Health and Medicine

Fortification and false memory could foil food and drug trials

When nutritionist Andrea Pontello went shopping for apple juice she got a “wake-up call”. Apple juice is normally low in vitamin C, but she found that 9 out of 11 brands had been boosted with additional vitamins.

Supplementation could scupper clinical trials for antioxidants, she realized, if participants’ intake of vitamins C and E from fortified foods is not taken into account.

Antioxidants mop up

Hydrogen peroxide is usually used for cleansing scratches and cuts. However, this is not the only one possible application of this substance in medicine. The vapor of a low-concentrated peroxide solution containing oxygen radicals can be used as an inhalant for an additional treatment of many illnesses. This has been established by the research team headed by V.L. Voeikov, at Biological Faculty of Moscow State University.

It is fashionable now to blame free radicals for all deadly sins, sin

Patients with type 2 diabetes are at lower risk of death and hospital admission for heart attack than patients with established coronary heart disease, finds a study in this week’s BMJ.

These results challenge the widely held view that patients with diabetes have as high a risk of cardiovascular events and death as non-diabetic patients who have had a heart attack, and therefore have important implications for clinical practice.

Researchers in Dundee carried out two studies involvin

Combination of the drugs artesunate and amodiaquine could be a new treatment option for children with malaria caused by the parasite Plasmodium falciparum, conclude authors of a fast-track study in this week’s issue of THE LANCET.

Drug-resistant P. falciparum malaria is a serious problem in sub-Saharan Africa. Chloroquine resistance is a major contributor to the increase in malaria-related illness and death among African children, and resistance to sulfadoxine/pyrimethamine (an inexpensive,

Couples who smoke around the time of conception could have a reduced chance of conceiving male offspring, suggest authors of a research letter in this week’s issue of THE LANCET.

The male to female ratio of children has declined substantially over the past few decades. The reason for this reduction is not clear, but it has been suggested that chronic exposure to toxic environmental agents that predominantly affect males and the male reproductive system could lead to a lower male to female bi

The impact of heat on death rates begins at relatively low temperatures during hot weather, finds research in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health.

Researchers analysed temperature readings from the Meteorological Office and death rates from the Office of National Statistics for London between 1976 and 1996.

They found that death rates associated with heat started rising at about 19 degrees Centigrade (66 degrees Farenheit), and once above 21.5 degrees Centigrade (abou