimination after his blood is refused by Canadian Blood Services. Read more >>

Circumcision lowers HIV risk; changes bacterial community on penis microbiome

Circumcision, which substantially lowers HIV risk in men, also dramatically changes the bacterial communities of the penis, according to a study led by scientists at the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen) and Johns Hopkins University and published 6 January in the scientific journal PLoS ONE. Read more >>

HIV fights back

Resistance to treatment frustrates sub-Saharan physicians. Read more >>

Additional birth weight decreases risk of developing tuberculosis later in life

Just an extra 500g in a baby's birth weight may help it avoid tuberculosis later in life. Read more >>

'Dead mother and son' alive after Christmas 'miracle'

A mother from the US state of Colorado, who doctors said had died while giving birth to her son, has said it is a Christmas miracle that both she and the boy are alive. Read more >>

Thousands motorists fined over Christmas

Thousands of motorists have been fined and/or arrested over the past Christmas weekend (24 - 27 December), as part of the Festive Season Arrive Alive Road Safety Campaign. Read more >>

Patenting melon juice? Not if India gets its way

Fed up with foreign companies patenting traditional medicine from India, the country's top scientific body is compiling a giant database of everything from yoga positions to medicinal fruit juice. Read more >>

Bran news

Bran flakes with raisins and added sugar promote plaque acid. Read more >>

Research into "chemical chaperone" may lead to new treatments for heart attacks

Researchers at the Indiana University and Stanford University schools of medicine have determined how a "chemical chaperone" does its job in the body, which could lead to a new class of drugs to help reduce the muscle damage caused by heart attacks. Read more >>

New approach to fighting Alzheimer's: Nutrient mix shows promise in improving memory

In the early stages of Alzheimer's disease, patients typically suffer a major loss of the brain connections necessary for memory and information processing. Now, a combination of nutrients that was developed at MIT has shown the potential to improve memory in Alzheimer's patients by stimulating growth of new brain connections. Read more >>

Business: keep your eye on H1N1

Business leaders should continue to monitor H1N1 risk management to alleviate major impact on costs and revenues. Read more >>

Study says short-term school closures during flu pandemic may increase infection rates

Closing schools for less than two weeks during a flu pandemic may increase infection rates and prolong an epidemic, say University of Pittsburgh researchers in a study published ahead-of-print and online in the Journal of Public Health Management and Practice. The findings, developed from a series of computer simulations based on U.S. census data, indicate that schools may need to be closed for at least eight weeks in order to significantly decrease the spread of infection. Read more >>

Children more likely to catch swine flu, study suggests

Children are twice as likely as adults to catch swine flu, according to a joint UK-US study. Read more >>

22 dead from measles in Zimbabwe

Twenty-two people, mainly children aged below 5, die of measles in Zimbabwe. Read more >>

New nasal vaccine blocks parasite transmission to mosquitoes

An experimental nasally administered malaria vaccine prevented parasite transmission from infected mice to mosquitoes and could play an important role in the fight against human malaria. The researchers from Japan report their findings in the December 2009 issue of the journal Infection and Immunity. Read more >>

Gene therapy may help correct molecular flaws that cause brain disease

Neuroscientists have forged an unlikely molecular union as part of their fight against diseases of the brain and nervous system. Read more >>

Researchers identify new approach to eliminate side effects of drugs

Researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine have taken an early step toward identifying a new approach to drug discovery that may eventually yield drugs with fewer side effects. Read more >>

Child abuse and neglect can increase when families are under stress

The holidays are over and the tree is down. For millions of families reality is setting in. Between the bills that will come due in January, the struggling economy and the stress that comes with it, it can be a very dangerous time for children. Experts say many parents who are overwhelmed often take out their anxieties and frustrations on their kids. Read more >>

Women's bodies and minds respond differently to sexual arousal

Review study confirms gender difference in responses to sexual stimuli. Read more >>

Exercise does not result in significant weight loss

Constantly linking exercise with weight loss is causing more people to fail at reaching their goals, claims bariatric physician Dr. Sasson "Dr. Sass" Moulavi, M.D. Exercise is ideal for maintaining weight once goals are met, but is usually counterproductive in trying to lose weight. Read more >>

Erectile dysfunction linked to RLS in older men

A study in the Jan. 1 issue of the journal Sleep shows that erectile dysfunction was more common in older men with restless leg syndrome (RLS) than in those without RLS, and the magnitude of this association increased with a higher frequency of RLS symptoms. Read more >>

The benefits of going to bed early

Going to bed early may help prevent depression and suicidal ideation in adolescents. Read more >>

Severe H1N1 cases and asthma are linked

When swine flu emerged last spring, disease trackers warned that children and adults with underlying medical conditions would be especially susceptible to the ravages of the virus. Read more >>

First animal model for studying schizophrenia

Scientists have created what appears to be a schizophrenic mouse by reducing the inhibition of brain cells involved in complex reasoning and decisions about appropriate social behaviour. Read more >>

New hope for liver treatments

Successful RNA interference to turn off multiple genes raises hope for new liver disease treatments. Read more >>

EGCg in green tea inhibits flu infection

Joint research conducted by the Central Research Institute of ITO EN, Ltd. and Professor Takashi Suzuki of the School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Shizuoka, showed that epigallocatechin gallate (EGCg), a kind of catechin contained in green tea, had an inhibitory effect against three types of influenza viruses, including the swine-origin H1N1 virus. Furthermore, the research found that EGCg's effect did not depend on the type of virus. These findings once again suggest that green tea is effective in preventing flu. Read more >>

Changes in sleep patterns predict onset of puberty, says new study

Are your 11- and 12-year-olds staying up later, then dozing off at school the next day? Parents and educators who notice poor sleeping patterns in their children should take note of new research from Tel Aviv University ? and prepare themselves for bigger changes to come. Read more >>

Some people really feel your pain

People really do feel the pain of others, a study claims. Read more >>

Study confirms link between GI and autism

An article published today in the journal Pediatrics confirms what parents and advocacy organizations have been saying for years: many individuals with autism suffer from gastrointestinal disease that can contribute to behaviours and symptoms associated with autism. Read more >>

Experimental lung cancer drug promising against brain cancer glioblastoma and prostate cancer

An experimental drug currently being tested against breast and lung cancer shows promise in fighting the brain cancer glioblastoma and prostate cancer, researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Centre have found in two preclinical studies. Read more >>

New weapon in fight against cancer?

New drug to stop cancer cells from growing and to stimulate immune system to destroy cancer cells found. Read more >>

New stem cell based technology may eliminate brain cancer

Using a novel stem cell based technology of Cellonis Biotechnologies, Beijing, a Chinese research/medical team may eliminate a glioma - brain cancer - of a 36 year old Norwegian patient in a hospital in Beijing. The treatment shows that the activated immune system can directly kill tumour stem cells as well as cancer daughter cells. The amazing outcome of this novel treatment within a comprehensive cancer therapy tells Cellonis that the future vaccination therapies may be targeted towards cancer stem cell lysates to improve the antigen-presenting dendritic cell response. Read more >>

Contact lens can produce near-normal vision in infants and children

Infants as young as one-month-old are prescribed contact lenses at paediatric eye surgery centres so their visual system will develop correctly. Infants may be fitted for contacts if they have had cataract surgery, need extremely high-strength prescription glasses, or have very different prescriptions for the two eyes. Read more >>

Time frame for parents to begin toilet training lessons for children

Researchers at The Bristol-Myers Squibb Children's Hospital (BMSCH) at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital (RWJUH) and UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School (UMDNJ-RWJMS) have completed a study that pinpoints the period between 24 and 32 months of age as most effective time frame for parents to begin toilet training lessons with their children. Additionally, the study indicates that the timing appeared to matter more than the specific training method used. Read more >>

Antiviral medications a must for critically ill children with flu-like symptoms

Critically ill children with flu-like symptoms should be treated pre-emptively with antiviral medications. Read more >>

New research shows breast milk is not as important for mother or child's health

Feeling guilty that you didn't breastfeed your children enough - or at all? Relax. New research shows that breast milk is not as important for either the mother or the child's health. Read more >>

Jobs for next decade

The US job search aggregator, Indeed, pulls opportunities posted to a variety of job boards including Career Builder, Dice, etc. as well as corporate sites. Read more >>

Childhood ETS may lead to emphysema

Children regularly exposed to tobacco smoke at home were more likely to develop early emphysema in adulthood. This finding by researchers at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health suggests that the lungs may not recover completely from the effects of early-life exposures to tobacco smoke (ETS). The study is published in the December 2009 American Journal of Epidemiology. Read more >>

Protecting infants against H1N1

One dose of vaccine may be effective to protect infants and children from H1N1 virus, study shows. Read more >>

Free support programme to quit smoking

Nicorette aims to help smokers quit with its Kick Butt support programme, which offers free day-by-day information and advice on how to quit, as well as help and motivation. Read more >>

Hand sanitisers become popular promotional products

The US-based Advertising Specialty Institute announced that hand sanitisers now rival pens as the most popular logoed items that companies are giving away to clients and employees. Read more >>

Marriage and motherhood contribute to weight gain

Young women with a weight problem often say the weight started creeping up when they had their first child and they found they had less time to exercise. However, when researchers added up all factors, they found that the fact that a woman is married and has a baby has more influence on weight gain than being physically active. Read more >>

‘Oh, my aching feet!'

Here are some remedies to alleviate foot pain during pregnancy. Read more >>

Pregnant and breastfeeding women exposed to workplace hazards

A new study shows the employment and sociodemographic characteristics involved in the exposure of pregnant women to workplace hazards. Of these, 56% say they often work standing up or have to lift heavy objects, 63% are exposed to workplace stress and 62% say they are frequently exposed to some physical risk in their place of work. Read more >>