The cosmetic treatment Botox may have a new use as an adjuvant to cancer therapy, providing an open door for chemotherapy and radiation treatments, according to a study published in the Feb. 15 issue of Clinical Cancer Research.
The study in mice, led by Bernard Gallez, Ph.D., professor of pharmacy at the Université de Louvain in Brussels, Belgium, found that by injecting Botulinum neurotoxin type A into two types of mouse tumors, the tumors’ cellular vasculature opened, allowing f
The risk for a new cancer in the unaffected breast substantially increases in women diagnosed with unilateral, hereditary (non-BRCA1/2) breast cancer, according to a new study by researchers working at Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, Sweden. The study is the first in its kind and is published in the March 15, 2006 issue of CANCER.
Women with hereditary (non-BRCA1/2) breast cancer are estimated to be at up to six times greater risk of developing a second primary malignancy in the o
Men who have a diet rich in soya products, beans and sunflower seeds run a much lower risk of contracting prostate cancer. New findings from Karolinska Institutet show that foods rich in phytoestrogens – plant-produced oestrogens – protect against the most common form of cancer in the western world.
Some 10,000 men develop prostate cancer in Sweden each year. Just why prostate cancer is so common is still something of a mystery, but age, ethnicity and genes are usually consider
Researchers at the North West Lung Centre, run by The University of Manchester and based at Wythenshawe Hospital, have discovered that vacuum cleaners with ‘high-efficiency particulate air’ or HEPA filters are no more effective than standard models at reducing exposure to dust-mites.
The team compared nasal air samples taken before and during vacuum cleaning using both HEPA and non-HEPA vacuum cleaners. They found a small increase in exposure to dust-mite during vacuuming with either type
Digital Healthcare, a Cambridge company that is the UK’s leading supplier of software for diabetic retinal screening programmes and ophthalmology, has scooped a top prize at the Microsoft Healthcare Users Group (MS-HUG) Annual Awards 2006, which recognise outstanding technology innovations that improve patient healthcare.
Digital Healthcare has won the Best in Class Partner Award in the Acute Care – Clinical/Patient Information Systems Category for OptoMize iP its innovative software sys
The Use of Irradiation for Food Quality and Safety
The Institute of Food Science and Technology, through its Public Affairs and Technical and Legislative Committees, has authorised the following Information Statement, dated February 2006, replacing that of 11 December 1998.
The following is a summary. The full text may be accessed at www.ifst.org/hottop11.htm
Summary
Irradiation, carried out under conditions of Good Manufacturing Practice, i
Researchers from Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) have shown that a blood test previously found useful for diagnosing heart failure and determining prognosis in several cardiovascular conditions can also predict the risk of death among patients coming to hospital emergency departments with shortness of breath. Their report in the Feb. 14 Archives of Internal Medicine describes how measuring levels of a protein called NT-proBNP was the most powerful predictor of whether patients would die w
Estrogen therapy does not appear to reduce the risk of heart attack or coronary death in healthy postmenopausal women, although some data suggest a lower coronary heart disease risk in women aged 50 to 59 years, according to a new article in the February 13 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.
The Women’s Health Initiative (WHI) included two large clinical trials that evaluated whether hormone therapy with estrogen reduces the risk of coronary he
Development projects designed to improve maternal and child welfare in Africa may incur unexpected costs associated with increases in family size if they do not include a component of family planning, according to new research from the University of Bristol into rural communities in Ethiopia.
The research, published today in Public Library of Science: Medicine, is the first study to demonstrate a link between a single technological development intervention (in this case, a tapped
Diuretics reduce the risk of death, delay heart deterioration and improve exercise capacity in patients with congestive heart failure, a new review of studies shows.
Although widely used for quick relief of CHF symptoms — cough, shortness of breath and swelling in the feet, legs and ankles — up until now it was not known whether diuretics had a more substantial effect in treating CHF.
“The available data from several small trials show that in patients with chronic heart
More pediatricians should counsel children and their parents about preventing skin cancer, according to dermatology researchers from Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center. A review of research literature confirmed that prevention should begin in childhood, yet found that the topic is discussed at less than 1 percent of well-child visits.
“Children should be encouraged to use sunscreen, wear appropriate clothing and avoid both the strongest midday sun levels and indoor tann
Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) – shock treatment –improves quality of life in patients with major depression, and that improved quality of life continues for six months, according to a report in the February Journal of Affective Disorders.
The study was conducted in seven hospitals in New York City – two private psychiatric hospitals, three community hospitals and two academic medical centers, said W. Vaughn McCall, M.D., M.S., the lead author and professor and chairman of the D
UK SCIENTISTS have questioned the use of partial smoking bans in pubs and clubs, following alarming new figures about how much non-smokers actually breathe in.
Researchers from an alliance of universities found that customers sitting in non-smoking areas of pubs were, on average, exposed to as much as two-thirds of the smoke that circulated in smoking areas.
Staff behind the bar were exposed to even higher levels – between 87-95% of smoke in smoking areas.
Furth
The number of adverse reactions reported by UK doctors to the antidepressant paroxetine – often know by its brand name Seroxat – rose by 61 per cent after three editions of the BBC’s award-winning current affairs programme Panorama explored increasing concerns about the drug.
Research just published in the British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology shows a sudden increase in reports immediately after each of the three programmes were aired in the UK in October 2002, May 2003 and Oct
Rising global temperatures over the past two decades may be responsible for a shortened season of a serious respiratory illness in the United Kingdom, according to an article in the March 1 issue of Clinical Infectious Diseases, now available online.
Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) can cause particularly severe lower respiratory tract infections in infants and young children, sometimes resulting in pneumonia. Like the flu, RSV has a seasonal pattern, infecting the majority of people
An international research team led by the University of Saskatchewan has discovered a signaling pathway in the brain involved in drug addiction, together with a method for blocking its action, that may point to a single treatment strategy for most addictions. Their findings appear in the March issue of the prestigious journal Nature Medicine.
The team, led by Xia Zhang, associate professor in the U of S department of psychiatry, found that a naturally occurring enzyme known as PTEN acts
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