Exposure of developing fetuses and newborns to low levels of environmental toxins such as lead, mercury and dioxin, as well as nicotine and ethanol, could be behind the recent sharp rises in asthma, allergies and autoimmune disorders like lupus, says a Cornell University researcher.
The real dangers from environmental toxins most likely occur early in life, said Rod Dietert, professor of immunotoxicology at Cornell’s College of Veterinary Medicine, presenting a paper on the
“Take two cheeseburgers and call me in the morning,” may sound like far-fetched medical advice. After all, high fat foods can worsen blockages in blood vessels. But a new study in the October 17 issue of The Journal of Experimental Medicine shows that high fat foods can, at least in the gut, soothe inflammation. This action may stop immune cells from attacking food as a foreign invader.
Eating — particularly eating fat-rich foods — causes cells in the small intestine to produ
Research at the University of Sunderland looks to have led to a major breakthrough in the multi-billion pound anti-ageing industry.
A new device called Restorelite is having a dramatic effect on those battling against the ageing process, with initial trials leading to a success rate of around 90 per cent.
Industry standard double blind trials should be completed in December, and if the results are as good as expected the £45 machines could be on high street shelves
Anaesthetic agents are potentially dangerous drugs, and major patient complications can occur. If the patient is overdosed, death or major body organ damage can occur. Conversely, if the patient is under-dosed, patient awareness can occur. There is a narrow drug concentration “window” for both drug safety and anaesthetic efficacy, and the development of ways in which to monitor drug delivery concentration has been a major driver in anaesthetic agent safety research.
The Oxford inventi
A report by the Karolinska Institutet, in conjunction with the Stockholm School of Economics, exposes stark inequalities in patient access to cancer treatment across Europe and urges action by decision makers to redress these inequalities.
The report, entitled ‘A pan-European comparison regarding patient access to cancer drugs’, found that despite the proven benefits of new innovative treatments options, patients across Europe do not have equality of access to these cancer drug
University of Ulster scientists are developing innovative drugs that could represent important new therapeutic tools to help ease the burden of diabetes worldwide. The news comes as a UN World Health Organisation report identifies diabetes as one of the major health issues facing the world in the 21st century.
The research team at UU have discovered that modified-forms of GIP, a naturally occurring molecule produced by the body, can combat key symptoms of diabetes. This stimulated t
“The symptoms of rhinitis and atopical dermatitis amongst children between the ages of 6 and 7 in the Pamplona area have increased significantly and the diagnosis of both ailments has doubled in the period between 1994 and 2001. Nevertheless, amongst children between 12 and 14-age group there has been a drop in the incidence of symptoms of rhinitis and that of atopical dermatitis has stabilised”. This was the conclusion of Ana María Irujo Andueza in her PhD thesis defended recently at the Pub
The European Society of Cardiology (ESC) is calling for concerted action following the recent release of an important report of the World Heart Organisation (WHO).
“Preventing Chronic Diseases: A Vital Investment” (1) clearly demonstrates the full extent of the global burden of chronic diseases including cardiovascular disease, cancer, chronic respiratory diseases and diabetes and says global action to prevent chronic diseases could save the lives of 36 million people who would
Microbiologists from the University of Bradford believe they may be closer to developing a vaccine that can protect newborn babies from being infected by the common and potentially fatal bacteria Group B Streptococcus.
Group B Streptococcus (GBS) are the most common bacteria attacking newborn babies, affecting 1 in 1000 births, and killing up to 6 per cent of those infected. It infects around 700 babies in the UK each year and kills around 100 of those infected, according to the
Modern information and communication technologies (ICT) allow completely new opportunities to provide medical care and health information to developing countries. Inhabitants of regions lacking access to medical care can receive advice, diagnosis and assistance with treatment via a computer centre. The World Health Organization (WHO) and the international university network Universitas 21 are now cooperating in an endeavour to develop and spread what is known as e-health.
“It is i
Close your eyes and imagine you are in a darkened Carnegie Hall. Although it’s pitch black, you know you are getting closer to the stage as the music gets louder. If you have been there before, you have a sense of the location of the seats and aisles. You remain upright because you somehow know where your legs, arms and feet are. Your head remains upright.
A variety of neurons or nerve cells makes it possible for you to approach the stage and even find a seat without sight. S
In spring 2005 a large European research and training network was established to investigate the causes and implications of poor sleep from the medical as well as from the social point of view. This EU-financed sleep research project, named “The biomedical and sociological effects of sleep restriction” will last for four years and is coordinated by Dr. Tarja Porkka-Heiskanen (Stenberg) MD, PhD, at the University of Helsinki, Institute of Biomedicine.
The objective of this sleep restriction
How heavy a man is at the time he is diagnosed with prostate cancer, as well as his history of weight gain, appear to play significant roles in how aggressive his cancer may become, say researchers at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center.
While a link between weight and initial development of prostate cancer already has been made, this report, published in the Oct. 1 issue of Clinical Cancer Research, is the first to associate a man’s body mass at different ages and
Increased consumption leads to increase in body mass index of 9 to 14 year olds; puts children at risk for chronic disease later in life
New research shows that adolescents who eat large amounts of fried food away from home are heavier and more likely to have a poor-quality diet. Among 14,355 children surveyed over three years, researchers from the Department of Ambulatory Care and Prevention (at Harvard Medical School and Harvard Pilgrim Health Care) found that 9 to 14 year olds w
A new drug is demonstrating impressive results in the fight against malaria, according to a forthcoming paper in the open access journal PLoS Medicine. The study of a malaria control program in South Africa shows how hospital admissions for malaria were dramatically reduced following the introduction of an antimalarial combination called artemether-lumefantrine (AL) and the partial reintroduction of the insecticide DDT. The malaria epidemic has been particularly resurgent in recent years as the pa
A modified technique that uses the eyes as the line of reference means a 50 percent reduction in the time necessary to take MRI images of the fetal brain.
“One of the challenges of imaging the fetal head is that the fetus can move during the study, so it is often difficult to obtain the three different imaging views that best show intracranial anatomy especially when study time is prolonged.” said Keyanoosh Hosseinzadeh, MD, Chief of Body MRI at the University of Pittsburgh Me
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