“Neither Olympians nor weekend warriors are immune to tendonitis, ankle sprains, low back problems and concussions. While these injuries are common to both professional and amateur athletes alike, they can often be prevented with proper conditioning,” according to Dr. Jo Hannafin, a member of the U.S. Olympic Committee Medical Staff and orthopedic surgeon at Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS) as well as a former competitive rower.

Dr. Scott Rodeo, a member of the U.S. Olympic Committee Me

Cancers of the gut are one of the major causes of death from cancer, but a review published this week shows that they are also amongst the most preventable through changes in diet.

Of the 10 million new cases of cancer diagnosed in 2000, around 2.3 million were cancers of the digestive organs – pharynx, oesophagus, stomach or colorectum. Studies have shown that they are not purely genetic and can be modified by diet.

Professor Ian Johnson, author of the review and head of Gastroint

People who suffer from chronic diseases, including high blood pressure, diabetes, asthma and heart problems should benefit from a new remote, home care monitoring system that could also bring an end to overcrowded waiting rooms.

With project partners in Estonia, Latvia and the UK facing research costs of over €2 million, the development of Doc@HOME® was made possible with the help of a grant of €1.1 million from the Information Society Technology (IST) Programme of the European Union’s Fram

Doctors are reporting some success in treating one of the most troubling symptoms of dementias such as Alzheimer’s disease. A drug commonly used to treat schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders appears effective at reducing actions like screaming at or slapping caregivers – agitated behaviors that occur in as many as half of patients.

The work, led by researchers at the University of Rochester Medical Center, was presented July 22 at the 9th International Conference on Alzheimer&#1

A University of California scientist working at Los Alamos National Laboratory with collaborators from the University of Cambridge (England) and the World Health Organization National Influenza Center at Erasmus Medical Center, (Rotterdam, Netherlands) have developed a computer modeling method for mapping the evolution of the influenza virus. The method could soon help medical researchers worldwide develop a better understanding of certain mutations in influenza and other viruses that allow diseases

West Nile virus has become a widespread human health concern, yet little attention is given to the grave situation facing certain wildlife species dying from the deadly disease, says a University of Alberta scientist. Cameron Aldridge is part of a research team to have shown that the West Nile Virus represents a significant new stressor on the sage-grouse—a species already on the endangered list in Canada and under current consideration for federal listing in the United States. “We don’t yet kn

Can doping athletes be stopped? With the Athens Olympics about to open, scientists are increasingly concerned that sophisticated techniques for evading drug tests will make it difficult for testers to catch athletes using steroids and other drugs, especially at future athletic competitions when genetic-based enhancements are expected to be prevalent.

In the August/September issue of Update, the magazine of the New York Academy of Sciences, writer Diane Kightlinger documents how advances in

A previously unrecognized molecular structure on the surface of the human bacterial pathogen Group B Streptococcus (GBS) – the most common cause of sepsis and meningitis in newborn infants – is described by researchers at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) School of Medicine in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences published online the week of July 19, 2004.

The new discovery has important implications for understanding the mechanism of infection and the design of vac

The rapid and deadly method that destroys the body’s defenses against the common bacterial cause of disease, Staphylococcus aureus (staph), has been identified by researchers at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) School of Medicine.

Published online the week of July 19, 2004 in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), the study describes the detailed cellular mechanisms by which Staphylococcus aureus protein A, or SpA, spreads within minutes throughout

The drugs levodopa and pramipexole both appear to be reasonable options as initial therapy for Parkinson disease, but they are associated with different efficacy and adverse effects, according to an article in the July issue of The Archives of Neurology, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

Parkinson disease is a progressive neurologic disease. It is believed to be related to low levels of the important neurotransmitter (messenger) dopamine in certain parts of the brain. When the drug levodopa

Melanotan-1, a synthetic agent similar to the body’s hormone that regulates skin pigmentation, can be combined with UV-B light or sunlight, and appears to act synergistically in the tanning response to light, according to an article in the July issue of The Archives of Dermatology, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

Melanotan-1 (MT-1) is a synthetic super-potent derivative of its natural counterpart, alpha-melanocyte-stimulating hormone, one of a family of hormones that induce pigmentation

The use of an injectable implant material appears effective and well tolerated by patients undergoing facial soft tissue augmentation, and patient satisfaction with treatment is high, according to an article in the July/August issue of The Archives of Facial Plastic Surgery, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

According to information in the article, plastic and reconstructive surgery is among several clinical indications for soft tissue augmentation. According to the article, all the compone

A therapeutic cancer vaccine being co-developed by the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research (LICR) and the Australian biotechnology company CSL Limited successfully induced a comprehensive immune response in patients and appeared to delay cancer recurrence, according to a paper published today in the scientific journal, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA.

The study treated 46 patients, most with melanoma, with three monthly doses of the NY-ESO-1/ISCOMATRIXTM vaccine followi

The American Association for Clinical Chemistry (AACC) has announced the launch of “Young’s Effects Online,” offering instant access to the effects of thousands of diseases, drugs, and herbal remedies on medical lab tests. The new web-based resource will be introduced at the Annual Meeting and Clinical Lab Exposition, held in Los Angeles, CA from July 25 through July 29, 2004. Visit the AACC booth #2423 and contact Laura Fillmore for more information (see below).

“Young’s Effects Online”

Changes in scientific publishing are “necessary as a matter of urgency” and everyone should have free, open access to UK research findings. So says the UK House of Commons Science & Technology Committee in their report on scientific publishing, published today.

Vitek Tracz, Chairman of the Open Access publisher BioMed Central said: “We welcome this important and forward-looking report which marks the beginning of a new era. Change is essential for science and will benefit society.”

More and more common antibiotics are losing their effectiveness because they are used too often, allowing bacteria to develop resistance to the drugs. A University of Rhode Island researcher has found a solution to this problem with a natural compound that boosts antibiotic strength from 100 to 1,000 times. While conducting research on infection prevention, URI Microbiology Professor Paul Cohen stumbled upon a compound — lysophosphatidic acid — that is naturally produced in the human body in great