• Myanmar : Big Issues With HIV & TB
  Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), the largest provider of HIV treatment in Myanmar, released a report today highlighting the urgency of treating HIV and multi-drug resistant Tuberculosis (MDR-TB) in their country – Myanmar used to be called Burma. As many as 85,000 people are going without retroviral treatments and another 9,300 are infected with MDR-TB each year, while as few as 300 get any treatment…
• How To Become A Family Nurse Practitioner Online
  If you are a licensed registered nurse you may well be able to enroll in a new online Master of Science in Nursing degree program with a strong focus in Family Nurse Practitioner. This program, offered by Herzing University Online, is available in 27 states in the USA. The University says it is an opportunity for a licensed registered nurse to become a family nurse practitioner. Dr…
• Obesity – New Clues By Age And Stage, Australia
  Researchers have found that one fourth of students in Australian secondary schools are either overweight or obese, affecting lifestyle and socioeconomic status. The study, published in the February 20 issue of the Medical Journal of Australia – a publication of the Australian Medical Association, was funded by Cancer Councils around Australia and the National Heart Foundation. The study examined 12,188 students and found that just under one quarter were either obese (5%) or overweight (18%)…
• Endogenous Cushing’s Syndrome – FDA Approves Korlym (Mifepristone)
  The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved Korlym (mifepristone) to control hyperglycemia (high blood sugar levels) in adults with endogenous Cushing’s syndrome, who have type 2 diabetes or glucose intolerance, who remained unresponsive to previous surgery or are not eligible candidates for surgery. Pregnant women should never take Korlym (contraindicated). Until the FDA approved Korlym for the treatment of endogenous Cushing’s syndrome, there were no approved medications to treat the disorder…
• The Deadly Impact Of Atherothrombosis
  A report published in the February 20 issue of the Medical Journal of Australia, a publication of the Australian Medical Association, reveals that nearly 40% of individuals with extensive atherothrombotic disease will experience a cardiovascular event within one year. The team, led by professor Christopher Reid from Monash University, set out to determine the most deadliest forms of atherothrombosis – a combination of blood clots and plaque on artery walls that causes blockage of blood flow…
• Close Contact With Rodents Is A Health Hazard
  A case report published in the February 20 issue of the Medical Journal of Australia, reveals that a 26-year-old woman from Adelaide who enjoyed cuddling and kissing her pet rats contracted Streptobacillus moniliformis infection (rat bite fever). The disease is potentially fatal and could become more prevalent as rodent ownership increases. The Medical Journal of Australia is a publication of the Australian Medical Association. According to the report by Dr Lito Papanicolas, a registrar at SA Pathology, and coauthors, although S…
• Raw Milk Causes Most Dairy-related Outbreaks Of Diseases
  Unpasteurized milk, also known as raw milk, is proportionally responsible for 150 times more disease outbreaks than pasteurized milk, a new report issued by the CDC’s (Center for Disease Control and Prevention) Emerging Infectious Diseases has revealed. The authors also explained that dairy-related disease outbreaks in US states where raw milk is legal occur at twice the rate compared to other states. In this study, researchers gathered data on dairy-related outbreaks from 1993 through 2006 throughout the United States. During the study period, the USA produced approximately 2…
• Fake Drugs Increasing On The Net And Finding Their Way Into Legitimate Supplies
  Fake drugs are increasingly being sold on the Internet in a global counterfeit medicines market that has doubled in the last five years to more than $75 million. The medicines, many of which are life-threatening, have even turned up in the legitimate supply chain and found their way into pharmacies, according a review by Dr Graham Jackson and colleagues published in the March issue of the IJCP, the International Journal of Clinical Practice…
• Adult Pneumococcal Vaccines – How Cost Effective Are They?
  According to a computer-based cost-effectiveness analysis in the February issue of JAMA, recommending the use of the 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV13) could possibly prevent more pneumococcal disease than the current 23-valent pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine (PPSV23) recommendations. The costs would remain reasonably economic, however the researchers point out that their findings are sensitive to several assumptions…
• Homocysteine Levels Not Linked To Coronary Artery Disease Risk
  This week’s PLoS Medicine reports on a comprehensive study that reveals that levels of the amino acid, homocysteine, have no significant effect on the risk of developing coronary heart disease. This concludes the ongoing argument of the previously suggested benefits of lowering homocysteine with folate acid. According to earlier studies, high blood levels of homocysteine might be a modifiable risk factor for coronary heart disease…
• Huntington’s Disease – Blocking HDACs May Be The Way
  The February 21 issue of the open access journal PLoS Biology reveals that researchers from the National University of Ireland Galway have made an important scientific discovery in the battle against Huntington’s disease. Worldwide, more than 100,000 people are affected by Huntington’s disease, an incurable, inherited, neurodegenerative disorder which causes uncontrolled movements, emotional disturbances, and severe mental deterioration. Estimates show that another 300,000 are likely to develop symptoms in their lifetime…
• Peptide Helps Improve Learning And Memory
  Although there are several drugs and experimental conditions that can block cognitive function and impair learning and memory, researchers have recently shown that some drugs can actually improve cognitive function. The new multi-national study, published in the 21 February issue of the open-access journal PLoS Biology, reveals that these findings may implicate scientists’ understanding of cognitive disorders like Alzheimer’s disease. There are trillions of neuronal connections, called synapses in the human brain that are dynamic and constantly change in strength and property…
• Female Heart Attack Patients Have A Higher In-Hospital Mortality Rate Than Men
  A study in the February issue of JAMA, reports that female heart attack patients are more likely to go to hospital without chest pain and have a much higher rate of in-hospital death following a heart attack, compared to men of the same age group. The study, by John G. Canto, M.D., M.S.P.H., of the Watson Clinic and Lakeland Regional Medical Center, Lakeland, Fla., and colleagues, analyzed the links between; the gender of the patient, the symptoms of myocardial infarction (heart attack) they develop, and risk of death in hospital…
• Traumatic Brain Injury – Clazosentan May Block Harmful Effects
  A study in rats has found that a new medication called clazosentan, may be effective in blocking the harmful effects of traumatic brain injury (TBI). The study will be presented at the American Academy of Neurology’s 64th Annual Meeting in New Orleans April 21 to April 28, 2012. Michael Kaufman, study author, a second year medical student at Wayne State University School of Medicine in Detroit, and member of the American Academy of Neurology, explained: “There are currently no primary treatments for TBI, so this research provides hope that effective treatments can be developed…
• Large Waists Linked To Memory Difficulties In HIV Patients
  A study published in the print issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology, suggests that a larger waistline may be associated with a greater risk of decreased mental functioning in HIV-positive individuals. J. Allen McCutchan, M.D., MSc, of the University of California, San Diego, and lead researcher of the study, explained: “Interestingly, bigger waistlines were linked to decreased mental functioning more than was general obesity…
• Apps On "Prescription" From Your GP
  General practitioners in the UK could soon be “prescribing” cheap or free smartphone apps to help their patients manage their health and medical conditions, according to news released on Wednesday by the Department of Health. Health Secretary Andrew Lansley said: “So many people use apps every day to keep up with their friends, with the news, find out when the next bus will turn up or which train to catch. I want to make using apps to track blood pressure, to find the nearest source of support when you need it and to get practical help in staying healthy the norm…
• Strengthening The Intestinal Barrier May Prevent Cancer In The Rest Of The Body
  A leaky gut may be the root of some cancers forming in the rest of the body, a new study published online Feb. 21 in PLoS ONE by Thomas Jefferson University researchers suggests. It appears that the hormone receptor guanylyl cyclase C (GC-C) – a previously identified tumor suppressor that exists in the intestinal tract – plays a key role in strengthening the body’s intestinal barrier, which helps separate the gut world from the rest of the body, and possibly keeps cancer at bay. Without the receptor, that barrier weakens. A team led by Scott Waldman, M.D., Ph.D…
• College Students Comfortable With Biobanks, Willing To Donate Genetic Material For Research
  A majority of college students is receptive to donating blood or other genetic material for scientific research, according to a new study from Southern Methodist University, Dallas. In what appears to be the first study to gauge college students’ willingness to donate to a genetic biobank, the study surveyed 250 male and female undergraduate and graduate students. Among those surveyed, 64 percent said they were willing to donate to a biobank, said study author Olivia Adolphson…
• Electronic Health Records Alert Pediatricians To Obese Patients
  Electronic health records and embedded tools can alert and direct pediatricians so they can better manage the weight of children and teenagers, according to a new Kaiser Permanente study published online in The Journal of Pediatrics…
• Oral Bacterium Newly Identified Linked To Heart Disease And Meningitis
  A novel bacterium, thought to be a common inhabitant of the oral cavity, has the potential to cause serious disease if it enters the bloodstream, according to a study in the International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology. Its identification will allow scientists to work out how it causes disease and evaluate the risk that it poses. The bacterium was identified by researchers at the Institute of Medical Microbiology of the University of Zurich and has been named Streptococcus tigurinus after the region of Zurich where it was first recognised. S…

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