>  1 in 8 World Trade Center rescue and recovery workers developed post-traumatic stress disorder [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

One in eight rescue and recovery workers (12.4 percent) had probable post-traumatic stress disorder when they were interviewed in 2003 and 2004. The prevalence of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) varied significantly by occupation, with rates ranging

>  MEDIA ADVISORY : MMWR Telebriefing [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

CDC will announce 2006 national and state national vaccination coverage rates among young children and adolescents....

>  Report on patients’ access to cancer drugs ’uses flawed methods to reached flawed conclusions’ [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

A leading epidemiologist has attacked Swedish research that looked at inequalities in patients' access to cancer drugs across Europe and the world. In a commentary published in the September issue of the cancer journal, Annals of Oncology, Professor Mich

>  St. Jude finds factors that accelerate resistance to targeted therapy in lymphoblastic leukemia [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Results of a study by investigators at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital provide strong evidence for why the targeted therapy drug, imatinib, or Gleevec™, which has revolutionized the treatment of chronic myelogenous leukemia, (CML) is often unable to

>  One in eight World Trade Center rescue and recovery workers developed post-traumatic stress disorder [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

One in eight rescue and recovery workers (12.4%) had probable post-traumatic stress disorder when they were interviewed in 2003 and 2004. The prevalence of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) varied significantly by occupation, with rates ranging from 6

>  Genetics of imatinib resistance in acute lymphoblastic leukemia [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

In the Sept. 15 issue of Genes & Development, scientists lend new insights into how an aggressive form of acute lymphoblastic leukemia develops, and how sensitivity to the targeted chemotherapeutic drug, imatinib, can be diminished through interactions be

>  Cocaine use related to level of education achieved [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

According to a study by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, the decreased use of cocaine in the United States over the last 20 years mostly occurred among the highly educated, while cocaine use among non-high school graduat

>  Brown study finds link between depression and household mold [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

A groundbreaking public health study, led by Brown University epidemiologist Edmond Shenassa, has found a connection between damp, moldy homes and depression. Results are published in the American Journal of Public Health.

>  More than two-thirds of sexually active NYC youth use condoms, but other forms of birth control lag [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

More than two-thirds (69 percent) of sexually active New York City teens use condoms, compared to 63 percent nationwide, according to a new survey of public high school students. But too few sexually active girls are using the pill and other hormonal cont

>  Norwalk virus : ’Cruise ship’ illness challenging and costly to hospitals, too [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

A review of measures taken to address a 2004 outbreak of the highly infectious Norwalk virus at the Johns Hopkins Hospital has provided the first solid documentation of expenses and efforts in the United States to stop the infection from spreading among p

>  Smoking turns on genes -- permanently [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Smoking tobacco is no longer considered sexy, but it may prove a permanent turn on for some genes. Research published today in the online open access journal BMC Genomics could help explain why former smokers are still more susceptible to lung cancer than

>  Researchers discover new strategies for antibiotic resistance [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

With antibiotic resistance on the rise, LA BioMed researchers report in the September issue of Nature Reviews Microbiology on new clues they have uncovered in immune system molecules that defend against infection and hold hope of helping develop new anti-

>  Cannibalistic signals help mammalian embryos develop normally [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

A cannibalistic process called autophagy spurs dying embryonic stem cells to send "eat me" and "come get me" signals to have their corpses purged, a last gasp that paves the way for normal mammalian development, UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers

>  Who will recover spontaneously from hepatitis C virus infection [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

An eight-year study led by Dr. Sabine Mihm from from Georg-August-Universität has investigated 67 spontaneously recovered patients and found that co-infection by hepatitis B virus is associated with a higher possibility of self recovery. In addition, pati

>  Clearance of hepatitis C viral infection after liver transplantation [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Hepatitis C viral infection disease is a worldwide challenge disease, and researchers has been fighting for seeking the effective way to cure this disease. A research group in Japan has found that hepatitis C viral infection can be cleared by liver transp

>  NASA study will help stop stowaways to Mars [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

NASA clean rooms, where scientists and engineers assemble spacecraft, have joined hot springs, ice caves, and deep mines as unlikely places where scientists have discovered ultra-hardy organisms collectively known as 'extremophiles'. Some species of bac

>  Over one year of 3TC use associated with increased risk of diabetes for HIV-positive women [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Over one year of 3TC use associated with increased risk of diabetes for HIV-positive women

>  Laboratory indicators of mastitis do not predict the risk of mother to child transmission of HIV-1 in Zimbabwean women [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Laboratory indicators of mastitis do not predict the risk of mother to child transmission of HIV-1 in Zimbabwean women

>  New male sling procedure helps prostate cancer survivors who suffer from urinary incontinence [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Michael Yarborough, a 58-year-old business owner from Waxahachie, Texas, was fortunate. A routine check-up three years ago revealed prostate cancer, but a side effect of his successful surgery was "driving him nuts."

>  ZIP codes and property values predict obesity rates [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Neighborhood property values predict local obesity rates better than education or incomes, according to a study from the University of Washington being published online this week by the journal Social Science and Medicine. Researchers found six-fold diffe

>  Underage drinking starts before adolescence [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

As schools reopen around the country, a new study finds that parents and teachers should pay attention to alcohol prevention starting as early as fourth grade. A review of national and statewide surveys conducted over the last 15 years shows that among ty

>  Gene signature spells poor outcome [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Other than visually inspecting the disease, doctors have no genetic blueprint to classify melanomas, a lethal form of skin cancer. Tumors generally are ranked by how deeply the growth has invaded underlying skin tissue. The deeper it burrows into the skin

>  Experimental anti-cancer drug made from corn lillies kills brain tumor stem cells [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

A drug that shuts down a critical cell-signaling pathway in the most common and aggressive type of adult brain cancer successfully kills cancer stem cells thought to fuel tumor growth and help cancers evade drug and radiation therapy, a Johns Hopkins stud

>  Human Papilloma Virus vaccines may decrease chances of oral cancer [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

The Centers for Disease Control report that nearly 25 million women are infected with some form of the Human Papilloma Virus. HPV is linked to oropharyngeal cancer and may be linked to oral cancers as well, and vaccines that have been developed to treat H

>  Nation’s Childhood Immunization Rates Remain at or above record levels [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

New estimates show adolescent rates below nation’s 2010 goals...

>  Emergence of CXCR4-tropic HIV raises risk of AIDS fourfold [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Emergence of CXCR4-tropic HIV raises risk of AIDS fourfold

>  Laboratory indicators of mastitis do not predict the risk of mother-to-child transmission of HIV in Zimbabwean women [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Laboratory indicators of mastitis do not predict the risk of mother-to-child transmission of HIV in Zimbabwean women

>  Pill box organizers increase HIV patients’ adherence and improve viral suppression [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Inexpensive pill box organizers are an easy, successful, and cost-effective tool to help patients take their medications as prescribed, according to a new study of low-income urban residents living with HIV infection by authors from the Berkeley School of

>  New technique detects specific chromosomal damage, may indicate lung cancer risk [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

A new technique could pave the way toward screening people at risk for lung cancer for the genetic changes that may foreshadow malignancies, researchers from the University of Colorado say.

>  Heavy drinkers living with HIV have lower CD4 counts [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Heavy drinkers living with HIV have lower CD4 counts

>  Difficulties in implementing infant feeding guidelines [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Difficulties in implementing infant feeding guidelines

>  One-fourth of HIV patients believe their doctors stigmatize them [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Physicians might want to be extra careful about how they treat HIV-infected patients -not just in the clinical sense but in the way they behave toward them. Even the perception that physicians are stigmatizing patients for carrying the virus that causes A

>  Nicotine in breast milk disrupts infants’ sleep patterns [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

A study from the Monell Chemical Senses Center reports that nicotine in the breast milk of lactating mothers who smoke cigarettes disrupts their infants' sleep patterns. The findings raise new questions regarding whether nicotine exposure through breast

>  Annual flu shot cuts need for doctors’ visits, hospitalization among children [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

A new study finds that vaccinating only half US children against influenza could eliminate as many as 650,000 doctor's office visits and 2,250 hospitalizations in a year.

>  Rates of bipolar diagnosis in youth rapidly climbing, treatment patterns similar to adults [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

The number of visits to a doctor's office that resulted in a diagnosis of bipolar disorder in children and adolescents has increased by 40 times over the last decade, reported researchers funded by the National Institutes of Health. Over the same time pe

>  New viruses to treat bacterial diseases -- ’My enemies’ enemy is my friend’ [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Viruses found in the River Cam in Cambridge, famous as a haunt of students in their punts on long, lazy summer days, could become the next generation of antibiotics, according to scientists speaking today (Monday Sept. 3 2007) at the Society for General M

>  High and mighty : first common height gene identified by researchers behind ’obesity gene’ finding [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Whilst we all know that tall parents are more likely to have tall children, scientists have been unable to identify any common genes that make people taller than others. Now, however, scientists have identified the first gene, known as HMGA2, a common var

>  Radiation and drug combo helps boost efficacy of lung cancer treatment [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Combining radiation therapy with a drug that helps destroy blood vessels nourishing malignant tumors has been shown in mice to be significantly more effective in treating lung cancer than either approach alone, researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Cente

>  Two studies published in the Lancet [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Dr. David Mannino co-authored a study that found Eastern Kentucky to have some of the highest rates of COPD in the world.

>  UC health news : molecular pathway may predict chemotherapy effectiveness [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

A common molecular pathway could help physicians predict which lung cancer patients will benefit from chemotherapy drugs, according to new research from a multidisciplinary team at the University of Cincinnati.

>  Obesity and the central nervous system -- the state of the art [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

The past decade has witnessed an explosion of information regarding the role of the central nervous system in the development of obesity and the influence of peripheral, hormonal signals that regulate CNS function to regulate food intake and metabolism. A

>  First World Rabies Day to be Observed at CDC [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

CDC's World Rabies Day Symposium and Expo includes experts and an appearance by the first human rabies survivor in the United States....

>  LSU professor looks for life in and under antarctic ice [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Antarctica is home to the largest body of ice on Earth. Prior to approximately 10 years ago, no one thought that life could exist beneath the Antarctic ice sheets, which can be more than two miles thick in places, because conditions were believed to be to

>  Discovery suggests location of genes for breast density, a strong risk factor for breast cancer [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Studying the DNA of 889 people, gene hunters at the Mayo Clinic and H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Centers have identified a region on chromosome 5p that is significantly associated with dense breast tissue, a known risk factor for breast cancer. The findings are

>  Novel insecticidal toxins from bacteria [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

A light-emitting strain of bacteria and a nematode worm, which work together to prey on soil-dwelling insects, use insecticidal toxins to kill their insect hosts. Scientists speaking today, Sept. 5, 2007, at the Society for General Microbiology's 161st M

>  Jefferson immunology researchers halt lethal rabies infection in brain [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Immunology researchers have shown how a type of bat rabies infection can be prevented in mice -- even after the virus reaches the brain, when it is most lethal. They found that by opening the central nervous system's (CNS) protective blood-brain barrier,

>  Promising drug combination may help those with ocular melanoma that has spread [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

A combination of two drugs shows promise in treating a rare and therapy-resistant type of melanoma that originates in the eye and spreads to other organs, according to a new study led by Duke University Comprehensive Cancer Center researchers.

>  Laser blasts viruses in blood [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

A father-son research team working from separate laboratory benches across the country has discovered a new use for lasers -- zapping viruses out of blood. The technique, which holds promise for disinfecting blood for transfusions, uses a low-power laser

>  Researchers develop simple method to create natural drug products [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Until now, only the intricate machinery inside cells could take a mix of enzyme ingredients, blend them together and deliver a natural product with an elaborate chemical structure such as penicillin. Researchers at UC San Diego's Scripps Institution of O

>  One in four HIV patients feel stigmatised by healthcare staff [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

One in four HIV patients feel stigmatised by healthcare staff

>  One in four HIV patients feel stigmatised by health care staff [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

One in four HIV patients feel stigmatised by health care staff

>  1.5 million children could be saved [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Despite global efforts to control it, diarrhea is still one of the most common reasons for the high child mortality rates in many low and middle-income countries. This according to a doctoral thesis, soon to be presented at the Swedish medical university

>  Hot ice, measuring depression, perfect invisibility and flu vaccine incentives [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Highlights in this issue: Hot ice to lubricate artificial joints and heart valves; Measuring depression; Perfect invisibility; and Preventing flu epidemics with vaccine incentives.

>  13 percent of women stop taking breast cancer drug because of side effects, U-M study finds [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

More than 10 percent of women with breast cancer stopped taking a commonly prescribed drug because of joint and muscle pain, according to a new study from researchers at the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center.

>  Enzyme alerts cell’s powerful army to repair DNA damage [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Each day cells detect and repair daily assaults to our DNA. University of Michigan researchers have discovered that a well-known enzyme scans genes for damage and alerts the major cancer suppressor protein p53. The finding has implications for treating ca

>  New ’knock-out’ gene model provides molecular clues to breast cancer [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

New insights into the role of estrogen receptor in mammary gland development may help scientists better understand the molecular origin of breast cancer, according to new research from the University of Cincinnati.

>  Apricitabine strong in phase 2 study, 24-week data released [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Apricitabine strong in phase 2 study, 24-week data released

>  Presence of gene mutation helps guide thyroid cancer treatment [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

A specific gene mutation may be useful in predicting the level of aggression of thyroid cancer and help guide treatment options and follow-up care, according to new study findings.

>  Study details regulation of vital tumor suppressor gene p53 [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

So vital is the p53 tumor suppressor gene in controlling cancer that its dysfunction is linked to more than half of human cancers. Now, a just-published study reveals new levels of subtlety in the body's management of this all-important tumor suppressor

>  Nelfinavir shows promise as a cancer therapy [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Nelfinavir shows promise as a cancer therapy

>  Patients with crytococcus who start HAART may develop an IRIS up to three years later [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Patients with crytococcus who start HAART may develop an IRIS up to three years later

>  Curbing C. difficile’s toxin production [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Researchers at Tufts University have discovered how the protein CodY controls toxin production of Clostridium difficile, a bacterium that has caused epidemics of severe diarrhea in hospital patients. In its search for food, C. difficile releases toxins th

>  Patients with cryptococcus who start HAART may develop an IRIS up to three years later [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Patients with cryptococcus who start HAART may develop an IRIS up to three years later

>  HIV rate hits 5% among men who have sex with men in Beijing [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

HIV rate hits 5% among men who have sex with men in Beijing

>  Nairobi sex workers show sustained reduction in high risk sex [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Nairobi sex workers show sustained reduction in high risk sex

>  Microarray provides 3 genomic guides to breast cancer treatment decisions [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Three genomic tests separately predict the likelihood that a patient's breast cancer will reoccur after surgery without additional treatment, and the cancer's vulnerability to chemotherapy or hormone therapy, researchers at the University of Texas M. D.

>  JCI table of contents : Sept. 6, 2007 [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

This release contains summaries, links to PDFs and contact information for the following newsworthy papers to be published online, Sept. 6, 2007, in the JCI, including: Hunger hormone fights aging in the thymus; Drug's potential adverse side effect expla

>  Study finds heart failure is rare among leukemia patients on imatinib [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Congestive heart failure rarely occurs among leukemia patients who take imatinib, researchers at the University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center found after an exhaustive review of the detailed medical histories of 1,276 patients who enrolled in clin

>  SIV infection of natural hosts provides new insights into HIV disease complexity [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Three related papers published in the Sept. 1 edition of the Journal of Immunology provide key new insights into the complexity of HIV/AIDS. Don Sodora, Ph.D., a principal investigator in SBRI's Viral Vaccines Program who recently joined SBRI from the Un

>  Soy isoflavone may inhibit common gastrointestinal illness in infants [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

The soy isoflavone genistin -- at concentrations present in soy infant formula -- may reduce a baby's susceptibility to rotavirus infections by as much as 74 percent, according to a University of Illinois study published in September's Journal of Nutrit

>  Scripps Research scientists shed new light on how antibodies fight HIV [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Leading an international team of scientists, immunologists at the Scripps Research Institute have uncovered the first evidence that an HIV antibody is most effective when it binds not only to the virus, but also to host immune cells. The findings suggest

>  New insight into how antibiotics kill might make them deadlier [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Scientists have what could be some very bad news for disease-causing bacteria. All three major classes of antibiotics that kill infectious bacteria do so in part by ramping up the production of harmful free radicals, researchers report in the Sept. 7, 200

>  CDC Report Shows Largest One-Year Increase in Youth Suicide Rate in 15 Years [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Following a decline of more than 28 percent, the suicide rate for 10- to-24-year-olds increased by 8 percent, the largest single-year rise in 15 years, according to a report released today in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Morbid

>  Pain patients at risk for sleep apnea [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Sleep-disordered breathing was common when chronic pain patients took prescribed opioids. A direct dose-response relationship was found between central sleep apnea and methadone and benzodiazepines, an association which had not been previously reported.

>  Switch to nevirapine safe for treatment-experienced patients with high CD4 cell counts [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Switch to nevirapine safe for treatment-experienced patients with high CD4 cell counts

>  Sex-trafficked girls and women from south Asia have high prevalence of HIV infection [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Nearly 40 percent of repatriated Nepalese sex-trafficked girls and women tested were positive for HIV infection, with girls trafficked before age 15 having higher rates of infection, according to a study in the Aug. 1 issue of JAMA, a theme issue on viole

>  UCLA/RAND study shows that many children of HIV-positive parents are not in their custody [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

A new joint study by UCLA and the RAND Corp. shows that more than half of children with an HIV-infected parent are not consistently in that parent's custody.

>  Suicide Trends Among Youths and Young Adults Aged 10-24 Years-United States, 1990-2004 [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

MMWR Telebriefing to Announce Release of the Study. The study reports the first changes in suicide rates among 10-24 year olds in more than 15 years...

>  Convictions for HIV transmission that rely on phylogenetic evidence are "unsafe", says BMJ editorial [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Convictions for HIV transmission that rely on phylogenetic evidence are "unsafe", says BMJ editorial

>  Frequent alcohol consumption increases cancer risk in older women [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Postmenopausal women consuming two or more alcoholic beverages a day may double their risk of endometrial cancer, suggests a study led by researchers at the University of Southern California.

>  Gastroenterology sets standards for CT colonography [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Recognizing that CT colonography will play a role in screening for colorectal cancer, and the critical need to increase overall CRC screening rates, the American Gastroenterological Association Institute issued minimum standards for gastroenterologist per

>  US Declared Canine-Rabies Free, CDC Announces at Inaugural World Rabies Day Symposium [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

For the last several decades, state and local public health authorities in the United States have been working tirelessly on the prevention and control of rabies. Coincident with the recognition of World Rabies Day, the Centers for Disease Control and Pre

>  US Senate votes to over-turn ban on abortion information and funding overseas [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

US Senate votes to over-turn ban on abortion information and funding overseas

>  Newer antidepressants led to less, not more, teen suicides [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Contrary to newly mandated FDA black-box warnings, a new study finds antidepressants dramatically lower suicide attempts in youth.

>  Oncologists are critical in managing psychiatric disorders in patients with advanced cancer [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Mental illness and emotional distress in patients with advanced cancer are often overlooked by oncologists but, if screened for, can be adequately managed to improve a patient's quality of life.

>  Chemotherapy may be culprit for fatigue in breast cancer survivors [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

A new study finds that, compared to healthy women, breast cancer survivors reported more days of fatigue and more severe fatigue symptoms.

>  Molecular probe ’paints’ cancer cells in living animals, Stanford researchers find [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine have developed a molecular probe that sets aglow tumor cells within living animals. Their goal is to use the probe to improve the diagnosis and treatment of cancer and other diseases.

>  Pillboxes should be standard issue for HIV patients, study concludes [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Pillboxes should be standard issue for HIV patients, study concludes

>  Multicentre European study finds that sperm washing has a zero risk of HIV transmission [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Multicentre European study finds that sperm washing has a zero risk of HIV transmission

>  Pioneering study catalogs ethical issues of scientific research in developing world [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Pioneering study catalogs ethical issues of scientific research in developing world.

>  The fight against colorectal cancer [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

In 2007, colorectal cancer will kill approximately 8,700 Canadians. To draw attention to this situation, Dr. Alan Barkun, director of the gastroenterology department at the McGill University Health Center and Dr. Ken Flegel, service chief in internal medi

>  New lung cancer guidelines oppose general CT screening [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

New evidenced-based guidelines from the American College of Chest Physicians provides 260 of the most comprehensive recommendations related to lung cancer prevention, screening, diagnosis, staging and medical and surgical treatments.

>  How vitamin C stops the big ’C’ [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Nearly 30 years after Nobel laureate Linus Pauling famously and controversially suggested that vitamin C supplements can prevent cancer, a team of Johns Hopkins scientists have shown that in mice, at least, vitamin C -- and potentially other antioxidants

>  Emory researchers identify signaling protein for multiple myeloma [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Researchers at Emory University's Winship Cancer Institute are the first to discover a mechanism that plays a critical role in the multiple myeloma cell cycle and survival. Their research may result in identification of a new therapeutic target for treat

>  US guidance says that pregnant women should not take nelfinavir [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

US guidance says that pregnant women should not take nelfinavir

>  US guidance says that pregnant women should not take nelfinavir [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

US guidance says that pregnant women should not take nelfinavir

>  Cognitive impairment common in people with HIV despite antiretroviral therapy [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Cognitive impairment common in people with HIV despite antiretroviral therapy

>  Cognitive impairment common in people with HIV despite antiretroviral therapy [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Cognitive impairment common in people with HIV despite antiretroviral therapy

>  Onset of HIV dementia predicted by falling platelet count [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Onset of HIV dementia predicted by falling platelet count

>  Onset of HIV dementia predicted by falling platelet count [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Onset of HIV dementia predicted by falling platelet count

>  Viroligically failing NNRTI regimens have higher resistance risk than failing boosted-PIs [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Viroligically failing NNRTI regimens have higher resistance risk than failing boosted-PIs

>  T-20 increases tipranavir levels but does not increase risk of liver side-effects [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

T-20 increases tipranavir levels but does not increase risk of liver side-effects

>  OHSU is part of national effort to preserve, restore fertility in women with cancer [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

OHSU has been named to a national team of institutions hoping to preserve or restore fertility in women battling cancer. The scientists are working on methods for restoring fertility in cancer patients by studying rhesus macaque monkeys who have reproduct

>  Customized virus kills brain tumor stem cells that drive lethal cancer [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

A tailored virus destroys brain tumor stem cells that resist other therapies and cause lethal re-growth of cancer after surgery, a research team led by scientists at the University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center reports in the Sept. 18 edition of t

>  Personal chaos in HIV patients’ lives may be a barrier to regular medical care, UCLA Study Shows [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Unstable and unpredictable lifestyles are significant factors in determining access to health care among low-income, HIV-positive people, a new UCLA study has found. The study found that when HIV patients lead chaotic lives -- meaning they are disorganize

>  Finasteride unlikely to induce high grade prostate cancers [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

An increase in high-grade prostate cancer among men taking the drug finasteride is likely caused by an increased detection of cancers, and not by the development of more high-grade cancers, according to two studies published online September 11 in the Jou

>  Higher education is associated with lower cancer death rate [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Having at least some education beyond high school is associated with a decreased risk of dying from cancer among black and white men and women, according to a study published online September 11 in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

>  Aspartame is safe, study says [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

A sweeping review of research studies of aspartame says there is no evidence that the non-nutritive sweetener causes cancer, neurological damage or other health problems in humans.

>  New HIV diagnoses rising in New York City among young men who have sex with men [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

New HIV diagnoses among MSM under age 30 have increased by 33 percent during the past six years, the health department reported today, from 374 in 2001 to almost 500 in 2006. New diagnoses have doubled among MSM ages 13 to 19, while declining by 22 percen

>  HIV prevention expenditure ’stagnant’ in England [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

HIV prevention expenditure 'stagnant' in England

>  Teaching adolescents about condoms [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Teaching condom use as a backup to abstinence may prevent HIV.

>  IMPACT initiative looks to improve patient participation in clinical trials [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

In a new initiative, researchers at Weill Cornell Medical College and Cornell's College of Agriculture and Life Sciences have teamed up to develop strategies to better understand and enhance patient participation in clinical trials.

>  Hygiene habits stall : Public handwashing down [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

When it comes to washing with soap and water, some Americans seem be slipping up. In an observational study sponsored by the American Society for Microbiology and the Soap and Detergent Association, slightly over three-quarters of men and women (77 percen

>  If you think cancer genes are simple, you don’t know JAK [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Cancer-causing genes can work in more powerful and sneaky ways than have been realized. Scientists have shown that a gene named JAK that is closely related to a common cancer-causing gene in people tips the scales toward cancer in an unexpected manner, by

>  Linchpin gene may be useful target for new breast cancer therapies [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

University of Iowa researchers have discovered a gene that plays a linchpin role in the ability of breast cancer cells to respond to estrogen. The finding may lead to improved therapies for hormone-responsive breast cancers, and may explain differences in

>  CDC’s Global Health Odyssey Invites Public to Smithsonian Museum Day 2007 [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Global Health Odyssey opens to the public for the first Saturday ever on September 29 in conjunction with national Museum Day, sponsored by Smithsonian Magazine. Special Saturday hours are 9 a.m. to

>  Mother’s milk a gift that keeps on giving [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Medical research shows that mothers' milk satisfies babies' nutritional needs far better than any manufactured infant formula. It also protects babies against many common infectious diseases and certain inflammatory diseases, and probably helps lower th

>  Updated GOLD report presents new understandings in diagnosis, treatment and prevention of COPD [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

The Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease has released new standards for the diagnosis, management and prevention of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. The latest recommendations emphasize the importance of proper diagnosis, assessmen

>  Children in affluent countries more likely to develop allergy-related asthma [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Children with allergic sensitizations in economically developed countries are much more likely to develop asthma than similarly sensitized children in poorer countries, according to a team of international researchers.

>  Dermatologists identify North Texas leishmaniasis outbreak [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

A team of dermatologists and dermatopathologists at UT Southwestern Medical Center has identified nine North Texas cases of an infectious skin disease common in South America, Mexico and in the Middle East, where it is sometimes referred to as a "Baghdad

>  Progress in understanding the malarial parasite [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

In a new study publishing in PLoS Computational Biology on Sept. 14, 2007, Dr. Tatu and colleagues from the Indian Institute of Science have constructed a chaperone interaction network for the parasite which provides, for the first time, a rational basis

>  European researchers develop method of calculating short-term risk of HIV disease progression [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

European researchers develop method of calculating short-term risk of HIV disease progression

>  Mantoux test good predictor of HIV-positive women’s response to HPV [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Mantoux test good predictor of HIV-positive women's response to HPV

>  Study suggests brain tumors need treatment with multiple ’targeted’ drugs [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Researchers at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute have shown that several, rather than just one, cell-growth switches are simultaneously overactive in many brain tumors and other solid tumors, explaining why treatment with just a single "targeted" switch-blocki

>  Academy releases emergency preparedness tools to enable millions more people to shelter in place [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Although the nation has invested billions of dollars preparing to respond to emergencies, current plans leave millions of Americans at risk because they do not account for critical problems people face when they actually try to protect themselves. To fix

>  Breastfeeding transmission less likely if breast milk high in omega-6 fats [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Breastfeeding transmission less likely if breast milk high in omega-6 fats

>  Condoms, not serosorting explain stable HIV incidence in ’lower risk’ Amsterdan gay men [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Condoms, not serosorting explain stable HIV incidence in 'lower risk' Amsterdan gay men

>  Emissions targets for 2030 will only be reached by banning cars in London [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

London Authority takes radical steps, one of which could be the removal of all cars from both inner and outer London, according to a report published today.

>  Hospital bugs get from bottom to bedrail [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

The presence of the bacterium Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) in patients' stools increases the likelihood that it will make its way onto skin, hospital bed rails and other surfaces, according to research published in the online open access journal, BM

>  Diesel exhaust may increase risk in patients with heart disease [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Air pollution could be putting patients with heart disease at risk by affecting blood vessels and clotting, researchers warn. A study by the University of Edinburgh and UmeA University measured the effects of diesel exhaust on heart and blood vessel funct

>  ICAAC : Hardening of the arteries found in one in five patients in Swiss HIV cohort [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

ICAAC: Hardening of the arteries found in one in five patients in Swiss HIV cohort

>  ICAAC : High mortality rate from symptomatic lactic acidosis in Thailand [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

ICAAC: High mortality rate from symptomatic lactic acidosis in Thailand

>  PrEP strategy could dramatically slow the spread of HIV [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

A University of Pittsburgh study published in PLoS ONE reports that giving a daily antiretroviral pill to people could profoundly slow the spread of the infection in sub-Saharan Africa by potentially preventing 3.2 million cases in 10 years. The findings

>  Cell growth technology promises more successful drug development [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Scientists have developed unique technology to grow stem cells and other tissue in the laboratory in conditions similar to the way they grow in the human body. The technology, developed and patented by scientists at Durham University, UK, and its spin-out

>  Sexual function affected by stem cell transplant according to long-term study [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

A long-term study found that a type of stem cell transplant used for patients with life-threatening diseases results in decreased sexual function and activity for recipients. Further, males are likely to recover from these changes over time, while the sex

>  St. Jude psychologist says most children with cancer are well-adjusted [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Children under treatment for cancer are generally emotionally well-adjusted and no more depressed or anxious than other children their age, according to researchers at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.

>  Blood protein detects lung cancer, even at earliest stage [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Biopharmaceutical researchers have found a protein in blood they say is linked to all stages of lung cancer but which rarely shows up in the blood of people without the disease. Testing for this protein might help physicians decide whether smokers or othe

>  ICAAC : Moxifloxacin could cut TB treatment time to four months [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

ICAAC: Moxifloxacin could cut TB treatment time to four months

>  Gene profiling can single out the worst cases of multiple myeloma and guide therapy [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Multiple myeloma patients vary widely in how they respond to treatment, but now researchers at the Myeloma Institute for Research and Therapy at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences have identified a small subset of genes whose activity could p

>  New antibiotic drug combo to speed up treatment of tuberculosis [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

A team of tuberculosis experts at Johns Hopkins and in Brazil have evidence that substituting the antibiotic moxifloxacin in the regimen of drugs used to treat the highly contagious form of lung disease could dramatically shorten the time needed to cure t

>  Weekly dose of osteoporosis drug prevents bone loss after breast cancer treatment [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Breast cancer survivors who took a weekly dose of risedronate, sold as Actonel, lost significantly less bone than those who did not take the drug, according to a two-year study from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine presented this week at th

>  ICAAC : boosted darunavir non-inferior to boosted lopinavir after 48 weeks in treatment-naïve [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

ICAAC: boosted darunavir non-inferior to boosted lopinavir after 48 weeks in treatment-naïve

>  ICAAC : Best response to elvitegravir seen when used with T-20 and other active agents [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

ICAAC: Best response to elvitegravir seen when used with T-20 and other active agents

>  Secondhand smoke increases teen test failure [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Teens exposed to secondhand smoke at home are at increased risk of test failure in school, suggests a new study in the Journal of Adolescent Health.

>  ICAAC : Dapivirine safe and tolerable as potential vaginal microbicide ; displays potential in combination with other agents [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

ICAAC: Dapivirine safe and tolerable as potential vaginal microbicide; displays potential in combination with other agents

>  Childhood vaccination may protect adult eyes [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Childhood vaccination for the rubella virus may have also almost entirely eliminated an inflammatory eye disease from the US-born population, according to a study by researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

>  Drug resistance gene has spread from East Coast to Midwest [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

A resistance gene that allows bacteria to beat an important class of antibiotics has started to appear in microorganisms taken from Midwestern patients, according to researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. Less than a decade

>  ICAAC : Gardasil provides some protection against wide spectrum of cancer-causing HPV [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

ICAAC: Gardasil provides some protection against wide spectrum of cancer-causing HPV

>  Ancient British bog provides clue to global warming [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Dr. Richard Pancost from the University of Bristol and colleagues, publishing today in Nature, show that carbon isotope values of hopanoids -- compounds made by bacteria -- suddenly decrease in a manner that can only be explained by switching to a diet of

>  Stem cells in adult testes provide alternative to embryonic stem cells for organ regeneration [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Easily accessed and plentiful, adult stem cells found in a male patient's testicles might someday be used to create a wide range of tissue types to help him fight disease -- getting around the need for more controversial embryonic stem cells.

>  Stem cells derived from adult testes produce wide range of tissue types [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

After a decade of research, Howard Hughes Medical Institute scientists have succeeded in reprogramming adult stem cells from the testes of male mice into functional blood vessels and contractile cardiac tissue. The research offers a promising new source o

>  ICAAC : Dual/mixed tropic virus speeds disease progression as much as tenfold increase in viral load [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

ICAAC: Dual/mixed tropic virus speeds disease progression as much as tenfold increase in viral load

>  Pregnancy may slow -- not accelerate -- progression to AIDS [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

A new study may help put to rest fears that pregnancy accelerates progression to full-blown AIDS in women with HIV receiving antiretroviral therapy. The study, published in the Oct. 1 issue of the Journal of Infectious Diseases and now available online, r

>  Communication in cancer world is key to survival [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

For the 10 million Americans who are living with cancer or have survived it, one factor may be most indispensable for keeping their spirits intact: communication. In recognition of this, the National Cancer Institute plans to issue a special report by Nov

>  ICAAC : Raltegravir shows sustained effect in highly treatment-experienced patients [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

ICAAC: Raltegravir shows sustained effect in highly treatment-experienced patients

>  ICAAC : Vicriviroc safe, effective after 2 years, phase III studies start soon [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

ICAAC: Vicriviroc safe, effective after 2 years, phase III studies start soon

>  ICAAC : In NNRTI-based regimens, stepwise discontinuation minimises risk of antiretroviral resistance [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

ICAAC: In NNRTI-based regimens, stepwise discontinuation minimises risk of antiretroviral resistance

>  ICAAC : Maraviroc failures associated with shifts from R5-tropic to mixed or X4-tropic HIV [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

ICAAC: Maraviroc failures associated with shifts from R5-tropic to mixed or X4-tropic HIV

>  Flu virus trots globe during off season [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

The influenza A virus does not lie dormant during summer but migrates globally and mixes with other viral strains before returning to the Northern Hemisphere as a genetically different virus, according to biologists who say the finding settles a key debat

>  Low vitamin D linked to higher risk of hip fracture [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Women with low levels of vitamin D have a significantly increased risk of hip fracture, according to a study led by the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health presented this week at the 29th annual meeting of the American Society for Bo

>  New discovery leaves blood-doping athletes scratching their heads [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

A stunning discovery may make blood doping and the treatment of severe anemia as easy as washing your hair. In the October print issue of the FASEB Journal, researchers show that hair follicles on people's head have the potential to become erythropoietin

>  When it comes fighting to C. difficile, the Palme d’Or goes to soap and warm water [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Hospitals world-wide battle nosocomial infections on a daily basis. One of the most difficult bacteria to combat is Clostridium.difficile. To help ensure the best control methods possible, Dr. Michael Libman, director of the division of infectious disease

>  ICAAC : Sharp decline in HIV prevalence reported in pregnant women in rural northern Zimbabwe [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

ICAAC: Sharp decline in HIV prevalence reported in pregnant women in rural northern Zimbabwe

>  Cancer patients, spouses report similar emotional distress, U-M study finds [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

A cancer diagnosis affects more than just the patient. A new study from researchers at the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center finds spouses report similar physical and emotional quality of life as the patient.

>  ICAAC : 48-week results show maraviroc still potent in highly treatment-experienced [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

ICAAC: 48-week results show maraviroc still potent in highly treatment-experienced

>  Radiation therapy technique reduces length of prostate cancer treatment [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Breihan Bridgewater suffers from emphysema. He sleeps on his side because when he lays flat on his back it feels like there's a boulder resting on his chest.

>  Patients with head and neck cancer may have impairment of some driving skills [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

A preliminary study suggests that patients with cancer in the head and neck region may have inferior performance in some driving skills compared with individuals without the disease, according to a report in the September issue of Archives of Otolaryngolo

>  Murder mystery solved [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Thousands of people die from strokes and heart attacks within 24 hours of a spike in microscopic pollution. Scientists couldn't figure out why. New research from Northwestern University has found that these tiny pieces of soot spur hyperclotting of the b

>  JCI table of contents : Sept. 20, 2007 [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

This release contains summaries, links to PDFs and contact information for the following newsworthy papers to be published online, Sept. 20, 2007, in the JCI, including: Noninvasive prenatal testing by analyzing mother's blood; Modulating fat levels esse

>  NIH-funded scientists solve genetic code of parasitic worm that causes elephantiasis [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

More than 150 million people worldwide are infected with filarial parasites -- long, thread-like worms that can live for years inside the human body and cause severe, debilitating diseases such as elephantiasis. A team of researchers funded by the Nationa

>  Natural gas inhabited by unusual specialists [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Hitherto unknown anaerobic bacteria in marine sediments feed only propane or butane.

>  Pathway to cell death redefined in landmark study [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Researchers from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine have determined that an intracellular protein called serpin-6 is crucial to the repair and survival of cell injury. Controlling the process could pave the way to new treatments for cancer, s

>  Heat shock proteins are co-opted for cancer [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

The HSF1 transcription factor is the master regulator of cells' protective "heat-shock" response -- a complex defense system that kicks in when an organism is exposed to increased temperature, infection, toxins or other stresses. Researchers have found e

>  ICAAC : Incidence of non-AIDS-defining cancers remains higher for HIV-positive individuals despite HAART [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

ICAAC: Incidence of non-AIDS-defining cancers remains higher for HIV-positive individuals despite HAART

>  Return of nelfinavir’s European license recommended [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Return of nelfinavir's European license recommended

>  ICAAC : Serious but non-AIDS-defining illnesses more frequent at lower CD4 counts and higher viral loads [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

ICAAC: Serious but non-AIDS-defining illnesses more frequent at lower CD4 counts and higher viral loads

>  ICAAC : Gains in limb fat and CD4 counts continue 3 years after switching from d4T to tenofovir [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

ICAAC: Gains in limb fat and CD4 counts continue 3 years after switching from d4T to tenofovir

>  ICAAC : In vitro study provides `proof of concept` for PRO 140, a monoclonal CCR5 antibody [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

ICAAC: In vitro study provides `proof of concept` for PRO 140, a monoclonal CCR5 antibody

>  ICAAC : Cross-resistance to 3TC and FTC develops slowly with entecavir monotherapy [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

ICAAC: Cross-resistance to 3TC and FTC develops slowly with entecavir monotherapy

>  MR spectroscopy identifies breast cancer, reduces biopsies [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy used in conjunction with magnetic resonance imaging can aid radiologists in diagnosing breast cancer while reducing the number of false-positive results and invasive biopsies, according to a study focusing on nonmass

>  Racial categories in medical practice and research [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Is it good medical practice for physicians to "eyeball" a patient's race when assessing their medical status or even to ask them to identify their race? Three articles in this week's PLoS Medicine discuss the pitfalls of such racial profiling in both cl

>  Influence of drug companies on medical literature [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

In this issue: Physician awareness of drug cost: a systematic review; Bladder cancer decision analysis; and How much of the medical literature is shaped behind the scenes by drug companies?

>  Risk of venuous thrombosis in long-haul flights [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

In a paper published this week in the open-access journal PLoS Medicine Frits Rosendaal and colleagues from Leiden University Medical Center, Academic Medical Center Amsterdam and Nestlé Medical Services, provide the first absolute estimate of risk of ven

>  HIV replication can continue in the intestines even with successful antiretroviral therapy [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

HIV replication can continue in the intestines even with successful antiretroviral therapy

>  PrEP could prevent up to three million HIV infections in ten years in Africa [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

PrEP could prevent up to three million HIV infections in ten years in Africa

>  Binge drinking appears to be on the rise in Mediterranean countries [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Binge drinking has traditionally been more common in Anglo-Saxon and northern European countries than Mediterranean countries. Binge drinking is increasing among young adults in the Madrid region of Spain, particularly educated men. Most of the alcohol co

>  A search for biomarkers for early detection of colorectal cancer [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Using two-dimensional gel electrophoresis, 27 differentially expressed proteins were identified in colorectal adenoma, compared with individual-matched normal mucosa and cancer tissue. In those proteins, the differential expression of two novel proteins,

>  Spaceflight shown to alter ability of bacteria to cause disease [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Space flight has been shown to have a profound impact on human physiology as the body adapts to zero gravity environments. Now, a new study led by researchers from the Biodesign Institute at Arizona State University has shown that the tiniest passengers f

>  New topical therapy safely treats nail fungus without systemic side effects [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Scientists have developed a new topical lotion that safely treats skin infections, including nail fungus and cold sores, without systemic side effects.

>  Planning for 2020 : increasing elderly population poses huge challenges in cancer care [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Huge challenges face healthcare professionals and policy makers in planning for, and providing cancer care over the next decade or so. Kathy Redmond, nurse and editor of a cancer magazine, will tell the ECCO 14 conference in Barcelona that healthcare prof

>  European directive will halt use of MRI scans ; cancer diagnosis and treatment will suffer [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Implementation of the Physical Agents (Electromagnetic Fields) Directive 2004/40/EC in all member states could effectively halt the use of magnetic resonance imaging, an important tool in cancer diagnosis, treatment, and research, a scientist told a press

>  Molecular fingerprint of breast-cancer drug resistance can predict response to treatment [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

A way of predicting which patients will respond well to treatment with a common chemotherapy drug used in breast cancer was unveiled at the European Cancer Conference (ECCO 14) today (Monday 24 September).

>  Internal radiotherapy better than external for quality of life in endometrial cancer patients [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Quality of life after treatment for endometrial cancer can be significantly improved by the use of vaginal brachytherapy.

>  Cancer cells in blood can identify risk of recurrence in breast cancer [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Cancer cells circulating in the blood are known to be associated with a bad prognosis in metastatic breast cancer. Now, for the first time, scientists have shown they can also detect the cells before and after chemotherapy and hence may be able to identif

>  Cancer control in Europe works ; now it is time to extend it to poorer countries [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Only a few years ago cancer was considered to be a disease of Westernized, developed countries, but now the burden is increasingly falling on less-developed countries. A leading epidemiologist told the European Cancer Conference that a major challenge for

>  Political decisions harming cancer treatment in Europe [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Recent political decisions have had serious consequences for European oncology, professor John Smyth said today at the European Cancer Conference. He said the new European CanCer Organisation would take an active role in engaging with policy-makers to ens

>  Jefferson researchers find personalized interventions key to improving colon cancer screening rates [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

One of the best ways to encourage an individual to get screened for colorectal cancer is to use a personalized approach, according to researchers at Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia. A new study shows that simple, personalized interventions that

>  Sexual transmission of hepatitis C in HIV-positive gay men reported in Australia [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Sexual transmission of hepatitis C in HIV-positive gay men reported in Australia

>  Urinary stones a rare side-effect of atazanavir [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Urinary stones a rare side-effect of atazanavir

>  Cystic fibrosis patients may breathe easier, thanks to bioengineered antimicrobials [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

By better understanding how antimicrobials bind and thereby get inactivated in the mucus of air passages, researchers at the University of Illinois may have found a way to help cystic fibrosis patients fight off deadly infections.

>  US hospitals report infections increasing in frequency and cost [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

A new review of inpatient data from US hospitals shows that the number of infections caused by a common bacterium increased by over 7 percent each year from 1998 to 2003. The attendant economic burden to hospitals increased by nearly 12 percent annually.

>  American Cancer Society report finds breast cancer death rate continues to drop [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

A report from the American Cancer Society finds the breast cancer death rate in the US continues to drop more than two percent per year, a trend that began in 1990 and is credited to progress in early detection and treatment. But the report says African-A

>  Research warns that human papillomavirus might cause bladder cancer [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

The study, carried out by the Department of Microbiology of the University of Granada has analyzed 44 articles written by experts on this matter from all around the world. The HPV is one of the most common sexually transmitted diseases today.

>  How adhesive protein causes malaria [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Researchers at the Swedish medical university Karolinska Institutet and the Swedish Institute for Infectious Disease Control have identified the biochemical mechanism behind the adhesive protein that give rise to particularly serious malaria in children.

>  Mutation of the COX2 gene can double or treble a woman’s risk of ovarian cancer [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Researchers in Portugal have discovered that a specific mutation of the COX2 gene seems to play a role in the onset of ovarian cancer, increasing women's susceptibility to developing the disease. Dr. Ana Carina Pereira told the European Cancer Conference

>  Survey reveals ignorance and confusion about cancer amongst the elderly [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Elderly Spaniards have very poor knowledge about cancer, its causes, treatment and prevention according to research carried out amongst people living in and around Barcelona and presented at the European Cancer Conference today. Some even believe that can

>  New chemotherapy regimen prolongs survival in difficult-to-treat childhood brainstem gliomas [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Spanish researchers told the European Cancer Conference in Barcelona that they have found that a chemotherapy regimen of irinotecan and cisplatin produced rapid clinical responses in childhood brain stem glioma, and shrank the tumors by more than 20 perce

>  $42 billion neded to achieve universal access by 2010, says UNAIDS [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

$42 billion neded to achieve universal access by 2010, says UNAIDS

>  Contributions by (RED) to the Global Fund reach $45 million [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Contributions by (RED) to the Global Fund reach $45 million

>  Under-used colon cancer screening test is effective [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

New Kaiser Permanente study in Journal of the National Cancer Institute shows that an under-used fecal occult blood test specific for human blood is a better screening test for colon cancer than the stool screening tests most frequently used - the unrehyd

>  Fruits and veggies not likely linked to colon cancer risk [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Eating fruits and vegetables was not strongly associated with decreased colon cancer risk, according to a study published online in the Sept. 25 Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

>  Possible replacement found for common colorectal cancer test [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

A new version of a colon cancer screening test effectively detects colorectal cancer and may be a good replacement for the test that is currently used, according to a study in the Sept. 25 Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

>  Nosespray vaccine using aloe vera has exciting potential, researcher says [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Researchers at Texas A&M University are participating in developing a medicine that is worth sneezing about: a treatment for influenza that forms a jelly when sprayed into the nose.

>  Survival data presented from phase II study of hormone-resistant prostate cancer patients [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

The results from a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, Phase II study of ZD4054 -- a specific endothelin A receptor antagonist -- were delivered today at the 14th European Congress of Clinical Oncology (ECCO, 23-27 Sept., Barcelona). The data pr

>  New approach to improving diarrhea in infants with probiotics [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Each year more than half a million infants worldwide, primarily in developing countries, die from diarrhea caused by rotavirus. Even in industrialized countries management of the infection costs economies about $1 billion a year. Now a study in the online

>  Doctor-aided suicide : No slippery slope [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Contrary to arguments by critics, a University of Utah-led study found that legalizing physician-assisted suicide in Oregon and the Netherlands did not result in a disproportionate number of deaths among the elderly, poor, women, minorities, uninsured, mi

>  ’Re-plumbing’ liver helps beat cancer [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

A procedure that temporarily diverts blood leaving the liver during chemotherapy could prolong the lives of people with primary or secondary tumors. The blood supply leaving the liver is blocked using balloons, meaning the concentration of the chemotherap

>  MicroRNA convicted of triggering metastasis [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

While past studies have shown that some microRNAs cause normal cells to divide rapidly and form tumors, this one offers proof that a microRNA can also cause tumors to metastasize. It establishes an important new role for a class of RNA molecules whose sig

>  Enzyme’s second messenger contributes to cell overgrowth [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Scientists at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have uncovered a novel pathway by which hormones elevated in inflammation, cancer and cell injury act on cells to stimulate their growth.

>  Early Thimerosal Exposure and Neuropsychological Outcomes at 7 to 10 Years [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

New England Journal of Medicine Telebriefing

>  Studies suggest key correlation between lung cancer subtype and treatment outcomes [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

In clinical research, patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer that are classified as having a non-squamous histology achieve statistically significant higher survival when treated in the second-line setting with ALIMTA (pemetrexed for injection)

>  Experimental drug shows promise in advanced kidney cancer [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

A new drug has shown promise in patients with advanced kidney cancer whose options run out after their tumor fails to respond to the cutting edge therapy. The study, presented today at the European Cancer Conference in Barcelona, showed that the experimen

>  Study finds post-traumatic stress symptoms in adolescent children of cancer patients [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

A new study by Dutch researchers has found that adolescents may suffer from severe symptoms of post-traumatic stress when a parent is recently diagnosed with cancer and that parents tend to underestimate the problems. The research was presented at the Eur

>  Married esophageal cancer patients fare worse in some quality of life aspects than single patients [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

In a surprising finding, American scientists have found that when battling esophageal cancer, married patients don't fare as well as their single counterparts in certain aspects of their quality of life. The research was presented at the European Cancer

>  New type of drug shows promise in attacking melanoma in an innovative way [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

An experimental drug that attacks cancer in an entirely new way has shown promise in treating advanced melanoma, delaying progression of the disease and prolonging the lives of patients. New research presented today at the European Cancer Conference in Ba

>  Acupuncture does not reduce radiotherapy-induced nausea, but patients believe it does [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Despite widespread belief among cancer patients and health care professionals that acupuncture helps relieve nausea caused by cancer treatment, new research in radiotherapy has found it does not.

>  Less invasive lymph node biopsy method could spare thousands unnecessary operations [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Using an ultrasound-guided fine needle to biopsy lymph nodes could spare thousands of melanoma patients every year worldwide from having to undergo unnecessary and sometimes unpleasant surgery to verify whether their cancer has spread, new research indica

>  Alcohol and cancer : is drinking the new smoking ? [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Researchers at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health have clarified the link between alcohol consumption and the risk of head and neck cancers, showing that people who stop drinking can significantly reduce their cancer risk. These results have impor

>  Got stress ? It could impact breast cancer recurrence [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Women diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer who have also endured previous traumatic or stressful events see their cancer recur nearly twice as fast as other women, according to a report by a University of Rochester Medical Center scientist.

>  Past treatment with amprenavir/fosamprenavir associated with presence of resistance that can reduce susceptibility to darunavir [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Past treatment with amprenavir/fosamprenavir associated with presence of resistance that can reduce susceptibility to darunavir

>  Painful condition affecting kidney failure patients increases risk of death [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

A painful and debilitating condition that affects patients with kidney failure may be more common than previously believed and appears to be strongly associated with prior exposure to certain contrast agents used in imaging studies. In addition, individua

>  Genomic profiling of lung tumors helps doctors choose most effective treatment [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Determining the genetic profile of a particular lung tumor can help clinicians make the crucial decision about which chemotherapy treatment to try first.

>  New research shows how H5N1 virus causes disease [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Researchers at Beijing University, Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, and SUNY Downstate report in the Lancet detailed studies of human H5N1 victims that shed light on the anatomic distribution of the virus and its pathogenesis. Using a

>  Climate may increase heat-related deaths by 2050s, says Mailman School of PH study [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Overall increases in heat-related premature mortality are likely by the 2050s, according to a recent study by Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health. In metropolitan New York, researchers estimate a 47 percent to 95 percent increase in sum

>  Individuals with high fear of crime twice as likely to suffer from depression [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

A new UCL study has shown that people with a strong fear of crime are almost twice as likely to show symptoms of depression. The research, based on data taken from the Whitehall II study, also shows that fear of crime is associated with decreased physical

>  Experimental drug boosts survival in recurrent ovarian cancer [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

An experimental drug has shown promise in extending the survival period for women with recurrent ovarian cancer whose treatment options have dwindled. Early testing data showed that pertuzumab added weeks to the lives of Stage 3 ovarian cancer patients wh

>  CDC Awards $35 Million to Support HIV Testing and Increase Early Diagnosis of HIV among African Americans [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has awarded $35 million in funding to state and local health departments to increase HIV testing opportunities among populations disproportionately affected by HIV, primarily African Americans.

>  Scientists sequence genome of intestinal parasite that afflicts hikers and kids in daycare [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Giardia lamblia is a strange-looking parasite that swims in the gut, spreads through stool, persists in contaminated water, and is responsible for more than 20,000 reported infections a year in the US. An international team of researchers led by scientist

>  Genes linked to suicidal thinking during antidepressant treatment [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Specific variations in two genes have been linked to suicidal thinking that sometimes occurs in people taking the most commonly prescribed class of antidepressants. Depending on the particular mix inherited, these versions increased the likelihood of such

>  R rating might be unlikely to affect teens exposure to smoking in movies [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Several recent research studies published in the US have determined that young adolescents who see smoking scenes in movies are more likely to smoke. To combat smoking among youth, public health groups have called for restricted ratings for movies that de

>  Clinical Trials Directive still hampering academic medical research [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

The Clinical Trials Directive, which came into force in May 2004 in order to create a harmonized framework for clinical drug research across Europe, is still hampering such research, according to new findings presented at the European Cancer Conference.

>  Study fuels debate over whether exercise and body size influence ovarian cancer risk [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

A new study adds fuel to the debate over whether being fat or inactive affects the risk of developing ovarian cancer.

>  Chemotherapy with gemcitabine delays progression of operable pancreatic cancer [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Giving pancreatic cancer patients the chemotherapy drug gemcitabine after surgery delays progression of the disease by about six months, according to new research by Japanese scientists.

>  Study indicates pregnancy does not harm chances of survival from cancer [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

New research offers reassurance to women worried about whether getting pregnant after cancer treatment might worsen their prognosis.

>  Couples more likely to divorce if spouse develops cervical or testicular cancer [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

In the largest and most rigorous study to date investigating how cancer influences divorce, Norwegian researchers have found that marriages are no more likely than normal to break down unless a spouse develops cervical or testicular cancer.

>  ’Risk reduction’ strategies don’t always prevent HIV infection for gay men [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

'Risk reduction' strategies don't always prevent HIV infection for gay men

>  HIV-positive patients who aren’t tested for HCV have an increased risk of death [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

HIV-positive patients who aren't tested for HCV have an increased risk of death

>  Standard treatment for prostate cancer may encourage spread of disease [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

A popular prostate cancer treatment called androgen deprivation therapy may encourage prostate cancer cells to produce a protein that makes them more likely to spread throughout the body, a new study by Johns Hopkins researchers suggests.

>  Initial reaction to nicotine can dictate addiction [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Study finds that adolescents who felt relaxed when first exposed to nicotine from a cigarette were more likely to get hooked.

>  Childhood TV viewing a risk for behavior problems [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Daily television viewing for two or more hours in early childhood can lead to behavioral problems and poor social skills, according to a study of children 2.5 to 5.5 years of age. Researchers found that the impact of TV viewing on a child's behavior and

>  Pregnancy is associated with a lower risk of HIV disease progression in HIV-infected women on ART [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Pregnancy is associated with a lower risk of HIV disease progression in HIV-infected women on ART

>  Low-tech assays for plasma C-reactive protein useful for predicting HIV-related outcomes in Tanzanian women [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Low-tech assays for plasma C-reactive protein useful for predicting HIV-related outcomes in Tanzanian women

>  Anti-HIV treatment, weight and low income risk factors for heart disease [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Anti-HIV treatment, weight and low income risk factors for heart disease

>  New research suggests hearts are experts at self-preservation [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Bristol researchers have identified a heart protection mechanism in mice that surgeons and cardiologists may be able to exploit to improve treatments for patients in future.

>  Second pathway behind HIV-associated immune system dysfunction identified [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Researchers at the Partners AIDS Research Center at Massachusetts General Hospital may have discovered a second molecular 'switch' that turns off the immune system's response against HIV. Last year the same team identified a molecule that suppresses th

>  MicroRNAs may be key to HIV’s ability to hide, evade drugs, Jefferson scientists find [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Tiny pieces of genetic material called microRNA could be key to HIV's ability to evade detection in the immune system. Researchers have shown that when an HIV-infected individual receives a powerful cocktail of antiviral agents called HAART, the virus us

>  Researchers at IRB Barcelona discover one of the mechanisms that prevents the spread of colon cancer [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

The first step in the development of colon cancer is the formation of benign tumors, called adenomas, in the intestine. Over time, these tumors may progress to produce colon cancer if they undergo a series of mutations and genetic alterations. Researchers

>  Infectious diseases experts applaud bill against ’bad bugs’ [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

With extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis, life-threatening drug-resistant respiratory and skin infections, and other 'bad bugs' routinely making headlines, infectious diseases physicians are applauding Rep. Jim Matheson (D-UT) and Rep. Michael Fergu

>  Pain control out of reach for 100 million worldwide [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Pain control out of reach for 100 million worldwide

>  $100 million grant programme for innovative approaches to health systems strengthening in Africa [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

$100 million grant programme for innovative approaches to health systems strengthening in Africa

>  High fat diet accelerates progression of HIV-like virus [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

High fat diet accelerates progression of HIV-like virus

>  New Swedish research hope for millions of sufferers [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Today's issue of the scientific journal Science presents research on the genetic makeup and biology of the parasite Giardia lamblia that ultimately may lead to better diagnosis and treatment of the diarrhea disease, giardiasis, which affects 200 million

>  Drug has ability to cure type of leukemia [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

In people with chronic myeloid leukemia, the drug Imatinib has been shown to drive cancer into remission, but the disease often returns when treatment is stopped. New research by UC-Irvine scientists indicates that Imatinib could cure CML under certain ci

>  The ’MIP-MAP’ game : Indian bug is the ancestor of Crohn’s disease pathogen [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

An Indian team of researchers led by Seyed E. Hasnain of the Institute of Life Sciences, University of Hyderabad, India has found that a seemingly unknown mycobacterial organism Mycobacterium indicus pranii could be the earliest ancestor of the 'generali

>  Should schoolgirls be vaccinated against cancer virus ? [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

The routine vaccination of children against human papilloma virus -- the first adolescent vaccine against a sexually transmitted infection -- will be discussed at the National Cancer Research Institute conference in Birmingham today Tuesday Oct. 2.

>  Cancer researchers seek safe reduction of radiotherapy [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

University of Manchester scientists will discuss their research aimed at reducing the side effects of radiotherapy without decreasing its effectiveness at the National Cancer Research Institute conference in Birmingham today Tuesday, Oct. 2, 2007.

>  FDA approves knee-injury device for humans [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

A new knee-surgery device investigated by University of Missouri-Columbia researchers that will help to repair meniscus tears, which were previously defined as irreparable, has been approved by the FDA for use in humans.

>  On-screen smoking in movies linked to young adult smoking behavior [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

New study findings show that exposure to on-screen smoking in movies has a strong correlation with beginning to smoke or becoming established smokers among young adults 18-25, a critical age group for lifelong smoking behavior.

>  BHIVA issues draft guidelines on HIV and cancer [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

BHIVA issues draft guidelines on HIV and cancer

>  Decline in mortality rate amongst people with HIV has slowed in recent years [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Decline in mortality rate amongst people with HIV has slowed in recent years

>  MU researchers studying model to learn why certain cancers become resistant to drugs [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

MU researchers are studying a model organism called "Dictyostelium discoideum" to better understand mechanisms of cisplatin drug sensitivity.

>  Cognitive deficits lead to ’loss of self’ among cancer patients [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

According to a new survey, the cognitive impairment experienced by 14 to 45 percent of cancer patients can be long-lasting and severely affect their personal and professional lives. In addition to exploring the impact at home and at work, the Cognitive Ch

>  Black gay men, lesbians, have fewer mental disorders than whites, says Mailman School of PH study [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Among lesbian, gay and bisexuals, blacks and Latinos do not have more mental disorders than whites. Based on the theory that stress related to prejudice would increase risk for mental disorders, researchers expected that black lesbians, gay men, and bisex

>  Dietary calcium could possibly prevent the spread of breast cancer to bone [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

A strong skeleton is less likely to be penetrated by metastasizing cancer cells, so a fortified glass of milk might be the way to block cancer's spread, according to researchers at the ANZAC Research Institute in Concord, Australia.

>  Fetal cell ’transplant’ could be a hidden link between childbirth and reduced risk of breast cancer [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Some benefits of motherhood are intangible, but one has been validated through biostatistical research: women who bear children have a reduced risk of developing breast cancer. In Seattle, researchers at the University of Washington and Fred Hutchinson Ca

>  M. D. Anderson-Prevention poll finds women can do more to prevent cancer ... but aren’t [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

When it comes to preventing cancer, women believe they're doing more than they actually are. Perhaps most surprising, women are more afraid of getting Alzheimer's disease than cancer, even though cancer causes nearly 10 times more deaths per year.

>  Virtual colonoscopy -- a new technology for colorectal cancer screening ? [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Colorectal cancer is one of the deadliest but most preventable causes of death in the United States. The American Gastroenterological Association Institute supports clinically proven technologies that increase the number of patients who are screened for t

>  Increasing young adult smoking linked to smoking in movies [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Do young adults learn behaviors from movies? In a paper published in the November issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, researchers from the University of California, San Francisco, examined the relationship between young adults (age 18-25

>  M. D. Anderson-Prevention poll finds women can do more to prevent cancer...but aren’t [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

When it comes to preventing cancer, women believe they're doing more than they actually are. Perhaps most surprising, women are more afraid of getting Alzheimer's disease than cancer, even though cancer causes nearly ten times more deaths per year.

>  Humans MIFfed by West Nile Virus [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Infection with West Nile Virus can cause lethal encephalitis and there are currently no vaccines or specific therapeutics for use in humans. However, a new study published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation has provided evidence that the proinflamma

>  Stop eating for two : obese moms-to-be should gain less weight than currently recommended [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

A new St. Louis University study suggests current guidelines for weight gain during pregnancy should be revised.

>  Stanford researchers find way to fight treacherous hepatitis B [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

A team of researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine has identified the most cost-effective way of fighting hepatitis B.

>  Spouses often mirror each other’s health habits [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

If one spouse exercises, quits smoking, stops drinking alcohol... the other spouse is more likely to do the same.

>  Most patients on incompletely suppressive therapy maintain CD4 counts and stable viral loads [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Most patients on incompletely suppressive therapy maintain CD4 counts and stable viral loads

>  HIV-positive gay men in Western Europe disproportionately affected by STIs [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

HIV-positive gay men in Western Europe disproportionately affected by STIs

>  Immune changes in exposed, uninfected partners of people with HIV correlate with partner’s viral load [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Immune changes in exposed, uninfected partners of people with HIV correlate with partner's viral load

>  Dry skin affects up to half of adults with HIV [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Dry skin affects up to half of adults with HIV

>  Simplest circadian clocks operate via orderly phosphate transfers [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Researchers at Harvard University and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute have found that a simple circadian clock found in some bacteria operates by the rhythmic addition and subtraction of phosphate groups at two key locations on a single protein. This

>  Roche abandon Biojector 2000 for T-20 administration [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Roche abandon Biojector 2000 for T-20 administration

>  Smoking Rates Highest Among People with Disabilities [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Health Disparities Persist Among People with Disabilities

>  Medimmune announces phase 2 safety data for anti-RSV antibody and national RSV surveillance results [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

MedImmune, Inc. today announced two important studies being presented at the Infectious Diseases Society of America Annual Meeting regarding respiratory syncytial virus. Data pertain to safety and immunogenicity of motavizumab, an investigational anti-RSV

>  Brown researchers make major signal transduction discovery [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

How cells sense and respond to chemical messages -- a process known as signal transduction -- is a fundamental force in biology, controlling key processes such as cell growth and immune response. Now researchers from the Warren Alpert Medical School of Br

>  UGA study : Youth exposed to smokeless tobacco ads despite settlement [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

A 1998 settlement designed to limit the marketing of smokeless tobacco to youth hasn't been effective, according to a new University of Georgia study published in the early online edition of the American Journal of Public Health.

>  Bilberry extract -- can it help prevent certain cancers ? [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Cancer researchers are investigating whether extracts of bilberries can aid cancer prevention.

>  Evidence of a relationship between swimming babies and infections [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Scientists of the GSF-National Research Center for Environment and Health found indications for an association between attendance of swimming pools in the first year of life and the frequency of infections. Diarrhea and otitis media during the first year

>  Hip size of mothers linked to breast cancer in daughters [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

In a study of the maternity records of more than 6,000 women, David J.P. Barker, M.D., Ph.D., and Kent Thornburg, Ph.D., of Oregon Health & Science University discovered a strong correlation between the size and shape of a woman's hips and her daughter'

>  Whites take supplemental breast cancer therapy more often than blacks [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

A new study finds that white women more frequently take more of the life-prolonging supplemental therapies used to treat breast cancer than African-American women.

>  Medicare modernization act did not change chemotherapy as feared [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Cancer patients receiving chemotherapy have not noticed a restriction in their access to treatment following the enactment of the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement and Modernization Act of 2003, despite the act's significant reduction in government

>  Differences observed between black and white women in use of breast cancer therapy [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

A new study finds treatment for breast cancer differs between African-American women and white women, though the differences are partly dependent on insurance type.

>  Using additional biopsy-scoring data may help determine prostate cancer prognosis [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Men with certain scores and patterns based on prostate cancer biopsy were found to be at higher risk of PSA-failure, suggesting that this measurement could help predict the risk of prostate cancer recurrence, according to preliminary research published in

>  CDC Scientist Awarded China’s Highest Honor for Outstanding Contributions to Public Health [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Robert E. Fontaine, M.D., CDC senior epidemiologist and Resident Advisor to the U.S. Field Epidemiology Training Program in Beijing, China, has been honored with the Friendship Award of 2007.

>  UNC faculty and students to develop plan to get clean water in poorer homes [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Faculty and students from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill are setting out to discover whether applying business principles to public health problems can result in solutions that will save lives in developing countries with limited access t

>  Researchers complete first clinical trial of Apatone for cancer treatment [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

In a significant advancement in the ongoing battle against cancer, a group of researchers from Summa Health System, IC-MedTech and other institutions have completed the first ever FDA-approved human clinical trial of Apatone. Demonstrating promising resul

>  Human rights violations widespread in eastern Burma [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

A study, completed by researchers from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Back Pack Health Worker Team and others found that gross human rights violations, including forced displacement, forced labor, attacks by soldiers on civilians, in

>  AGA Institute statement on CT colonography study [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Colorectal cancer is the second-leading cause of cancer deaths, affecting both men and women nearly equally, and is one of the most preventable cancers. The American Gastroenterological Association Institute supports clinically proven technologies that in

>  An AIDS-related virus reveals more ways to cause cancer, Penn researchers find [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Researchers have shed new light on how Kaposi's Sarcoma-associated Herpes Virus subverts normal cell machinery to cause cancer. A KSHV protein called latency-associated nuclear antigen (LANA) helps the virus hide out from the immune system in infected ce

>  Banked blood loses ability to deliver oxygen to tissues [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Almost immediately after it is donated, human blood begins to lose a key gas that opens up blood vessels to facilitate the transfer of oxygen from red blood cells to oxygen-starved tissues.

>  Swiss study suggests surgery may offer best chance of long-term prostate cancer survival [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

A study from Switzerland suggests that men who have surgery for prostate cancer appear less likely to die of the disease within 10 years than men who choose other treatment options, especially if they are younger or have cancers with certain tumor cell ch

>  Drug cocktail stops brain damage caused by HIV [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

A combination of drugs widely used to treat infections caused by HIV appears to stop brain damage caused by the virus as well, according to a study published in the Oct. 9, 2007, issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology

>  Rare gene causes massive increases in efavirenz levels in twelve-year-old leading to psychosis [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Rare gene causes massive increases in efavirenz levels in twelve-year-old leading to psychosis

>  Tablet is better all round for cancer patients [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

A drug to treat colon cancer is proving much more convenient than traditional chemotherapy, has fewer side effects - and a study of almost 2,000 patients has shown it is giving them a better chance of surviving the disease.

>  New Swedish chlamydia strain ‘possible emerging threat to public health’ [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

New Swedish chlamydia strain ‘possible emerging threat to public health'

>  First placebo-controlled study of cognitive impairment due to chronic Lyme disease [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Findings from the first placebo-controlled study of chronic cognitive impairment after treated Lyme disease demonstrate that patients report moderate cognitive impairment, physical dysfunction comparable to patients with congestive heart failure, and fati

>  Biometric sensors no dirtier than doorknobs, study finds [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

While biometric equipment is gaining popularity in a variety of applications, such as ensuring secure access to buildings, industries are finding that many users believe the devices are unsanitary and a potential source of germs that could cause illness.

>  Protein enhances lethality of influenza virus [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

The 1918 influenza virus pandemic was responsible for more than 40 million deaths across the globe. The incredible lethality of the 1918 flu strain is not well understood, despite having been under intense scrutiny for many years. Now, a new study publish

>  Potent peptides inhibit HIV entry into cells [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Based in part on protein structures determined at the National Synchrotron Light Source at the US Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory, scientists at the University of Utah have developed new peptides that appear to be significantly more

>  Advaxis, Inc. phase I/II results of lovaxin C in cervical cancer study released [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

A first-in-man trial of a live Listeria vaccine was reported by Advaxis Inc. at the World Vaccine Conference in Lyon, France.

>  Why it is impossible for some to ’just say no’ [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Drug abuse, crime and obesity are but a few of the problems our nation faces, but they all have one thing in common -- people's failure to control their behavior in the face of temptation. Why do we so often lack this crucial ability? In a new study, res

>  University of Leicester cancer researchers investigate ’smoking gun’ trail [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

The University of Leicester has been selected as the hub of a worldwide network of researchers to investigate one of the causes of cancer.

>  Endoscopic resection is a safe and effective treatment for gastrointestinal smooth muscle tumors [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

A 15-year study led by Dr. Xiao-Dong Zhou from the First Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University investigated 69 patients with gastrointestinal smooth muscle tumors who had accepted endoscopic examination and treatment. They found that endoscopic resec

>  18F-DG PET/CT can highly increase the detection of colorectal cancer [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Colorectal cancer is currently the most common gastrointestinal malignancy. Recurrence and/or metastasis occurs in 30 to 50 percent of patients after surgery. Early diagnosis and accurate staging of postoperative recurrence and metastasis is crucial for p

>  Feline virus, antiviral drug studied to understand drug resistance [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Researchers at Ohio State will spend the next two years testing their theories about just how an AIDS-like virus in cats is able to resist the powerful medicines that are thrown against it. It's one of the latest efforts at understanding one of the leadi

>  Researchers find evidence linking stress caused by the Sept. 11 disaster with low birth weights [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Researchers have found evidence of an increase in low birth weights among babies born in and around New York City in the weeks and months after the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center. Writing in the journal Human Reproduction, they suggest that s

>  Uganda : factory to boost ARV rollout [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Uganda: factory to boost ARV rollout

>  Kenya : treatment literacy lagging behind ARV rollout [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Kenya: treatment literacy lagging behind ARV rollout

>  State laws may limit implementation of CDC’s recommendations for routine HIV testing [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

A new study concludes that routine testing for HIV recommended by the US Centers for Disease Control may violate many state laws. The study, published on Oct. 10 in the online, open-access journal PLoS ONE, found that more than 30 states require specific

>  British attitudes to exercise show misleading guidelines ’should be changed’ [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

British adults now believe that moderate activity is more beneficial than vigorous exercise, according to new research by the University of Exeter and Brunel University. Although most large studies show that the greatest health benefits are derived from r

>  Media availability : low-fat dietary pattern may lower risk of ovarian cancer [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

A diet low in fat could reduce the risk of ovarian cancer in healthy postmenopausal women, according to new results from the Women's Health Initiative dietary modification trial. Researchers found that after four years, women who decreased the amount of

>  Chronic job strain doubles the risk of a second heart attack [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

People who experience chronic job strain after a first heart attack double their risk of suffering from a second one, reports a research team from Université Laval's Faculty of Medicine in the Oct. 10 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Associat

>  ’Network’ approach identifies potential breast cancer susceptibility gene [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Like a crossword-puzzle solver who uses the letters in some answers to figure out others, researchers at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and an international group of collaborators have used data on genes involved in inherited forms of breast cancer to ident

>  Other highlights in the Oct. 9 JNCI [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Also in the Oct. 9 JNCI are an association between allergies and a lower risk of brain cancer, and three new genetic prostate cancer risk factors.

>  Modeling pathogen responses [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

A new study by David Heckerman and colleagues from Massachusetts General Hospital, publishing on Oct. 12, 2007, in PLoS Computational Biology, has come up with a way to match pathogens to their antibodies.

>  Studies underway to find the best time to start anti-HIV therapy in those taking TB treatment [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Studies underway to find the best time to start anti-HIV therapy in those taking TB treatment

>  Stigma surrounding genital herpes a major barrier to disclosure, UK study finds [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Stigma surrounding genital herpes a major barrier to disclosure, UK study finds

>  Sudden increases in viral load in first two years of infection could indicate superinfection [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Sudden increases in viral load in first two years of infection could indicate superinfection

>  Armed with cameras, teens spread health advocacy message in their communities [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

A Children's Memorial Hospital researcher has developed an innovative health advocacy program that uses photovoice, a combination of digital photography and storytelling, to empower minority teens to identify and address important health problems in thei

>  Penn study suggests professional welders at risk for loss of sense of smell [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have found that professional welders who work in enclosed spaces with poor ventilation may be at risk for loss of sense of smell. The study appears in Neurology.

>  ’Chlamy’ genome holds clues for renewable energy, the environment and human health [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

University of Minnesota researchers contributed to a national effort to sequence the genome of an ancient, one-celled organism that will help advance research in a broad range of areas, from biofuels to restoring the environment to understanding a variety

>  Breast cancer awareness calls for cardiovascular awareness [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Women who overcome breast cancer have every reason to celebrate. But a heart filled with joy may also be a heart damaged by life-saving cancer therapies, a growing body of research shows.

>  Jefferson scientists find protein may be key in developing deadly form of pancreatic cancer [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

A tumor-blocking protein previously implicated in prostate and breast cancer development may also be behind the most aggressive type of pancreatic cancer. Researchers have discovered that the protein pp32 -- which normally applies the brakes on a cancer-c

>  JCI table of contents : Oct. 11, 2007 [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

This release contains summaries, links to PDFs and contact information for the following newsworthy papers to be published online, October 11, 2007, in the JCI, including: New insight into childhood metabolic disease; Mast cells get straight As; CD8+ T ce

>  HIV-related symptoms significantly reduced three weeks after quitting smoking [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

HIV-related symptoms significantly reduced three weeks after quitting smoking

>  Quick technique to identify adenoviruses can improve patient care [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

NIAID grantees have adapted a rapid and accurate new molecular typing strategy and used it to conduct one of the most comprehensive studies of adenoviruses ever performed in the United States. Adenoviruses commonly cause respiratory illnesses and infectio

>  Genome update defines landscape of breast and colon cancers [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

One year after completing the first large-scale report sequencing breast and colon cancer genes, Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center scientists have studied the vast majority of protein-coding genes which now suggest a landscape dominated by genes that eac

>  Lack of HIV prevention for male sex workers in the Caribbean could fuel AIDS epidemic [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Male sex tourists, largely from the United States and Europe, may be fueling an HIV/AIDS epidemic in the Caribbean, and efforts to stop the epidemic will be severely hampered unless HIV prevention dollars are diverted to help male prostitutes, a new study

>  CDC Presents First State-by-State Data on Work Limitations Caused by Arthritis [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Work limitation due to arthritis in all working-age adults ranges from a low of 3.4 percent in Hawaii to a high of 15 percent in Kentucky, according to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) study that provides the first ever state-by-state da

>  A tiny pinch from a ’z-ring’ helps bacteria cells divide [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

In process that is shrouded in mystery, rod-shaped bacteria reproduce by splitting themselves in two. By applying advanced mathematics to laboratory data, a team led by Johns Hopkins researchers has solved a small but important part of this reproductive p

>  Prostate cancer increases hip fracture risk by eight times in 50 to 65 year-olds [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Men with prostate cancer are four times more likely to suffer a hip fracture and two times more likely to suffer any kind of fracture. The hip fracture risk rises to eight times in men aged 50-65. Prostate cancer is now a leading cause of male deaths in t

>  Even occasional use of spray cleaners may cause asthma in adults [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Using household cleaning sprays and air fresheners as little as once a week can raise the risk of developing asthma in adults, say researchers in Europe. Such products have been associated with increased asthma rates in cleaning professionals, but a simil

>  Strengthening the reporting of observational research [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Two papers setting out recommendations for the reporting of epidemiological research are published in this week's PLoS Medicine, along with several other journals. The recommendations are the result of a three-year international collaboration known as th

>  Many in Africa don’t continue HIV treatment [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

More than one-third of patients receiving HIV medication in Africa die or discontinue their treatment within two years, according to a study published in PLoS Medicine.

>  Older African-American men with HIV often have sex without condoms [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Study of 130 African-American men with HIV found that 38 percent didn't use condoms during oral sex, 25 percent during vaginal sex and 22 percent during anal sex, despite good knowledge about HIV and AIDS. Single men with fewer symptoms were most likely

>  A Chinese medicine compound has satisfactory anti-cancer effects on hepatocellular carcinoma [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Human hepatocellular carcinoma is a challenging disease worldwide and researchers have long sought an effective cure. A research group in China has found that a Chinese medicinal compound, delisheng, had satisfactory anti-cancer effects on HCC with one ex

>  Raltegravir receives accelerated approval from the FDA [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Raltegravir receives accelerated approval from the FDA

>  Good virological outcome in patients starting HIV therapy in the UK [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Good virological outcome in patients starting HIV therapy in the UK

>  First colonoscopy with removal of polyps linked to reduction in colon cancer death [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Using a model from the National Polyp Study data, researchers found a dramatic reduction in expected colorectal cancer deaths with screening colonoscopy that cleared the colon of precancerous polyps -- whether or not there were follow-up exams -- suggesti

>  Colorectal cancer screening remains essential for elderly Americans [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Two new studies support continued colorectal cancer screening among elderly Americans. While colorectal adenomas were detected more frequently in adults 80 and older, screening colonoscopy improved survival in the elderly by detecting colon cancer at earl

>  Racial and ethnic differences in colorectal cancer emphasize importance of screening [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Minorities are at increased risk for colorectal cancer than Caucasians, but less likely to undergo life-saving screening tests. More African-Americans had proximal advanced polyps than Caucasians, and when compared to Latin Americans, both shared similar

>  Mesalamine linked to cancer protection for high risk inflammatory bowel disease patients [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Mesalamine use among patients with inflammatory bowel disease was associated with a decrease in incidence of colorectal cancer when comparing cases and controls. Patients with IBD are at significantly higher than average risk for colorectal cancer and sho

>  Study reveals a key to blood vessel growth and possible drug target [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Researchers have identified a molecular pathway that plays a critical role in the growth of blood vessels. The finding not only offers an important insight into the development of the vascular system during embryonic development but suggests a potential t

>  Genes that both extend life and protect against cancer identified [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

A person is 100 times more likely to get cancer at age 65 than at age 35. But new research reported today in the journal Nature Genetics identifies naturally occurring processes that allow many genes to both slow aging and protect against cancer in the mu

>  Up to 40% of ART recipients in Africa have died or discontinued treatment within two years [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Up to 40% of ART recipients in Africa have died or discontinued treatment within two years

>  Why are many US patients presenting later for HIV testing and care today than in 1990 ? [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Why are many US patients presenting later for HIV testing and care today than in 1990?

>  No evidence that regulations on construction sites reduce fatal and nonfatal accidents [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Construction workers are frequently exposed to injury-inducing hazards, and various interventions have been proposed to make the work safer. This Cochrane Review has concluded that regulatory interventions did not show either an initial or a sustained eff

>  Simple measures can reduce spread of respiratory viruses [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Blocking transmission of respiratory viruses is an important part of halting spread of disease if an epidemic breaks out. A Cochrane Review has found that good hand-washing with normal soap and water are effective ways of containing respiratory virus epid

>  Taxol-type drugs give slight boost to survival rates in early breast cancer [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

The breast cancer drugs called taxanes, which include taxol and taxotere, increase survival rates when used as part of chemotherapy following surgery for cancers that have not spread, according to a new review of the research.

>  The genetics of MLL leukemogenesis [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

In the Nov. 1 issue of G&D, Dr. Michael Cleary and colleagues identify the gene Meis1 as a critical player in the establishment of leukemia stem cells, and the development of MLL leukemia.

>  Ear infection superbug discovered to be resistant to all pediatric antibiotics [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Researchers have discovered a strain of bacteria resistant to all approved drugs used to fight ear infections in children, according to an article to be published tomorrow in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

>  CDC estimates 94,000 invasive drug-resistant staph infections occurred in the U.S. in 2005 [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Study establishes baseline for MRSA infection estimates

>  UF researchers track genetic journey of HIV from birth to death [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

University of Florida researchers tracked four children born with HIV, studying blood samples taken at birth, throughout life and just after death. Using a high-resolution computational technique, they monitored protein mutations. Previous studies relied

>  Study shows reducing class size may be more cost-effective than most medical interventions [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Reducing the number of students per classroom in US primary schools may be more cost-effective than most public health and medical interventions, according to a study by researchers at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health and the Virginia C

>  National study -- kids’ bike injuries are major public health concern [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Researchers at Nationwide Children's Hospital concluded that bicycle-related injuries among US children may be a more significant public health concern than first thought.

>  Substantial costs and underreporting of dengue fever, concerns about blood supply face US [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

New studies reveal substantial costs and underreporting of dengue fever.

>  Study suggests existing drugs may be useful in treating brain tumors [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Scientists have shown how developing brain tumors can turn an encounter with a signaling molecule from a fatal experience for the tumor cells into a cue for their own growth and multiplication. The transformation relies on two molecules that can be modifi

>  BCM, Rice scientists map flu’s chemical key [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Scientists from Baylor College of Medicine and Rice University have developed the first 3D, molecular map of the protein that allows influenza B to infect healthy cells with viral DNA. The research appears online this week in the Proceedings of the Nation

>  IASP declares the Global Year Against Pain in Women [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Today, the International Association for the Study of Pain has declared 2008 the Global Year Against Pain in Women to draw attention to the significant impact of chronic pain on women and the need for more effective care. Lack of awareness of pain issues

>  Cluster of ’indolent’ KS cases in older, antiretroviral-treated patients in San Francisco [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Cluster of 'indolent' KS cases in older, antiretroviral-treated patients in San Francisco

>  CDC Study Finds U.S. Schools Making Progress in Decreasing Availability of Junk Food and Promoting Physical Activity [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Activity However, More Progress Needed to Foster Health and Wellness of Students

>  CDC Study Finds U.S. Schools Making Progress in Decreasing Availability of Junk Food and Promoting Physical [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Activity However, More Progress Needed to Foster Health and Wellness of Students

>  CDC Launches Redesigned Spanish Web Site "CDC en Español" [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Usable Layout, New Search Engine and New Features Help People Find Information and Resources

>  HPV vaccine does not appear to be effective for treating pre-existing HPV infection [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

For women with human papillomavirus infection, use of the HPV-16/18 vaccine will not accelerate reduction of the virus and should not be used to treat the infection, according to a study in the Aug. 15 issue of JAMA.

>  Clinical trial evaluating brain cancer vaccine is underway at NYU [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

A clinical trial evaluating a brain cancer vaccine in patients with newly diagnosed brain cancer has begun at NYU Medical Center. The study will evaluate the addition of the vaccine following standard therapy with surgery and chemotherapy in patients with

>  Liver fibrosis often progresses rapidly in HIV/HCV co-infected ; elevated AST levels best predictor [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Liver fibrosis often progresses rapidly in HIV/HCV co-infected; elevated AST levels best predictor

>  Fosamprenavir : US approves once-daily dose with less ritonavir boosting [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Fosamprenavir: US approves once-daily dose with less ritonavir boosting

>  PEPFAR money being used to ’promote homophobia’, charges human rights group [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

PEPFAR money being used to 'promote homophobia', charges human rights group

>  Atripla takes a key step towards European approval [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Atripla takes a key step towards European approval

>  Hypersensitivity reaction in patient taking Truvada with similar symptoms to abacavir allergy [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Hypersensitivity reaction in patient taking Truvada with similar symptoms to abacavir allergy

>  Enzyme synergy shown to perpetuate sleeping sickness [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

The pathogenesis of the parasite African trypanosome (T. brucei) has been linked to a key protein switch, detailed in a new study by researchers at the University of Iowa and the Veterans Affairs Medical Center of Iowa City, led by Dr. John Donelson. The

>  The politics of the playground : lack of athletic skill often means loneliness and peer rejection [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

A new Canadian study looking at the connections between athletic skill and social acceptance among school children has found that kids place a great deal of value on athletic ability, and youngsters deemed unskilled by their peers often experience sadness

>  Drug combination might offer hope for patients deadly brain tumors [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Brain cancer patients with the poorest prognosis -- those with a type of deadly tumor known as glioblastoma multiforme -- may survive longer with a drug that chokes off a tumor's blood supply.

>  How 1 bacteria colonizes the gut and causes food poisoning [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Food poisoning caused by the bacteria enterohemorrhagic Eschericia coli O157:H7A results in severe abdominal cramps and bloody diarrhea. In the very young and old it can also cause hemolytic uremic syndrome -- a disease characterized by anemia and kidney

>  JCI table of contents : Oct. 18, 2007 [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

This release contains summaries, links to PDFs and contact information for the following newsworthy papers to be published online, Oct. 18, 2007, in the JCI, including: New links in the cystic fibrosis chain uncover potential therapeutics; How one bacteri

>  Exposure to sunlight may decrease risk of advanced breast cancer by half [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

A research team from the Northern California Cancer Center, the University of Southern California, and Wake Forest University School of Medicine has found that increased exposure to sunlight -- which increases levels of vitamin D in the body -- may decrea

>  St. Jude identifies the specific cell that causes eye cancer, disproving long-held theory [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Investigators at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital have identified the cell that gives rise to the eye cancer retinoblastoma, disproving a long-standing principle of nerve growth and development.

>  DNA vaccine against multiple sclerosis appears safe, potentially beneficial [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

A newly developed DNA vaccine appears safe and may produce beneficial changes in the brains and immune systems of individuals with multiple sclerosis, according to an article posted online today that will appear in the October 2007 print issue of Archives

>  Immune cells fighting chronic infections become progressively ’exhausted,’ ineffective [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

A new study of immune cells battling a chronic viral infection shows that the cells, called T cells, become exhausted by the fight in specific ways, undergoing profound changes that make them progressively less effective over time. The findings also point

>  Internists endorse 2007-08 adult immunization schedule and publish in Annals of Internal Medicine [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

The American College of Physicians endorses the US Centers for Disease Control's adult immunization schedule for 2007-2008 and publishes the recommendations on the Web site of its flagship journal, Annals of Internal Medicine, on Oct. 18. This is the fir

>  Exercise and psychological counseling could ease cancer-related fatigue [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Cancer patients suffering from symptoms of fatigue might find some relief through regular exercise and psychological counseling to deal with stress, according to a new review.

>  Personal safety concerns could thwart exercise targets for the poor [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Exercise is strongly promoted for the maintenance of good health -- particularly as regards people on lower incomes, who are generally less physically active. However, new research published in PLoS Medicine suggests that one barrier to physical activity

>  Using information technologies to conduct clinical trials in low income settings [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

This week PLoS Medicine publishes a special collection of articles that aim to highlight the profound influence of poverty upon health, as part of the Council of Science Editors' Global Theme Issue on Poverty and Human Development. Can the international

>  African women with inadequate food supply are more likely to have high-risk sex [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

This week PLoS Medicine publishes a special collection of articles that aim to highlight the profound influence of poverty upon health, as part of the Council of Science Editors' Global Theme Issue on Poverty and Human Development.

>  Which intervention would do the most to improve the health of the extreme poor ? [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

This week PLoS Medicine publishes a special collection of articles that aim to highlight the profound influence of poverty upon health, as part of the Council of Science Editors' Global Theme Issue on Poverty and Human Development. In this tip sheet: Whi

>  HIV is spread most by people with medium levels of HIV in blood, says study [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

People with medium levels of HIV in their blood are likely to contribute most to the spread of the virus, according to new research published today in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The study found that those with a high vira

>  Broccoli sprout-derived extract protects against ultraviolet radiation [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

A team of Johns Hopkins scientists reports in this week's issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences that humans can be protected against the damaging effects of ultraviolet radiation -- the most abundant cancer-causing agent in our env

>  Transparent zebrafish help researchers track breast cancer [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

What if doctors could peer through a patient's skin and see a cancer tumor growing? They'd be able to study how tumor cells migrate: how they look, how they interact with the blood system to find nourishment to grow and spread through the body. Scientis

>  HIV testing in the US : those at highest risk also most likely to put off testing [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

HIV testing in the US: those at highest risk also most likely to put off testing

>  Improvement still needed in HIV testing in high-risk groups [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Since 2000, the rates of HIV testing have remained relatively low and constant in the US, with about one third of Americans ever having had an HIV test, and less than a quarter of the people considered at high risk for contracting the virus that causes AI

>  Common virus may help doctors treat deadly brain tumors [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

A common human virus may prove useful in attacking the deadliest form of brain tumors, according to a study by researchers at Duke's Preston Robert Tisch Brain Tumor Center. The researchers said the finding is an important step in developing a vaccine th

>  Clues to ensuring anti-HIV drugs are taken in Africa [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

HIV-infected patients in the African country of Tanzania were more likely to stop taking their medications and to fail treatment if they had to pay for the drugs themselves.

>  Female plasma may not be as harmful as once thought [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

As the national blood banking community considers limiting the use plasma from female donors because of a rare but potentially catastrophic lung condition, researchers from Duke University Medical Center have shown that this policy change might be prematu

>  APC papers in global theme issue on poverty [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

"Human Resources for Treating HIV/AIDS: Needs, Capacities, and Gaps" published online today in AIDS Patient Care and STDs has been selected to be one of seven papers presented orally at the NIH Launch of the Council of Science Editors' Global Theme Issue

>  Global theme issue on poverty and human development [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Four Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. journals are participating in the Global Theme Issue on Poverty and Human Development, a special worldwide publishing event on Oct. 22, 2007, to raise awareness and stimulate dialogue to address poverty and human development. T

>  Study finds genetic influence on pace of HIV/AIDS progression [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Viral load -- the amount of virus in the blood of an HIV-infected person -- has long been viewed as the chief indicator of how quickly someone infected with HIV infection progresses to AIDS. New data published in Nature Immunology builds on previous work

>  Age affects motivation for quitting smoking [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

A new study shows that obstacles to smoking cessation and motives for quitting smoking vary with age.

>  Hypnosis for smoking cessation sees strong results [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Hospitalized patients who smoke may be more likely to quit smoking through the use of hypnotherapy than patients using other smoking cessation methods.

>  More fast food means greater BMI [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Americans are less willing to pay more for healthy dishes, less knowledgeable about healthy menu items, and more likely to consider healthy items bland tasting, finds a Temple University analysis.

>  Mayo Clinic tests novel vaccine for aggressive brain tumors [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

A vaccine that has significantly increased life expectancy in early tests of patients with glioblastoma multiforme -- the most common, most aggressive form of brain cancer in adults -- is now being offered through a clinical trial at Mayo Clinic in Jackso

>  Detecting primary HIV infection in Africa without viral load test is possible [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Detecting primary HIV infection in Africa without viral load test is possible

>  Pregnancy rather than HIV affects blood levels of antimalarial drug [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Pregnancy rather than HIV affects blood levels of antimalarial drug

>  Scientists discover a direct route from the brain to the immune system [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

It used to be dogma that the brain was shut away from the actions of the immune system, shielded from the outside forces of nature. But that's not how it is at all. In fact, thanks to the scientific detective work of Kevin Tracey, MD, it turns out that th

>  Mayo Clinic reports possible new therapy for patients with platinum-resistant ovarian cancer [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Mayo Clinic today reported promising interim results from a Phase II trial of a new combination therapy for patients with recurrent ovarian cancer that is resistant to platinum therapy.

>  Experimental cancer pharmaceuticals under trial [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Advances in drug development have enabled scientists to attack new and unconventional cancer targets, leading to better treatments for cancer patients with fewer unwanted side effects. The following items highlight the early results from two experimental

>  Advances in drug screening : building a better haystack for the needles of tomorrow [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

With the discovery of suitable molecular targets -- cellular molecules along pathways crucial for sustaining the life of cancer cells -- comes the perplexing dilemma of where to find the next therapeutics that will bind to and disable those targets. While

>  Clinical studies in the pipeline : the therapies of tomorrow in trials today [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Studies presented at the AACR-NCI-EORTC International Conference on Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics demonstrate the flexibility of targeted therapy techniques, where new drugs can be developed and tested in human trials more quickly and safely t

>  Ideal weight varies across cultures, but body image dissatisfaction pervades [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

While different cultures celebrate different body types, researchers at Temple University have found that despite their background, school age children who are overweight or obese are still unhappy with their body image.

>  Mayo Clinic Proceedings article explores possible link between obesity and viral infections [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Experts don't dispute the important role that diet and activity play in maintaining a healthy weight. But can poor eating habits and a less active lifestyle fully explain the prevalence of obesity in the US today? That question has led some researchers t

>  MSU researcher helps develop computer game for Ugandan children recovering from cerebral malaria [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

The computer program Captain's Log ­- originally used with individuals diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, brain injuries or learning disabilities -- is being adapted to rehabilitate Ugandan children who are survivors of cerebral mal

>  Undetectable viral load is goal for all, together with earlier treatment, say new European treatment guidelines [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Undetectable viral load is goal for all, together with earlier treatment, say new European treatment guidelines

>  Lower weight explains why HIV-positive patients have a risk of lower bone mineral density [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Lower weight explains why HIV-positive patients have a risk of lower bone mineral density

>  Test gives insight into prognosis in patients with plasma cell malignancies, finds Mayo Clinic study [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

A new Mayo Clinic study due to be presented at the annual meeting of the American Society of Human Genetics in San Diego this week shows that a chromosome test called 'FISH' is better than conventional methods in identifying chromosomal genetic abnormal

>  Paradox : people with moderate viral load more likely to pass on HIV than newly infected, study suggests [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Paradox: people with moderate viral load more likely to pass on HIV than newly infected, study suggests

>  Canadians welcome HPV vaccine -- but not at any price [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Canadians would welcome a vaccine against the human papillomavirus if it were introduced at no charge, a Quebec, Canada survey suggests. Research published in the open-access online journal BMC Public Health shows that 91 percent of young women (18-25 yea

>  Bacterial strain that causes ear infections emerges ; resistant to antibiotics, pneumococcal vaccine [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

A strain of the bacteria Streptococcus pneumoniae, which can cause ear infections in children, has been detected that is resistant to all FDA-approved antibiotics for treatment of ear infections and is not covered by the pneumococcal 7-valent conjugate va

>  JAMA study shows what works in treating HIV-infected African children [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Zambian children enrolled in a study experienced a more than doubling of their CD4 cell counts after one year of antiretrovirals, according to the University of Alabama at Birmingham study. Due to a doctor shortage in the country non-physician HIV pediatr

>  Phase I pharmacokinetic study of ECO-4601, a novel bifunctional targeting agent [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

A first-in-class, targeted investigational therapy specifically designed to inhibit a single protein that functions only during cell division shows potent activity in a broad range of cancer cell lines, say researchers presenting at the AACR-NCI-EORTC Int

>  Child health psychologists need to promote adult disease prevention [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Many of the lifestyle habits that children and adolescents develop -- eating a diet high in fat and low in fruits and vegetables, being physically inactive or sedentary, and experimenting with tobacco and alcohol use -- can have a major impact on their he

>  Canadian Parliamentarians’ attitudes toward health research [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

A survey of Canadian Parliamentarians reveals that most are poorly informed about health research activities, benefits and costs in Canada.

>  Smoked cannabis proven effective in treating neuropathic pain [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Smoked cannabis eased pain induced in healthy volunteers, according to a study by researchers at the University of California, San Diego Center for Medical Cannabis Research However, the researchers found that less may be more.

>  Large avian flu outbreaks more likely to involve duck meat industry, experts find [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Scientists at the University of Liverpool have found that 73 percent of avian flu outbreaks in the UK would not spread beyond the initial infected farm, but larger outbreaks are more likely to involve the duck meat industry.

>  Oncolytics Biotech Inc. announces approval for UK clinical trial [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Oncolytics Biotech to begin a clinical trial using intravenous administration of Reolysin in combination with cyclophosphamide, a chemotherapeutic agent as well as immune modulator, in patients with advanced cancers.

>  Swiss find no increase in transmitted resistance over past decade [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Swiss find no increase in transmitted resistance over past decade

>  Rectal inflammation study establishes normal values, confirms efficacy of potent anti-HIV therapy [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Rectal inflammation study establishes normal values, confirms efficacy of potent anti-HIV therapy

>  Girls aged twelve and 13 to get HPV vaccination in England, two year catch-up to vaccinate girls aged up to 18 [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Girls aged twelve and 13 to get HPV vaccination in England, two year catch-up to vaccinate girls aged up to 18

>  Boosted saquinavir as good as Kaletra, Gemini study shows [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Boosted saquinavir as good as Kaletra, Gemini study shows

>  Bevirimat 300mg oral solution dose does well in study [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Bevirimat 300mg oral solution dose does well in study

>  Once-daily nevirapine doesn’t improve adherence, may increase risk of treatment break and resistance [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Once-daily nevirapine doesn't improve adherence, may increase risk of treatment break and resistance

>  Women who don’t have enough to eat taking more sexual risks in Africa [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Women who don't have enough to eat taking more sexual risks in Africa

>  JCI table of contents : Oct. 25, 2007 [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

This release contains summaries, links to PDFs and contact information for the following newsworthy papers to be published online, Oct. 25, 2007, in the JCI, including: Drug that lowers blood pressure might help prevent Alzheimer disease; How to design a

>  How to design a cancer-killing virus [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

One new way to treat individuals with cancer that is being developed is the use of viruses that infect and kill cancer cells while leaving normal cells unharmed. These viruses are known as virotherapeutics. In a new study in the Journal of Clinical Invest

>  Drugstore in the dirt [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

French clay that kills several kinds of disease-causing bacteria is at the forefront of new research into age-old, nearly forgotten, but surprisingly potent cures. Among the malevolent bacteria that a French clay has been shown to fight is a 'flesh-eatin

>  Study shows blood markers can help choose best dose for antiangiogenic drugs [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Scientists at Sunnybrook have new information that may help to improve the use of anti-cancer drugs designed to block the growth of new blood vessels in tumors, a process called angiogenesis that is critical to tumor growth. While these antiangiogenic dru

>  Paradox : people with moderate viral load more likely to pass on HIV [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Paradox: people with moderate viral load more likely to pass on HIV

>  Study finds multiple neglected tropical diseases effectively treated with drugs [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

The neglected tropical diseases are a group of 13 infectious diseases, including elephantiasis, hookworm, African sleeping sickness and trachoma, which affect more than one billion people worldwide, most of whom live in extreme poverty. In a study publish

>  HIV patients sicker when seeking care than in the past [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

It was hoped that as HIV treatment improved and as HIV-related public health initiatives encouraged people to be tested for the disease and seek care, that HIV-infected patients would seek care quickly.

>  Mayo Clinic study points to a possible biomarker for colon cancer in people 50 and under [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

An abnormality of chromosomes long associated with diseases of aging has, for the first time, been linked to colon cancer in people 50 years old and younger, an age group usually considered young for this disease.

>  CDC Advisory Committee Recommends Nasal Spray Flu Vaccine for Children Ages Two to Five [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

A panel of immunization experts has voted to expand the recommendation for the nasal spray influenza vaccine...

>  Radiation seeds effectively cure prostate cancer in young men [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Radiation seed implants are just as effective at curing prostate cancer in younger men (aged 60 and younger) as they are in older men, according to a study presented at a scientific session on Oct. 31, 2007, at the American Society for Therapeutic Radiolo

>  Radiation plus chemo quadruples survival time for fatal brain cancer [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Over four times as many patients with a rapidly fatal type of brain cancer, glioblastoma multiforme, who are treated with the chemotherapy drug temozolomide and radiation therapy, can live for four years after diagnosis, compared to those who receive only

>  Breast cancer returns more often in black women [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Contrary to previous studies, African-American women with early-stage breast cancer who have surgery to remove the cancer followed by radiation therapy have a higher chance of their cancer coming back in the breast and lymph nodes 10 years after diagnosis

>  Can cholesterol-lowering medicine make radiation more effective at curing prostate cancer ? [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Patients with prostate cancer who receive high-dose radiation treatment and also take statin drugs commonly used to lower cholesterol have a 10 percent higher chance of being cured of their cancer at 10 years after diagnosis (76 percent), compared to thos

>  Higher doses of radiation for prostate cancer do not decrease sexual function [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Recent advances in the delivery of radiation therapy for prostate cancer are fueling a new trend of providing higher radiation doses over shorter periods of time. But does the daily increase in radiation lead to more sexual dysfunction than the convention

>  New treatment option studied for bladder cancer [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

A chemotherapy regimen for patients with advanced bladder cancer who aren't eligible for standard treatment is under study at the Medical College of Georgia.

>  Preventing lung scarring may extend lives of lung cancer patients [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Researchers have found that using a special type of drug called a pharmaceutical monoclonal antibody to block the integrin beta6-TGF-beta pathway prevents a serious side effect of radiation therapy for lung cancer patients -- pulmonary fibrosis -- thereby

>  1 size may not fit all [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

In an editorial in the October issue of the journal Gastroenterology, Thomas F. Imperiale, M.D., professor of medicine at the Indiana University School of Medicine and a Regenstrief Institute, Inc. research scientist, says that studies that can help deter

>  Tiny radioactive spheres effectively treat cancer that has spread to the liver [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Placing tiny radioactive spheres directly into the liver through its blood supply halted growth of tumors that had spread to the organ in 71 percent of patients tested in a small clinical trial, researchers from Mayo Clinic Jacksonville report.

>  New peptide communication factor enabling bacteria to ’talk to each other’ discovered [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Discovery by Hebrew University of Jerusalem researchers of a new communication factor that enables bacteria to "talk to each other" and causes their death could have significant consequences leading to development of a new class of antibiotic medications.

>  UGA researchers 1 step closer to elusive cancer vaccine [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Researchers at the University of Georgia Cancer Center have synthesized a carbohydrate-based vaccine that -- in mice -- has successfully triggered a strong immune response to cancer cells. The finding, published in the October issue of the journal Nature

>  EACS : One in five UK patients remains on failing therapy for over a year [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

EACS: One in five UK patients remains on failing therapy for over a year

>  EACS : Hospital admissions and appointments predict subsequent HIV diagnosis and death [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

EACS: Hospital admissions and appointments predict subsequent HIV diagnosis and death

>  EACS : Once-a-day Kaletra can be risky [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

EACS: Once-a-day Kaletra can be risky

>  EACS proposes list of ‘indicator diseases’ to prompt the offer of an HIV test [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

EACS proposes list of ‘indicator diseases' to prompt the offer of an HIV test

>  Study examines ethnic differences in sleep quality and blood pressure [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

In this month's issue of the American Journal of Hypertension, Dr. Joel Hughes, Kent State assistant professor of psychology, and colleagues examine the possibility that sleep quality may help account for ethnic differences in blood pressure dipping.

>  Education program leads to lasting improvement of cancer knowledge in African-Americans [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Disparities in access to health care and education hinder minorities and socioeconomically disadvantaged populations from receiving needed cancer services and often delay cancer diagnoses. To determine the lasting impact of cancer education geared toward

>  Education program leads to lasting improvement of cancer knowledge in African Americans [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Disparities in access to health care and education hinder minorities and socioeconomically disadvantaged populations from receiving needed cancer services and often delay cancer diagnoses. To determine the lasting impact of cancer education geared toward

>  Intravenous gene therapy protects normal tissue of mice during whole-body radiation [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Gene therapy administered intravenously could be used as an agent to protect vital organs and tissues from the effects of ionizing radiation in the event of large-scale exposure from a radiological or nuclear bomb. In the University of Pittsburgh study, m

>  Integrated approach to IMRT provides quality care for head and neck cancer patients [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Results from a University of Pittsburgh study demonstrate that intensity-modulated radiation therapy can be uniformly delivered in a large healthcare system of academic and community cancer centers through a centralized planning and treatment process. Acc

>  Testing delays cause severe AIDS complications, Einstein researchers find [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Despite the availability of life-saving antiretroviral treatment, people infected with HIV continue to die and suffer from complications of AIDS, mainly due to delayed diagnosis and initiation of treatment. A researcher at the Albert Einstein College of M

>  Study : Fountain of youth for your heart ? [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

University of Alberta professor Jason Dyck's findings suggest that the protein responsible for transporting fat into the contractile cells of the heart may be a candidate for drug inhibition and that this drug could protect the heart from aging. This res

>  St. Jude finds anti-leukemia drug increases patient fatigue [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

The anti-leukemia drug dexamethasone contributes to a relentless fatigue and poor quality of sleep in children undergoing treatment for acute lymphoblastic leukemia, according to a new study from St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. The finding suggest

>  EACS : Studies underline the need for better hepatitis C treatment [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

EACS: Studies underline the need for better hepatitis C treatment

>  HIV transmission in Africa : high risk groups equally important in early and advanced epidemics [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

HIV transmission in Africa: high risk groups equally important in early and advanced epidemics

>  Two and a half years extra ART if treatment starts at 500 CD4s, not 350 [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Two and a half years extra ART if treatment starts at 500 CD4s, not 350

>  HIV-TB spreads in Africa, undermines control of world’s 2 deadliest infectious diseases [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

The largely unnoticed collision of the global epidemics of HIV and tuberculosis has exploded to create a deadly co-epidemic that is rapidly spreading in sub-Saharan Africa. However, health systems cannot adequately diagnose, treat, or contain the co-epide

>  JCI table of contents : Nov. 1, 2007 [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

This release contains summaries, links to PDFs, and contact information for the following newsworthy papers to be published Nov. 1, 2007, in the JCI, including: Mice predict the effectiveness of orally taken drugs; Stressed out skin loses its antimicrobia

>  Studies attribute recent increase in multiple myeloma survival to novel therapies [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Multiple myeloma is one of the most common and devastating bone marrow cancers in the US, but survival rates have risen dramatically over the past decade. Recent analyses suggest that this trend may be attributed to new types of drugs and aggressive thera

>  Researchers discover new way to predict survival in older women with lung cancer [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Researchers at UCLA's Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center have discovered a novel mechanism to predict survival in older women with early-stage lung cancer. The finding may have significant implications for new treatment approaches.

>  Lifetime trauma may speed progression of HIV, early death [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Even though effective drug cocktails have improved the outlook for many patients with HIV, disease progression, including the time from AIDS onset to death, varies widely from patient to patient. Now, a study led by the University of North Carolina at Cha

>  Radio waves fire up nanotubes embedded in tumors, destroying liver cancer [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Cancer cells treated with carbon nanotubes can be destroyed by non-invasive radio waves that heat up the nanotubes while sparing untreated tissue, a research team led by scientists at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center and Rice Universit

>  A missed shot : The failure of HPV vaccination state requirements [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

In an article appearing in the current issue of Clinical Pharmacology & Therapeutics, experts from the University of Pennsylvania Center for Bioethics and Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of Bioethics review the controversy surrounding the human papillomavi

>  Obesity common in children with heart disease [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Obesity is common in children with congenital and acquired heart disease, a population already at increased risk of a shortened life expectancy. While the 25 percent prevalence of overweight and obesity is similar to the rate found in the general pediatri

>  Increased glucose level is a strong risk factor for colorectal cancer [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

According to the results of a study published in Gastroenterology, patients with high levels of insulin and glucose are at increased risk of developing recurrent colorectal adenomas, or tumors, with elevated glucose providing the strongest risk factor for

>  Minority patients prefer optical colonoscopy for colorectal cancer screening [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Individuals of racial/ethnic minorities strongly prefer and better tolerate optical colonoscopy vs. white patients who prefer computed tomographic colonography for the evaluation of the colon, according to a new study published in Clinical Gastroenterolog

>  SUMO wrestles SENP1 over response to hypoxia, providing possible cancer targets [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Researchers at the University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center have found a protein that enables cellular survival during periods of low oxygen, or hypoxia, which also is key for development of many kinds of cancer.

>  Mayo Clinic study shows drug could effectively treat, prevent the spread of breast cancer [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

A Mayo Clinic study of a drug that has shown promise in treating sarcoma, lung and brain cancers, demonstrates that the drug may also be effective in treating breast cancer, in particular the spread of breast cancer.

>  Don’t tell mother she has cancer [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

When family members ask physicians not to disclose bad news to ill loved ones, it can cause clinicians considerable distress as they try to balance their obligation to be truthful to the patient with the family's belief that such information would be har

>  Link between a sleep-related breathing disorder and increased heart rate variability [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

A sleep-related breathing disorder, common in heart failure, increases one's heart rate variability. Further, central sleep apnea and obstructive sleep apnea produce different patterns of heart rate variability, which are likely to reflect the different

>  Curry-derived molecules might be too spicy for colorectal cancers [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Curcumin, the yellowish component of turmeric that gives curry its flavor, has long been noted for its potential anti-cancer properties. Researchers from Tohoku University in Sendai, Japan, report on an apparent improvement upon nature: two molecular anal

>  Antioxidants could provide all-purpose radiation protection [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Two common dietary molecules found in legumes and bran could protect DNA from the harmful effects of radiation, researchers from the University of Maryland report. Inositol and inositol hexaphosphate protected both human skin cells and a skin cancer-prone

>  Rare cancer-causing syndrome found, for the first time, in Singapore [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

A rare hereditary disorder that strongly predisposes carriers to develop cancer at an early age has been found in an Asian female, report researchers today at the American Association for Cancer Research Centennial Conference on Translational Cancer Medic

>  Avoid d4T say investigators after finding high incidence of lactic acidosis in Botswana [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Avoid d4T say investigators after finding high incidence of lactic acidosis in Botswana

>  "Well, you can do something about it, there’s PEP" - HIV-positive gay men have role in telling partners about PEP [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

"Well, you can do something about it, there's PEP" - HIV-positive gay men have role in telling partners about PEP

>  Study shows energy drink ’cocktails’ lead to increased injury risk [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

College students who drink alcohol mixed with so-called "energy" drinks are at dramatically higher risk for injury and other alcohol-related consequences, compared to students who drink alcohol without energy drinks, according to new research from Wake Fo

>  Study identifies novel gene alterations in lung cancer [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Unprecedented study of the genomic landscape of lung cancer identifies key gene alteration not previously implicated in any form of cancer.

>  Genome study charts genetic landscape of lung cancer [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

An international team of scientists today announced the results of a systematic effort to map the genetic changes underlying lung cancer, the world's leading cause of cancer deaths.

>  RACE : a statewide model of better, faster heart attack care [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

A North Carolina team of doctors, nurses, hospitals and emergency medical service workers has come up with a way to provide faster, more effective treatment for heart attack patients. It doesn't require expensive drugs or fancy new equipment. But it does

>  Doctors Without Borders calls for urgent TB drug development [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

In this week's magazine section, PLoS Medicine publishes three policy papers arising from a recent Medecins Sans Frontieres/Doctors Without Borders symposium on the urgent need to develop new drugs for tuberculosis.

>  Zanzibar’s impressive attack on malaria [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Research in Zanzibar, Tanzania has found a remarkable fall in the number of children dying from malaria. Within a three-year period (2002 to 2005), malaria deaths among the islands' children dropped to a quarter of the previous level and overall child de

>  Use of available infection control measures could halve hospital-based transmission of XDR TB in South Africa [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Use of available infection control measures could halve hospital-based transmission of XDR TB in South Africa

>  Spread of drug-resistant virus remains stable during expanded drug access in Côte d’Ivoire [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Spread of drug-resistant virus remains stable during expanded drug access in Côte d'Ivoire

>  Breaking a sweat helps control weight gain over 20 years [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

A consistently high level of physical activity from young adulthood into middle age increases the odds of maintaining a stable weight and lessens the amount of weight gained over time, according to a new analysis from Northwestern University. People who r

>  Over-the-counter pain medications may reduce risk of Parkinson’s disease [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Over-the-counter pain medications known as non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs may reduce a person's risk of Parkinson's disease, according to a study published in the Nov. 6, 2007, issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Ne

>  Relationship between statins and cognitive decline more complex than thought [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Indiana University School of Medicine and the Regenstrief Institute, Inc. researchers have found an association of statin use with less cognitive decline in elderly African Americans and report that, surprisingly, the association is even stronger for thos

>  Relationship between environmental stress and cancer elucidated [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

One way environmental stress causes cancer is by reducing the activity level of an enzyme that causes cell death, researchers say.

>  Changing the way doctors treat high blood pressure [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Scientists at Robarts Research Institute have developed a simplified and more effective method of treating high blood pressure.

>  Biomarker may be an early predictor of advanced breast cancer [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Researchers have identified a molecule that may be more accurate than existing biological signposts used to predict which breast cancers will develop into advanced forms of the disease.

>  Large VA study finds seasonal differences in blood pressure [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Fewer people treated for high blood pressure return to normal pressure levels in the winter compared to those treated in the summer, Veterans Affairs researchers reported at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2007.

>  Guardian of genome predicts treatment outcomes for childhood cancer [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Researchers have identified a new role for a cancer-prevention gene in the response to drug treatment for childhood cancer.

>  ’Well, you can do something about it, there’s PEP’ - HIV-positive gay men have role in telling partners about PEP [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

'Well, you can do something about it, there's PEP' - HIV-positive gay men have role in telling partners about PEP

>  Drug slows prostate tumor growth by keeping vitamin A active [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

A novel compound that blocks the breakdown of retinoic acid, derived from vitamin A, is a surprisingly effective and "promiscuous" agent in treating animal models of human prostate cancer, say investigators from the University of Maryland, Baltimore.

>  Researchers chart the genetic mechanisms behind the genesis of fat cells [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Obesity is a well known risk factor for prostate, breast and colon cancer, but recent studies have shown that a protein responsible for generating fat cells also plays an important role in cancer. Researchers at the Genome Institute of Singapore have cond

>  New drug combination shows promise for African sleeping sickness [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

A small clinical trial in Uganda, conducted within a long-established Medecins Sans Frontieres treatment program for African sleeping sickness, has found that a new combination treatment using the drugs nifurtimox and eflornithine holds promise and deserv

>  Gene expression profiling of dengue virus infection in cell lines and patients [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Researchers at the Novartis Institute for Tropical Diseases and the Genome Institute of Singapore have identified new host genes associated with dengue virus infection, which may open new avenues to developing a drug to treat the disease. The results sugg

>  Is hole in DOTS policy playing a role in the evolution of an XDR-TB strain ? [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Is hole in DOTS policy playing a role in the evolution of an XDR-TB strain?

>  Kaletra monotherapy can reduce levels of HIV in the brain [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Kaletra monotherapy can reduce levels of HIV in the brain

>  Cold Spring Harbor scientists devise novel, low-cost method of sifting genome’s high-value regions [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Scientists at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory have developed a new means of extracting and interpreting data from the human genome that is more powerful and more economical than methods currently employed. The new technology, called selective resequencing,

>  Chronic kidney disease common in the United States [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

According to a study lead by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, there is a high prevalence of chronic kidney disease in the United States, which has risen over the past decade. The overall prevalence of chronic kidney dise

>  Is fear of gaining weight keeping many women from trying to quit smoking ? [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Is a fear of getting fatter partly to blame for the fact that nearly one in five American women still smokes, and many don't try to quit? Although there are many possible reasons for the stubborn persistence of smoking, fear of weight gain is high on the

>  To fight disease, animals, like plants, can tolerate parasites [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Animals, like plants, can build tolerance to infections at a genetic level, and these findings could provide a better understanding of the epidemiology and evolution of infectious disease, according to evolutionary biologists.

>  NASA technology helps predict and prevent future pandemic outbreaks [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

NASA satellite technology is being used to track and prevent pandemic outbreaks around the world.

>  Half of all recent HIV diagnoses in Brighton gay men identified as recent infections [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Half of all recent HIV diagnoses in Brighton gay men identified as recent infections

>  Diesel exhaust associated with higher heart attack, stroke risk in men [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Increased roadway pollution produced by diesel fuel in vehicles is leading to a cascade of conditions that could result in heart attack or stroke, researchers suggested in the report of a small study presented at the American Heart Association's Scientif

>  Australian researchers develop treatment to treat obesity [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

A team of Australian researchers have developed a novel way to control the extreme weight loss, common in late-stage cancer, which often speeds death. The findings published today in Nature Medicine suggest it may soon be possible to prevent this conditio

>  Liver cirrhosis in co-infected : prognosis poor, but improved by HAART [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Liver cirrhosis in co-infected: prognosis poor, but improved by HAART

>  Fatty liver may be common in non-coinfected people with HIV : small study [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Fatty liver may be common in non-coinfected people with HIV: small study

>  Acute HIV infection found frequently in pregnant women ; enhanced testing recommended [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Acute HIV infection found frequently in pregnant women; enhanced testing recommended

>  IAVI statement on new analysis of STEP large-scale AIDS vaccine trial [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

The International AIDS Vaccine Initiative issued the following statement from its president and CEO, Dr. Seth Berkley, following the release of the first analysis of the entire study population from a late-stage AIDS vaccine trial, known as the STEP study

>  OHSU research suggests America may over-vaccinate [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

A new study published in the New England Journal of Medicine this week by OHSU researchers suggests that timelines for vaccinating and revaccinating Americans against disease should possibly be re-evaluated and adjusted. The study shows that in many cases

>  The release of new data from the HVTN 502 HIV vaccine study [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

The new analyses revealed today from the STEP HIV vaccine clinical trial are both disappointing and puzzling. At this time, the data offer no clear explanations as to why the vaccine showed no measurable efficacy or why among individuals with background i

>  Leukemia drug proves safe and effective over the long term [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

The drug imatinib mesylate, more commonly known as Gleevec, proves safe and effective over the long term in patients with an advanced form of chronic myeloid leukemia, according to a study prepublished online in Blood, the official journal of the American

>  Health toll of climate change seen as ethical crisis [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

The public health costs of global climate change are likely to be the greatest in those parts of the world that have contributed least to the problem, posing a significant ethical dilemma for the developed world, according to a new study.

>  New research to help fight widespread potato disease [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Scientists have made a key discovery into the genetics of the bacteria that causes blackleg, an economically-damaging disease of potatoes, that could lead to new ways to fight the disease. The researchers at the University of Cambridge, funded by the Biot

>  Store-bought freshwater fish contain elevated levels of mercury, arsenic and selenium [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

White bass wild-caught and sold commercially contained significantly higher levels of mercury, arsenic and selenium than fish caught near former industrial areas, according to a study by researchers at the University of Pittsburgh. Results indicated that

>  Higher levels of pollutants found in fish caught near a coal-fired power plant [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Emissions from coal-fired power plants may be an important source of water pollution and fish contamination, say researchers at the University of Pittsburgh. Researchers found higher-than-EPA-recommended levels of mercury and elevated levels of selenium i

>  Extracts of catfish caught in polluted waters cause breast cancer cells to multiply [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Exposing estrogen-sensitive breast cancer cells to extracts of fish caught in areas with heavy sewer and industrial waste causes the cells to multiply, according to a University of Pittsburgh study. The study, which tested extracts from fish caught in the

>  Study reveals differences in cancer stage presentation between rural and urban patients [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

New research published in the November issue of the Journal of the American College of Surgeons shows that urban colorectal and lung cancer patients present at later stages of disease than rural patients do. This finding is contrary to the common assumpti

>  A new mathematical formula for cancer progression [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Tumor progression can now be mapped less to mathematical standards and more to individual patients according to a new study by researchers at Harvard and Johns Hopkins Universities. The study, publishing in PLoS Computational Biology on Nov. 9, 2007, prov

>  New HIV vaccine target could solve mutation problem [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

While HERV are present in every cell, HIV may disrupt the normal constraints on HERV activity as it alters the cell to produce more HIV. A vaccine could be created containing HERV antigens that would stimulate T-cells targeting cells expressing HERV. Alth

>  New study supports action to tackle poor sanitation in developing countries [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Improvements in sanitation and sewerage systems can have a dramatic effect on reducing cholera and other diarrheal diseases, research has shown. The study, co-funded by the Wellcome Trust, has led scientists to call for action to improve urban sanitation

>  JCI table of contents : Nov. 8, 2007 [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

This release contains summaries, links to PDFs and contact information for the following newsworthy papers to be published online, Nov. 8, 2007, in the JCI, including: Atrogin breaks down the side effects of statins; Sex, sugar, and metabolic disease; New

>  Study of minority New York City youth finds unequal burden of poor dental health [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Hispanic youth report better dental health habits than their nonHispanic peers, according to a study of northern Manhattan adolescents by researchers at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health. The study provides insight into the oral health o

>  UBC researchers discover ’instruction manual’ that tells cancers how to hide from immune system [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

A mechanism that creates an "invisibility cloak" for certain cancer cells and allows them to hide from the immune system has been uncovered by a team of researchers at the University of British Columbia.

>  In the laboratory, green tea proves a powerful medicine against severe sepsis [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

A component of green tea could prove the perfect elixir for severe sepsis.

>  MDR TB crisis is focus of world TB conference ; 400,000 cases in 2007 [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

MDR TB crisis is focus of world TB conference; 400,000 cases in 2007

>  St. Jude program reduces weight gain in young African-American girls [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

A community-based weight control program designed by investigators now at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital is the first such intervention to succeed for up to two years in reducing the prevalence of overweight children, according to a report present

>  A single dose of tenofovir/FTC reduces risk of NVP resistance in pregnant women given single-dose NVP [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

A single dose of tenofovir/FTC reduces risk of NVP resistance in pregnant women given single-dose NVP

>  Cardiovascular Disease Decreasing Among Adults with Diabetes [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Separate Report Finds People with Diabetes Doing a Better Job of Checking Blood Sugar

>  Nation’s Influenza Vaccine Supplies Continue to Increase ; CDC Advises Broadening of Vaccination Efforts [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced today that the nation's influenza vaccine manufacturers report that more than 103 million doses of influenza

>  AUA releases new guidelines on non-muscle invasive bladder cancer [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

The AUA is pleased to announce their new Guideline on the Management of Nonmuscle Invasive Bladder Cancer. Each year, more than 60,000 people are diagnosed with bladder cancer, which has been linked to a number of risk factors, including cigarette smoking

>  Research highlights important indicators of early-stage ovarian cancer [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

New research explains why some ovarian cancer patients are dying, while others survive, despite similar surgical and post-operative treatment.

>  Telebriefing on the Current Influenza Season and Seasonal Influenza Vaccine Distribution and Availability [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

The telebriefing will provide an update on the current influenza season as well as seasonal influenza vaccine distribution and availability

>  Extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis worsens treatment outcomes for HIV-negative patients too [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis worsens treatment outcomes for HIV-negative patients too

>  Study finds strong demand for HIV meds after high-risk sex [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

People who do not have HIV but seek antiretroviral medications following high-risk sexual encounters are very likely to complete the full month-long drug regimen, according to a new UCLA AIDS Institute study. Moreover, there is a strong demand for publicl

>  HIV drug resistance risk in mothers reduced by combination of common drugs [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Adding a single dose of two common anti-HIV drugs can prevent HIV-positive pregnant women from developing resistance to an entire class of drugs, potentially improving future treatment options. Providing tenofovir and emtricitabine with nevirapine during

>  Jefferson researchers show chemotherapy and radiation together extend lung cancer patients’ lives [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Chemotherapy given at the same time as radiation therapy can help patients with a certain type of lung cancer live nearly 50 percent longer than they might have otherwise if the same treatment was given differently, according to an international team's an

>  200,000 die each year because world still failing to treat HIV and TB together [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

200,000 die each year because world still failing to treat HIV and TB together

>  Governments fail to keep promises on boost for TB research funding, survey finds [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Governments fail to keep promises on boost for TB research funding, survey finds

>  HIV a major risk factor for MDR TB in Ukraine [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

HIV a major risk factor for MDR TB in Ukraine

>  MDR TB more frequent than thought in southern Africa [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

MDR TB more frequent than thought in southern Africa

>  Anti-smoking strategy targets fourth-graders, parents in rural and urban Georgia [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

A smoking-prevention strategy that targets black fourth-graders and their parents is under study in urban and rural Georgia.

>  Antivirals reduce deaths from flu in hospitalized patients [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Adults with influenza infections serious enough to require hospitalization are much less likely to die from the disease if they are given antiviral medications, according to a new study published in the Dec. 15 issue of Clinical Infectious Diseases, curre

>  New genetic lineage of Ebola virus discovered in great apes [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Research scientists from the IRD and the International Medical Research Centre of Franceville in Gabon recently succeeded in mapping virus sequences from samples taken from anthropoid apes. Analysis of this genetic material demonstrated the existence of a

>  Repellents between dusk and bedtime make insecticide-treated bednets more effective [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Using insect repellent in addition to insecticide treated bednets has been shown to provide greater protection against malaria in areas where mosquitoes feed in the early evening.

>  Caregivers benefit from cancer support programs, U-M study finds [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Researchers at the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center found that a targeted intervention aimed at prostate cancer patients and their caregiver spouses provided significant improvements for the spouse in physical and emotional quality of li

>  Early, routine testing for HIV is key to curbing the disease among teens [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Research from the Bradley Hasbro Children's Research Center in Providence, R.I. suggests that early and widespread HIV testing -- both in schools and community centers -- may be the key to effectively curbing the spread of the disease among adolescents a

>  Tugela Ferry XDR TB outbreak continues to grow, but treatment in KZN provides hope [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Tugela Ferry XDR TB outbreak continues to grow, but treatment in KZN provides hope

>  Experts debate how to develop drugs specifically for MDR TB [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Experts debate how to develop drugs specifically for MDR TB

>  Jefferson scientists uncover key pathway, potential drug targets in autoinflammatory disease [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Molecular biologists at Jefferson's Kimmel Cancer Center in Philadelphia have detailed the cascade of cellular events behind some potentially dangerous autoinflammatory diseases. In doing so, they not only have gained a greater understanding of the disea

>  Health professionals responding to ethnic diversity [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Guidelines and training for doctors have tried to address the problems they face when dealing with patients who come from cultures and ethnic groups different to their own. However, new research published in PLoS Medicine suggests that many British doctor

>  New study looks at long-term drug costs for treating AIDS in Brazil [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

AIDS continues to be a staggering global public health problem. However, little is known about the long-term costs associated with providing drugs to AIDS patients in developing countries. To study those long-term cost trends, researchers from the Harvard

>  Cost of AIDS drugs in Brazil, and more [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

The following articles will be in the upcoming issue of PLoS Medicine: "Strategy of negotiating prices and producing AIDS drugs saves Brazil US$ 1 billion" and "Clinical protection from malaria closely associated with class of antibodies."

>  Anti-herpes therapy reduces genital and plasma HIV viral load in MSM not taking HIV therapy [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Anti-herpes therapy reduces genital and plasma HIV viral load in MSM not taking HIV therapy

>  US and China announce changes to current HIV-positive visitor restrictions [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

US and China announce changes to current HIV-positive visitor restrictions

>  Higher risk of death for babies born just a few weeks early, study finds [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Just a few more weeks of pregnancy may mean the difference between life and death for premature babies. While babies born late preterm often are considered healthy, they have higher risks of complications at birth than babies born full term. Studies have

>  A low-carb diet may stunt prostate tumor growth [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

A diet low in carbohydrates may help stunt the growth of prostate tumors, according to a new study led by Duke Prostate Center researchers. The study, in mice, suggests that a reduction in insulin production possibly caused by fewer carbohydrates may stal

>  TB rates in UK highest since 1987, but low, stable prevalence of MDR TB [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

TB rates in UK highest since 1987, but low, stable prevalence of MDR TB

>  Good medium-term outcomes seen in antiretroviral-treated patients in Cambodia [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Good medium-term outcomes seen in antiretroviral-treated patients in Cambodia

>  A higher risk of obesity for children neglected by parents [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Spending more time and giving more attention to your child may mean the difference between a lean or obese child, finds a new study from Temple University, published this month in Child Abuse & Neglect.

>  STEP HIV vaccine study to be unblinded [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Merck & Co., Inc. and the HIV Vaccine Trials Network today announced that study volunteers in the STEP study of Merck's HIV vaccine will be told whether they received vaccine or placebo, and all study volunteers will be encouraged to continue to return t

>  HIPAA privacy rule slows scientific discovery and adds cost to research [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Implementation of HIPAA has severely eroded the process of scientific research, delaying some clinical studies and curtailing others before they even begin. Roberta Ness, MD, MPH, University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Health, reports findings from t

>  M. D. Anderson researchers identify tumor-suppressor gene for lung cancer [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

The GPRC5A gene, which is under-expressed in human lung cancer cells, suppresses lung tumors in mouse models and could provide a key to attacking lung cancer in humans, researchers at the University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center report in the Nov.

>  Telomerase enzyme structure provides significant new target for anti-cancer therapies [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Inappropriate activation of a single enzyme, telomerase, is associated with the uncontrollable proliferation of cells seen in as many as 90 percent of all of human cancers. Scientists have long eyed the enzyme as an ideal target for developing broadly eff

>  UK report highlights role of media and African communities to combat HIV-related stigma [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

UK report highlights role of media and African communities to combat HIV-related stigma

>  Paediatric Kaletra tablet gains formal US approval [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Paediatric Kaletra tablet gains formal US approval

>  Four infected with HIV and HCV after receiving organs in Chicago [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Four infected with HIV and HCV after receiving organs in Chicago

>  Grape powder blocks genes linked to colon cancer [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Low doses of freeze-dried grape powder inhibit genes linked to the development of sporadic colorectal cancer, University of California, Irvine, cancer researchers found.

>  Dartmouth researchers show effects of low dose arsenic on development [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Dartmouth researchers find more evidence that arsenic at low doses (at levels found in US drinking water in some areas) can be harmful.

>  A dose of God may help medicine [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

For some families, the cancer diagnosis of a child strengthens existing religious ties or prompts new ones. Now, a new study by researchers at Brandeis University and the University at Buffalo-SUNY in Pediatric Hematology and Oncology reports that while m

>  Global view shows link between endometrial cancer and vitamin D status [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Using newly available data on worldwide cancer incidence, researchers at the Moores Cancer Center at University of California, San Diego have shown a clear association between deficiency in exposure to sunlight, specifically ultraviolet B, and endometrial

>  Medical College of Wisconsin study finds drug may limit radiation kidney damage in BMT patients [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Researchers at the Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee have found that the risk of radiation injury in normal tissue after exposure may be reduced by a drug in common use. Their study in press appears in the on line issue of the International Journa

>  HGS announces results of Phase 2B trial of Albuferon for chronic hepatitis C [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

This Phase 2b study demonstrated that, with half as many injections as Pegasys (peginterferon alfa 2a), Albuferon was just as effective in achieving sustained virologic response -- an undetectable amount of virus in the blood at 24 weeks following the end

>  Monitoring cystatin C levels a good way of detecting poor kidney function in patients with HIV [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Monitoring cystatin C levels a good way of detecting poor kidney function in patients with HIV

>  Stigma affects 20% of HIV vaccine trial participants [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Stigma affects 20% of HIV vaccine trial participants

>  AUA and EAU release new guidelines on ureteral stone management [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

The American Urological Association is pleased to announce the release of a new Guideline for the Management of Ureteral Calculi prepared as a collaborative effort with the European Association of Urology. This is the first international guideline on this

>  Tamiflu effective for treatment and prevention of influenza in children 1 year and older [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Tamiflu significantly reduces illness severity and duration in children one year and older, particularly if given within 24 hours of symptom onset, according to new data presented at the World Society for Pediatric Infectious Disease meeting in Bangkok No

>  Study shows suppressing herpes virus may reduce infectiousness of HIV [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

A recent study of men co-infected with herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2) and HIV revealed that drugs used to suppress HSV decrease the levels of HIV in the blood and rectal secretions, which may make patients less likely to transmit the virus. This stud

>  How ’IAP antagonist’ chemicals kill tumors [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Chemical compounds specially designed to neutralize proteins that would otherwise allow tumor cells to cheat death have been recognized for some time by scientists as a promising new avenue for cancer therapy. Now, two studies in the Nov. 16, 2007 issue o

>  The hormone of darkness : melatonin could hurt memory formation at night [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

In a study with zebrafish (Danio rerio), Gregg W. Roman, assistant professor in the Department of Biology and Biochemistry at the University of Houston, has found that melatonin directly inhibits memory formation at night. He describes his team's finding

>  Drug dosages often incorrect for obese patients [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

As if severely overweight people didn't already have enough health concerns, experts are raising another red flag -- the possibility that some of their prescription medications, especially antibiotics, may not be prescribed at the appropriate dosage and

>  CD200 stifles anti-tumor immunity [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Prognosis for individuals with metastatic melanoma is not good. Therapeutic strategies to enhance the immune response have some clinical benefit, however, most patients eventually succumb to progressive disease, in part because their dendritic cells fail

>  Virus used to create experimental HIV vaccines directly impairs the immune response [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Leading efforts to create an HIV vaccine have hinged on the use of viruses as carriers for selected elements of the HIV virus. Recently, however, evidence has emerged that some of these so-called viral vector systems may undermine the immune system and sh

>  Chronic HIV-1 infection frequently fails to protect against superinfection [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Natural HIV-1 infection does not always elicit a protective immune response, according to a new study published Nov. 16 in PLoS Pathogens. The team of researchers show how HIV-1 vaccines may not be as reliable against superinfection as once thought. This

>  Is serological testing for HIV at 18 months of age in children born to HIV-infected mothers still reliable ? [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Is serological testing for HIV at 18 months of age in children born to HIV-infected mothers still reliable?

>  Raltegravir takes key step towards European approval [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Raltegravir takes key step towards European approval

>  Study finds higher risk of incomplete HIV suppression when nevirapine- but not efavirenz-based ART is started in people on rifampicin TB treatment [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Study finds higher risk of incomplete HIV suppression when nevirapine- but not efavirenz-based ART is started in people on rifampicin TB treatment

>  HIV superinfection in chronically-infected patients reported [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

HIV superinfection in chronically-infected patients reported

>  Higher risk of incomplete HIV suppression when nevirapine- but not efavirenz-based ART is started in people on rifampicin TB treatment [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Higher risk of incomplete HIV suppression when nevirapine- but not efavirenz-based ART is started in people on rifampicin TB treatment

>  Immune system can drive cancers into dormant state [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

A multinational team of researchers has shown for the first time that the immune system can stop the growth of a cancerous tumor without actually killing it. Scientists have been working for years to use the immune system to eradicate cancers. The new fin

>  Internet remedies for STIs pose significant public health hazard [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

People with sexually transmitted infections are putting themselves at risk by buying treatments over the internet, according to new research by the University of East Anglia.

>  Unstable housing status increases the risk of HIV transmission [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

New studies show that there is a demonstrable correlation between a person's housing status and his or her likelihood of transmitting or getting HIV. The groundbreaking research from the Centers for Disease Control and others has been reported in a speci

>  Stress hormone may hasten the progression of certain blood cancers [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Researchers here have shown that in cell cultures, the stress hormone norepinephrine appears to promote the biochemical signals that stimulate certain tumor cells to grow and spread. The finding, if verified, may suggest a way of slowing the progression a

>  New HPV vaccine under study [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

A new vaccine against nine of the most harmful strains of human papillomavirus is under study at the Medical College of Georgia.

>  Protein suppresses allergic response in mice [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

A protein in mice known as RGS13 suppresses allergic reactions, including the severe, life-threatening allergic reaction known as anaphylaxis, according to scientists at NIAID. Because RGS13 is also a protein found in humans and is expressed in only a lim

>  HIV vaccine may have made people more vulnerable to infection [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

HIV vaccine may have made people more vulnerable to infection

>  Kaiser Permanente/Harvard Medical School study links lack of sleep to weight gain for new moms [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Mothers who reported sleeping five hours or less per day when their babies were six-months-old had a threefold higher risk for substantial weight retention (11 pounds or more) at their baby's first birthday than moms who slept seven hours per day, accordi

>  Failure to suppress viral load more likely with nevirapine than efavirenz if ART started during TB treatment [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Failure to suppress viral load more likely with nevirapine than efavirenz if ART started during TB treatment

>  ’Brazilian model’ saves over $1 billion in anti-HIV treatment costs [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

'Brazilian model' saves over $1 billion in anti-HIV treatment costs

>  Differing approaches to risk reduction needed for cocaine or heroin injectors [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Differing approaches to risk reduction needed for cocaine or heroin injectors

>  Poppers use should be target for gay men’s HIV prevention [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Poppers use should be target for gay men's HIV prevention

>  2007 NATIONAL PREVENTION AND HEALTH PROMOTION SUMMIT [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will host the 2007 National Prevention and Health Promotion Summit: Creating a Culture of Wellne

>  Brain differences found in people with migraine [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

People with migraines have differences in an area of the brain that helps process sensory information, including pain, according to a study published in the Nov. 20, 2007, issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

>  Asthma link to post-traumatic stress disorder, says Mailman School of Public Health study [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

For the first time, a study by researchers at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, is linking asthma with post-traumatic stress disorder among adults. The study of male twins who were veterans of the Vietnam era suggests that the associati

>  Cancer drug works by overactivating cancer gene [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

University of Michigan researchers have discovered that bortezomib, a promising cancer drug, is able to strike a blow against melanoma tumor cells by revving up the action of a cancer-promoting gene. The results suggest a novel treatment strategy: push ca

>  UNAIDS : Progress seen in most global regions, but much more needs to be done [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

UNAIDS: Progress seen in most global regions, but much more needs to be done

>  UNAIDS reduces estimate of global HIV prevalence to 33 million [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

UNAIDS reduces estimate of global HIV prevalence to 33 million

>  Rural patients’ colon and lung cancers diagnosed earlier, Dartmouth research says [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

A new study by Dartmouth researchers suggests that urban patients with colorectal and lung cancer are more likely than their rural counterparts to "present at a late stage" -- i.e. to not be seen by a doctor until their cancers are advanced and less treat

>  Stockpiling influenza vaccine in Hong Kong [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

In light of the importance of virus monitoring for pandemic influenza preparedness and response, Indonesia's refusal to share samples of avian flu virus with the WHO for most of 2007 is "distressing and potentially dangerous for global public health," sa

>  Determining cause of death in developing countries [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Determining cause of death: validation of new methods in developing countries

>  High prevalence of undiagnosed HIV amongst Africans in the UK revealed by study [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

High prevalence of undiagnosed HIV amongst Africans in the UK revealed by study

>  Cough alone a poor predictor of TB : look for fever and weight loss too [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Cough alone a poor predictor of TB: look for fever and weight loss too

>  Non-invasive screening for liver fibrosis in HIV/HCV coinfected patients [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Non-invasive screening for liver fibrosis in HIV/HCV coinfected patients

>  Neural progenitor cells act as HIV reservoirs [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Neural progenitor cells act as HIV reservoirs

>  Penn researchers find monkeys able to fend off AIDS-like symptoms with enhanced HIV vaccine [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have discovered that using an immune system gene to enhance a vaccine used to study HIV in macaque monkeys provides the animals with greater protection against simian HIV than an unmodified

>  Obesity-linked high blood volumes render PSA prostate cancer test less effective, study suggests [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

The extra blood volume produced in the obese may so dilute levels of a telltale protein produced by prostates that the popular PSA test may be essentially useless for diagnosing prostate cancer in men carrying extra pounds, a new study in the Journal of t

>  Study suggests adjusting PSA scores for obese men or cancers may be missed [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Doctors may be missing cancers in obese men because the telltale blood marker used to detect the disease can be falsely interpreted as low in this population, according to a new study led by Duke Prostate Center researchers.

>  St. Jude finds molecule that could improve cancer vaccines and therapy for other diseases [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Investigators at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital have discovered a new signaling molecule that prevents immune responses from running amok and damaging the body.

>  Bioclocks work by controlling chromosome coiling [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

A new study provides direct evidence that biological clocks can influence the activity of a large number of different genes in an ingenious fashion, simply by causing chromosomes to coil more tightly during the day and to relax at night.

>  Antenatal HIV [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

South Africa's Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission Program has severe shortcomings that could be doing more harm than good. HIV patients are missing out on opportunities to receive a key intervention -- namely the nevirapine tablet -- according to

>  Oral drug sets a new survival standard for bone marrow cancer [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Findings from two large, international clinical trials show "unprecedented" survival for patients with multiple myeloma, a blood cancer that occurs in the blood-making cells of bone marrow. The findings demonstrate that with Revlimid, an oral cancer drug,

>  Penn’s Abramson Cancer Center part of major phase III study for myeloma [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Researchers from the UPenn's Abramson Cancer Center announced today that findings from two international clinical trials show unprecedented survival for patients with myeloma, a cancer the blood-making cells of bone marrow. Findings show that with the or

>  Drug combination effective against multiple myeloma, researchers show [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Pairing a new thalidomide derivative with a steroid slows progress of multiple myeloma, an incurable bone marrow cancer, and prolongs the lives of patients who have relapsed from previous treatment, researchers report in the Nov. 22 New England Journal of

>  Carbon monoxide counteracts one side-effect of an anti-cancer drug [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Doxorubicin (DOX) is a red-colored anti-cancer drug that carries serious side effects for the heart. These cardio-toxic effects are due to inhibition by DOX of mitochondrial biogenesis, a term used to describe cellular energy generation. In a new study, i

>  A new device will make quality control of radiotherapy treatments possible [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Scientists from the University of Granada have developed a portable and low-cost device which can measure the ionizing radiation that patients are exposed to. Thanks to the minuscule size of the detectors, not only can radiation be measured quickly in dif

>  Bleak report on UK’s sexual health ; HPA urges review of gay men’s prevention efforts [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Bleak report on UK's sexual health; HPA urges review of gay men's prevention efforts

>  Low CD4 cell count, big drop in viral load, and boosted PI are risk factors for IRIS [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Low CD4 cell count, big drop in viral load, and boosted PI are risk factors for IRIS

>  Late diagnosis often involved in mother-to-child transmission of HIV in the UK [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Late diagnosis often involved in mother-to-child transmission of HIV in the UK

>  Rebuilding the evolutionary history of HIV-1 unravels a complex loop [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

An essential component of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV-1) molecular machinery responsible for infecting cells consists of functionally-specialized layers, according to a new study published Nov. 23 in PLoS Computational Biology. The investigators

>  Cryoablation continues to show good results for kidney cancer patients [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

A review of 62 Mayo Clinic patients who underwent cryoablation to treat cancerous kidney tumors shows that the patients are cancer free for up to two and a half years after having had the procedure.

>  Intermittent preventive treatment against malaria during pregnancy in HIV-positive women : what is the best dosing frequency ? [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Intermittent preventive treatment against malaria during pregnancy in HIV-positive women: what is the best dosing frequency?

>  When is the best time for measles vaccination in infants born to HIV-infected mothers ? [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

When is the best time for measles vaccination in infants born to HIV-infected mothers?

>  Many prostate cancer patients receive improper or ’mismatched’ therapies [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Prostate cancer patients often receive treatment that is contraindicated by pre-existing conditions, like urinary or bowel dysfunction, according to a new study.

>  Non-Caucasians at higher risk for severe metastatic breast cancer pain [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

A new study finds significant racial differences in the risk of pain related to metastatic breast cancer.

>  ’Mismatched’ prostate cancer treatment more common than expected [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

More than a third of men with early prostate cancer who participated in a study analyzing treatment choice received therapies that might not be appropriate, based on pre-existing problems with urinary, bowel or sexual function. The prevalence of these tre

>  Flip-flopping gene expression can be advantageous [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

One gene for pea pod color generates green pods while a variant of that gene gives rise to the yellow-pod phenotype, a feature that helped Gregor Mendel first describe genetic inheritance. However, some genes have the strange ability to be expressed spont

>  World class technology and talent battle cancer at the Centenary Institute [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

The Centenary Institute, one of Australia's leading medical research institutes, unveiled a powerful microscope unlike any other in Australia today.

>  New method of drug delivery more effective at reaching brain tumors [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Bioengineers at Yale and Cornell have created a modified chemotherapy that more effectively reaches and remains at the site of brain tumors -- by adding a water-soluble polymer to the anticancer drug, according to a report in the November-December issue o

>  City-dwelling women at greater risk for breast cancer [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Women who live in urban areas have denser breasts, making them more likely to develop breast cancer, according to a new study.

>  New study highlights stigma and stress of living with HIV/AIDS in Serbia [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Many people with HIV/AIDS in Serbia and Montenegro experience stigma, loneliness and ostracism, and can find it difficult to secure work and support themselves, according to new research findings.

>  Novel MRI technique shows secondhand smoke damages lungs [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

For the first time, researchers have identified structural damage to the lungs caused by secondhand cigarette smoke.

>  Study shows endemic cholera can be controlled with oral vaccines [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Endemic cholera, a potentially fatal diarrheal disease found in the world's most impoverished countries, could be effectively controlled by orally vaccinating half of the affected populations once every two years for only pennies per dose, according to n

>  Drugs may not delay onset of dementia ; and more [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Researchers have examined the evidence in favor of giving people considered to be close to developing dementia the drugs that are most commonly used to treat the condition itself. They have concluded that these drugs (cholinesterase inhibitors) do not see

>  Study finally backs up conventional wisdom : VCT does reduce risky sex [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Study finally backs up conventional wisdom: VCT does reduce risky sex

>  Smoking and depression often co-occur in new mothers [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Smoking and depression often go hand-in-hand for new mothers, and this combination may affect their child's health as well, reports a study in the November 2007 issue of Preventive Medicine by Temple University researcher Dr. Robert Whitaker.

>  Both gender and friendship can influence adolescent alcohol use [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Researchers have concluded that adolescents who drink alcohol, smoke and/or use drugs tend to have peers who do the same. New research findings suggest that girls may be more influenced by their friends' drinking, and that having opposite-sex friends who

>  Both alcohol dependence and conduct disorder contribute to having a high number of sex partners [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

High-risk sexual behaviors can lead to unwanted pregnancies, infection and reproductive problems. A new study has linked the clinical diagnoses of alcohol dependence and conduct disorder in young adults to having 10 or more sexual partners. Although both

>  Cancer-resistant mouse discovered [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

A mouse resistant to cancer, even highly-aggressive types, has been created by researchers at the University of Kentucky. The breakthrough stems from a discovery by UK College of Medicine professor of radiation medicine Vivek Rangnekar and a team of resea

>  Study finally backs up conventional wisdom : VCT does reduce risky sex in Africa [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Study finally backs up conventional wisdom: VCT does reduce risky sex in Africa

>  Studies suggest HIV subtype more deadly than others [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Two studies led by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health found that people infected with HIV in Thailand die from the disease significantly sooner than those with HIV living in other parts of the world. According to the resear

>  World AIDS Day : Seeking leadership from the Bush Administration [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

This World AIDS Day, the HIV Medicine Association is celebrating the good news from the United Nations Joint Program on HIV/AIDS that the global case count is lower than previous estimates. However, in the United States, this good news is tempered by Pres

>  Tobacco marketers targeting teens near schools [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Joe Camel may be long gone, but that doesn't mean tobacco marketers have abandoned their efforts to get young people hooked on smoking. A new Canadian study reports that tobacco marketers have found a way around tobacco advertising restrictions, reaching

>  Blood-vessel blocker aids cancer-killing virus [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Cancer-killing viruses are a promising therapy for incurable brain tumors, but their effectiveness has been limited in part because immune cells rapidly eliminate them. That immune response might be slowed, and the virus given more time to kill cancer cel

>  Fast way of spotting multidrug resistant bacteria could help stop outbreaks in hospitals [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

A type of bacterium widely found on our skin and in the environment has now become a major threat in hospitals where it can cause serious infections, such as pneumonia in severely ill patients. Like the well known bacterium MRSA (methicillin resistant Sta

>  Hospital superbugs now in nursing homes and the community [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Hospital superbugs that can break down antibiotics are so widespread throughout Europe that doctors increasingly have to use the few remaining drugs that they reserve for emergencies. Now these hospital superbug strains have spread to nursing homes and in

>  MRSA in the community : A new threat to children’s health ? [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Although hospital superbugs like MRSA -- methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus -- are now a widespread and recognised problem, new MRSA strains that have emerged and are spreading amongst the wider public in the USA may pose a bigger threat, accordi

>  New challenges for diagnosis of bacterial STIs [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

This year cases of sexually transmitted infections have risen by 2 percent in the UK, in spite of a small drop in the incidence of syphilis and gonorrhoea, according to scientists speaking today (Wednesday, Nov. 28, 2007) at the Federation of Infection So

>  Freezing bone cancer tumors reduces pain, Mayo Clinic study shows [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Cryoablation, a procedure most commonly associated with destroying kidney and prostate tumors by freezing them, has been shown to offer durable pain relief of cancer that has spread to bone.

>  Drinking and smoking don’t boost HPV-related cancer risk [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

New Brown University research shows that alcohol and tobacco use doesn't increase the risk of cancers of the mouth and throat for people infected with human papillo-mavirus 16 (HPV16), a common sexually transmitted virus in the US. The findings are the s

>  HIV partner notification services work well for a mainly gay population in San Francisco [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

HIV partner notification services work well for a mainly gay population in San Francisco

>  Abacavir hypersensitivity screening not a substitute for ’clinical vigilance’ say investigators at UK’s largest HIV clinic [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Abacavir hypersensitivity screening not a substitute for 'clinical vigilance' say investigators at UK's largest HIV clinic

>  UC Davis researchers identify a cellular pathway that makes prostate cancer fatal [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Expanding evidence that tiny strands of RNA -- called microRNAs -- play big roles in the progress of some cancers, UC Davis researchers have identified one that helps jump start prostate cancer cell growth midway through the disease process, eventually ca

>  A new computational technique predicts side-effects of a major cancer drug [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Researchers at the University of California San Diego have developed a novel computer technique to search for the side effects of major pharmaceuticals. The study, reported Nov. 30 in PLoS Computational Biology, relates to a class of drugs known as Select

>  A New CDC Study Finds no Real Increase in Obesity Among Adults ; But Levels Still High [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

After a quarter century of increases, obesity prevalence has not measurably increased in the past few years but levels are still high

>  ADOLESCENT AGGRESSION NO LONGER LIMITED TO THE SCHOOL YARD [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

More kids and teens harassed online than harassed at school

>  CDC Promotes National Influenza Vaccination Week to Encourage Flu Vaccination throughout the Influenza Season [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

New Data Show Few Flu Vaccines Given After November

>  ’Stereo’ mammography takes breast imaging to a new dimension [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Stereoscopic digital mammography, a new diagnostic technique capable of producing 3-D, in-depth views of breast tissue, could significantly reduce the number of women who are recalled for additional tests following routine screening mammography.

>  Pneumococcal conjugate vaccines can improve the lives of HIV-infected children [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

An international team of experts has published the first comprehensive review of evidence on pneumococcal conjugate vaccination for children with HIV infection. Now available in the online edition of the journal Lancet Infectious Diseases, the review show

>  New mammography technology improves cancer detection [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

A new radiological diagnostic tool called stereo mammography allows clinicians to detect more lesions and could significantly reduce the number of women who are recalled for additional tests following routine screening mammography. The findings from a cli

>  St. Jude researchers identify key genetic trigger of acute myeloid leukemia [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

A gene called N-Myc leads a double life in certain white blood cells, helping to trigger a cancer called acute myeloid leukemia (AML) under some conditions while triggering apoptosis, or cell suicide, under other conditions, according to results of a mous

>  Study of malaria parasites reveals new parasitic states [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Although malaria parasites have undergone extensive laboratory study, relatively little is known about how they behave in humans to cause disease. Newly published data from a study of malaria-infected human blood reveal two biological states of the parasi

>  Genetic and behavioral differences add to prostate cancer disparities [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

African-American men face an observable disadvantage versus Caucasian men when it comes to prostate cancer survival. Not only is prostate cancer detected later in African Americans, it is often more aggressive and harder to treat.

>  Cancer risks for urban African-American women grow, healthy diets more difficult to maintain [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Women living in the inner city have difficulty meeting dietary goals that could help prevent cancer, according to a report from Johns Hopkins University researchers. In a study of African-American women living in public housing within Washington, DC, the

>  Genetic differences point to ethnic and racial disparities in colorectal cancer risk [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Risk of developing colorectal cancer is known to differ across ethnic and racial groups, and now an analysis of 26 studies, involving over 25,000 participants shows that some of these disparities might be explained by distinct patterns of genetic inherita

>  Testing times : Detecting HIV in resource-limited settings [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Integrating HIV testing programs into primary medical care can help achieve early diagnosis of HIV infection, even in relatively poor areas, research published in the online open access journal AIDS Research and Therapy has shown.

>  Stephen Lewis damns UNAIDS over statistics revision ; diverts from the tragedy of AIDS [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Stephen Lewis damns UNAIDS over statistics revision; diverts from the tragedy of AIDS

>  HIV rate doubled in Europe between 1999 - 2006 [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

HIV rate doubled in Europe between 1999 - 2006

>  Are young people in the UK really as ignorant and prejudiced about HIV as a Red Cross survey suggests ? [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Are young people in the UK really as ignorant and prejudiced about HIV as a Red Cross survey suggests?

>  New developments in biomarkers for epithelial ovarian cancer [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

With the genomic revolution radical improvement has been made in methods of detection of ovarian cancer. This is of the utmost importance, since the chances of successful treatment are strongly enhanced with early detection. In a special issue of Disease

>  Follow-up imaging of benign-appearing incidental adrenal masses is unnecessary [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

If adrenal masses are found incidentally during a CT scan, and the masses look benign, they do not require additional imaging follow-up, according to a recent study conducted by researchers at Brown University in Providence, R.I.

>  New treatment for age-related macular degeneration within sight [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

With 8 million people at high risk for advanced age-related macular degeneration, researchers from Harvard and Japan discovered that the experimental drug, endostatin, may be the cure. A research report published in the December 2007 issue of The FASEB Jo

>  Small RNA plays parallel roles in bacterial metabolism [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

They are often overlooked, and were once thought to be too small to contribute much to major cellular processes, but in recent years the study of small ribonucleic acids has gained momentum. Now researchers have identified the behavior of a 200-nucleotide

>  Cancer patients may benefit from reporting symptoms online in real time [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

A new study by researchers at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center finds that even the sickest cancer patients are willing and able to "self-report" symptoms using the Internet, thus supplying key data in real time to their health-care providers.

>  Studies of 20,000 smokers show quit rates double with counseling and free nicotine patches [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Studies of 20,000 smokers show increasing the level of Quitline smoking cessation services and offering free nicotine patches are a successful and cost-effective way to reduce smoking rates, according to new studies in the December issue of Tobacco Contro

>  Biological markers of prostate cancer shed light on cancer burden faced by African-American men [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Researchers based at Tulane University report the discovery of biological markers of prostate cancer which are involved in the growth of tumor cells, shedding light on the genetic basis for the prostate cancer burden faced by African-American men. The res

>  Independent Panel Issues Report on Transfer of Youth from Juvenile to Adult Justice System [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

A new report - "Effects on Violence of Laws and Policies Facilitating the Transfer of Youth from the Juvenile to the Adult Justice System: A Report on Recommendations of the Task Force on Community Preventive Services,"

>  Experts endorse European plan to reduce late HIV diagnosis [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Experts endorse European plan to reduce late HIV diagnosis

>  Gay men’s HIV prevention in the US and Europe is ’faltering’ [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Gay men's HIV prevention in the US and Europe is 'faltering'

>  Nearly a third of HIV-positive people in London report discrimination, often from healthcare staff [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Nearly a third of HIV-positive people in London report discrimination, often from healthcare staff

>  Researchers develop powerful tool to study the genetics of inflammation [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Scientists have known which genes are linked to inflammation, but now researchers at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center have organized this information to develop a powerful tool to aid investigators in studying the genetics of inflammatory dis

>  Latin American adolescents are more likely to become infected with HIV than Spanish [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

A research work carried out in the UGR among 219 young immigrants and natives aged between 14 and 19 years reveals that the first use methods of birth control less frequently, have more sex partners and start having sex earlier. Tomorrow, Dec. 1, is the W

>  Newer radiation treatment easier for some throat cancer patients [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Treating throat cancer with intensity modulated radiation therapy can improve the health-related quality of life of patients compared to conventional radiation therapy, according to a study in the Dec. 1 issue of the International Journal for Radiation On

>  Women with AIDS face cervical cancer threat [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

The largest screening program for cervical cancer in the developing world shows that women living with AIDS face a high risk of developing cervical cancer and must be screened.

>  World AIDS Day : HIV prevention, diagnosis and treatment [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

On December 1, PLoS Medicine is publishing a collection of research articles and commentary, as well as an editorial to mark World AIDS Day 2007. In this release: Men who have sex with men face high AIDS risk in developing countries; Women disclose their

>  New study finds HIV rates among MSM vastly higher than general population in developing countries [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

New research demonstrating the severity of the HIV epidemic among men who have sex with men (MSM) in low- and middle-income countries prompts amfAR to call on policymakers to put aside their prejudices and provide the resources and the leadership that the

>  More on HIV prevention, diagnosis and treatment [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

On December 1, PLoS Medicine is publishing a collection of research articles and commentary, as well as an editorial to mark World AIDS Day 2007. In this release: CMV retinitis is causing blindness in young people with HIV in the developing world; and Rec

>  Hazards of CT scans overstated [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

The American Association of Physicists in Medicine says CT scans are a critical part of medical care and questions the statistical method used in the New England Journal of Medicine article linking CT scans to cancer.

>  It takes a community to address cancer disparities among underserved minority populations [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Cancer affects whole communities of people with similar genetic heritage and cultural behaviors, yet medical researchers often have trouble uncovering data on minority populations and promoting changes that could improve health. That is why many researche

>  Purdue researchers obtain a snapshot clarifying how materials enter cells [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

A group of Purdue University researchers has captured a key step in the metabolic process that allows materials, such as nutrients and drug treatments, to move in and out of cells. A research team led by Jue Chen obtained a snapshot of the tiny protein ga

>  Childhood sleep-disordered breathing disproportionately affects obese and African-Americans [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Sleep-disordered breathing, which can include various sleep behaviors ranging in severity from snoring to obstructive sleep apnea, disproportionately affects children who are overweight and African-American, according to a new study published in the Decem

>  DNA methylation shown to promote development of colon tumors [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

DNA methylation has been directly proven in mice to promote the development of colon tumors, and to target specific regions of DNA rather than being distributed at random. Growing understanding of this process is a promising pathway to the prevention, dia

>  Nurses working extended shifts, are tired at work and sleep little likely to drive drowsy [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Hospital staff nurses who work extended hours, work at night, struggle to remain awake at work, or obtain less sleep are more likely to experience a drowsy driving episode.

>  Influenza spreads readily in winter conditions [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

The findings implicate that low relative humidities produced by indoor heating and winter temperatures favor the spread of influenza.

>  Stop smoking services are reducing the UK’s health gap, shows study [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Poorer people in the UK are quitting smoking in larger numbers than their better-off neighbors, according to a new study.

>  Aerosol launches immune response in lungs to wipe out lethal infections [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

An inhaled immune system stimulant protects mice against lethal pneumococcal pneumonia and other deadly bacterial, viral and fungal infections of the lungs, a research team led by scientists at the University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center reports

>  Study on toxin that tainted spinach reveals treatment possibility [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

A discovery by University at Buffalo biologists that may explain the evolution of a lethal toxin is providing new information that could lead to more effective treatments for humans who fall victim to it.

>  Purified bacterial extract sprayed into lungs ramps up innate immune system [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

A purified extract prepared from a common microbe and delivered to the lungs of laboratory mice in a spray set off a healthy immune response and provided powerful protection against all four major classes of pathogens including those responsible for anthr

>  CDC statement on pending HIV incidence estimates [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Recent media reports have speculated about CDC's pending estimates of new HIV infections in the United States. CDC emphasizes that the new estimates are not yet final.

>  Diagnosis and treatment of CMV retinitis in resource-limited settings achievable and a must, say MSF [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Diagnosis and treatment of CMV retinitis in resource-limited settings achievable and a must, say MSF

>  Men who have sex with men in low- and middle-income countries have significantly increased risk of HIV [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Men who have sex with men in low- and middle-income countries have significantly increased risk of HIV

>  Researchers present unique program aimed at HIV prevention in runaway youth [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Researchers at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center are the first in the US to develop an HIV prevention and intervention program for adolescent runaways that focuses on their strengths.

>  Best treatment identified to reduce deadly Staph infections [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

One type of over-the-counter product for topical wound care is more effective than others in killing methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus bacteria, or MRSA, which is potentially deadly and in recent years has moved from its historic hospital settin

>  Nearly One in Five Americans Say They Can’t Afford Needed Health Care [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Nearly one in five U.S. adults – more than 40 million people – report they do not have adequate access to the health care they need, according to the annual report on the nation’s health released today by the Centers for Disease Control and Preventi

>  ’Mini transplant’ patients’ outcomes similar using related and unrelated donor cells [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

People who undergo nonmyeloablative stem-cell transplants, or 'mini transplants,' for leukemia, lymphoma and other blood cancers have comparable outcomes regardless of whether they receive tissue-matched stem cells from a related or unrelated donor, acc

>  Starting antiretroviral therapy early at higher CD4 cell counts improves short term treatment outcomes in resource-poor countries [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Starting antiretroviral therapy early at higher CD4 cell counts improves short term treatment outcomes in resource-poor countries

>  One-third of Rwandan ART patients show lipodystrophy, more common in city dwellers [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

One-third of Rwandan ART patients show lipodystrophy, more common in city dwellers

>  LA BioMed researchers find few emergency rooms fully equipped for pediatric patients [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

In the first survey to specifically measure hospital pediatric preparedness, a team of Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute researchers found few US emergency rooms are properly equipped for children.

>  Promising approach to a more effective sunscreen [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Chronic sun exposure increases the risk of an individual developing skin cancer, because UV light from the sun can cause genetic mutations that enable skin cells to grow in an uncontrolled manner. Hope for a new sunscreen that can prevent and treat UV lig

>  Heavy drinking, conduct disorder linked to high-risk sexual behavior [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Psychiatry researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have found that a clinical diagnosis of alcohol dependence in young adults is associated with having a high number of sex partners.

>  Why do high school seniors drink ? [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

This study looks at the different motivators for drinking among high school seniors. Of the four most prominent motivators, one is problematic.

>  Studies review smoking among college freshmen and tobacco use by adolescents with ADHD [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Supplement of Nicotine & Tobacco Research focuses on four studies: Smoking among college freshman students; Smoking and ADHD; First cigarette of the day and nicotine dependence; and Reduced exposure cigarettes.

>  Smaller babies more prone to depression, anxiety later on [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Turns out there might be some truth to the popular wisdom that plump babies are happy babies. A landmark public health study has found that people who had a low birth weight are more likely to experience depression and anxiety later in life.

>  Activating protein enhances average lifespan, limits age-related disease in mice [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Metabolism researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have found that although it does not extend maximum lifespan in mice, activating a protein in muscle tissue increases average lifespan and prevents some age-related diseases.

>  Fighting diseases of aging by wasting energy [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

By making the skeletal muscles of mice use energy less efficiently, researchers report in the December issue of Cell Metabolism, a publication of Cell Press, that they have delayed the animals' deaths and their development of age-related diseases, includ

>  World’s most powerful MRI ready to scan human brain [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

The world's most powerful medical magnetic resonance imaging machine, the 9.4 Tesla at the University of Illinois at Chicago, has successfully completed safety trials and may soon offer physicians a real-time view of biological processes in the human bra

>  Some common treatments for sinus infections may not be effective [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

A comparison of common treatments for acute sinusitis that included an antibiotic and a topical steroid found neither more effective than placebo, according to a study in the Dec. 5 issue of JAMA.

>  HIV-infected infants respond poorly to childhood vaccination [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

A paper published online this week in PLoS ONE describes the results of a cross-sectional study carried out amongst 18-36 month-old children born to HIV-infected mothers and living in Central Africa. The study suggested that immuno-suppressed HIV-infected

>  A pain-free window into painful neuropathies [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Scientists have demonstrated a new technique for detecting a painful nerve condition known as neuropathy, which affects millions of people with diabetes and many other patients as well.

>  Striking shift seen among newly HIV-infected men regarding partners [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

"While the findings showed condom use was up and the number of partners was down, the most startling effect was seen in men choosing to have unprotected intercourse almost exclusively with other HIV-infected individuals. This reflects a systematic shift b

>  Start treatment when CD4 cell count is 350, say revised US guidelines [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Start treatment when CD4 cell count is 350, say revised US guidelines

>  English Appeal Court rules that HIV non-disclosure may be ’provocation’ [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

English Appeal Court rules that HIV non-disclosure may be 'provocation'

>  Teen Birth Rate Rises for First Time in 14 Years [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

The teen birth rate in the United States rose in 2006 for the first time since 1991, and unmarried childbearing also rose significantly, according to preliminary birth statistics released today by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

>  ’Mini-transplant’ patients’ outcomes similar using related and unrelated donor cells [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

People who undergo nonmyeloablative stem-cell transplants, or "mini-transplants," for leukemia, lymphoma and other blood cancers have comparable outcomes regardless of whether they receive tissue-matched stem cells from a related or unrelated donor, accor

>  New choices for patients : Transfusion-free medicine for Jehovah’s Witnesses and transfusion-wary [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Transfusion-free Medicine for Jehovah's Witnesses and Patients Wary of Blood Transfusions was pioneered at Pennsylvania Hospital Center for Bloodless Medicine and Surgery in Philadelphia. Bloodless medicine practices have shown outcomes that can benefit

>  Diesel exhaust fumes affect people with asthma, finds study on London’s Oxford Street [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Diesel exhaust fumes on polluted streets have a measurable effect on people with asthma, according to the first study looking at exhausts and asthma in a real-life setting, published on Dec. 6 in the New England Journal of Medicine. The new study looked a

>  Overweight adolescents projected to have more heart disease in young adulthood [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

A new study investigating the health effects of being overweight during adolescence projects alarming increases in the rates of heart disease and premature death by the time today's teenagers reach young adulthood.

>  Major breakthrough toward the treatment of HIV/HAART-associated Lipodystrophy Syndrome [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

The HIV/HAART-associated Lipodystrophy Syndrome is a common side-effect of antiretroviral medications to treat HIV infection. Dr. Julian Falutz, director of the HIV Metabolic Clinic at the McGill University Health Center, and Dr. Steven Grinspoon, directo

>  New drug reduces abdominal fat accumulation and improves lipids in HIV-infected patients [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Treatment with an investigational drug that induces the release of growth hormone significantly improved the symptoms of HIV lipodystrophy, a condition involving the redistribution of fat and other metabolic changes in patients receiving combination drug

>  New UC Davis study finds physician style and HMO affiliation impact lengths of patient visit [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Apart from a more complicated medical case, what makes different physicians spend different amounts of time with their patients?

>  English Appeal Court rules that HIV non-disclosure may be ’provocation’ (amended) [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

English Appeal Court rules that HIV non-disclosure may be 'provocation' (amended)

>  PET and bioluminescent imaging aid evaluation of stem cells’ potential for new ways to treat disease [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Using positron emission tomography imaging with bioluminescence -- the light produced by a chemical reaction within an organism -- researchers are starting to understand the behavior of transplanted or implanted stem cells that may one day be used to deve

>  Diet and cancer prevention : New evidence for the protective effects of fruits and veggies [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

The age-old refrain, "Eat your vegetables!" gets scientific support as researchers present the latest findings on cancer prevention at the American Association for Cancer Research's Sixth Annual International Conference on Frontiers in Cancer Prevention,

>  New software to aid early detection of infectious disease outbreaks [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

A newly released software program will let health authorities at the site of an infectious disease outbreak quickly analyze data, speeding the detection of new cases and the implementation of effective interventions.

>  Experts from Stevens, Merck, publish joint paper, ’Biosynthetic Studies of Platensimycin’ [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Stevens Institute of Technology's Professor Athule B. Attygalle and his doctoral student Kithsiri B. Herath have collaborated with Merck Pharmaceutical's Dr. Sheo B. Singh on a study whose findings have been published in the Journal of the American Chem

>  Public health and cancer prevention : Success and future challenges in cancer policy [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Medical research has revealed much about cancer prevention, but is the information reaching all Americans, and are they acting on it? Today, at the American Association for Cancer Research's Sixth Annual International Conference on Frontiers in Cancer Pr

>  HPV vaccine may be of value for women already exposed to some HPV strains [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

HPV vaccine may be of value for women already exposed to some HPV strains

>  Bush proposal for HIV-positive visitors makes a bad rule worse [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

The Bush administration's proposed rule for waivers allowing some people with HIV to visit the United States is even more restrictive, burdensome, and arbitrary than the rule it is intended to replace, according to the HIV Medicine Association. Furthermo

>  More babies born prematurely, new report shows [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

The preterm birth rate, the percentage of babies born at less than 37 weeks gestation, is continuing its relentless rise, with more than 525,000 babies, or 12.7 percent, born prematurely in 2005. The preterm birth rate has increased more than 20 percent s

>  Chemoprevention, naturally : Findings on plant-derived cancer medicines [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

The next cancer-fighting therapeutic could be growing in your garden, according to research presented today, at the American Association for Cancer Research's Sixth Annual International Conference on Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research, being held fr

>  Evidence of serosorting after diagnosis with acute HIV infection [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Evidence of serosorting after diagnosis with acute HIV infection

>  JCI online early table of contents : Dec. 6, 2007 [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

This release contains summaries, links to PDFs and contact information for the following newsworthy papers to be published online, Dec. 6, 2007, in the JCI, including: "Anticancer drugs might be of benefit to sickle-cell patients"; "PLE(ase) pass on the h

>  St. Jude finds mechanism for faulty protein disposal [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

A discovery by St. Jude Children's Research Hospital scientists offers new insights into how myeloma cells dispose of defective or excess proteins and could lead to new cancer treatments.

>  A new approach to study flu drug resistance [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Researchers have created a new approach for studying resistance to Neuraminidase Inhibitors in influenza. The study, published Dec. 7 in PLoS Computational Biology, combines data from influenza infections of human volunteers with a mathematical model whic

>  A novel finding in how chikungunya virus has spread to new vectors and locations [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Researchers at the University of Texas Medical Branch have discovered how a key protein switch allows chikungunya virus to spread to new vectors. The study, published Dec. 7 in PLoS Pathogens, explains how the virus has increased its ability to infect and

>  Triple-class failure emerges slowly in UK patients [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Triple-class failure emerges slowly in UK patients

>  Doctors failing to diagnose HIV early in UK Africans [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Doctors are missing valuable opportunities to diagnose HIV in Africans living in the UK, with serious consequences for their long term health, according to research funded by the Wellcome Trust.

>  Participation in organized high school activities lowers risk of smoking 3 years after graduation [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Researchers from the Abramson Cancer Center of the University of Pennsylvania reported today that students who participate in high school sports or individual physical activity are less likely to smoke than their classmates. The new study indicates that t

>  Obesity and metabolism : Weight gain and the growing risk of cancer [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

During this holiday season with its tempting bounty of edible delights, new research calls attention to the role of the expanding American waistline in health and medicine. Today, researchers at the AACR's Sixth Annual International Conference on Frontie

>  M. D. Anderson research links diet, gardening and lung cancer risk [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

By simply eating four or more servings of green salad a week and working in the garden once or twice a week, smokers and nonsmokers alike may be able to substantially reduce the risk of developing lung cancer, say researchers at the University of Texas M.

>  Lifestyle and cancer prevention : Making choices that change cancer risk [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

How do the lifestyle choices we make affect our chances of developing cancer? Today, at the American Association for Cancer Research's Sixth Annual International Conference on Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research, being held from Dec. 5 to 8 in Philad

>  Study points to possibility of blood test to detect lung cancer [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

A test for four blood proteins may provide a less-invasive follow-up for patients who have suspicious lesions on chest radiographs or computerized tomography scans, according to a new study led by Duke University Medical Center researchers.

>  Antibacterial chemical disrupts hormone activities [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

A new UC Davis study shows that a common antibacterial chemical added to bath soaps is an endocrine disruptor that can alter hormonal activity in rats and in human cells in the laboratory -- and does so by a previously unreported mechanism.

>  Vaccine improves event-free survival for leukemia patients [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Patients whose immune system responded to a peptide vaccine for leukemia enjoyed a median remission that was more than three times longer than nonresponders, a team led by researchers at the University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center reports at the

>  Complete response with oblimersen combination improves survival of CLL patients [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Relapsed chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) patients who had a complete response to combination therapy that included the drug oblimersen survived significantly longer than patients treated with chemotherapy alone, a team led by researchers at the Univers

>  Multiple myeloma clinical trial shows distinct survival benefit with lower dose of steroids [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Results of Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group Phase III clinical trial E4A03, for multiple myeloma, showing significantly better overall survival with lenalidomide plus low-dose dexamethasone therapy compared to lenalidomide plus high-dose dexamethasone,

>  ZOLINZA (vorinostat) in combination with bortezomib demonstrated clinical activity [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Results from two investigational Phase I trials of ZOLINZA (vorinostat) in combination with bortezomib provide preliminary anti-tumor activity in patients with relapsed and/or refractory multiple myeloma.

>  More evidence from UK of improvements in prognosis since advent of HAART, but concern over late diagnosis [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

More evidence from UK of improvements in prognosis since advent of HAART, but concern over late diagnosis

>  Evidence of genital shedding of HIV during successful antiretroviral therapy in HIV/HSV-2-coinfected women [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Evidence of genital shedding of HIV during successful antiretroviral therapy in HIV/HSV-2-coinfected women

>  Gleevec, the targeted cancer pill, delivers more good news to patients [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Gleevec, the targeted cancer pill that has saved more than 100,000 lives, now is saving more children with a dire leukemia, as well as preventing disease progression with long term use in adults with chronic myeloid leukemia.

>  OHSU Cancer Institute research discovery opens new window to understanding chronic myeloid leukemia [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Oregon Health & Science University Cancer Institute researchers have opened a new window into the roots of chronic myeloid leukemia (CML). "We are looking under the surface of CML to understand better where the cancer is coming from. We have discovered ab

>  Dasatinib, Nilotinib show strong early results as frontline therapy for chronic myelogenous leukemia [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Two drugs approved for use as second line therapy for chronic myelogenous leukemia are showing promising results as frontline therapy for newly diagnosed patients in two clinical trials, research teams led by scientists at the University of Texas M. D. An

>  Scientists discover new role for miRNA in leukemia [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Scientists here have found that mini-molecules called micro-RNA may play a critical role in the progression of chronic myeloid leukemia from its more treatable chronic phase to a life-threatening phase, called blast crisis. Furthermore, they discovered an

>  Many Medicare beneficiaries not receiving colorectal cancer screening [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

A new study finds significant underuse of colorectal cancer screening procedures among Medicare beneficiaries.

>  OHSU Cancer Institute researcher develops test for targeted therapy in acute myeloid leukemia [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Oregon Health & Science University Cancer Institute researcher Jeff Tyner, Ph.D., has created a way to identify proteins that are candidates for targeted therapy in acute myeloid leukemia using an assay that yields results in just four days.

>  To keep mouths safe, don’t just wear a mouthguard ; keep it clean [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

According to a study that appears in the Sept./Oct. 2007 issue of General Dentistry, the AGD's clinical, peer-reviewed journal, mouthguards harbor large numbers of bacteria, yeasts and molds that can possibly lead to life and/or health-threatening infect

>  Depression screening for cancer patients too often falls between the cracks [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Depression is known to be associated with cancer yet too many cancer patients are not screened for this mental disorder, according to researchers from the Indiana University School of Medicine, the Regenstrief Institute and the Roudebush VA Medical Center

>  Psychiatrists : Least religious but most interested in patients’ religion [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Although psychiatrists are among the least religious physicians, they seem to be the most interested in the religious and spiritual dimensions of their patients, according to survey data.

>  Good physical function after age 40 tied to reduced risk of stroke [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

People who have good physical function after the age of 40 may lower their risk of stroke by as much as 50 percent compared to people who are not able to climb stairs, kneel, bend, or lift as well, according to research published in the Dec. 11, 2007, iss

>  OHSU Cancer Institute researcher discovers what fuels certain cancer mutation [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

An Oregon Health & Science University Cancer Institute researcher has discovered that a particular hormone is responsible for driving a cancer enzyme to cause an often deadly red blood cell cancer. Researchers working with the cancer mutation in the JAK2

>  Gentler chemotherapy before stem cell transplant causes long-term remission of follicular lymphoma [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Treating relapsed follicular lymphoma patients with a milder chemotherapy regimen before they receive a blood stem cell transplant from a donor resulted in long-term complete remission for 45 of 47 patients in a clinical trial, researchers at the Universi

>  New drug candidate knocks out resistant form of chronic myeloid leukemia [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Oregon Health & Science University Cancer Institute researchers have found a new, experimental drug candidate it to be effective against a highly resistant mutation in chronic myeloid leukemia.

>  New therapeutic options for newly diagnosed multiple myeloma patients [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Mayo Clinic researchers today presented results of a phase II trial of myeloma induction therapy -- a first step therapy designed to reduce cancer cells numbers -- with cyclophosphamide, bortezomib, and dexamethasone (Cybor-D) showing an improved response

>  Evidence links anemia drugs with leukemic transformation in patients with primary myelofibrosis [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Mayo Clinic researchers today reported the discovery of a link between erythropoiesis-stimulating agents and leukemic transformation (conversion to leukemia) of the blood disorder myelofibrosis.

>  Morphine : a comfort measure for the dying or pain control for the living ? [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Cancer patients are suffering unnecessarily because they wrongly believe that morphine and other opioids are only used as "comfort for the dying" and as a "last resort" rather than seeing them as legitimate pain killers that can improve their quality of l

>  Survey points out need for education for primary care physicians on rarely seen cancers [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Many primary care physicians may lack the necessary knowledge when it comes to recognizing the signs, symptoms and making proper diagnoses in cases of blood cancers such as leukemia and lymphoma, a recent survey indicates. Such findings not only reflect t

>  Keeping at-risk cells from developing cancer [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Researchers at Johns Hopkins have discovered that cancers arising from epigenetic changes -- in this case the inappropriate activation of a normally silent gene -- develop by becoming addicted to certain growth factors. Reporting online in next week's Ea

>  Cancer risks of eating red and processed meat [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

New findings provide evidence that people who eat a lot of red and processed meats have greater risk of developing bowel and lung cancer than people who eat small quantities. The research by Amanda Cross and colleagues at the US National Cancer Institute

>  Opportunities for earlier HIV testing missed for Africans in the UK [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Opportunities for earlier HIV testing missed for Africans in the UK

>  Early Phase II results show bosutinib safe, effective for CML [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

A new drug for chronic myelogenous leukemia works for patients who have developed resistance to frontline therapy and causes fewer side effects than other medications in its class, a research team led by scientists at the University of Texas M. D. Anderso

>  Electronic record sharing may inadvertently erect barriers to HIV and STI treatment and care [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Electronic record sharing may inadvertently erect barriers to HIV and STI treatment and care

>  IBM reports milestone in silicon nanophotonics [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Several extraordinary recent achievements place the field of microresonators at the frontier of modern photonics. In the Dec. 10 issue of Optics Express, papers explore advanced silicon modulators in the nanoscale, "photonic nanojets" for biomedical appli

>  Protein-dependent ’switch’ regulates intracellular trafficking in epithelial cells [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

With findings highlighted on a recent cover of Developmental Cell, researchers at Weill Cornell Medical College in New York City have shed important new light on key trafficking mechanisms within epithelial cells. Epithelial cells line the outside of near

>  Scientists seek to assess the microbial risks in the water we drink [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Disease outbreaks sometimes originate from a source that most people in the United States and other developed countries trust unquestioningly: drinking water. However, there is much we do not know about the causes and likelihood of waterborne illness, and

>  Cancer cell line developed that is resistant to new cancer therapy [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

A cancer cell line that is resistant to one of the newest classes of cancer treatments has been developed by researchers who already are using it to determine what else to give patients when this happens.

>  Brown researchers create first-ever HIV rapid test video [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Researchers at the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University have created a first-ever educational video on rapid HIV testing. The video -- available for free online -- is aimed at increasing testing rates and slowing the spread of HIV/AIDS, one of

>  FEMA Administrator and CDC Director to Brief News Media on Formaldehyde Testing Plan [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

The administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), R. David Paulison, and the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Dr. Julie Gerberding, will brief the news media Thursday at FEMA Headquarters in Washington,

>  December 13th Press Briefing Related to CDC Testing of Occupied FEMA Trailers in the Gulf Coast Area [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

CDC press conference to announce the start date for testing trailers in Louisiana and Mississippi for formaldehyde levels in trailers and mobile homes.

>  NIH panel seeks to dispel stigma associated with fecal and urinary incontinence [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

An independent panel convened this week by the NIH found that fewer than half of individuals experiencing fecal or urinary incontinence -- the inability to control bowel movements or urination, respectively -- report their symptoms to healthcare providers

>  Mayo Clinic article offers data about shingles virus [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

When a vaccine to prevent shingles was approved for use in 2006, the Food and Drug Administration recommended the vaccine for people age 60 and older who previously had chickenpox. But two issues -- the vaccine's cost and the perception that shingles pri

>  Deadly virus strips away immune system’s defensive measures [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

When the alert goes out that a virus has invaded the body, cells that have yet to be attacked prepare by "armoring" themselves for combat, attaching specific antiviral molecules to many of their own proteins to help resist the invader. Unfortunately, the

>  Immune compound blocks virus’ ability to hijack antibodies [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have shown that a controversial phenomenon known as antibody-dependent enhancement of infection is suppressed by C1q, a blood-borne immune system compound. The link may give researchers

>  Ireland Cancer Center researchers advance stem cell gene therapy [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Ireland Cancer Center of University Hospitals Case Medical Center researchers recently made great strides in stem cell gene therapy research by transferring a new gene to cancer patients, via their own stem cells, with the ultimate goal of being able to u

>  Why the switch stays on [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

North Carolina State University scientists have discovered the way in which a specific protein-protein interaction prevents the cell from turning one of its switches off, leading to uncontrolled cell proliferation -- one of the hallmarks of cancer.

>  Light and sound -- the way forward for better medical imaging [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Detection and treatment of tumours, diseased blood vessels and other soft-tissue conditions could be significantly improved, thanks to an innovative imaging system being developed that uses both light and sound.

>  Unsafe sex increases after starting anti-HIV treatment in Cote d’Ivoire [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Unsafe sex increases after starting anti-HIV treatment in Cote d'Ivoire

>  US study suggests circumcision does not protect black or Latino MSM from HIV [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

US study suggests circumcision does not protect black or Latino MSM from HIV

>  Active compounds found in Ganoderma lucidum fungus with potential to treat prostate cancer [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

A new development in the fight against cancer: Recent research at the University of Haifa found that molecules found in common fungus Ganoderma lucidum aid in suppressing some of the mechanisms involved in the progression of prostate cancer. The main acti

>  Gene is associated with aggressive prostate cancer [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

A variant of a tumor suppressor gene may be associated with an increased risk of aggressive prostate cancer, according to a study published online Dec. 11 in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

>  CDC and FDA Advise Public of Vaccine Recall [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Telebriefing to discuss Merck(c) Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) vaccine recall

>  Semen ingredient ’drastically’ enhances HIV infection [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

A plentiful ingredient found in human semen drastically enhances the ability of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) to cause infection, according to a report in the Dec. 14, 2007, issue of the journal Cell, a publication of Cell Press. The findings hel

>  Putting risk in perspective : Do people make better decisions when they understand average risk ? [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

If there were a pill that would cut your risk of breast cancer in half, would you take it? What if you were told your risk of breast cancer was already below average? In a newly published survey, women who were told their risk of breast cancer was above a

>  High-dose chemo and stem cell transplant shows little or no survival benefit for breast cancer [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

High-dose chemotherapy and autologous stem cell transplantation, the controversial, arduous, yet once-popular combination treatment that fell out of favor as a therapy for breast cancer, has proven not to be beneficial as an adjuvant therapy for women wit

>  Drug study for brain cancer shows promising results [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

A clinical study conducted at Henry Ford Hospital on the use of a drug to extend the survival of patients with the most common and aggressive type of brain cancer, has yielded results that were significantly better than expected.

>  New study suggests why vaccines directed against cancer, HIV don’t work [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Researchers from the University of Missouri and Imperial College London have found evidence suggesting why vaccines directed against the virus that causes AIDS and many cancers do not work. This research is being published in the Dec. 14 edition of the Jo

>  Sperm’s immune-protection properties could provide link to how cancers spread [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Sugar-based markers on human sperm cells which may prevent them from being attacked by the female immune system could provide a vital clue to how some cancers spread in the human body, according to new research published on Dec. 14, 2007.

>  New CDC Study Finds 5.5 Percent Increase in Injury Mortality from 1999 to 2004 [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Increases in deaths among 20-to-29 and 45-to-54 year olds contribute to first overall increase in years

>  CDC to Begin Testing Trailers for Formaldehyde [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

FEMA continues efforts to move residents out of trailers

>  Another ’smart’ cancer drug can have toxic effects on the heart [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Another FDA-approved targeted cancer drug, sunitinib, may be associated with cardiac toxicity, report researchers at Children's Hospital Boston, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (Boston), and Thomas Jefferson University (Philadelphia). Sunitinib is one of se

>  Risk factors for lactic acidosis likely more common in resource-limited settings [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Risk factors for lactic acidosis likely more common in resource-limited settings

>  UK could look to Kenyan scheme as a way of increasing HIV testing in African communities [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

UK could look to Kenyan scheme as a way of increasing HIV testing in African communities

>  Bodily breakdown explained : How cell differentiation patterns suppress somatic evolution [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Natural selection can occur at the cellular level, where it is detrimental to health. Fortunately it is normally controlled by a well-known pattern of ongoing cell differentiation in the mature tissues of animals, according to a new study published Dec. 1

>  Survey underscores importance of emotional/educational needs among women with advanced breast cancer [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Psychosocial support in women with advanced or metastatic breast cancer is as important as the need for disease- and treatment-related information, according to results of a survey presented here today at the 30th Annual San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposiu

>  Even tiny breast tumors can be aggressive and may require maximum therapy [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Breast tumors that are 1 centimeter in size or smaller -- no more than 0.4 inch in length -- can still be very aggressive and may require more intensive therapy than is routinely offered today, say researchers at Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Fla.

>  Survival shortened when ER/PR negative breast cancer spreads to the brain [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Two studies from Mayo Clinic's site in Jacksonville, Fla., of women whose breast cancer spread to their brain, have found that women whose tumors do not have estrogen or progesterone receptors have the worst overall outcomes. Because of this, these patie

>  Addressing care gap in underserved women not easy, Mayo researchers find [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

In an effort to fill a significant gap in the breast care of underserved women, physicians and nurses at Mayo Clinic's campus in Jacksonville, Fla., developed a program, still ongoing, to help overcome barriers that prevent women from receiving timely ca

>  Drug combination shrinks breast cancer metastases in brain [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

A combination of a "targeted" therapy and chemotherapy shrank metastatic brain tumors by at least 50 percent in one-fifth of patients with aggressive HER2-positive breast cancer, according to data presented by Dana-Farber Cancer Institute investigators at

>  New report estimates 12 million cancer deaths worldwide [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

A new American Cancer Society report estimates that there will be over 12 million new cancer cases and 7.6 million cancer deaths (about 20,000 cancer deaths a day) worldwide in 2007. The estimate comes from the first-ever "Global Cancer Facts & Figures,"

>  Drug level monitoring nearly doubles likelihood of reaching target levels [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Drug level monitoring nearly doubles likelihood of reaching target levels

>  Consequences of non-adherence worse in African-Americans than whites [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Consequences of non-adherence worse in African-Americans than whites

>  New report estimates 12 million cancer cases worldwide [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

A new American Cancer Society report estimates that there will be over 12 million new cancer cases and 7.6 million cancer deaths (about 20,000 cancer deaths a day) worldwide in 2007. The estimate comes from the first-ever "Global Cancer Facts & Figures,"

>  Older antibiotic gains new respect as potent treatment for tuberculosis [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

It has no current market, not even a prescription price. Its makers stopped commercial production years ago, because demand was so low. But an antibiotic long abandoned as a weak, low-dose treatment for tuberculosis may have found renewed purpose, this ti

>  Bacteria that cause urinary tract infections invade bladder cells [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have found definitive proof that some of the bacteria that plague women with urinary tract infections are entrenched inside human bladder cells. The finding confirms a controversial revis

>  Intracellular bacterial communities in cystitis ; rifapentine cures TB in mouse model ; and more [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

In this week's press release, the following articles are highlighted: "Detection of intracellular bacterial communities in bladder infection in women"; "Rifapentine cures tuberculosis in three months in a mouse model"; and "A new target for a vaccine aga

>  Study examines factors associated with survival in advanced laryngeal cancer [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Type of treatment, sex, race and insurance status are associated with survival rates among patients with advanced laryngeal cancer, according to a report in the December issue of Archives of Otolaryngology -- Head & Neck Surgery, one of the JAMA/Archives

>  Study finds outcomes of high-risk cancer operations in 80-year-olds worse than reported [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

New research published in the December issue of The Journal of the American College of Surgeons shows that outcomes of high-risk cancer operations in 80-year-olds are considerably worse than reported in case studies and published survival statistics, whic

>  Efficiency of satellite telecommunications for civil protection agencies [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Enhancing interoperability during European civil protection operations is the objective of an ESA project named Decision. In the context of this project, field trials were held in Chartres, France, focusing on satellite solutions to improve cooperation be

>  The blood-brain barrier : A misunderstood key to finding life-saving cures to brain disease [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

A team of international scientists, including a Saint Louis University researcher, demystifies the blood-brain barrier in an article in the Lancet Neurology.

>  Existing metabolic syndrome predicts cardiovascular disease and diabetes in HIV-positive people starting anti-HIV treatment [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Existing metabolic syndrome predicts cardiovascular disease and diabetes in HIV-positive people starting anti-HIV treatment

>  Atazanavir pharmacokinetics not appreciably altered during late-stage pregnancy [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Atazanavir pharmacokinetics not appreciably altered during late-stage pregnancy

>  Researchers train the immune system to deliver virus that destroys cancer in lab models [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

An international team of researchers led by Mayo Clinic have designed a technique that uses the body's own cells and a virus to destroy cancer cells that spread from primary tumors to other parts of the body through the lymphatic system.

>  U of M researchers develop new online tool in fight against spread of HIV [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

A new Web-based software program is the latest tool University of Minnesota researchers are using to help fight the spread of HIV.

>  Simple strategy could prevent half of deadly tuberculosis infections [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

By using a combination of inexpensive infection control measures, hospitals around the world could prevent half the new cases of extensively drug resistant tuberculosis, according to a new study in the Lancet by researchers at Yale School of Medicine.

>  New neuroimaging study identifies ’brain signature’ for cigarette cravings [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

A new brain imaging study by researchers in the Abramson Cancer Center of the University of Pennsylvania shows that cigarette cravings in smokers who are deprived of nicotine are linked with increased activation in specific regions of the brain. Using a n

>  Does treating worms in people with HIV slow progression to AIDS ? [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

There is evidence that co-infection of Helminth worms may result in a more rapid progression of HIV infection to AIDS. Does treating these worms ("de-worming") slow down this progression? In a new study published in PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, resea

>  Atripla to have same price as the constituent drugs in Europe [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Atripla to have same price as the constituent drugs in Europe

>  If you don’t want to fall ill this Christmas, then share a festive kiss but don’t shake hands [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

We've all heard people say 'I won't kiss you, I've got a cold'. But a report just published warns that we may be far more at risk of passing on an infection by shaking someone's hand than in sharing a kiss.

>  Domestic violence identified as stressor associated with smoking [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Using a large population survey in India, a new study from Harvard School of Public Health researchers has found an association between domestic violence and adult smoking.

>  Drug aimed at 2 bioterror agents blocks live viral infection, Weill Cornell team reports [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Two deadly and highly infectious viruses -- both potential bioterror threats -- may have met their match in a new drug developed by scientists at Weill Cornell Medical College in New York City.

>  Why don’t we get cancer all the time ? [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

To replace worn-out cells, having the neighboring cell split into two identical daughter cells would seem to be the simplest way to keep bodies from falling apart. Instead, multicellular organisms use a seemingly inefficient, multi-step process to replace

>  St. Jude finds link between cellular defense processes, showing how cancer cells survive [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

St. Jude Children's Research Hospital investigators have discovered that immune system cells that engulf and destroy germs in the body enlist help for this task from a common housekeeping mechanism that most cells use to keep their interiors healthy.

>  Microchip-based device can detect rare tumor cells in bloodstream [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

A team of investigators from the Massachusetts General Hospital BioMEMS Resource Center and the MGH Cancer Center has developed a microchip-based device that can isolate, enumerate and analyze circulating tumor cells from a blood sample. The new device --

>  Study shows immigrant children are at increased risk of lead poisoning [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Immigrant children are five times as likely as US-born children to suffer from lead poisoning in New York City, according to a new Health Department study, and the risk is highest among the most recent immigrants.

>  Insurance status linked to cancer outcomes [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

A new report from the American Cancer Society finds substantial evidence that lack of adequate health insurance coverage is associated with less access to care and poorer outcomes for cancer patients. The report finds the uninsured are less likely to rece

>  Making hospitals safer from infection [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

International Legionella expert Janet Stout, Ph.D., is urging public health and infection control officers to be proactive against Legionella and other waterborne microbes that contribute to soaring hospital infection rates.

>  CWRU School of Medicine has evidence vaccine against malaria will reduce disease [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Researchers at the Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine's Center for Global Health & Diseases published data potentially impacting the three billion people exposed to malaria every year. Brian T. Grimberg, Ph.D., Peter A. Zimmerman, Ph. D.,

>  Researchers solve first structure of a key to intact DNA inheritance [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Researchers have solved the structure of a DNA-protein complex that is crucial in the spread of antibiotic resistance among bacteria. Knowing this structure also provides fundamental insight into how cells successfully divide into two new cells with intac

>  JCI table of contents : Dec. 20, 2007 [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

This release contains summaries, links to PDFs, and contact information for the following newsworthy papers to be published Dec. 20, 2007, in the JCI: "You can teach an old dog new tricks: antimalarial prevents cancer in mice"; "How an Atkins-like diet ca

>  Hormone may be new drug target for preventing lymphedema, tumor spread [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

A hormone secreted by cells throughout the body and known to play a role in cardiovascular disease and other cell functions is also critical for proper formation of the lymphatic system in mice, according to research from the University of North Carolina

>  You can teach an old dog new tricks : anti-malarial prevents cancer in mice [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

New data to be published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation, have indicated that the antimalarial drug chloroquine effectively prevents cancer in mouse models of two distinct human cancer syndromes, Burkitt lymphoma and ataxia telangiectasia.

>  Human genetic variation -- Science’s ’Breakthrough of the Year’ [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

In 2007, researchers were dazzled by the degree to which genomes differ from one human to another and began to understand the role of these variations in disease and personal traits. Science and its publisher, AAAS, the nonprofit science society, recogniz

>  Gene neighbors may have taken turns battling retroviruses [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

A cluster of antiviral genes in humans has likely battled retroviral invasions for millions of years. New research now finds that in addition to the previously identified TRIM5 gene that can defend against retroviruses like HIV, a related gene right next

>  Reconstruction surgery rarely discussed with breast cancer patients [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

A new study finds that most general surgeons do not discuss reconstruction with patients before surgical breast cancer treatment.

>  Most breast cancer surgeons don’t talk to patients about reconstruction options, U-M study finds [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Only a third of patients with breast cancer discussed breast reconstruction options with their surgeon before their initial surgery, according to a new study. What's more, women who did discuss reconstruction up front were four times more likely to have

>  Light powered platinum more targeted and 80 times more powerful than similar cancer treatments [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Researchers from the Universities of Warwick, Edinburgh, Dundee and the Czech Republic's Institute of Biophysics have discovered a new light-activated platinum-based compound that is up to 80 times more powerful than other platinum-based anti-cancer drug

>  Kaiser Permanente -- Group Health study shows depression worsens HIV treatment [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

The largest study to examine the effect of depression on HIV treatment appears in the online edition of the Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes. The study by Kaiser Permanente and Group Health found depression significantly worsens a patient'

>  Scoring system identifies MDS patients who have low-risk disease but a poor prognosis [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

A new scoring system for a form of leukemia known as myelodysplastic syndrome identifies patients who appear to have low-risk disease but actually have poor prospects of survival, researchers at the University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center report

>  Cancer stem cells : know thine enemy [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Stem cells, popularly known as a source of biological rejuvenation, may play harmful roles in the body, specifically in the growth and spread of cancer. Amongst the wildly dividing cells of a tumor, scientists have located cancer stem cells. Physician-sci

>  Gold nanoparticle probes may allow earlier cancer detection [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Using tiny gold particles embedded with dyes, researchers have shown that they can identify tumors under the skin of a living animal. These tools may allow doctors to detect and diagnose cancer earlier and less invasively. Studded with antibody fragments

>  Lung cancer cells’ survival gene seen as drug target [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

When a key gene called 14-3-3zeta is silenced, lung cancer cells can't survive on their own, researchers have found. The gene is a potential target for selective anticancer drugs.

>  Health coverage improves health and reduces major heart complications [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

A 12-year study of over 7,000 Americans shows that individuals without health insurance experience a dramatic improvement in their subsequent health trends when they become eligible for Medicare at age 65. In an era when health-care coverage is a very pro

>  Other highlights in the Dec. 25 JNCI [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Also in the Dec. 25 JNCI are studies on cancer care in nursing homes, a possible link between testicular cancer and environmental exposures early in life, the suppression of cancer cell invasion by cannabinoids, and a new method for classifying new and re

>  Poor Americans in the United States suffer hidden burden of parasitic and other neglected diseases [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

In an article titled "Poverty and Neglected Diseases in the ‘Other' America," Professor Peter Hotez (George Washington University and the Sabin Vaccine Institute) says that there is evidence that the parasitic diseases toxocariasis, cysticercosis and toxo

>  Neglected tropical diseases burden those overseas, but travelers also at risk [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

A new paper by NIAID scientist Thomas Nutman, M.D., and colleagues reviews network data collected between 1997 and 2004 to determine demographic and travel characteristics of travelers diagnosed with parasitic worm (filarial) infections.

>  Bevacizumab found to improve survival for patients with advanced breast cancer [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Inhibiting the growth of blood vessels that supply tumors slows the progression of metastatic breast cancer according to results of a large clinical trial of Avastin, an antiangiogenic therapy. The study, published in the Dec. 27 issue of the New England

>  New drug targets may fight tuberculosis and other bacterial infections in novel way [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Researchers from Weill Cornell Medical College in New York City say exciting new molecular targets -- so-called "virulence factors" that bacteria use to thrive once they are in the host -- present an alternative, potent means of stopping TB, leprosy and o

>  Cell-death receptor links cancer susceptibility and inflammation [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Researchers demonstrated for the first time a link between cell-death-inducing TRAIL's receptor and cancer susceptibility. Unexpectedly, they also found a connection -- via TRAIL -- between inflammation and cancer susceptibility.

>  In largest U.S. Hep C trial, researchers determine weight-based dosing is key to optimal treatment [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

As reported recently in the journal Hepatology, WIN-R, a multicenter study of over 5,000 patients with hepatitis C virus showed treatment with weight-based REBETOL® (ribavirin, USP) in combination with pegylated interferon alfa-2b achieved significantly h

>  Cone-Beam CT faster, potentially more accurate than conventional mammography [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Cone-beam breast CT provides exceptional tissue contrast and can potentially reduce examination time with comparable radiation dose to conventional 2D mammography, according to a new study by a team of researchers from the University of Texas M. D. Anders

>  Treating oft ignored non-cancer health issues after cancer diagnosis prolongs survival [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Receiving treatment for non-cancer health issues while being treated by specialists for cancer improves cancer survival rates according to a study published in the Dec. 20 issue of the Journal of Clinical Oncology.

>  Pilot error declines as factor in airline mishaps [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

The number of airline mishaps attributed to pilot error significantly declined between 1983 and 2002, according to an analysis conducted by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. While the overall rate of airline mishaps remai

>  Handling pesticides associated with greater asthma risk in farm women [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

New research on farm women has shown that contact with some commonly used pesticides in farm work may increase their risk of allergic asthma.

>  Eltrombopag effective for hepatitis C patients with low blood-platelet counts [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

For patients with hepatitis C, having a low blood platelet count is a frequent complication associated with advanced disease. This problem is compounded by the fact that standard antiviral treatment for the disease can further reduce platelet numbers to d

>  Jefferson scientists find protein potential drug target for treatment-resistant prostate cancer [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Scientists at Jefferson's Kimmel Cancer Center in Philadelphia have found that a signaling protein that is key to prostate cancer cell growth is turned on in nearly all recurrent prostate cancers that are resistant to hormone therapy. If the findings hol

>  Annals of Internal Medicine tip sheet for Jan. 1, 2008, issue [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

The following articles are featured in the upcoming issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine: "Targeted Digital Mammography May Be Cost-Effective Method of Screening for Breast Cancer, but Digital Mammography for All Women Is Not"; "Way a Drug Concentrati

>  Restless legs syndrome doubles risk of stroke and heart disease [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

People with restless legs syndrome are twice as likely to have a stroke or heart disease compared to people without RLS, and the risk is greatest in those with the most frequent and severe symptoms, according to research published in the Jan. 1, 2008, iss

>  Research suggests new treatment suitable for all patients [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

New research at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center suggests that a three-drug cocktail may one day improve outcomes in patients with glioblastoma multiforme, a type of brain tumor with a dismal prognosis. Two of the drug candidates have been de

>  ’Swish-and-spit’ test accurate for cancer [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

A morning gargle could someday be more than a breath freshener -- it could spot head and neck cancer, say scientists at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center. Their new study of a mouth rinse that captures genetic signatures common to the disease holds p

>  Ashkenazi ovarian cancer patients with BRCA mutations live longer than those with normal gene [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Israeli investigators have found that Ashkenazi Jewish women with ovarian cancer who have mutations in the BRCA1 or BRCA2 genes lived significantly longer than Ashkenazi Jewish ovarian cancer patients without these mutations. After up to nine years of fol

>  Blacks, Hispanics less likely to get strong pain drugs in emergency rooms [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Despite increases in the overall use of opioid drugs to relieve severe pain, black and Hispanic patients remain significantly less likely than whites to receive these pain-relievers in emergency rooms, according to a new national study.

>  Study examines genetic defects linked to body abnormalities in patients with childhood cancer [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Children with cancer have a higher prevalence of body abnormalities, such as asymmetric lower limbs and curvature of the spine, suggesting that the genetic defect responsible for the abnormality may play a role in the development of cancer, according to a

>  Gene variation may elevate risk of liver tumor in patients with cirrhosis [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

A particular gene variation appears to significantly increase the risk that individuals with cirrhosis of the liver will go on to develop hepatocellular carcinoma, a liver tumor that is the third leading cause of cancer death. Researchers from Massachuset

>  Effects of adherence support programmes may be short lived [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Effects of adherence support programmes may be short lived

>  Injection drug use, low baseline CD4 counts continue to predict poorer HAART response after six years [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Injection drug use, low baseline CD4 counts continue to predict poorer HAART response after six years

>  Mayo Clinic Proceedings provides forum for debate about capital punishment [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

In a commentary and two editorials published in the September 2007 issue of Mayo Clinic Proceedings, three anesthesiologists and a medical ethicist discussed whether doctors should participate in capital punishment executions.

>  Smoking rate among New York City teens was lowest on record in 2007 [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

New data from the 2007 New York City Youth Risk Behavior Survey indicate that cigarette smoking among NYC teens declined by 20 percent between 2005 and 2007. The city's teen smoking rate has dropped by more than half over the past six years, from 17.6 pe

>  Winemaking waste proves effective against disease-causing bacteria in early studies [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

A class of chemicals in red wine grapes may significantly reduce the ability of bacteria to cause cavities, according to a study published recently in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry.

>  Researchers seek to make cavity-causing bacteria self-destruct [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Bacteria that eat sugar and release cavity-causing acid onto teeth may soon be made dramatically more vulnerable to their own acid. Researchers have identified key genes and proteins that, if interfered with, can take away the ability of a key bacterial s

>  Just 4 months of hormone therapy can delay prostate cancer growth by up to 8 years [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Researchers report that just four months of hormonal therapy before and with standard external beam radiation therapy slowed cancer growth by as much as eight years -- especially the development of bone metastases -- and increased survival in older men wi

>  Language centers revealed, brain surgery refined with new mapping [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Neurosurgeons from the University of California, San Francisco are reporting significant results of a new brain mapping technique that allows for the safe removal of tumors near language pathways in the brain. The technique minimizes brain exposure and re

>  JCI online early table of contents : Jan. 2, 2008 [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

This release contains summaries, links to PDFs and contact information for the following newsworthy papers to be published online, Jan. 2, 2008, in the JCI, including: Il-22 gene delivers the goods and decreases intestinal inflammation; Epilepsy and brain

>  Live operators crucial factor for public health department disease-reporting hotlines [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Public health departments that staff disease-reporting hotlines with live operators at all times are more likely to meet federal guidelines designed to help stop the spread of infectious diseases, according to a RAND Corp. study issued today.

>  New strategies work to put cancer on the firing line [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Dr. Yukai He wants to put cancer in the bull's eye. "Cancer really comes from us," the Medical College of Georgia Cancer Center immunologist says of the scary reality that cancer cells are our own cells gone awry. That means our immune system doesn't al

>  Multiple species of bacteria may cause trachoma : Implications for treatment [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

In a study published in this week's PLoS Medicine, researchers have found that more than one species of bacteria may be causing the infectious eye disease trachoma.

>  HIV isolate from Kenya provides clues for vaccine design [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Two simple changes in its outer envelope protein could render the AIDS virus vulnerable to attack by the immune system, according to research from Kenya and the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center published in PLoS Medicine.

>  Catheter chaos : Hospitals lag in preventing common infection [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Right now, one in four hospitalized Americans has a urinary catheter. But despite the fact that catheter-related urinary tract infections are the most common hospital-acquired infection, and can lead to dangerous complications, a new study shows hospitals

>  Interaction between efavirenz and phenytoin can result in undetectable blood levels of efavirenz [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Interaction between efavirenz and phenytoin can result in undetectable blood levels of efavirenz

>  Life at the jolt [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Researchers at the Biodesign Institute are using the tiniest organisms on the planet 'bacteria' as a viable option to make electricity. In a new study featured in the journal Biotechnology and Bioengineering, lead author Andrew Kato Marcus and colleague

>  Novel anticancer strategy moves from laboratory to clinic [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Researchers have developed a novel anti-tumor compound that represents a distinct strategy: targeting one of the most important "intercept points" for cancer cells.

>  Inside college parties : surprising findings about drinking behavior [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

In this issue: Most studies of college-student drinking have looked at the individual, and have relied on self reports; New findings gathered from on-the-spot observations show that parties with drinking games can predict higher blood-alcohol concentratio

>  Children are introduced to sipping and tasting alcohol in the home [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

In this issue: Very little is known about alcohol use by children; New findings show that the introduction to alcohol use may occur as early as eight or 10 years of age, and is an experience that typically occurs in the home; and Sipping and tasting refle

>  Worth a thousand words : Hopkins researchers paint picture of cancer-promoting culprit [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

They say that a picture can be worth a thousand words. This especially is true for describing the structures of molecules that function to promote cancer. Researchers at Johns Hopkins have built a three-dimensional picture of an enzyme often mutated in ma

>  LSU and Ohio State battle on football field, collaborate in research field [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

LSU and Ohio State University will battle for the BCS National College Football Championship in the Superdome early next week, but if the game was held in the Louisiana wetlands instead, the entire field would disappear before halftime.

>  Surviving childhood cancer -- the success story [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

A diagnosis of childhood cancer 50 years ago meant almost certain death. Now, because of scientific advances, the majority of newly diagnosed children can expect to survive. The current special issue of Chronic Illness, published by SAGE, explores the his

>  Fatherhood linked to prostate cancer risk [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

A new study from Danish researchers has found that childless men have a lower risk of developing prostate cancer than fathers, and that, paradoxically, the more children a father has, the lower the risk of the disease.

>  Racial disparities persist in cancer care [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

A new study finds that, despite efforts in the last decade to mitigate cancer treatment disparities, black patients are significantly less likely than white patients to receive therapy for various types of cancer.

>  Rapid, opt-out HIV testing accepted by over 99% of women in an urban Malawi program [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Rapid, opt-out HIV testing accepted by over 99% of women in an urban Malawi program

>  AZT, 3TC and efavirenz : a tolerable first-line regimen for South African men [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

AZT, 3TC and efavirenz: a tolerable first-line regimen for South African men

>  Bacterial infections in premature babies more common than previously realized [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Premature babies are subject to a host of threats that can result in fetal/neonatal disease. In a study published in the January 2008 issue of the American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology, researchers found that genital mycoplasmas are a frequent cause

>  Circumcision doesn’t reduce sexual satisfaction and performance, says study of 4,500 men [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

A study of nearly 4,500 men finds that circumcision does not adversely affect sexual performance and satisfaction. Adult studies have been problematic and contradictory because of highly selective study participants, small sample sizes and short follow-up

>  Study tracks sexual behavior of newly homeless youth [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Newly homeless youth are likelier to engage in risky sexual behavior if they stay in nonfamily settings -- such as friends' homes, abandoned buildings or the streets -- because they lack supervision and social support. This is the first time that researc

>  Updated guide shows which countries restrict entry and residence for people with HIV [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Updated guide shows which countries restrict entry and residence for people with HIV

>  Oncolytics Biotech, Inc. announces publication of research [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Dr. Richard Vile and his research team at the the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine in Rochester, Minn., has published the results of its work testing the antitumor efficacy and safety of various combinations of reovirus and cyclophosphamide in vivo. The pa

>  4 health behaviors can add 14 extra years of life [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

People who adopt four healthy behaviours -- not smoking; taking exercise; moderate alcohol intake; and eating five servings of fruit and vegetables a day -- live on average an additional 14 years of life compared with people who adopt none of these behavi

>  Predictors of mortality among HIV-positive children in resource-limited settings [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Predictors of mortality among HIV-positive children in resource-limited settings

>  Colonoscopy fears overcome when patients support patients [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine researchers found that patients who received telephone mentoring from a trained "peer coach" were two times more likely to keep their first colonoscopy appointment than those who received an educational brochu

>  More sun exposure may be good for some people [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

A new study by scientists at the US Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory and colleagues in Norway suggests that the benefits of moderately increased exposure to sunlight -- namely the production of vitamin D, which protects against the l

>  Physical education and active play help teens maintain normal weight as adults [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Adolescents who participate in physical education at school are more likely to maintain a normal weight as young adults, according to a study by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. For each weekday of physical education at

>  Multiple skin cancer risk behaviors are common among US adults [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Sunlight's ultraviolet rays can damage your skin year-round. Yet a new study by behavioral researchers at Fox Chase Cancer Center shows that most American adults engage in multiple behaviors that boost their risk of skin cancer by increasing their exposu

>  Study proves the co-pay connection in chronic disease [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

As 2008 begins, millions of Americans are facing higher insurance co-pays for drugs and doctor appointments. But a new study finds that instead of going up, co-pays should go down -- at least for some people taking some drugs. For people with chronic dise

>  Higher Medicare spending yields mixed bag for patients [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

A large-scale study of over 55,000 colorectal cancer patients found that Medicare beneficiaries in "high spending" areas get better care in some circumstances, but worse care in others. On net, they do no better than their peers in lower spending areas.

>  New insight into factors that drive muscle-building stem cells [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

A report in the January issue of Cell Metabolism, a publication of Cell Press, provides new evidence explaining how stem cells known as satellite cells contribute to building muscles up in response to exercise. These findings could lead to treatments for

>  Teens find the benefits of not having sex decline with age [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

The percentage of teens who report solely positive benefits from not having sex declines precipitously with age, according to a new study by scientists at the University of California, San Francisco.

>  Insights into cell movement likely to aid immune study, cancer research [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have used yeast cells to better understand a collection of proteins associated with the formation of actin networks, which are essential to cell movement. The cell's ability to move is i

>  U of M research finds disordered eating less common among teen girls who regularly eat family meals [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Adolescent girls who frequently eat meals with their families appear less likely to use diet pills, laxatives, or other extreme measures to control their weight five years later, according to research led by Dianne Neumark-Sztainer, PhD, MPH, RD, lead inv

>  American women are more likely to choose overly aggressive treatments for breast cancer [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Despite a 1990 consensus recommendation from the National Institutes of Health that lumpectomy plus radiation was the treatment of choice for early-stage breast cancer, the United States continues to have the highest rate of mastectomy surgery among indus

>  NIAID experts see dengue as potential threat to US public health [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

A disease most Americans have never heard of could soon become more prevalent if dengue, a flu-like illness that can turn deadly, continues to expand into temperate climates and increase in severity, according to a new commentary by Anthony S. Fauci, M.D.

>  New statistical technique shows more informative picture of survival [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Researchers have developed a new method for presenting clinical trial survival data that includes data from all trial participants unlike the standard method, according to a commentary published online Jan. 8 in the Journal of the National Cancer Institut

>  Understanding the have-knots : The role of stress in just about everything [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

A study now reveals that stress causes deterioration in everything from your gums to your heart and can make you more susceptible to everything from the common cold to cancer. Thanks to new research crossing the disciplines of psychology, medicine, neuros

>  How less can be more when treating some kidney cancers [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

A new Mayo Clinic study suggests that removing the entire kidney from younger patients with small kidney tumors may lead to decreased overall survival compared with an operation that removes the tumor but leaves the kidney intact.

>  New York City death rate reaches historic low [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

The death rate in New York City reached an all-time low in 2006, as the number of deaths fell to 55,391 -- down from 57,068 in 2005 and 60,218 in 2001. Mortality declined in eight leading categories, including diabetes, HIV, chronic lung disease and kidne

>  High prevalence of asymptomatic heart disease in HIV-positive patients [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

High prevalence of asymptomatic heart disease in HIV-positive patients

>  Spanish find low prevalence of peripheral arterial disease in HIV-positive patients with heart disease risks [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Spanish find low prevalence of peripheral arterial disease in HIV-positive patients with heart disease risks

>  Anal HPV infection often involves multiple HPV strains in HIV-positive men [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Anal HPV infection often involves multiple HPV strains in HIV-positive men

>  Infrared treatment for pre-cancerous anal lesions in HIV-positive patients safe and has good outcomes [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Infrared treatment for pre-cancerous anal lesions in HIV-positive patients safe and has good outcomes

>  Study suggests new treatments for Huntington’s disease [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Working with fruit flies, researchers have discovered a new mechanism by which the abnormal protein in Huntington's disease causes neurodegeneration. They have also manipulated the flies to successfully suppress that neurodegeneration, which they said su

>  Disrupting common parasites’ ability to ’talk’ to each other reduces infection [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

One of the most common human parasites, Toxoplasma gondii, uses a hormone lifted from the plant world to decide when to increase its numbers and when to remain dormant, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have found. Scien

>  Methadone even at therapeutic levels can kill [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Methadone is a possible cause of sudden cardiac death even when it isn't overdosed but is taken at therapeutic levels primarily for relief of chronic pain or drug addiction withdrawal, a new study by Oregon Health & Science University researchers suggest

>  Transplant drug sirolimus shrinks tumors, improves lung function [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

The drug sirolimus, normally used to help transplant patients fight organ rejection, may eventually be used as a less invasive treatment for a tumor called angiomyolipomata in patients with tuberous sclerosis complex or lymphangioleiomyomatosis who would

>  Starting treatment at higher CD4 cell counts reduces risk of peripheral neuropathy, anaemia and kidney disease [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Starting treatment at higher CD4 cell counts reduces risk of peripheral neuropathy, anaemia and kidney disease

>  Dutch find no evidence of superinfection in patients experiencing virological failure [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Dutch find no evidence of superinfection in patients experiencing virological failure

>  Second generation NNRTIs poised for treatment-naïve studies [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Second generation NNRTIs poised for treatment-naïve studies

>  Second generation NNRTIs poised for treatment-naïve studies [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Second generation NNRTIs poised for treatment-naïve studies

>  New picture of HIV-1’s protein jacket identifies target for antibody-based vaccine [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

By coaxing the HIV-1 protein to reveal a hidden portion of its protein coat, scientists at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School have provided a newly detailed picture of how protective, or so-called broadly neutralizing, antibodies bloc

>  CSHL scientists identify cells that promote formation of lethal lung metastases [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Cancer patients usually ask what can be done after a primary tumor has already spread, or metastasized, to other organs. In many cases, they learn, little can be done. Hence the importance of a discovery by scientists at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory of a

>  Jefferson scientists find protein helps pancreatic cancer cells evade immune system and spread [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

A protein that helps prevent a woman's body from rejecting a fetus may also play an important role in enabling pancreatic cancer cells to evade detection by the immune system, allowing them to spread in the body. Researchers found that the metastatic pan

>  Common molecule notifies immune system of prostate cancer [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

In experiments with mice, researchers have found that the body's immune system can use a surprisingly common molecule to recognize prostate tumors. Understanding how this protein signals the immune system to respond to malignant cells may help researcher

>  Genomic screen nets hundreds of human proteins exploited by HIV [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Using a technique called RNA interference to screen thousands of genes, researchers identified 273 human proteins required for HIV propagation. The vast majority had not been connected to the virus by previous studies.

>  JCI online early table of contents : Jan. 10 2008 [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

This release contains summaries, links to PDFs and contact information for the following newsworthy papers to be published online, Jan. 10, 2008, in the JCI, including: A new way to boost red blood cell numbers; A PIN(1) prick for lung scarring: inhibitin

>  Pancreatitis : EuroSIDA finds low incidence, no link to use of specific antiretrovirals [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Pancreatitis: EuroSIDA finds low incidence, no link to use of specific antiretrovirals

>  Anti-HIV treatment reduces TB incidence in Spain [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Anti-HIV treatment reduces TB incidence in Spain

>  MSM in Kenya urgently require targeted HIV prevention [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

MSM in Kenya urgently require targeted HIV prevention

>  Stem cells make bone marrow cancer resistant to treatment [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Scientists at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center say they have evidence that cancer stem cells for multiple myeloma share many properties with normal stem cells and have multiple ways of resisting chemotherapy and other treatments.

>  Uncovering the Achilles’ heel of the HIV-1 envelope [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

New structural details illustrate how a promising class of antibodies may block human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-1 infection and reveal valuable clues for design of an effective HIV-1 vaccine.

>  Dissecting the genetic components of adaptation of E. coli to the mouse gut [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

New insights into the evolutionary mechanisms that facilitate the remarkably fast adaptation of intestinal bacteria within their natural environment are provided in the January issue of PLoS Genetics by researchers from INSERM and INRA at University Paris

>  NOAA proposes federal regulations to protect black abalone [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

NOAA Fisheries Service filed with the Federal Register today a proposed rule to list black abalone, a marine mollusk coveted by fishermen and gourmets alike, as endangered under the Endangered Species Act. The proposal comes after NOAA Fisheries Service c

>  Adult stem cell changes underlie rare genetic disease associated with accelerated aging [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Adult stem cells may provide an explanation for the cause of a Hutchinson-Gilford Progeria Syndrome, a rare disease that causes premature aging in children. These findings, the first to indicate a biological basis for the clinical features of HGPS, also k

>  Mouse model tightly matches pediatric tumor syndrome, will speed drug hunt [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Frustrated by the slow pace of new drug development for a condition that causes pediatric brain tumors, a neurologist at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis decided to try to fine-tune the animal models used to test new drugs.

>  Microbicides 2008 : Microbicides might benefit men more than women [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Microbicides 2008: Microbicides might benefit men more than women

>  Novel mechanism found that may boost impaired function of leukemia protein [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

A new study led by researchers at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center reports on a novel mechanism that can enhance the function of a protein that is frequently impaired in patients with acute forms of leukemia. The protein, called AML1, plays a critic

>  St. Jude researchers find key step in programmed cell death [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Investigators at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital have discovered a dance of proteins that protects certain cells from undergoing apoptosis, also known as programmed cell death. Understanding the fine points of apoptosis is important to researchers

>  When couples face the diagnosis of cancer, women carry a larger emotional burden than men [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

In a couple where one of the partners is diagnosed with cancer, women are more consistently and severely distressed than men, regardless of whether they are the person with the disease or the healthy partner. The results of a research paper appearing in t

>  Concerns in US study over abacavir/3TC’s potency in patients with a high viral load [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Concerns in US study over abacavir/3TC's potency in patients with a high viral load

>  Home-based HIV care in Uganda has excellent results [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Home-based HIV care in Uganda has excellent results

>  Major mid-century influenza epidemics caused by novel hybrid viruses [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Reassortment of the influenza A virus occurs frequently throughout its evolutionary history, according to a new study published Feb. 29 in the open-access journal PLoS Pathogens. The researchers found that the severe influenza epidemics of 1947 and 1951 w

>  Researchers have discovered a gene that can block the spread of HIV [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Researchers at the University of Alberta have discovered a gene that is able to block HIV, and thought to in turn prevent the onset of AIDS.

>  Monkey gene that blocks AIDS viruses evolved more than once [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Researchers at Harvard Medical School have identified a gene in Asian monkeys that may have evolved as a defense against lentiviruses, the group of viruses that includes HIV. The study, published Feb. 29 in the open-access journal PLoS Pathogens, suggests

>  ADVANCE diabetes trial results confirm no evidence of safety risk [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Data from the ADVANCE Study, involving 11,140 high-risk patients with type 2 diabetes, provides no evidence of an increased risk of death among those patients receiving aggressive treatment to lower blood glucose.

>  Cancer-related protein may play key role in Alzheimer’s disease [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Researchers describe a new function for the cancer-related protein Akt -- one that may help promote the development of Alzheimer's disease.

>  Tobacco use, secondhand smoke exposure during pregnancy, may threaten health of women and children [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Findings from a National Institutes of Health study indicate that rates of tobacco use during pregnancy, as well as exposure of pregnant women and their young children to secondhand smoke, are significant threats to health in several low and middle-income

>  Study examines how men and women view marital and parental time pressures [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

In a recently published study funded by a grant from the National Institute of Mental Health, Dr. Susan Roxburgh, associate professor of sociology at Kent State University, examined how employment and parenthood influence time pressures pertaining to mari

>  Researchers find possible target to treat deadly bloodstream infections [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago have discovered a possible target to treat bloodstream bacterial infections.

>  Breast cancer death rates among black women not decreasing across all states [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

A new study from the American Cancer Society finds that while breast cancer death rates are decreasing for white women in every US state, for African American women, death rates are either flat or rising in at least half the states.

>  Gene expression differences between Europeans and Africans affect response to drugs, infections [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Differences in gene expression levels between people of European versus African ancestry can affect how each group responds to certain drugs or fights off specific infections. An unbiased whole-genome approach found significant differences in several proc

>  CDC Study Reveals Adults May Not Get Enough Rest or Sleeps [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

About 10 percent of adults report not getting enough rest or sleep every day in the past month, according to a new four-state study released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report...

>  U of Minn researchers discover genetic cancer link between humans and dogs [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Cancer researchers at the University of Minnesota and North Carolina State University have found that humans and dogs share more than friendship and companionship -- they also share the same genetic basis for certain types of cancer.

>  Microbicides 2008 : Will adherence issues affect all the first-generation trials ? [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Microbicides 2008: Will adherence issues affect all the first-generation trials?

>  Microbicides 2008 : Cellulose sulphate has unexpected tissue toxicity [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Microbicides 2008: Cellulose sulphate has unexpected tissue toxicity

>  ’Innocent bystanders’ can be the cause of tumor development [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Tumor growth has commonly been viewed as a result of mutations in a given cell that will therefore proliferate uncontrollably. However, a study conducted at the University of Helsinki, Finland, has demonstrated that in certain type of gastrointestinal pol

>  ETH Zurich researchers develop antibody test [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

A person's immune system can form antibodies against sugar molecules on the malaria pathogen, which protect against serious illness. A new blood test developed by a team of ETH Zurich and Swiss Tropical Institute researchers headed by Professor Peter See

>  New test for joint infection could spare some patients an unnecessary procedure [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

A potential diagnostic test that could help surgeons confirm or rule out the presence of infection-causing bacteria in prosthetic joints that require surgical revision has been developed by researchers at the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoske

>  Researchers develop new tool to predict who will use microbicides [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Using a new tool designed to measure a woman's willingness to use a microbicide (topical gels designed to prevent the sexual transmission of HIV), researchers at The Miriam Hospital and Brown University found that women who have used protective methods i

>  Psychological distress, not depression, linked to increased risk of stroke [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Psychological distress, but not depression, may increase the risk of stroke, according to a study published in the March 4, 2008, issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. Previous studies have shown that stroke often l

>  ’Lazy eye’ treatment shows promise in adults [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Researchers from the US and China announce positive results from a study and a pilot clinical trial of a treatment for amblyopia, or "lazy eye."

>  JCI online early table of contents : March 3, 2008 [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

This release contains summaries, links to PDFs and contact information for the following newsworthy papers to be published online, March 3, 2008, in the JCI, including: How the drug isotretinoin zaps acne; "Female sex hormone" protects against hearing los

>  Protein in embryonic stem cells control malignant tumor cells [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

A protein that governs development of human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) also inhibits the growth and spread of malignant melanoma, the deadliest skin cancer, Northwestern University researchers have discovered.

>  Link between alcohol and blood pressure greater than previously thought [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

The relationship between heavy drinking and hypertension is more significant than previously thought according to a new analysis of recent studies by researchers at Bristol University, published today in PLoS Medicine.

>  An open source solution to manage clinical trial data ; and more [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

In the next PLoS Medicine are articled titled "Aberrant mucin assembly induces colitis" and "An open-source solution to the problem of managing trial data."

>  Alcohol intake increases risk of high blood pressure ; and more [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

In the next PLoS medicine are articles titled "Alcohol intake increases risk of hypertension" and "An antibiotic-responsive mouse model of fulminant ulcerative colitis."

>  Microbicides 2008 : Third-generation microbicides might act as ‘bacterial vaccine’ [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Microbicides 2008: Third-generation microbicides might act as ‘bacterial vaccine'

>  Drug use trends affect risk of marijuana in deviance prone boys, but not girls [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

The risk of marijuana use among deviance-prone males goes up or down with national trends. But deviance prone girls are just as likely to use marijuana during years of high and low national use.

>  Study uncovers cause of flu epidemics [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

The exchange of genetic material between two closely related strains of the influenza A virus may have caused the 1947 and 1951 human flu epidemics, according to biologists. The findings could help explain why some strains cause major pandemics and others

>  PET/CT planning beneficial for head and neck cancer patients [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Using a combination of positron emission tomography and computed tomography for radiation therapy treatment planning in head and neck carcinoma patients provides for excellent, local and regional disease control when compared to CT alone, according to a s

>  Small study shows marijuana does not increase risk of head, neck cancer [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Smoking marijuana does not increase the user's risk of head and neck cancer, according to a new study published in the March 2008 issue of Otolaryngology -- Head and Neck Surgery.

>  Neural progenitor cells as reservoirs for HIV in the brain [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Dr. Ruth Brack-Werner and her team at the Institute of Virology of the German Research Center for Environmental Health previously demonstrated that HIV invades not only brain macrophages but also astrocytes.

>  Quantity and frequency of drinking influence mortality risk [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Quantity and frequency of alcohol consumption -- and not simply average alcohol consumption over time -- independently influence mortality risk. Previous studies linking moderate drinking with reduced risk for death have typically measured individuals' a

>  Drinking and aggression among university students often depends on the context [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Aggression and violence among university students often involve alcohol consumption. A new study has found that both drinking levels and drinking contexts are important. Aggression is more likely when students drink at a fraternity, sorority or campus res

>  Children of alcoholics : different brain regions effect who may or may not develop alcohol problems [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Although children of alcoholics have a greater risk of developing alcohol-use disorders, not all COAs will develop AUDs. A new study uses functional magnetic resonance imaging to examine brain activity of adolescent COAs. Findings indicate that different

>  Cancer risk slightly higher for women in discontinued hormone treatment trial [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

A follow up study of participants in the Women's Health Initiative clinical trial led by a University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill researcher has found that women who were taking the combined hormone therapy of estrogen plus progestin may have an inc

>  LA BioMed researcher says ’unexpected’ increase in cancer risk found [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

An increased cancer risk in post-menopausal women after they stopped taking combined hormone therapy was an "unexpected finding" in a study that will be reported in the March 5 edition of the Journal of the American Medical Association, said Rowan T. Chle

>  Schistosomiasis more debilitating than previously estimated [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

In a new study, published March 5 in the open-access journal PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, researchers calculate that the impact of symptoms associated with schistosomiasis japonica is 7 to 46 times greater than current global estimates. This is the f

>  Newly developed anti-malarial medicine treats toxoplasmosis [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

A new drug, soon to enter clinical trials for malaria treatment, also appears to be 10 times more effective than the key medicine used to toxoplasmosis, which infects nearly one-third of all humans. The drug, known as JPC-2056, is extremely effective in m

>  Brown study : Schistosomiasis more debilitating than estimated [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

The health effects of one strain of schistosomiasis, a parasitic disease common in developing countries, are seven to 46 times greater than previously estimated, according to new Brown University research. The study findings, which appear in the journal P

>  South Africa : Question marks over ARV tender [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

South Africa: Question marks over ARV tender

>  A new more effective tuberculosis screening test for HIV victims [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Sensitivity to the standard test for TB infection is weakened in HIV-positive patients. New techniques based on in vitro determination of the rate of interferon-γ have recently been developed. An IRD team recently published results of a study that compar

>  Epidemiologic study links low maternal education to intellectual disabilities in offspring [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Using a epidemiologic approach, researchers at three universities have discovered a key indicator for increased risk of mental retardation in the general population. Researchers found that low maternal education resulted in the highest risk of intellectua

>  UCLA researchers find blood stem cells originate and are nurtured in the placenta [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Solving a long-standing biological mystery, UCLA stem cell researchers have discovered that blood stem cells, the cells that later differentiate into all the cells in the blood supply, originate and are nurtured in the placenta.

>  Study finds bacteria may reduce risk for kidney stones [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Researchers from Boston University's Slone Epidemiology Center have found that the bacteria Oxalobacter formigenes (O. formigenes), a naturally occurring bacterium that has no known side effects, is associated with a 70 percent reduction in the risk of r

>  Microbicidas 2008 : Se obtienen las primeras señales de eficacia de un microbicida rectal en experimentación gracias a un nuevo ensayo sobre biopsias [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Microbicidas 2008: Se obtienen las primeras señales de eficacia de un microbicida rectal en experimentación gracias a un nuevo ensayo sobre biopsias

>  New revelations in epigenetic control shed light on breast cancer [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Epigenetic regulation -- modifications to the structure of chromatin that influence which genes are expressed in a cell -- is a key player in embryonic development and cancer formation. Researchers at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory in Heidelber

>  Protein in embryonic stem cells controls malignant tumor cells [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

A protein that governs development of human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) also inhibits the growth and spread of malignant melanoma, the deadliest skin cancer, Northwestern University researchers have discovered.

>  AGA supports new guidelines favoring tests that prevent colorectal cancer [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

New consensus colorectal cancer guidelines released today state for the first time that the primary goal of colorectal cancer screening is cancer prevention. Previous guidelines have given equal weight to tests for detecting cancer and preventing cancer.

>  Leukemia therapy with imatinib during pregnancy may cause infant abnormalities [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

While doctors already face many challenges in treating patients with cancer, treating pregnant women with the disease, in particular, can be quite difficult as studies suggest that certain therapies can harm developing fetuses. According to the results of

>  New guidelines update recommendations on colorectal cancer screening [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

A new guideline on colorectal cancer screening released March 5, 2008 by an expert group representing a broad spectrum of health care organizations, including the American College of Gastroenterology, the American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy an

>  Studies begin to define who will do best on bevirimat [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Studies begin to define who will do best on bevirimat

>  Increases in CD4 cell counts seen with growth hormone, interleukin-7 [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Increases in CD4 cell counts seen with growth hormone, interleukin-7

>  New CDC study underscores impact of older adult falls [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

CDC releases new resources to help prevent falls

>  Extra cash from government program linked to better child development [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Children in impoverished families that received extra cash from a government support program were taller, less likely to be overweight, and scored higher on cognitive, motor and language tests, compared with kids in families that got less money, says a ne

>  Fugitive cancer cells can be blocked by stopping blood cells that aid them [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Cancer cells get a helping hand from platelets, specialized blood cells involved in clotting. Platelets shelter and feed tumor cells that stray into the bloodstream, making it easier for cancer to spread, or metastasize. Research at Washington University

>  Women who have stopped estrogen plus progestin therapy may be at increased risk of cancer [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

A follow-up study of women who stopped taking the hormone therapy of estrogen plus progestin after this intervention was discontinued as part of a clinical trial indicates that these women may have an increased risk of cancer, compared to women in the pla

>  Pinpoint accuracy : DNA vaccines that home in on DCs are more potent [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

One strategy being pursued to develop new vaccines against infectious diseases is DNA vaccination. The idea is that following administration of a DNA vaccine, the body converts the information in the DNA vaccine into a protein that activates an immune res

>  Engineered protein shows potential as a strep vaccine [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

A University of California-San Diego-led research team has demonstrated that immunization with a stabilized version of a protein found on Streptococcus bacteria can provide protection against Strep infections, which afflict more than 600 million people ea

>  Einstein researchers genetically engineer immune cells into potent weapons for battling HIV [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

By outfitting immune-system killer cells with a new pair of genes, scientists at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University transformed them into potent weapons that destroy cells infected with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. Their nov

>  Teenage girls aren’t the only ones who tan indoors -- older adults do so as well [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Think you won't run into grandparents at your local tanning salon? According to new research, you just might. In fact, a recent health survey of 29,394 American adults suggests that while 20 percent of 18-39 year olds visited tanning beds, as many as 10

>  Synthetic peptoids hold forth promise for new antibiotics [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Drug-resistant bacterial infections are a growing concern, and much research has been devoted to finding new classes of antibiotics to fight them. Stanford researchers may have found some answers in peptoids, a class of manmade molecules very similar to n

>  Case Western Reserve University researchers identify colorectal cancer gene [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine researchers published a study in the March 7 issue of The American Journal of Human Genetics identifying the hereditary components of colorectal cancer. "Identification of Susceptibility Genes for Cancer

>  Biopsy techniques have made PSA test less predictive [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

A new study suggests that improved biopsy techniques make PSA less useful in prostate cancer screening.

>  Kidney cancer surgery often determined by surgeons’ practice style, not medical factors [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

A new study reveals that the type of surgery a patient with kidney cancer receives depends more on the surgeon's preference than on the patient's tumor size, demographic characteristics, or general medical health.

>  Evidence from large US cohort says anti-HIV therapy does not increase heart disease risk [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Evidence from large US cohort says anti-HIV therapy does not increase heart disease risk

>  Repeatedly HIV-negative patients with very advanced HIV disease : only 16 cases ever reported [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Repeatedly HIV-negative patients with very advanced HIV disease: only 16 cases ever reported

>  Mouse model for mesothelioma reproduces human disease [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Scientists have established a mouse model for human malignant mesothelioma that will provide valuable insight into cancer development and progression along with new directions for design of therapeutic strategies.

>  Potential brain cancer drug for children may damage bones [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

A novel drug that fully eliminated brain tumors from mice in a dramatic 2004 study has shown a darker side -- causing permanent bone damage in younger mice. The researcher who conducted both studies says the disappointing new finding raises concerns about

>  Malignant tumor or benign cyst ? [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

The results of a study presented today at the Society of Gynecologic Oncology's 39th Annual Meeting on Women's Cancer offer a promising development on the path toward better management of ovarian cancer. Researchers say testing women suspected of having

>  Microscopic ’astronauts’ to go back in orbit [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

When space shuttle Endeavor blasts off on March 11, some tiny "astronauts" will piggyback onboard an experimental payload from Arizona State University's Biodesign Institute. The new experiment, called "Microbial Drug Resistance Virulence" is part of the

>  Confronting the challenge of antimicrobial resistance [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Drug resistance is making many diseases increasingly difficult -- and sometimes impossible -- to treat, according to Anthony S. Fauci, M.D., director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, part of the National Institutes of Health.

>  UCF researchers discover a new protein family implicated in inflammatory diseases [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

A newly discovered new protein family may play an important role in preventing inflammatory diseases such as arthritis, some forms of cancer and even heart disease.

>  Pandemic flu may be well mitigated until vaccine is available [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

An outbreak of pandemic influenza in the US could be mitigated with prompt implementation of social-distancing measures combined with antiviral treatment and prophylaxis until a vaccine is available.

>  Scientists simulate pandemic influenza outbreak in Chicago [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

By using computer simulations and modeling, an international group of researchers including scientists from the Virginia Bioinformatics Institute at Virginia Tech's Network Dynamics and Simulation Science Laboratory have determined how a pandemic influen

>  Disease leads to vision loss more often in blacks [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Black people are more likely to lose vision as a result of idiopathic intracranial hypertension, or increased pressure in the brain, according to a study published in the March 11, 2008, issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of N

>  Advanced-stage ovarian cancer patients with BRCA live longer, may respond better to treatment [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Two abstracts underscoring the importance of testing for BRCA1/2 mutations in women with ovarian cancer were presented at this week's Society of Gynecologic Oncologists 39th Annual Meeting on Women's Cancers, by researchers from the University of Texas

>  Recurrent low-grade carcinoma of the ovary less responsive to chemo than more common ovarian cancers [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Recurrent low-grade serous carcinoma, a rare type of ovarian cancer, is less sensitive to chemotherapy and therefore more difficult to treat than more common high-grade ovarian cancers, according to researchers from the University of Texas M. D. Anderson

>  Outlook improves for patients with non-Hodgkin lymphoma over past decade [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Five- and 10-year survival rates for patients with non-Hodgkin lymphoma appear to have increased from the 1990s to the early 21st century, according to a report in the March 10 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

>  Maternal obesity not strongly linked to obesity in offspring says study [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Greater maternal body mass index during offspring development does not have a marked effect on offspring fat mass at ages nine to eleven years, according to a new study from the University of Bristol published today in PLoS Medicine.

>  Biologists at UC San Diego identify key protein in cell’s ’self-eating’ function [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Molecular biologists at the University of California, San Diego have found one piece of the complex puzzle of autophagy, the process of 'self-eating' performed by all eukaryotic cells -- cells with a nucleus -- to keep themselves healthy.

>  Vaccination for pneumococcal pneumonia effective in HIV-positive men [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Vaccination for pneumococcal pneumonia effective in HIV-positive men

>  HIV-positive gay men being infected with HCV soon after HIV ; cases of HCV superinfection reported [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

HIV-positive gay men being infected with HCV soon after HIV; cases of HCV superinfection reported

>  Red-light cameras increase crashes, researchers find [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Rather than improving motorist safety, red-light cameras significantly increase crashes and are a ticket to higher auto insurance premiums, researchers at the University of South Florida College of Public Health conclude. Their report analyzed several com

>  Combined stenting and photodynamic therapy improves survival in late stage liver cancer patients [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

A combined therapeutic approach of stenting and photodynamic therapy may improve survival rates for patients suffering from advanced liver bile duct cancer, according to a study published this month in Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology.

>  MRSA screening at hospital admission not linked to reduced rates of infection in surgical patients [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

New findings do not support the recommendation for universal screening on hospital admission for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) to reduce the rate of hospital-acquired infections in surgical patients, according to a study in the March

>  Penn research offers road map to safer pain control, cost savings during colonoscopies [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

At a time when several US health insurers have discontinued payment for use of the sedative propofol during most screening colonoscopies, physicians at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have discovered that an alternative way to administer

>  Researchers ID behavioral risk factors for head and neck cancers [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Researchers at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center have teased out two distinct sets of risk factors for head and neck cancers, suggesting that there are two completely different kinds of the disease.

>  COX-2 expression is marker for cancer development in some benign breast biopsies [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

The research team discovered women whose atypia tissue expressed COX-2 enzymes were more likely to develop breast cancer subsequently, and that the more the enzyme expressed, the higher the risk.

>  Other highlights in the March 11 JNCI [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Also in the March 11 online issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute are a risk-factor profile for human papillomavirus-associated head and neck cancer, an association between COX-2 overexpression and breast cancer in women with previously ab

>  Specialized hospital care associated with better survival in Dutch ovarian cancer patients [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Dutch ovarian cancer patients who were treated at a semi-specialized or specialized hospital survived longer than those treated at a general hospital, according to a study published online March 11 in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

>  Postoperative chemotherapy does not improve survival in gastric cancer patients [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

The use of combination chemotherapy following surgery did not improve survival in patients with gastric cancer, according to a randomized clinical trial published online March 11 in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

>  Model identifies targets for eradication of malaria [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Scientists at the Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciência, in Portugal, have shown that malaria eradication in Africa is sustainable, and any re-emergence of malaria in industrialized nations is highly unlikely. Working with colleagues in Kenya, the IGC researche

>  HIV-1 infection greatly increased the risk of neutrophil depletion following antimalarial treatment with artesunate plus amodiaquine in Ugandan children [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

HIV-1 infection greatly increased the risk of neutrophil depletion following antimalarial treatment with artesunate plus amodiaquine in Ugandan children

>  Decreasing undiagnosed HIV infection helped reduce rate of HIV transmission in US [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Decreasing undiagnosed HIV infection helped reduce rate of HIV transmission in US

>  Merck licenses fusion inhibitor to International Partnership for Microbicides [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Merck licenses fusion inhibitor to International Partnership for Microbicides

>  HIV-positive children have greatly increased risk of neutropenia during artesunate / amodiaquine malaria treatment [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

HIV-positive children have greatly increased risk of neutropenia during artesunate / amodiaquine malaria treatment

>  Is a cup of tea really the answer to everything -- even anthrax ? [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

A cup of black tea could be the next line of defense in the threat of bio-terrorism according to new international research. A new study by an international team of researchers from Cardiff University and University of Maryland has revealed how the humble

>  Research could put penicillin back in battle against antibiotic resistant bugs that kill millions [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Research led by the University of Warwick has uncovered exactly how the bacterium Streptococcus pneumoniae has become resistant to the antibiotic penicillin. The same research could also open up MRSA to attack by penicillin and help create a library of de

>  Enrollment completed in 2 pivotal phase III studies of the investigational cancer drug vandetanib [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

AstraZeneca has completed patient enrollment in two pivotal phase III studies for vandetanib, the company's investigational, once-daily oral anticancer drug, for the second-line treatment of nonsmall cell lung cancer. The two studies -- Zodiac and Zeal -

>  USC researchers find benefit for lymphoma patients in combined PET-CT scanning [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Combined positron emission tomography and computed tomography imaging of lymphoma patients is a more effective method to evaluate response to radiation therapy, and may help patients avoid unnecessary follow-up treatments, a study by researchers at the Un

>  Revised US labelling for darunavir/ritonavir recommends caution for patients with liver problems [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Revised US labelling for darunavir/ritonavir recommends caution for patients with liver problems

>  Study helps explain fundamental process of tumor growth [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Nearly 80 years ago, scientist Otto Warburg observed that cancer cells perform energy metabolism in a way that is different from normal adult cells, but it has not been known exactly how tumor cells perform this alternate metabolic feat, nor was it known

>  A protein that triggers aggressive breast cancer [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

SATB1 is a nuclear protein well known for its crucial role in regulating gene expression during the differentiation and activation of T cells, making it a key player in the immune system. But a team of scientists led by Terumi Kohwi-Shigematsu of Lawrence

>  Researchers find cause of severe allergic reaction to cancer drug [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Clinicians have been perplexed by the fact that some patients given the drug cetuximab -- an immune-based therapy commonly used to treat persons diagnosed with head and neck cancer, or colon cancer -- have a severe adverse reaction to the drug. NIAID-fund

>  DNA detectives find genetic markers for lung cancers most likely to recur [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Researchers at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center have uncovered clearly recognizable genetic alterations in tumors and tissue removed from patients with early-stage lung cancers that look like good predictors of which of these cancers are more likely

>  Inhaled tuberculosis vaccine more effective than traditional shot [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

A novel aerosol version of the most common tuberculosis vaccine, administered directly to the lungs as an oral mist, offers significantly better protection against the disease in experimental animals than a comparable dose of the traditional injected vacc

>  HIV hospital inpatient care unaffected by physician type or experience, US study finds [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

HIV hospital inpatient care unaffected by physician type or experience, US study finds

>  Researchers confirm link between common cold and ear infection [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

A new five-year study at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston confirms the suspected close link between the two most common diseases of young children: colds and ear infections.

>  Chemical in bug spray works by masking human odors [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Rockefeller University researchers have definitively shown that the widely used bug repellent DEET acts like a chemical cloak, masking human odors that blood-feeding insects find attractive. The research, which will be published in the March 13 issue of S

>  Scientists say tropics are next emerging disease hotspot [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Scientists from four well-known institutions say the next major disease like HIV/AIDS or SARS could occur in any of a number of developing countries concentrated along the equator. They encourage increased surveillance to prevent the spread of a potential

>  New Study Shows Colorectal Cancer Screening Rates Increasing Among U.S. Adults [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Disparities in screening still persist in certain populations...

>  Urban planning a factor in rising obesity rates, says new report [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

You may want to buy healthy food for your family, but if the good grocery stores are far away and pricey and the fast-food outlets are cheap and plentiful, it may be harder to make the healthy choice. Research led by the University of Alberta and funded b

>  Mayo Clinic study shows Parkinson’s disease drug might work in cancer patients [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Dopamine, a drug currently used to treat Parkinson's disease and other illnesses, also might work in cancer patients. The study, which was done in mouse and laboratory models, shows that dopamine could possibly prevent new blood vessels from growing and

>  JCI online early table of contents : March 13, 2008 [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

This release contains summaries, links to PDFs and contact information for the following newsworthy papers to be published online, March 13, 2008, in the JCI, including: High levels of the molecule adenosine linked to priapism; Pinpointing when you become

>  Breast cancer more aggressive among obese women [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Women with breast cancer have more aggressive disease and lower survival rates if they are overweight or obese, according to findings published in the March 15 issue of Clinical Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.

>  Soy compound may halt spread of prostate cancer [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

A compound found in soybeans almost completely prevented the spread of human prostate cancer in mice, according to a study published in the March 15 issue of Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.

>  Body Mass Index may serve as prognostic tool for advanced, aggressive breast cancers [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Body Mass Index, the measure of a person's fat based on their height and weight, may be an effective prognostic tool for specific types of breast cancer, according to research from The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center.

>  Mycoplasma infection linked to HIV shedding from cervix [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Mycoplasma infection linked to HIV shedding from cervix

>  Anti-inflammatory drug could reduce heart disease risk in patients with HIV [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Anti-inflammatory drug could reduce heart disease risk in patients with HIV

>  High rate of trichomonas treatment failure in women with HIV [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

High rate of trichomonas treatment failure in women with HIV

>  New chemical can kill latent tuberculosis bacteria [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Success in the laboratory suggests that a new compound can point the way to preventing active tuberculosis in people infected with the latent form of the bacterium, says a team led by researchers at Weill Cornell Medical College in New York City. A drug w

>  UNC, Harvard develop inhaled TB vaccine [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

A new tuberculosis vaccine successfully tested at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is easier to administer and store and just as effective as one commonly used worldwide.

>  Researchers study new drug and indications for heated chemotherapy treatment [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Studies have shown that surgery combined with Intraperitoneal Hyperthermic Chemotherapy can improve survival rates for select patients with peritoneal carcinoma (cancer of the lining of the abdominal cavity) that has spread from colorectal or appendix can

>  Testicular cancer gauge often not used [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

A standard part of testicular cancer care isn't used in more than half of all patients who have the condition, researchers at the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center have found.

>  Cancer detected earlier, faster, with new medical imaging, Stanford study finds [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Doctors may one day be able to detect early stages of colon cancer without a biopsy, using a new technique developed by researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine.

>  Community Heroes Honored for Contributions to CDC’s Steps Program [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Seven community heroes were recently honored at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Steps Program’s Action Institute for their extraordinary contributions in improving the health and well-being of Americans in school, worksite, heal

>  Studies Describe the Funding, Development, and Implementation of a National Colorectal Cancer Screening Demonstration Program in the United States [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

What: Colorectal cancer is the second leading cancer killer in the United States of cancers that that affect both men and women.

>  Tenofovir has good concentrations and anti-HIV effect in semen [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Tenofovir has good concentrations and anti-HIV effect in semen

>  Severe West Nile infection could lead to lifetime of symptoms [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Most people who suffer severe infection with West Nile virus still experience symptoms years after infection and many may continue to experience these symptoms for the rest of their lives according to research presented today at the 2008 International Con

>  Function of molecular switch pinpointed in severe congenital neutropenia [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Researchers cleared an important hurdle to clarifying the molecular mechanics behind Severe Congenital Neutropenia, a deadly disease characterized by a deficiency of neutrophils -- mature white blood cells important to fighting infection and disease. Led

>  Breast cancer in black women may be connected to neighborhood conditions [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Researchers at the University of Chicago are studying possible connections between living in disadvantaged neighborhoods and the development of early onset breast cancer in a path-breaking project that is the first to use animal models to help determine w

>  New insight into the genetics of brain tumor formation [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

In a G&D paper published online ahead of its April 1 print publication date, Dr. William Kaelin (Dana Farber Cancer Institute) and colleagues identify a potential new neuronal tumor suppressor.

>  Zebrafish enables cell regeneration studies to help understand, treat human disease [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

One aquarium fish's uncanny ability to regenerate essentially any cell type has given scientists a way to mimic cell loss that occurs in diseases such as Parkinson's and diabetes then watch how the fish make more of them.

>  Researchers develop method to rapidly ID optimal drug cocktails [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

UCLA researchers have developed a feedback control scheme that can search for the most optimal and effective drug combinations to treat various diseases, including cancers and infections, a discovery that could significantly facilitate clinical drug cockt

>  Chikungunya virus and maternal infection ; and more [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

The articles titled "Maternal infection with chikungunya virus near delivery causes serious illness in infants" and "α+-Thalassaemia and malarial anaemia" are featured in the March 18 issue of PLoS Medicine.

>  London’s HIV epidemic was driven by clusters of sexual contacts [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

The rapid growth of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in London during the late 1990s was driven in part by transmission of the AIDS virus within clusters of sexual contacts, with individuals frequently passing the virus to others within months after becoming infecte

>  Study finds health professionals, public unprepared for genomic medicine [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Advances in genomic medicine for common adult chronic diseases such as heart disease, diabetes and cancer hold promise for improved prevention, diagnosis and treatment. But a new study by researchers from the Department of Veterans Affairs and the RAND Co

>  IU Health & Wellness : Research and insights from Indiana University [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

IU researchers examined the vascular response to exercise in overweight men, finding a dramatic difference between overweight and leaner men. The second study in this media tip sheet discusses a public opinion poll of adults' support for mandatory HPV va

>  Pneumococcal disease rates down significantly post-vaccine [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Since the approval of a vaccine against pneumococcal bacteria for young children in 2000, rates of invasive pneumococcal disease are down significantly in all age groups, while rates of IPD caused by nonvaccine strains are modestly on the rise.

>  Canine influenza was around as early as 1999 [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

The canine influenza virus, first identified in 2004, had been circulating in the greyhound population for at least five years prior to its discovery and may have been responsible for numerous outbreaks of respiratory disease among dogs at racing tracks d

>  Gene’s ’selective signature’ aids detection of natural selection in microbial evolution [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Scientists at MIT have come up with a mathematical approach for analyzing a protein simultaneously in a set of ecologically distinct species to identify occurrences of natural selection in an organism's evolution. The new method determines the "selective

>  Gene ’knockout’ floors tobacco carcinogen [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

In large-scale field trials, scientists from North Carolina State University have shown that silencing a specific gene in burley tobacco plants significantly reduces harmful carcinogens in cured tobacco leaves. The finding could lead to tobacco products -

>  IUPUI scientists report first 3-D view of anti-cancer agent [GeneRef - Health, Emerging and Recurring Disease News]

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis researchers have created the first 3-D image of how a well-established chemotherapy agent targets and binds to DNA. These images may help scientists develop better chemotherapy drugs to treat a wide range

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