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Survival rates of premature infants (Feb 01 2008 04:59 GMT) - Survival rates for the most premature babies at a top London hospital have more than doubled over a 20 year period, as per research reported in the latest edition of the journal Acta Paediatrica. The study, led by scientists at University College London (UCL) and University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (UCLH), suggests significant improvements in survival rates can be achieved when maternity and neonatal units have consistent staffing, resources and therapy policies........ |
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BRCA1 mutation linked to breast cancer stem cells (Feb 01 2008 04:59 GMT) - A new study may explain why women with a mutation in the BRCA1 gene face up to an 85 percent lifetime risk of breast cancer. Scientists from the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center observed that BRCA1 plays a role in regulating breast stem cells, the small number of cells that might develop into cancers........ |
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Severe hypertension: 'Silent killer' still on the loose (Feb 01 2008 04:59 GMT) - Honolulu, HI Hypertension may be one of the top killers in the country, but youd never know it by the way were behaving, say researchers attending the annual congress of the Society for Critical Care Medicine (SCCM). Research shows that some 73 million people in the U.S. have high blood pressure, yet a number of of them dont even know it. And among those that do, a large number are not taking the medications they need to control it," says Dr. |
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Sugary soft drinks linked to increased risk of gout (Feb 01 2008 04:59 GMT) - Consumption of sugar sweetened soft drinks and fructose is strongly linked to an increased risk of gout in men, finds a study published on bmj.com today. Gout is a joint disease which causes extreme pain and swelling. It is most common in men aged 40 and older. It is caused by excess uric acid in the blood (hyperuricaemia) which leads to uric acid crystals collecting around the joints........ |
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Parenting program does not prevent toddler behavior problems (Feb 01 2008 04:59 GMT) - A study of the first universal parenting programme, designed to prevent early child behaviour problems, shows that it has little impact on toddler behaviour. The study, conducted at the Centre for Community Child Health (CCCH) in Melbourne, Australia, is published on bmj.com today. Behaviour problems affect up to 20 per cent of children and have major personal, societal and economic ramifications. Left untreated, up to half of behaviour problems in preschool children develop into later mental health problems........ |
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Is the obesity epidemic exaggerated? (Feb 01 2008 04:59 GMT) - Last week, the UK health secretary declared that we are in a grip of an obesity epidemic, but does the evidence stack up? Scientists in this weeks BMJ debate the issue. Claims about an obesity epidemic often exceed the scientific evidence and mistakenly suggest an unjustified degree of certainty, argue Patrick Basham and John Luik........ |
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African-Americans less likely to choose epidurals (Feb 01 2008 04:59 GMT) - Minority and low-income patients are less likely than those who are white or more well off to agree to post-surgery epidural pain relief, as per new research from physicians at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. The study, published recently in the journal Anesthesia and Analgesia, examined how race, economic and educational status may influence health care choices when access to care isnt a factor. In the overall analysis, education and income were not as important as race in determining epidural acceptance, but the scientists say the costs of improper pain therapy after surgery are large for any patient group........ |
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FDA about updating requirements for drug approval (Feb 01 2008 04:59 GMT) - Researchers and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) are discussing how new technologies in ophthalmology, which make it possible to collect better data about experimental therapys, might affect FDA clinical trials requirements. Scientists from the National Institutes of Healths National Eye Institute (NEI) and major US universities and research centers met in a roundtable discussion with FDA representatives before an audience of their peers on November 28-29, 2006 in Washington DC........ |
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Links between prostate cancer, cadmium, and zinc (Feb 01 2008 04:59 GMT) - Cadmium exposure is a known risk factor for prostate cancer, and a new University of Rochester study suggests that zinc may offer protection against cadmium. In an article reported in the February 2008 journal, The Prostate, epidemiologist Edwin van Wijngaarden, Ph.D., reports that PSA levels were 22 percent higher among American men who had zinc levels below the median (less than 12.67 mg/daily) and cadmium levels above the median. |
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Blue-eyed humans have a single, common ancestor (Feb 01 2008 04:59 GMT) - New research shows that people with blue eyes have a single, common ancestor. A team at the University of Copenhagen have tracked down a genetic mutation which took place 6-10,000 years ago and is the cause of the eye colour of all blue-eyed humans alive on the planet today. What is the genetic mutation........ |
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CHD Patients Continue With Poor Diets (Feb 01 2008 04:59 GMT) - More than 13 million Americans have survived a heart attack or have been diagnosed with coronary heart disease (CHD), the number one cause of death in the United States. In addition to medications, changes in lifestyle, such as a healthy diet and exercise, are known to reduce the risk for subsequent cardiac events. Despite this evidence, a high proportion of heart attack survivors do not follow their doctor's advice to adhere to a healthy diet, as per scientists at the University of Massachusetts Medical School (UMMS)........ |
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The eyes Tells It All (Feb 01 2008 04:59 GMT) - Using the radiocarbon dating method and special proteins in the lens of the eye, scientists at the University of Copenhagen and Aarhus can now establish, with relatively high precision, when a person was born. This provides a useful tool for forensic researchers who can use it to establish the date of birth of an unidentified body and could also have further consequences for health science research. The findings appear in the online, open-access journal PLoS ONE on January 30........ |
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New Treatment Target for Asthma (Feb 01 2008 04:59 GMT) - An enzyme released by mast cells in the lungs appears to play a key role in the tightening of airways that is a hallmark of asthma - pointing to a potential new target for therapy against the illness. Reporting in the online edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, a team at Weill Cornell Medical College explains that during an immune response, mast cells release the enzyme - called renin - which in turn produces angiotensin, a potent constrictor of the smooth muscle that lines airways........ |
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Digital mammography superior to film mammography (Feb 01 2008 04:59 GMT) - For some women, digital mammography may be a better screening option than film mammography, as per newly published results from a national study led by a University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill researcher. The results, from the Digital Mammographic Imaging Screening Trial (DMIST), appear in the recent issue of Radiology. UNCs Dr. Etta D. Pisano is principal investigator and lead author of the study, which observed that digital mammography performed better than film mammography for pre- and perimenopausal women under age 50 with dense breasts........ |
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Creative and noncreative problem solvers (Feb 01 2008 04:59 GMT) - Why do some people solve problems more creatively than others? Are people who think creatively somehow different from those who tend to think in a more methodical fashion? . These questions are part of a long-standing debate, with some scientists arguing that what we call creative thought and noncreative thought are not basically different. If this is the case, then people who are thought of as creative do not really think in a fundamentally different way from those who are thought of as noncreative. |
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