Healthy Me - At Home and Away

Brain power can decline from age 45

2012-01-15T17:29:00.001-08:00

So, should age of retirement be adjusted?
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Posted: 06 January 2012

PARIS: Cognitive skills can start to fall from the age of 45, not from around the age of 60 as is commonly thought, according to research published on Friday by the British Medical Journal (BMJ).

Researchers led by Archana Singh-Manoux from the Centre for Research in Epidemiology and Population Health in France and University College London observed 5,198 men and 2,192 women over a 10-year period from 1997.

The volunteers were London civil servants aged between 45 and 70 who had been enrolled in a long-term health study.

Over the 10 years, the participants were tested three times - for memory, vocabulary, and skills in aural and visual comprehension.

During this time, there was a 3.6-percent decline in mental reasoning in men aged 45-49 and a 9.6-percent fall in those aged 65-70. The corresponding figures for women were 3.6 and 7.4 percent.

"Cognitive decline is already evident in middle age," says the paper, which defines this as the years from 45 to 49.

The findings should spur further research into spotting and braking cognitive deterioration, the authors hope.

Many societies face an "exponential increase" in the number of elderly people as a result of increases in life expectancy, they note.

"These changes are likely to have a profound influence on individuals' lives and society at large. Poor cognitive status is perhaps the single most disabling condition in old age."

- AFP/de

Taken from ChannelNewsAsia.com; source article is below:
Brain power can decline from age 45

Gastric bypass cuts death risk

2012-01-15T17:27:00.001-08:00

Posted: 04 January 2012

WASHINGTON: Obese people who undergo gastric bypass surgery are less likely to die from heart attack and stroke than people who receive more conventional treatment for their weight condition, a Swedish study said on Tuesday.

The study, published in the January 4 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association, included about 4,000 patients in Sweden who were recruited between 1987 and 2001.

The surgery patients either had gastric bypass (13.2 percent), banding (18.7 percent), or vertical banded gastroplasty (68.1 percent), and all lost 16-23 percent of their body weight in subsequent years.

The control group did not have any type of surgery and showed a 0-1 percent weight loss at follow-up periods of two, 10, 15 and 20 years.

"Bariatric surgery was associated with reduced number of fatal heart attack deaths (22 in the surgery group versus 37 in the control group)," said the study led by Lars Sjostrom of the University of Gothenburg, Sweden.

Bariatric surgery was also linked to a lower number of heart attacks overall, fewer strokes, and fewer fatal strokes.

But when the researchers looked at weight change alone, they could find no significant relationship to cardiovascular events in either group, suggesting that the weight loss itself might not be the driver of fewer deaths.

"There are many benefits to bariatric surgery and that some of these benefits are independent of the degree of the surgically induced weight loss," said the study.

Other studies have shown that the benefits of gastric surgery for extremely obese people can include long-term changes of body weight, better quality of life, and fewer incidences of diabetes and cancer.

"The message is clear - bariatric surgery saves lives," said Mitchell Roslin, chief of obesity surgery at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York, who was not involved in the study.

Roslin noted that the most common type of surgery in the study, vertical banded gastroplasty, has been replaced by newer methods that are even more effective, so the cardiovascular death risk is likely even lower today.

As many as 200,000 gastric bypass operations, in which the stomach is sectioned off so that the smaller amounts of food can fit inside, are done annually in the United States, where about a third of people are obese.

- AFP/de

Taken from ChannelNewsAsia.com; source article is below:
Gastric bypass cuts death risk

Single gene links rare cancers

2012-01-10T17:58:00.001-08:00

One of a kind, that's what this is!
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Posted: 22 December 2011

WASHINGTON - Canadian researchers have discovered that a common gene links a number of rare reproductive cancers, a finding that could lead to new approaches for treatment, said a study published on Wednesday.

Ovarian, uterine and testicular cancer were all found to have the same mutation in a gene called DICER, said the research in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Scientists have known about DICER for many years, but its exact role in sparking tumour cells to grow has been unclear.

When the gene mutates, DICER's function is changed "so that it participates directly in the initiation of cancer, but not in a typical 'on-off' fashion," said co-author Gregg Morin, a lead scientist from the Michael Smith Genome Sciences Centre at the British Columbia Cancer Agency.

"DICER can be viewed as the conductor for an orchestra of functions critical for the development and behavior of normal cells," explained co-author Gregg Morin, a lead scientist from the Michael Smith Genome Sciences Centre at the British Columbia Cancer Agency.

"The mutations we discovered do not totally destroy the function of DICER, rather they warp it - the orchestra is still there but the conductor is drunk."

Researchers are examining whether DICER plays a role in other cancers, and will investigate if mutant DICER can be manipulated to treat the cancers it causes.

Ovarian cancer kills about 15,000 women in the United States each year, and about 22,000 new cases are diagnosed annually.

More than 46,000 cases of uterine cancer and 8,100 deaths arise each year in the United States. Testicular cancer is more rare, with 8,300 new cases per year and 350 US deaths, according to the American Cancer Society.

"This breakthrough will be of interest to both the clinical and the fundamental science communities," said Phillip Sharp, Institute Professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and co-winner of the 1993 Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine for the discovery of the structure of genes.

"Huntsman, Morin and colleague's very exciting discovery of specific mutations in DICER, a factor essential for syntheses of small regulatory RNAs in ovarian and other human tumors, could lead to new approaches to treatment."

- AFP/al

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Taken from ChannelNewsAsia.com; source article is below:
Single gene links rare cancers

Blood pressure meds "prolong life"

2012-01-10T16:23:00.001-08:00

Hope this really works!
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Posted: 21 December 2011

WASHINGTON: People who took blood pressure medicine during a 1980s clinical trial showed longer life expectancy two decades later than people who took a placebo, a US study said on Tuesday.

The randomised trial included 4,736 patients aged 60 and over who had high blood pressure. Some were given a drug called chlorthalidone and others were given a sugar pill for a 4.5 year period beginning in 1985.

At the end of the Systolic Hypertension in the Elderly Program (SHEP) trial, all participants were advised to begin following the drug regimen.

Recently, researchers in New Jersey decided to go back over the data, in consultation with the National Death Index, to see if the therapy had any impact on long-term life expectancy.

Indeed, they found that those who had taken chlorthalidone lived several months longer than those who had taken the placebo, according to the findings published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Those who took the drug lived 158 days longer before dying of cardiovascular causes than people who had taken the placebo, and 105 days longer when it came to dying of any cause.

"The gain in life expectancy free from cardiovascular death corresponds with one day (0.89 days) gained per month of treatment," said the study.

"For all-cause mortality, the gain in life expectancy from one month of antihypertensive drug treatment was estimated at a half day (0.59 days)."

The study, led by John Kostis of the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, should send a "strong message" to patients and doctors about the benefits of anti-hypertensive therapy, it concluded.

Left uncontrolled, high blood pressure -- defined as 140/90 mmHg (millimeters of mercury) or above most of the time -- can lead to heart failure, stroke, and kidney disease.

About one in three US adults has hypertension, according to the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.

The research was funded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, the National Institute on Aging, and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

- AFP/wk

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Taken from ChannelNewsAsia.com; source article is below:
Blood pressure meds "prolong life"

Israeli scientists develop cancer 'cluster bomb'

2012-01-02T20:37:00.001-08:00

Now this is a very good promise; hope that it works when everything is done.
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Posted: 14 December 2011

JERUSALEM: Israeli medical researchers say they have developed a new technique for blasting cancer tumours from inside out which reduces the risk of the disease returning after treatment.

Tel Aviv University professors Yona Keisari and Itzhak Kelson are about to start clinical trials of a pin-sized radioactive implant that beams short-range alpha radiation from within the tumour.

Unlike conventional radiation therapy, which bombards the body with gamma rays from outside, the alpha particles "diffuse inside the tumour, spreading further and further before disintegrating," a university statement quoted Keisari as saying.

"It's like a cluster bomb -- instead of detonating at one point, the atoms continuously disperse and emit alpha particles at increasing distances."

The university said that the process takes about 10 days and leaves behind only non-radioactive and non-toxic amounts of lead.

"Not only are cancerous cells more reliably destroyed, but in the majority of cases the body develops immunity against the return of the tumour," the statement said.

The wire implant, inserted into the tumour by hypodermic needle, "decays harmlessly in the body," it added.

It went on to say that in pre-clinical trials on mice, one group had tumours removed surgically while another was treated with the radioactive wire.

"When cells from the tumour were reinjected into the subject, 100 percent of those treated surgically redeveloped their tumour, compared to only 50 percent of those treated with the radioactive wire," it said.

"The researchers have had excellent results with many types of cancer models, including lung, pancreatic, colon, breast, and brain tumours."

It added that the procedure would begin clinical trials at Beilinson hospital, near Tel Aviv, "soon."

- AFP/wk

Taken from ChannelNewsAsia.com; source article is below:
Israeli scientists develop cancer 'cluster bomb'

"No heart attack risk" from ADHD drugs

2012-01-02T20:35:00.001-08:00

Posted: 13 December 2011

WASHINGTON: Most adults do not face a higher risk of heart attack when taking stimulant medications to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, US researchers said on Monday.

The study is the largest and among the first to look specifically at the risks of taking ADHD drugs for people aged 25-64, and is published in an early online version of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).

Previous studies have shown that some ADHD drugs can raise blood pressure and heart rate, but follow-up research has been unable to find any higher risk of death or major complications.

A separate study last month in the New England Journal of Medicine found no higher risk among youths aged two to 24 who take stimulant medications like Ritalin, after concerns were raised years ago about potential links.

The JAMA observational study, funded by the US Food and Drug Administration and the Agency for Health Research Quality, was based on pharmacy data and medical records for 150,000 people at four clinical sites in the United States.

Comparing those who used the drugs to those who did not, and honing on one the specific subgroups of ADHD drugs, researchers found no higher risk of heart attack, sudden cardiac death or stroke.

However, the study did have some limitations, such as spanning a relatively short period -- about one year -- and excluding people over 65.

"It's important to note that this is an observational study and not a randomised clinical trial," said lead author Laurel Habel, a research scientist with the Kaiser Permanente Northern California Division of Research.

The drugs included in the study were stimulants such as methylphenidate, dextroamphetamines, amphetamine salts and pemoline; and the non-stimulant atomoxetine.

All were labelled for treatment of ADHD in children or adults as of December 31, 2005.

According to the latest FDA data from 2005, about 1.5 million US adults are taking ADHD medication. Of all the US prescriptions issued to children and adults, grownups account for nearly one third.

- AFP/wk

Taken from ChannelNewsAsia.com; source article is below:
"No heart attack risk" from ADHD drugs

Doc uses glove instead of port in colon surgery

2012-01-02T20:31:00.001-08:00

Another one of those firsts, from Singapore
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By Wendy Wong
Posted: 12 December 2011

SINGAPORE: A surgeon from the Tan Tock Seng Hospital has become the first in Singapore to perform a new colon re-sectioning surgery using a common glove.

The Single Incision Laparoscopic Surgery, or SILS for short, usually involves an expensive equipment costing up to $2,000.

With SILS, a small incision of about 4cm is made to reach the colon with robotic arms.

But the robotic arms need a port - which is expensive - to fit the needles for the surgery.

However, Dr Leong Quor Meng, a consultant of general surgery, learnt from South Korean doctors a technique to replace the mechanical port with a glove. And it works just as well.

He said he picked up the technique during his overseas training in Korea to learn robotic surgery last year. He noticed that surgeons used a non-powdered glove, which costs only around a dollar, amongst other cheaper equipment.

By using a glove, equipment cost for SILS is cut by nearly 90 percent to just S$65.

Dr Leong said the technique can be useful if the tumour isn't large.

And he is confident one third of his patients can benefit from the approach of using gloves as modified "ports" and emerge with minimal scarring.

He said: "The advantages of this surgery are that it is cheap, the ports are cheap, and the outcome is very good. The patients recover fast, the cosmesis is excellent and we can provide it to all patients."

- CNA/ir

Taken from ChannelNewsAsia.com; source article is below:
Doc uses glove instead of port in colon surgery

In mice, a step towards a vaccine for HIV

2012-01-02T18:02:00.001-08:00

And why not frustrating, since this is being chased wrongly? Let me now reserve my judgement...
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Posted: 01 December 2011

PARIS: Tests on lab mice have opened up a new path towards a vaccine against HIV, one of the most frustrating quests in the 30-year history of AIDS, scientists reported on Wednesday.

Genetically modified mice fought back the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) after they had been injected with genes to make antibodies, the first line of defence in the immune system, the report said in the journal Nature.

First identified in 1981, AIDS has claimed at least 25 million lives, although the annual toll is falling sharply from the peak of the pandemic in response to drug treatment.

But AIDS campaigners say the pandemic will only be crushed once a vaccine emerges. So far, in clinical trials, only one candidate formula has had even a modest effect, providing a shield of only 31 percent against the risk of HIV infection.

This has prompted researchers to return to the drawing board, to look for "broadly neutralising antibodies" -- Y-shaped proteins that are the immune system's foot soldiers -- among the tiny number of people with an innate ability to resist HIV.

So far, this trawl has turned up around 20 so-called "bNAbs," but there are big unknowns as to how they work and, if so, whether they can be made into a deliverable vaccine.

Delving into this, a team led by David Baltimore at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) says it has developed a way to deliver bNAb-making genes to lab mice.

The rodents were engineered to carry human cells that allow HIV to penetrate and reproduce.

The approach, called Vectored ImmunoProphylaxis, or VIP, entails using a harmless virus as a "Trojan horse" in which they tucked the genes able to turn out specific bNAbs.

They then injected the virus into the leg muscles of the mice, where it holed up in cells, enabling the bNAb genes to produce antibodies in response to HIV.

The mice were first challenged with just one nanogram of AIDS virus -- enough to infect most non-treated mice that received it -- but the dose was eventually cranked up to 125 nanograms without problems. There were no signs of any side effects.

"VIP has a similar effect to a vaccine but without ever calling on the immune system to do any of the work," said Alejandro Balazs, lead author of the study, in a press release issued by Caltech.

"Normally, you put an antigen or killed bacteria or something into the body, and the immune system figures out how to make an antibody against it. We've taken that whole part out of the equation."

The team stressed that the jump from mice to humans is large.

"We're not promising that we've actually solved the human problem," said Baltimore. "But the evidence for prevention in these mice is very clear."

He added the team was drawing up plans to cautiously test the method in small-scale human clinical trials.

Baltimore co-won the 1975 Nobel Prize for Medicine at the age of 37 for his work on reverse transcriptase, a key enzyme in the reproduction of retroviruses -- the family that includes HIV.

In an email exchange with AFP, he said VIP was "like gene therapy, but distinct."

Gene therapy entails slotting a gene into the patient's DNA that corrects a flawed, disease-causing counterpart.

Hopes for this field of research were clouded by several reverses, notably the death of a young volunteer, Jesse Gelsinger, in 1999.

The tragedy raised doubts about where genes should be inserted in the genome and about the safety of the virus that delivered them.

Baltimore explained that VIP used a small, harmless vector, an adeno-associated virus (AAV), which took up residence in the muscle cells but did not slot genes into the mouse's DNA code.

"It's not an 'insertion' but a free plasmid-like element that will exist in muscle cells," he said.

Publication of the study coincided with the eve of World AIDS Day.

The number of people living with HIV currently stands at about 34 million, according to the latest UN figures.

- AFP/cc

Taken from ChannelNewsAsia.com; source article is below:
In mice, a step towards a vaccine for HIV

More S'poreans now aware of HIV/AIDS preventive measures

2012-01-02T17:59:00.001-08:00

I'd say this is good in the sense that the business is a medium for sex education as well... but to me, the best prevention is abstinence - you don't expect to play with fire and don't get burned, or seared, or at least, be singed...
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By Wendy Wong and Monica Kotwani
Posted: 27 November 2011

SINGAPORE: According to a survey by the Health Promotion Board (HPB), Singaporeans now have greater knowledge of HIV/AIDS preventive measures compared to just few years ago.

The preventive measures are known as the ABCs - Abstinence from casual sex, Being faithful to one uninfected sexual partner and using a Condom correctly.

Last year, about 67 per cent of respondents were aware of the ABCs, compared to just 37 per cent in 2007.

The HPB survey also found a greater acceptance for individuals with HIV/AIDS.

In 2007, only 22 per cent of those surveyed were willing to share a meal with a person with HIV/AIDS.

Last year, this doubled to almost 41 per cent responded in the affirmative.

Minister of State for Health and Chairperson of the National HIV Policy Committee Dr Amy Khor said over 400 people are diagnosed with HIV every year and late testing and detection of the HIV infection remain a worrying trend.

She said education and outreach programmes will help to demystify and de-stigmatise the condition, and encourage at-risk individuals to take proper protective measures and come forward for regular HIV tests.

She added that regular HIV testing will allow for early detection and management of any HIV infection, delay the onset of AIDS and help ensure an active and productive life.

Dr Khor said her committee will focus on three areas in the short to medium-term.

They are awareness of HIV preventive measures, enhancing support for those living with HIV/AIDS, and adopting guidelines to remove stigma and discrimination in the workplace.

Dr Khor said, "We've had feedback, and also through patients who go for treatment to Communicable Disease Centre, and they've shared that there is some stigma and discrimination, and I think it probably arises because of a lack of understanding of HIV infection and how the disease can be spread.

"We need to have these guidelines, and the HR managers to ensure that they do not, unwittingly for instance, have Human Resource policies or employment policies that discriminate against people with HIV infection.

"I mean, we've also heard stories of people getting dismissed because they were found to be HIV positive. And really, if they are treated and cared for, they can continue to work and contribute to the company, and to the economy, constructively and productively."

Dr Khor said employers are coming on board to raise awareness at the workplace, through organisations such as the Singapore National Employers Federation (SNEF) and AIDS Business Alliance.

Dr Khor was speaking at a World AIDS Day commemoration event called "Hairdressers Against Aids".

Meanwhile, HPB said it would unveil revamped HIV/AIDS guidelines together with SNEF, in January next year.

This would include a "Frequently Asked Questions" template, which tells HR managers what to do when a staff is infected with HIV.

HPB is working with L'Oréal Singapore to raise awareness about HIV/AIDS through hairstylists from more than 100 local hair salons, which have pledged to initiate talk and discussions with customers on the issue.

HPB CEO Ang Hak Seng: "The salon was chosen because hairdressers usually have long-standing relationships with their customers. And when customers have their hair done in the salon, it usually takes a long time, and this gives the opportunity to hair-stylists to give HIV preventive measures and education to their customers."

HPB is targeting some 30,000 Singaporeans and residents.

Future collaborations include HPB working with pubs and DJs to spread the word and initiate conversation on HIV/AIDS awareness.

It said five pubs have so far come on board.

- CNA/ck/wk

Taken from ChannelNewsAsia.com; source article is below:
More S'poreans now aware of HIV/AIDS preventive measures

Rare strain of AIDS virus moves beyond Cameroon: doctors

2011-12-19T20:32:00.001-08:00

What now?
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Posted: 25 November 2011

PARIS: A very rare strain of AIDS virus previously found only among a few people in Cameroon has most probably spread outside the West African country, according to a case reported by The Lancet on Friday.

The first identified infection with the so-called "group N" strain of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) was found in 1998 in a Cameroonian woman who had progressed to AIDS.

Since then, more than 12,000 HIV-infected patients living in Cameroon have been tested for group-N infection, but only 12 cases, including two couples, have ever been found.

The new case, reported by French doctors, involves a 57-year-old man who was admitted to the Saint Louis Hospital Paris in January suffering from fever, rash, swollen lymph glands and genital ulceration.

The patient had high levels of a virus in the HIV-1 family, but tests to pinpoint the particular strain proved inconclusive. On February 9, the patient developed facial paralysis.

The French team then carried out further tests on blood samples, which were found to react in an antibody essay of the N strain.

Tracing his sexual history, the researchers believe the infection was "probably" acquired from intercourse with a partner in Togo, from which he had just returned.

"This case of HIV-1 group-N primary infection indicates that this rare group is now circulating outside Cameroon, which emphasises the need for rigorous HIV epidemiological monitoring," says the doctors, led by Professor Francois Simon.

The finding is important because the patient suffered not only severe symptoms but also a fast-track decline in his immune system, as shown in the number of his CD4 white blood cells.

He was given a powerful five-drug combination of antiretrovirals, to which he responded, but needs close monitoring in the future, the letter said.

Group N may have leapt to humans from chimpanzees, possibly through the handling of bushmeat infected with the simian equivalent of HIV, scientists say.

It is one of four sub-types of virus gathered in the HIV-1 family, the others being M, which is by far the most prevalent, O and P. The P strain, like O and N very rare, may have jumped to humans from gorillas, according to a study published in 2009.

There is also a minority viral family called HIV-2, which also may have passed to humans from animal primates.

-AFP/vl

Taken from ChannelNewsAsia.com; source article is below:
Rare strain of AIDS virus moves beyond Cameroon: doctors

US approves drug for middle-of-the-night insomniacs

2011-12-19T20:30:00.001-08:00

Will this really be necessary? Any side effects?
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Posted: 24 November 2011

WASHINGTON: The US Food and Drug Administration, for the first time, approved Wednesday medication specifically designed for those who wake up in the middle of the night and cannot fall back to sleep.

Intermezzo, manufactured by Transcept Pharmaceuticals of California, is a lower-dose formulation of zolpidem, first approved in the United States in 1992 and better known as the insomnia treatment Ambien.

"This is the first time the FDA has approved a drug for this condition," the federal government agency said in a statement.

"Intermezzo should only be used when a person has at least four hours of bedtime remaining. It should not be taken if alcohol has been consumed or with any other sleep aid."

The recommended dose is 3.5 milligrams for men and half that for women, after clinical tests indicated that women cleared zolpidem from their bodies more slowly than men do.

"With this lower dose, there is less risk of a person having too much drug in the body upon waking, which can cause dangerous drowsiness and impair driving," said Robert Temple of the FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research.

Spokesmen for Transcept Pharmaceuticals could not be reached for comment.

-AFP/pn

Taken from ChannelNewsAsia.com; source article is below:
US approves drug for middle-of-the-night insomniacs

New pill for advanced lung cancer patients

2011-12-19T19:49:00.001-08:00

By Jessica Yeo
Posted: 22 November 2011

SINGAPORE: Lung cancer is the second most common form of cancer in Singaporean men, and the third most common in women.

Now, patients in their fourth stage of the disease can opt to take a pill called Iressa, if they carry a mutated gene known as epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR).

It is estimated that around 40 percent of all patients in Singapore carry this mutation, which is more common in Asians, non-smokers and women.

The Health Sciences Authority approved the drug in December last year.

The pill targets an enzyme found in the mutated gene reactor, which helps to suppress the growth of cancer cells and is said to prolong the patients' lives.

Dr Gilberto De Lima Lopez, a senior consultant with the Department of Medical Oncology at the John Hopkins Singapore International Medical Centre, said: "This drug has a much better ratio of the benefits to the risks that they entail.

"Patients who receive this drug have better response rates and the disease stays under control for longer as well than when they use chemotherapy."

58-year-old retiree Mohamad Yusof Johari was diagnosed with cancer in April and has been on Iressa since then.

He said: "(My) experience with this drug is that you'll have less side effects unlike ordinary chemotherapy. After the third week (after) taking this drug, I see its effectiveness. Quite good."

Channel NewsAsia understands that a month's worth of Iressa costs about S$1,600, after MediSave subsidies. The original cost of the drug is about S$2,600.

Daniel Tan, associate consultant at the National Cancer Centre, said: "These targeted drugs at the moment are covered under the schemes that are available for patients with cancer and the price of the medication is equivalent to chemotherapy in terms of out of pocket expenses."

Iressa is currently available in most hospitals and clinics.

-CNA/ac

Taken from ChannelNewsAsia.com; source article is below:
New pill for advanced lung cancer patients

Cervical vaccines for poorer countries

2011-12-19T19:24:00.001-08:00

Image by Novartis AG via FlickrI was gonna say, "What's it got to do with being poor?", but then again, I'm thankful that even the poor gets their share of proper treatment, at the very least...
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Posted: 18 November 2011

PARIS: A major campaigner in vaccines for poorer countries announced plans on Thursday for innoculating up to two million women and girls against cervical cancer by 2015.

GAVI, a Geneva-based public-private partnership set up in 2000, said the initiative was approved at a board meeting in the Bangladesh capital of Dhaka.

The scheme depends on price negotiations with manufacturers and assurances from governments that they can distribute the vaccines effectively, it said in a press release.

Nine countries are candidates for the vaccine, although their names are being withheld at this stage, said a spokesman for GAVI, reached by phone from Paris.

The cost of the project cannot be disclosed immediately because of the sensitive nature of the price talks, he added.

The vaccine shields against the human papillomavirus (HPV), which causes some 275,000 deaths each year from cervical cancer, 88 per cent of them in developing countries.

HPV vaccines have been available in rich countries since 2007. It can take 10 or 15 years for advanced vaccines to be rolled out in poorer settings.

"The HPV vaccine is critical to women and girls in poorer countries because they usually do not have access to screening to prevent cervical cancer and treatment taken for granted in richer nations," said GAVI's chief executive, Seth Berkley.

The GAVI board also agreed to seek funds for vaccines against German measles, also called rubella, a childhood disease which is highly dangerous for pregnant women, leading to miscarriage, stillbirth and birth defects.

-AFP/ck

Taken from ChannelNewsAsia.com; source article is below:
Cervical vaccines for poorer countries

New drug reduces mortality of heart patients: study

2011-12-19T18:54:00.001-08:00

Image via WikipediaMy heart is relieved....!
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Posted: 14 November 2011

WASHINGTON: The anti-clotting drug Rivaroxaban lowered risk of death, heart attack and stroke in acute coronary syndrome patients, a new study showed.

The study presented at a meeting of the American Heart Association in Orlando, Florida, Sunday concluded that patients who took Rivaroxaban had a 16-percent reduced risk of cardiovascular death, stroke or heart attack compared to patients who didn't.

"Our findings are important because blocking the production of thrombin is an important new way to improve acute coronary syndrome patients' long-term risk of death, stroke and heart attack after being hospitalized with an acute coronary syndrome," said Michael Gibson, senior investigator of the TIMI Study Group at Harvard Medical School.

He explained that people with a heart attack or unstable angina make too much thrombin, an enzyme that forms clots.

Therefore, researchers focused on ways to reduce the production of thrombin with Rivaroxaban, he said.

More than 15,000 people hospitalized with a recent heart attack or unstable angina were analysed in the course of the study.

The study has also found that the risk of death, including all causes of death, was reduced more than 30 percent with the addition of Rivaroxaban.

Meanwhile, stent thrombosis was reduced by 31 percent in patients taking the drug compared to patients who didn't.

However, a separate study focusing on the anti-clotting drug Vorapaxar has found that it failed to reduce patients' odds of experiencing adverse outcomes after treatment for unstable angina or a heart attack due to a partial artery blockage.

Patients on Vorapaxar also had an increased risk of bleeding, the report said.

The study was conducted at the Duke Clinical Research Institute in Durham, North Carolina.

-AFP/ac

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Taken from ChannelNewsAsia.com; source article is below:
New drug reduces mortality of heart patients: study

New drug zaps fat cells in monkeys

2011-12-19T18:44:00.001-08:00

Would a drug for slimming be effective in humans as well, when it is for monkeys?
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Posted: 10 November 2011

WASHINGTON: An experimental drug helped obese monkeys lose 11 percent of their extra weight in a month, a promising sign in the hunt for obesity drugs that could apply to humans, US researchers said Wednesday.

The drug, known as Adipotide, works by attacking the blood supply of a certain kind of fat, known as white adipose tissue, that tends to accumulate under the skin and around the belly.

Most other obesity drugs focus on either reducing appetite, boosting metabolism or preventing the absorption of fat.

The research, led by the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, offers a potential new pathway for treatment and has also shown effects in mice who lost 30 percent of their body weight during treatment.

"Most drugs against obesity fail in transition between rodents and primates," said co-senior author Renata Pasqualini, whose study appears in the journal Science Translational Medicine.

"We're greatly encouraged to see substantial weight loss in a primate model of obesity that closely matches the human condition."

The monkeys in the study were spontaneously obese, meaning they overate of their own free will, avoided exercise and therefore had packed on extra pounds.

Their weight declined for the first three weeks of treatment, though a small uptick was seen in the fourth week. The average weight loss during that span of time was 11 percent of their body weight.

The drug designed by the MD Anderson group "binds to a protein on the surface of fat-supporting blood vessels," and contains a "synthetic peptide that triggers cell death," the findings said.

"Their blood supply gone, fat cells are reabsorbed and metabolized."

Clinical trials of the drug on obese men with prostate cancer are planned next, in which human subjects will get daily injections of the drug for 28 days.

"The question is, will their prostate cancer become better if we can reduce their body weight and the associated health risks?" asked co-author Wadih Arap, a professor in MD Anderson's David H. Koch Center for Applied Research of Genitourinary Cancers.

Another promising sign was that monkeys treated with the drug showed an improvement in their resistance to insulin, suggesting it may help ward off the development of type 2 diabetes.

However, it was seen to have some damaging effects to the kidneys, which could be lessened by administering the drug in smaller doses.

The journal noted that Arap, Pasqualini and some other researchers involved in the project own equity positions in two drug-development companies working on the research.

Those positions are "subjected to certain restrictions under institutional policy. MD Anderson manages and monitors the terms of these arrangements in accordance with its conflict-of-interest policy," it said.

Funding for the research came from grants from the National Institutes of Health, the National Cancer Institute and several other foundations.

-AFP/vl

Taken from ChannelNewsAsia.com; source article is below:
New drug zaps fat cells in monkeys

Scientists find big chink in malaria's armour

2011-12-14T16:26:00.001-08:00

Posted: 10 November 2011

PARIS: Researchers said Wednesday they had discovered a unique microscopic channel through which malaria parasites must pass to infect red blood cells, a finding that opens up a highly promising target for a vaccine.

The doorway mechanism is common to all known strains of the deadliest mosquito-borne pathogen, Plasmodium falciparum, which means that a future vaccine could in theory work against all of them, according to the study published in the journal Nature.

The death toll from malaria has declined by a fifth over the last decade, but the disease still claims some 800,000 lives every year, mostly children under five in sub-Saharan Africa.

"Our findings were unexpected and have completely changed the way in which we view the invasion process," said Gavin Wright of the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute and the study's senior co-author.

The breakthrough "seems to have revealed an Achilles' heel in the way the parasite invades our red blood cells."

Up to now, scientists assumed that P. falciparum had several options for piercing the defences of blood cells.

But in experiments, Wright and colleagues showed that intrusion depends on the interaction between a specific molecule on the parasite, called a ligand, and a specific receptor on the blood cell.

Blocking this interaction repels the pathogen's attempt to breach the cell's protective wall, they found.

"By identifying a single receptor that appears to be essential for parasites to invade human red blood cells, we have also identified an obvious and very exciting focus for vaccine development," said co-author Julian Rayner, also from the Sanger Institute.

Early results from clinical trials in Africa showed that the world's first malaria vaccine, reported in a study last month, cut infection rates by roughly half. The vaccine, made by the British pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline, works by triggering the immune system.

"These reports are encouraging," said Adrian Hill, a researcher at Oxford's Jenner Institute. "But in the future more effective vaccines will be needed if malaria is ever to be eradicated."

Hill added: "The discovery of a single receptor that can be targeted to stop the parasite infecting red blood cells offers the hope of a far more effective solution."

-AFP/ac

Taken from ChannelNewsAsia.com; source article is below:
Scientists find big chink in malaria's armour

'TB sniffer' offers hope of early diagnosis

2011-12-14T16:23:00.001-08:00

Posted: 08 November 2011

NEW DELHI: Indian researchers said on Monday they were close to developing an "electronic nose" to sniff out tuberculosis on the breath - offering rapid diagnosis that could save hundreds of thousands of lives.

The "E-Nose" is a battery-operated, hand-held unit, similar to a police breathalyser used to catch drunk drivers.

A patient blows into the device and sensors pick up TB biomarkers in the breath droplets, resulting in an almost instantaneous and highly accurate diagnosis.

The "E-Nose" is a collaboration between the International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology in New Delhi and Next Dimension Technologies in California.

"We hope to have a prototype ready for clinical testing by October 2013," said lead researcher Ranjan Nanda.

TB kills close to 1.7 million people globally every year, and researchers estimate the "E-Nose" could save 400,000 lives a year in developing countries through early diagnosis, treatment and reduced transmission.

TB is currently detected through sputum tests that are costly and take several days.

On Monday, the project was awarded a $950,000 grant by the Bill and Melinda gates Foundation and Grand Challenges Canada, a non-profit organisation working on health issues in the developing world.

"Our research shows it might also be possible to use this technology for the early detection of other diseases like lung cancer and pneumonia," Nanda told AFP.

Each "E-Nose" would cost roughly $20-30 and its size and battery operation would make it accessible to rural communities in countries such as India with poor or non-existent power supplies.

According to the World Health organisation, India leads the world in TB infections which kill close to 1,000 people every day.

"Our goal is to make the Electronic Nose widely available in poor, remote areas where tuberculosis often breeds and spreads, devastating so many lives," Nanda said.

Tuberculosis is a contagious bacterial infection that spreads through the air. If left untreated, each person with active TB will on average infect between 10 and 15 people every year, according to the WHO.

- AFP/de

Taken from ChannelNewsAsia.com; source article is below:
'TB sniffer' offers hope of early diagnosis

For wounded Marines, a 'lollipop' to ease pain

2011-12-14T16:20:00.001-08:00

Posted: 02 November 2011

WASHINGTON: US Marines badly wounded in Afghanistan may get a "lollipop" with a powerful pain killer from now on instead of the traditional shot of morphine, a Marine Corps spokesman said Tuesday.

The new treatment offers an alternative to the morphine needle "you see in the World War II movies," with medics jabbing a syrette into a soldier's leg or arm, Captain Brian Block said.

The Fentanyl lollipop offers medics a faster way to ease the pain of a battlefield injury as the drug can be absorbed more rapidly through a lozenge in the mouth than from a needle injected into a muscle, Block said.

"The absorption is actually faster through the blood vessels in the mouth. You don't have to worry about shock which will constrict the blood vessels in a major muscle in a leg or an arm," Block told AFP.

After US Marine special operations forces used the new sucker successfully, commanders ordered the lollipop to be distributed to medics throughout the Marine Corps, he said.

The marines started delivering the lollipop to medical corpsmen about two months ago, he said.

"Some medics have it now. And it will continue to be fielded until it's out there for everybody," he said.

The lollipop also gives medics more control over the dosage, as the lozenge can be withdrawn at any moment, unlike a shot of morphine, he said.

"If the patient goes into shock or if there's a reason that you need to limit the dosage that you're giving to them, you can just pop it out of the mouth in a way that you couldn't (with the syrette).

"Once the morphine's in, the morphine's in."

Like other medicine distributed to military medics, the lollipops are subject to strict controls and will not be handed out directly to troops on the battlefield, he said.

"We'll take the appropriate steps to maintain accountability and maintain that they're being used appropriately," he said.

Medics in Afghanistan will still have the option of employing the morphine syrette, a small needle on a collapsible tube.

And for the moment, the pain-killing sucker will come in only one flavor -- "berry," he said.

-AFP/vl

Taken from ChannelNewsAsia.com; source article is below:
For wounded Marines, a 'lollipop' to ease pain

Light drinkers have higher breast cancer risk, says study

2011-12-14T16:19:00.001-08:00

Posted: 02 November 2011

WASHINGTON: Light to moderate alcohol drinkers have an increased risk of breast cancer compared to women who do not drink beer, wine or liquor, said a US study published on Tuesday.

Women who drink three to six glasses of alcohol per week have a 15 percent higher risk of getting breast cancer than women who do not drink, said the research led by Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School.

Women who drink on average two glasses daily of alcohol show a 51 percent higher risk of breast cancer, said the study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Researchers followed 105,986 women who answered survey questions about their health and alcohol consumption from 1980 until 2008.

The higher breast cancer risk was seen whether the women drank early in life or whether they were drinking after age 40, suggesting that even stopping may not have an effect on lowering risk.

The findings also present a dilemma for women who may choose to drink small amounts of alcohol, such as red wine, for heart health.

"There are no data to provide assurance that giving up alcohol will reduce breast cancer risk," said an accompanying editorial by Steven Narod, a doctor at the Women's College Research Institute, Toronto.

"Women who abstain from all alcohol may find that a potential benefit of lower breast cancer risk is more than offset by the relinquished benefit of reduced cardiovascular mortality associated with an occasional glass of red wine," he wrote.

The study authors said that the reason for the boost in breast cancer risk remains unknown, but hypothesised that it could be due to the elevation of sex hormones circulating in a woman's system after she drinks alcohol.

- AFP/de

Taken from ChannelNewsAsia.com; source article is below:
Light drinkers have higher breast cancer risk, says study

Scientists make human blood protein from rice

2011-12-14T16:17:00.001-08:00

Posted: 01 November 2011

WASHINGTON: Scientists at a Chinese university said Monday they can use rice to make albumin, a protein found in human blood that is often used for treating burns, traumatic shock and liver disease.

When extracted from rice seeds, the protein is "physically and chemically equivalent to blood-derived human serum albumin (HSA)," said the research in the US-published Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The findings could lead to a breakthrough in production of HSA, which typically comes from human blood donations.

The demand for the blood protein is about 500 tons per year worldwide, and China has faced worrying shortages in the past.

The rice method was devised by scientists at Wuhan University in China and colleagues from the National Research Council of Canada and the Center for Functional Genomics at the University at Albany in New York.

First, they genetically engineered rice seeds to produce high levels of HSA. Then, they worked out a way to purify the protein from the seeds, gathering about 2.75 grams of the protein per kilogram (2.2 pounds) of rice.

When they tested the rice-made protein in rats with liver cirrhosis, a common condition for which the human equivalent is often used, they found it produced similar outcomes to treatment with HSA.

"Our results suggest that a rice seed bioreactor produces cost-effective recombinant HSA that is safe and can help to satisfy an increasing worldwide demand for human serum albumin," said the study.

The protein is often used in the manufacture of vaccines and drugs and is given to patients with serious burn injuries, hemorrhagic shock and liver disease, the researchers said.

In 2007, a shortage in China led to price spikes and a brief rise in the number of fraudulent albumin medicines on the market.

Concerns have also been raised about the potential for the transmission of hepatitis and HIV, since the protein comes from human blood.

Large-scale planting of genetically modified rice fields that could produce enough seed for mass production of the protein also raises environmental and food supply contamination concerns, since rice is a major world food staple.

However, the study authors noted that rice is a largely self-pollinating crop, pointing to previous studies that showed "a very low frequency (0.04-0.80%) of pollen-mediated gene flow between genetically modified (GM) rice and adjacent non-GM plants."

More research is needed to evaluate the safety of the rice-derived protein in animals and humans before it can be considered for the market.

-AFP/pn

Taken from ChannelnewsAsia.com; source article is below:
Scientists make human blood protein from rice

Back pain? Try yoga

2011-11-29T00:34:00.001-08:00

Posted: 01 November 2011

WASHINGTON: People who took yoga classes for chronic lower back pain experienced more lifestyle improvements and better overall health than those who sought a doctor's advice, said a study published Monday.

The research in the US journal the Annals of Internal Medicine was led by scientists at the University of York, included more than 300 people and was described as the largest of its kind to date in the United Kingdom.

Researchers derived their study samples from a group of people who were already seeing a doctor for chronic or recurrent back pain. They assigned 156 of them to yoga classes and left 157 to the care of their physicians.

After three months, the yoga group reported they "were able to undertake 30 per cent more activities compared with those in the usual care group," said the study.

The main advantage appeared to be having more confidence to perform daily tasks such as "walking more quickly, getting dressed without help or standing up for longer periods of time," and not necessarily pain relief, it said.

Those taking yoga reported slightly less pain compared to the usual care group, but the difference was of "marginal statistical significance," the researchers said.

The data adds to a series of studies on how yoga may improve health. A study published earlier this month in the US journal Archives of Internal Medicine found yoga and stretching alleviated back pain more than reading a self-help manual.

Other studies out this year have suggested yoga can lower stress and improve quality of life among breast cancer patients, as well as cut irregular heartbeat episodes in half among cardiac patients.

The study authors said the findings are important because 80 percent of people in the United Kingdom suffer from back pain at some point in their lives, with few effective treatments.

"Back pain is an extremely common and costly condition. Exercise treatment, although widely used and recommended, has only a small effect on back pain," said lead investigator David Torgerson.

"Our results showed that yoga can provide both short and long-term benefits to those suffering from chronic or recurrent back pain, without any serious side-effects."

- AFP/wk

Taken from ChannelNewsAsia.com; source article is below:
Back pain? Try yoga

Aspirin slashes cancer rate for those with hereditary risk

2011-11-28T23:37:00.001-08:00

Sometimes I get tired following these studies, and i get confused... maybe I need an aspirin...
-----

Posted: 28 October 2011

PARIS: Long-term, daily doses of aspirin led to a fall of some 60 percent in cases of colorectal cancer among people with an inherited risk of this disease, the journal The Lancet reported on Friday.

The trial - considered to be broad in sample and long in duration - confirms evidence elsewhere that aspirin has a protective effect against cancer of the colon and rectum, it said.

The study enrolled patients with Lynch Syndrome, a fault in genes charged with cellular repair that leads to colorectal and other cancers.

Lynch Syndrome occurs in around one in 1,000 people and accounts for about one in 30 cases of bowel cancer, The Lancet said.

A total of 861 patients were randomly designated to take either two aspirins daily, for a dose of 600mg, or a harmless dummy pill, known as a placebo, for at least two years. They were then regularly given colon exams.

When the data from this study were first examined in 2007, there was no difference in colorectal cancer incidence between the groups.

But things changed when the researchers checked again a few years later.

By this time, there had been 34 cases of colorectal cancer in the placebo group but 19 in the aspirin group - a reduction in incidence of 44 percent.

The doctors then looked further at those patients (60 percent of the total) who had been taking the aspirin or the placebo beyond the two-year minimum.

In this sub-group, the figures were even more impressive.

There were 23 cancers in the placebo group, but only 10 in the aspirin group, amounting to a fall of 63 percent. The difference began to be seen after five years.

In the light of this discovery, further research has been launched to see what is the best dosage and duration of aspirin treatment.

"In the meantime, clinicians should consider aspirin prescription for all individuals judged to be at high risk of colorectal cancer, but taking appropriate measures to minimise adverse effects," says the paper, headed by John Burn, a professor of clinical genetics at Newcastle University, northeastern England.

Last year, a study also published in The Lancet, found that rates of cancer of the colon, prostate, lung, brain and throat were all reduced by daily aspirin use. For the colon, the risk over 20 years declined by 40 percent.

Many doctors recommend regular use of aspirin to lower the risk of heart attack, clot-related strokes and other blood flow problems. A downside of extended daily use is the risk of stomach problems.

- AFP/de

Taken from ChannelNewsAsia.com; source article is below:
Aspirin slashes cancer rate for those with hereditary risk

Yoga and stretching help lower back pain

2011-11-28T23:26:00.001-08:00

The West is looking to the East now...
-----

Posted: 25 October 2011

WASHINGTON: People who suffer chronic lower back pain saw about the same improvement after taking yoga classes taught by highly-trained teachers as they did from stretching classes, said a US study on Monday.

The findings, described by authors as the largest US randomised trial on yoga to date, appear in the October 24 issue of the Archives on Internal Medicine, a journal of the American Medical Association.

"We found yoga classes more effective than a self-care book - but no more effective than stretching classes," said lead study author Karen Sherman, a senior investigator at Group Health Research Institute in Seattle.

"We expected back pain to ease more with yoga than with stretching, so our findings surprised us," she said.

The same group of researchers conducted a smaller trial in 2005 based on a randomised sample of 101 adults. That study suggested yoga was the best remedy for back pain because those who practiced it used fewer pain relievers and had better back function.

The latest data is derived from a sample of 228 people across six cities in the western state of Washington, and while it showed a slight lead by the yoga class, the difference was not enough to matter statistically.

The subjects were assigned to 12 weekly classes that lasted 75 minutes each.

The yoga was a type known as viniyoga, which features poses adapted for the individual condition of those in the class, breathing exercises and a deep relaxation period. Classes were taught by instructors with more than 500 hours of training.

The stretch classes were taught by licensed physical therapists with teaching experience and two hours of training in techniques that focused on the trunk, legs, hamstrings and hips. Some strengthening exercises were also included.

The third group was given a self-care book called "The Back Pain Helpbook" to read for tips on alleviating pain.

"Back-related dysfunction declined over time in all groups," the study said, noting that compared to the handbook group, the yoga group reported superior function at 12 and 26 weeks.

The stretching group reported superior function at six, 12 and 26 weeks. At no point in the follow-up analysis was there a statistically meaningful difference between the stretching and yoga groups.

"The most straightforward interpretation of our findings would be that yoga's benefits on back function and symptoms were largely physical, due to the stretching and strengthening of muscles," Sherman said.

She also acknowledged that the stretching classes were longer and more intense than those typically offered at neighbourhood gyms, so the trial may have been inadvertently comparing two very similar exercise methods.

"Our results suggest that both yoga and stretching can be good, safe options for people who are willing to try physical activity to relieve their moderate low back pain," she said.

"But it's important for the classes to be therapeutically oriented, geared for beginners, and taught by instructors who can modify postures for participants' individual physical limitations."

A separate study released earlier this year suggested yoga can lower stress and improve quality of life among breast cancer patients.

Another research team found that regular yoga practice by cardiac patients was able to cut irregular heartbeat episodes in half.

- AFP/de

-----
Taken from ChannelNewsAsia.com; source article is below:
Yoga and stretching help lower back pain

US researchers study bed bugs' resistance

2011-11-27T19:11:00.001-08:00

Posted: 20 October 2011

WASHINGTON: US researchers have uncovered the genetic mechanism that bed bugs use to resist powerful insecticides, according to a study published Wednesday, leading to the hope of more effective ways to combat the pests.

Bed bugs, which have been largely absent from the United States since the 1950s, have returned in force in the last decade in the US, and notably other Western countries in Europe.

They have, in this time, developed unique resistance to the insecticides that are mainly used against them -- deltamethrin and beta-cyfluthrin, both leading pyrethroids.

The genetic research released Wednesday in the journal PLoS One, published by the Public Library, offers new hope to understand their resistance and find new ways to eradicate the blood-sucking bugs.

"Different bed bug populations within the US and throughout the world may differ in their levels of resistance and resistance strategies, so there is the need for continuous surveillance," said lead author Zach Adelman, associate professor of entomology at Virginia Tech.

Adelman and the other researchers in the study assessed two populations of bed bugs -- "a robust, resistant population" found in 2008, and a "non-resistant population" that has been raised in a lab since 1973.

The study determined how each strain succumbed to the pyrethroids, if at all, and determined that over a 24 hour period it required "5,200 times more deltamethrin or 111 times more beta-cyfulthrin" to kill the modern bed bugs compared to the older specimens.

The bed bug's bite is a little painful rather than dangerous, but many people are scared because the creature mainly attacks when people are asleep.

-AFP/pn

Taken from ChannelNewsAsia.com; source article is below:
US researchers study bed bugs' resistance

'Promising' step for world's first malaria vaccine

2011-11-27T18:57:00.001-08:00

A month later, and is the promising holding up?
-----

Posted: 19 October 2011

WASHINGTON: The search for the world's first malaria vaccine received a boost Tuesday with the release of early results from a major clinical trial showing it cut risk by about half in African children.

The vaccine known as RTS,S is made by the British pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline's lab in Belgium, and is the first of its kind to attempt to block a parasite, rather than bacteria or viruses.

Experts hailed the phase III trial under way at 11 sites in sub-Saharan Africa as a promising step toward eradicating the ancient mosquito-borne disease that kills almost 800,000 people yearly, most of them children.

The results are published online in the New England Journal of Medicine, and were simultaneously announced at the Malaria Forum hosted by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in Seattle, Washington.

In a statement, philanthropist and Microsoft tycoon Bill Gates described the findings as a "huge milestone" in the fight against malaria, that "has the potential to protect millions of children and save thousands of lives."

Children aged five to 17 months who received three doses of the vaccine saw a 56 per cent lower risk of developing clinical malaria, which causes high fever and chills, according to the study.

When it came to severe malaria -- the stage of the illness that can be fatal and reaches the blood, brain or kidneys -- those who received the vaccine showed a 47 per cent lower risk.

"This is remarkable when you consider that there has never been a successful vaccine against a human parasite," said Tsiri Agbenyega, who chairs the RTS,S Clinical Trials Partnership and heads malaria research at Komfo-Anokye Teaching Hospital in Kumasi, Ghana.

"While these results are encouraging, we still have a ways to go," he told reporters.

The analysis was done with data from 6,000 children in the trial over a 12-month follow up after vaccination.

More data is needed from the younger age group -- infants aged six to 12 weeks -- to better assess how well it works in this particularly vulnerable group, experts said. Additional results from the younger set are due next year.

The World Health Organization says malaria claimed 781,000 lives in 2009. About 90 per cent of malaria deaths each year occur in Africa and 92 per cent of those are children less than five years old.

Asked whether the Gates Foundation would get behind a vaccine with a success rate of only about half, Regina Rabinovich, director for infectious diseases at the foundation's global health program, was circumspect.

"This is a key question. The group will ultimately want to understand efficacy, duration and safety," she said, adding she was "enthusiastic" about the results so far and was awaiting further data.

More than 15,000 children in seven African countries are enrolled in the trial, which is set to continue for two more years, and covers areas with other interventions in place against malaria, such as bed nets and spraying.

RTS,S was created in 1987 in GlaxoSmithKline Biologicals' lab in Belgium. Testing began on healthy adults in Europe and the United States in 1992, before the first Africa study started in Gambia in 1998.

Trial sites are now located in Burkina Faso, Gabon, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique and Tanzania, including 15,460 infants and young children in what GSK described as "the largest malaria vaccine trial to date."

The vaccine works by triggering the immune system to defend the body against Plasmodium falciparum, the deadliest type of malaria parasite.

Side effects included fever and swelling at injection site, "what you would typically see in other childhood vaccinations," said Agbenyega.

Several questions remain, including how the long the vaccine may last and how much it will cost, said Seth Berkley, CEO of the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI Alliance).

Malaria "is a huge problem for the poorest of the poor, and there has been a search for vaccines for as long as I can remember," he told AFP. "So to have success, even if not perfect, is a really big deal."

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention hailed the findings as "a promising advance in development of a malaria vaccine for African children."

GlaxoSmithKline CEO Andrew Witty said the company had already invested US$300 million to develop the vaccine and aims to produce it at a low cost with no profit, though he said it was too early to set a price.

"We are hopeful that we will be able to bring this vaccine to children in Africa by 2015," Witty said.

- AFP/ck

Taken from ChannelNewsAsia.com; source article is below:
'Promising' step for world's first malaria vaccine

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