High blood pressure affects 1 in 3

GENEVA, SWITZERLAND: One in three adults suffers from high blood pressure, a key trigger of heart disease, health experts said on Wednesday, 16 May 2012, while underlining the growing number of cases in developing countries. Read more >>

Discovery takes its Vitality model to China

[Nick Hedley] Following its success in SA, the incentive-based Discovery Vitality model has been implemented in the US and UK, and is now available in China through Ping An Health. Read more >>

Avita Medical initiates US FDA study of ReCell Spray-On-Skin

NORTHRIDGE, ENGLAND: Avita Medical, the regenerative medicine company, recently announced that it has commenced enrolment in the US FDA-approved feasibility study for the use of ReCell Spray-On-Skin in the treatment of hypertrophic dyspigmented scars (raised and/or discoloured scars). Read more >>

Stopping cell migration may help block fibrosis and the spread of cancer

[Helen Dodson] Discoveries by a Yale-led team of scientists could lead the way for development of new therapies for treating fibrosis and tumor metastasis. The researchers have both uncovered a signaling pathway that promotes cell migration in certain forms of pulmonary fibrosis, a deadly lung disease, and developed a drug treatment that may block the cancer cell migration. The study appears in the Advance Online Publication of Nature Cell Biology. Read more >>

Mice with big brains provide insight into brain regeneration, developmental disorders

Scientists at the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute (OHRI) and the University of Ottawa (uOttawa) have discovered that mice that lack a gene called Snf2l have brains that are 35% larger than normal. The research, led by Dr David Picketts and published in the prestigious journal Developmental Cell, could lead to new approaches to stimulate brain regeneration and may provide important insight into developmental disorders such as autism and Rett syndrome. Read more >>

Oxytocin improves brain function in children with autism

[Karen N. Peart] Preliminary results from an ongoing, large-scale study by Yale School of Medicine researchers shows that oxytocin - a naturally occurring substance produced in the brain and throughout the body - increased brain function in regions that are known to process social information in children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Read more >>

Yale team discovers unexpected source of diabetic neuropathy pain

[Bill Hathaway] Nearly half of all diabetics suffer from neuropathic pain, an intractable, agonizing and still mysterious companion of the disease. Now Yale researchers have identified an unexpected source of the pain and a potential target to alleviate it. Read more >>

Sugar can make you dumb, US scientists warn

WASHINGTON, USA: Eating too much sugar can eat away at your brainpower, according to US scientists who published a study on Tuesday, 15 May 2012, showing how a steady diet of high-fructose corn syrup sapped lab rats' memories. Read more >>

Cancer Research UK to investigate new drug combination in lung cancer

Cancer Research UK's Drug Development Office has opened the first trial of a new drug combination in patients with advanced solid tumours and in a subset of patients who have non-small cell lung cancer. This trial will combine two compounds that aim to starve the tumours while simultaneously blocking cancer cell growth. Read more >>

Heavy drinking raises oral cancer risk

Heavy alcohol consumption is more damaging than cigarette smoking as far as the development of oral cancer is concerned, according to a Pretoria academic. Read more >>

ASA rules on Patrick Holford product

The company advertising Patrick Holford's "Smart Kids Brain Boost" must stop making claims that it can result in improved mental or school performance until it can substantiate them, an Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) ruling released on Tuesday, 15 May 2012, said. Read more >>

Banning alcohol advertising misses the point - and the objectives

[Justin McCarthy] There is no doubt that South Africa has an alcohol-abuse problem. Alcohol-related problems such as foetal alcohol syndrome, physical and emotional abuse, drunk driving, severe medical conditions and a raft of social side effects are significant health and social concerns. Read more >>

Supporting measures to curb underage drinking

Alarmed by recent reports as to underage drinking, the government is considering legislation to increase the legal drinking limit from 18 to 21 years; however, according to the Industry Association for Responsible Alcohol Use (ARA), this will not have an impact on the 14 and 15-year-olds who are currently drinking. What is required is parental and societal guidance on the dangers of early drinking. Read more >>

Absenteeism costing SA billions in lost production

Fin24 reports that high levels of absenteeism and sick leave are costing the South African economy about R3,9bn a year in lost production and that the average output per worker was just R574,92 a day. Read more >>

Charities have to tackle 'new normal' economic conditions to survive - PwC

LONDON, UK: An economic climate of disappointing growth and volatility could be the 'new normal' for charities, prolonging the challenging fundraising climate, and further shocks cannot be ruled out. Read more >>