Peptic ulcer surgery seems to increase the risk of developing pancreatic cancer, finds research in the Journal of Clinical Pathology.
Pancreatic cancer is the fifth leading cause of death from cancer, largely because the prognosis is so poor.
Dutch researchers monitored the progress of 2633 patients who underwent surgery for the removal of a peptic or duodenal ulcer between 1931 and 1960. A preliminary analysis suggested that these patients had double the risk of developing pancrea
A woman’s fertility starts declining as early as her late 20s – not in her 30s as was previously thought, according to a study published today (Tuesday 30 April) in Human Reproduction*, Europe’s leading journal of reproductive medicine.
The finding comes from a US-Italian study of 782 healthy couples who were using natural family planning methods to avoid pregnancy.
US-based lead author Dr David Dunson said that, to his knowledge, this was the first study to observe that a woman’s fertil
A team including researchers at the Total Defense Research Institute, NBC Defense, in Umeå, Sweden, and the Department of Molecular Biology, Umeå University, are publishing in this week’s issue of Science new findings that show that the protein Ymt is of crucial importance for the capacity of the plague bacterium to survive and spread the plague via flea vectors. Professor Åke Forsberg and visiting researcher Dr. Peter Cherepanov are studying the properties that enable the plague bacterium Yersinia
Major new research examining the use of virtual surgery could revolutionise the way surgeons are trained in the future.
Experts use to believe that virtual reality, which allows trainee surgeons to feel and see exactly what they would if they were in the operating theatre, may help improve surgical skills, but it hadn’t been proved – until now.
The innovative research, by world experts from Yale University and Queen’s University Belfast, has shown that surgeons who trained o
Findings from the Anthrax Vaccine Expert Committee (AVEC) do not suggest a high frequency of medically important adverse events associated with anthrax vaccination
Between March 1998 and March 2002 525,000 US military personnel were vaccinated against anthrax. In the case of an outbreak, this vaccine could be extended to civilians, as occurred in December 2001. The Anthrax Vaccine Expert Committee (AVEC), a civilian panel of physicians and scientists set up to monitor the safety of vaccinati
Just under one per cent of all Germans suffer from schizophrenia. The susceptibility to contracting this severe psychological disease is inherited; various studies indicate that a gene on chromosome 1 shares responsibility for the outbreak of the disease. However, in what is the biggest control study to date, which is being published in the May edition of the prestigious scientific journal Science, the researchers conclude that the suspect gene plays a less important role than was expected. Centres o
Leading international medical experts have visited the University of Kent at Canterbury (UKC) to make final preparations for transferring a revolutionary technology of diagnostic eye examination equipment to Asahikawa Medical College in Japan.
Susumu Oshima and Toshio Murata from Nidek Japan (Nidek is the largest ophthalmic instrument company in Japan) spent four days at UKC with Professor David Jackson, Dr Adrian Podoleanu and Dr John Rogers who have achieved international reputation for
Mississippi’s illegal roach killer excites attention.
The brain centre targeted by traces of a widely used pesticide has been identified by US researchers. The finding could help explain symptoms seen in people exposed to the pesticide in their homes.
Several years ago, some US homes were sprayed illegally with the crop pesticide methyl parathion, known to be toxic at high doses. Evidence has since emerged linking the exposure to anxiety, sleeplessness and depression in
Study Documents Imaging Technique’s Accuracy in Detecting the Course of Finger Joint Inflammation
Findings Indicate Need to Combine Laser Imaging with Other Diagnostic Tools
A team of specialists in laser medicine has developed an imaging technique with the potential to dramatically improve the early diagnosis and treatment of Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA). According to the team’s study, which is published in the May 2002 issue of Arthritis & Rheumatism, this innova
New methods are being developed to cure illnesses with the aid of gene therapy. Polymer technology provides new and versatile possibilities for administering gene doses.
”Polymers are used to pack the gene to be transferred into particles of the size of a ten thousandth of a millimetre. These polymers effectively transport the transferable gene into affected cells and are then dissolved by the organs,” explains Project Coordinator, Professor Arto Urtti of the Bio-pharmacy Department of the Unive
Emergency medicine doctors come top of the stress league, with around double the reported stress levels of other doctors, reveals a national survey in Emergency Medicine Journal. Nearly one in 10 reported suicidal thoughts.
All 479 emergency medicine consultants across the UK were sent a validated survey to determine levels of psychological distress and depressive symptoms. Respondents were also asked to detail the frequency and ‘stressfulness’ of work stressors.
In all, 350 respond
Patients with evidence of recent psychiatric illness have a high risk of sustaining head injury over the next 12 months, finds a study in the Journal of Neurology Neurosurgery and Psychiatry.
The researchers looked at the health records of patients who had sustained a head injury in the 12 months after joining a large health organisation (HMO) in the USA covering six counties.
The presence of mental health problems was determined from prescriptions for psychiatric drugs, a confirme
Two British scientists, Dr Ashley Croft and Dr Andrew Herxheimer, have published a paper which for the first time tries to explain the adverse effects of the controversial antimalaria drug, mefloquine (Lariam®).
Mefloquine, made by the Swiss drug company Hoffmann-La Roche, is used both to treat and prevent malaria. Since the 1980s doctors have used it to treat around 2 million people with malaria, and about 15 million travellers have used mefloquine as malaria prophylaxis.
Althoug
Ex-Soviet Union viruses could fill antibiotic gap.
Russian remedies could take out hardy US bacteria. Long-abandoned by Western medicine, viruses that naturally kill microbes are being imported as a potential substitute for antibiotics.
The emergence of multi-drug-resistant bacteria is intensifying the search for antibiotic replacements. Bemoaning the problem, clinician Glenn Morris of the University of Maryland in College Park got an idea from a colleague from the former Sov
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
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