World Daily News

Online therapy 'helps fight CFS'

2012-03-01T11:45:00.001+00:00

" Online therapy : Web-based treatment may be better at helping teenagers with chronic fatigue syndrome, according to a study by scientists.

Dutch researchers writing in The Lancet journal said 63% of those given psychotherapy online had reported making a recovery.

This is almost eight times better than those given standard care.

UK experts said the difference was "impressive", and showed that therapy given this way could be effective.

The reasons why people suffer chronic fatigue are not well understood, but in recent years it has been suggested that cognitive behavioural therapy - a form of psychotherapy - can have a positive effect in some cases.

However, even if this became an established therapy, the relatively small number of therapists available in some areas would be an obstacle to reaching everyone affected.

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The Dutch study, organised by the University Medical Centre in Utrecht, looked at the potential of Fitnet, a web-based psychotherapy programme.

Fitnet tries to replicate face-to-face cognitive behavioural therapy online, with a skilled therapist on hand to provide support via email.

A total of 135 adolescents with chronic fatigue were involved in the study - half were given standard treatment, normally individual or group psychotherapy and exercise therapy, while the remainder were enrolled into Fitnet.

After six months, 85% of the Fitnet group said they had no severe fatigue, compared with 27% in the standard treatment group.

Three-quarters of the Fitnet adolescents were attending school fully, compared with just 16% of those receiving standard treatment.

After a year, similar results were seen, even among those who swapped from standard to Fitnet at the six-month mark.

Fitnet was more intensive than standard treatment, with participants logging on to the software an average of 255 times, and emailing the therapists on average 90 times.

Professors Peter White, from Barts and the London School of Medicine, and Trudie Chalder, from King's College London, both psychologists, said that the Dutch researchers should be congratulated for carrying out the research.

"They have added to an increasing evidence base which shows that therapist-aided, internet-based cognitive behavioural therapy is an effective treatment for many similar disorders."

However, they said that the response to conventional psychotherapy seemed unusually poor, and that there was no guarantee that similar results would be achieved among adult patients."

in BBC

Antipsychotics death risk charted in dementia patients

2012-02-26T21:17:00.002+00:00

"Some antipsychotic medication may increase the risk of death in patients with dementia more than others, according to US research.

The drugs have a powerful sedative effect so are often used when dementia patients become aggressive or distressed.

A study, published on the BMJ website, argued that antipsychotics should not be used "in the absence of clear need".

Experts said better alternatives were needed to antipsychotics.

A study in 2009, suggested 180,000 people with dementia were taking antipsychotic medication in the UK and said the drugs resulted in 1,800 additional deaths.

Researchers at Harvard Medical School followed 75,445 people in nursing homes who had dementia and were prescribed antipsychotics.

The researchers said some drugs were associated with more than twice the risk of death than risperidone, another antipsychotic which was used as a benchmark to compare the other drugs.

The study concluded: "The data suggest that the risk of mortality with these drugs is generally increased with higher doses and seems to be highest for haloperidol and least for quetiapine."

However, the way the study was conducted meant it could not say definitively that certain drugs actually caused more deaths, merely that there was a link between the two.

The Department of Health said antipsychotic use was "resulting in as many as 1,800 unnecessary deaths per year. This is simply unacceptable." (...)"

in BBC

Cancer Drugs Approved by FDA

2012-02-22T11:55:00.002+00:00

" Cancer Drugs were approved by FDA: Federal regulators said Tuesday that they’ve approved new suppliers for two crucial cancer drugs, easing critical shortages — at least for the time being — that have left patients and parents frightened about missing life-saving treatments.

The news brings a light at the end of the tunnel for some patients, but not for thousands of others, given that there are currently 283 separate drugs in short supply or totally unavailable in this country.

On Tuesday, the Food and Drug Administration said it will temporarily allow importation of a replacement drug for Doxil, a drug for ovarian and other cancers that hasn’t been available for new patients for months.

The agency also has approved another supplier for a preservative-free version of methotrexate, a crucial drug for children with a type of leukemia called ALL and for high-dose treatment of bone cancer. The version with preservatives can be toxic or cause paralysis in children and other patients getting the drug either via injections into spinal cord fluid or at very high doses.

The FDA also has approved the release of a batch manufactured by Ben Venue Laboratories Inc., shortly before it closed several factories at its complex in Bedford, Ohio, due to serious quality problems. That closing is what turned the on-again, off-again methotrexate shortage that began in late 2008 into a crisis almost overnight, with fears that patients would begin missing treatments as soon as the end of this month.

“We have made real progress … We believe that (suppliers) will be able to meet the demands of patients in the U.S. market” for the two drugs indefinitely, FDA Dr. Commissioner Margaret A. Hamburg told The Associated Press in an exclusive interview. “It’s a huge relief for us.”

The FDA increasingly has been able to prevent drug shortages, mainly due to a sixfold increase in manufacturers voluntarily notifying the FDA when they anticipate shortages, Hamburg said.

Thanks to such notice, the agency prevented 195 drug shortages in 2011, mostly late in the year after President Obama issued an executive order giving FDA additional powers to address the shortages. Between that order on Oct. 31 and this week, the agency has prevented a total of 114 drug shortages.

Hamburg said that when FDA’s much-expanded drug shortages team is notified about impending shortages and contacts other manufacturers, those companies have been “very responsive” as FDA worked with them on finding ways to boost production.

In the latest case, the FDA said it has temporarily allowed importation of an alternative to Doxil called Lipodox, made by Sun Pharma Global FZE. The Indian drugmaker is already known to the agency, and its factory and the production line for Lipodox have been inspected.

The FDA also has given approval to APP Pharmaceuticals LLC to begin making a preservative-free version of methotrexate in addition to its current drug that includes preservatives. The company had made a preservative-free version years ago, but needed to update paperwork and meet other requirements, which the FDA expedited. It’s expected to start shipping the medication by the middle of March.

Another maker, Hospira Inc., expected today to start shipping about 31,000 vials of preservative-free methotrexate, more than enough to meet a month’s demand, to hundreds of hospitals and treatment centers.

Still, hundreds of other drugs remain in short supply, including many other cancer medicines. (...)"

in Time

H5N1 Study

2012-02-19T12:43:00.002+00:00

" H5N1 Study: Experts have delayed a decision on whether controversial research into the H5N1 bird flu virus should be released.

It had been looking at how the work could be released while guarding against its abuse by bioterrorists.

But talks at the World Health Organization in Geneva decided more discussions were needed to see if it could be possible to publish in full.

One of the two journals which want to publish has already agreed to wait for talks to be complete.

H5N1 Study about mutation fears

The controversy is centred on two research papers - one of which was submitted to Science, the other to another leading journal, Nature, last year.

They showed that the H5N1 virus could relatively easily mutate into a form that could spread rapidly among the human population.

The studies prompted the US National Security Advisory Board for Biotechnology (NSABB) to ask both journals last November to redact some sensitive parts of the research, which it believed could be used by terrorists to develop such a virus.

The request caused outcry among some scientists who believed that it was an infringement of academic freedom.

Some pointed out that the scientists had given presentations about their work at conferences and the details were already widely circulated, so redaction would have little purpose.

The scientists who carried out the research, and the journals concerned, have been considering the request and listening to suggestions as to how the research results could be redacted in the scientific journals, but distributed to bona fide researchers who urgently need the information.

The information is vital to develop a vaccine to any human form of bird flu, and it would enable surveillance teams to see if the bird flu virus was mutating into a form that could be transmissible to humans.

But such efforts have been put on hold for four months as governments, scientists and the journals decide what to do.

The Geneva meeting of 22 scientists and journal representatives agreed that publishing only parts of the research would not be helpful, because they would not give the full context of a complete paper.

It agreed to extend a temporary moratorium on research using lab-modified H5N1 viruses, but also recognised that research on naturally occurring virus "must continue".

Dr Keji Fukada, assistant director-general of health security and environment for the WHO, said: "Given the high death rate associated with this virus - 60% of all humans who have been infected have died - all participants at the meeting emphasised the high level of concern with this flu virus in the scientific community and the need to understand it better with additional research.

"The results of this new research have made it clear that H5N1 viruses have the potential to transmit more easily between people underscoring the critical importance for continued surveillance and research with this virus."

Dr Fukada added: "There is a preference from a public health perspective for full disclosure of the information in these two studies. However there are significant public concern surrounding this research that should first be addressed."

Experts will now look at what information is already in the public domain and how that relates to the contents of these research papers.

A further meeting is likely to happen in a couple of months' time.

Nature has said it is happy to wait - if there is a chance it will able to publish in full.

Science's editor Dr Bruce Alberts, had previously said it also wanted to publish full details of the work, unless progress was made on how to circulate details of the findings to scientists."

in BBC

Cold baths benefits

2012-02-15T11:27:00.001+00:00

"Cold baths benefits after exercise can soothe sore muscles but it is unclear whether this is safe, say experts.

Plunging into chilly water can provide a shock to the system and may even be harmful, researchers at the UK Cochrane Centre warn.

After looking at available trial evidence - 17 small studies involving 366 people - they say there is not enough evidence to back the technique.

There may well be other better ways to ease muscular aches, they suggest.

This might include a spot of light jogging or a dip in a warm bath, they say.

The idea of this cold baths benefits sometimes referred to as cryotherapy, is to reduce swelling and the associated stiffness and soreness that comes with working the muscles hard.

The trend started in elite level sport, but it is becoming increasingly popular amongst amateur athletes too.

“Start Quote

Comedian Eddie Izzard, who last year ran 43 marathons in 51 days to raise money for charity, said his daily ice baths were a necessary evil to stop his "legs inflating to twice the size of an elephant".

In the studies that the Cochrane team looked at, participants were asked to get into a bath or container of cold water after running, cycling or resistance training.

In most trials, participants spent between five and 24 minutes in water that was 10-15C, although in some cases much colder temperatures were used or participants were asked to get in and out of the water a number of times.

Lead researcher Dr Chris Bleakley, of the University of Ulster, Northern Ireland, said: "We found some evidence that immersing yourself in cold water after exercise can reduce muscle soreness, but only compared to resting or doing nothing."

But there were too few studies that compared cold baths with other interventions to say that it is the best strategy for sore limbs.

And safety concerns remain unanswered.

Dr Bleakley said: "It is important to consider that cold water immersion induces a degree of shock on the body.

"We need to be sure that people aren't doing anything harmful, especially if they are exposing themselves to very cold water for long periods."

Leonie Dawson, professional adviser to the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy, said: "This isn't advisable for everyone. If someone had an underlying heart condition then the shock could be damaging.

"And for anybody with Raynaud's - a problem of the circulation - it would have a devastating effect on them."

She said it would also be important to ensure that the water was clean for hygiene reasons: "Some rugby clubs have a wheelie bin filled with cold water that the players will use one after the other, even if they have open cuts and injuries from the playing field."

She said, generally, applying something cool on the skin to reduce pain and swelling was safe.

"It makes up part of the PRICE guidelines - Protect, Rest, Ice, Compression and Elevation - for managing soft tissue injury.

"But it is worth remembering that some of those gel ice packs you can get go down to temperatures of minus 20 and if you go to sleep with them on you can get a rather nasty ice burn." "

in BBC

Heart Disease Inherited

2012-02-12T11:59:00.002+00:00

"This Heart Disease is inherited since men can inherit heart disease from their father say scientists who have tracked the condition to the Y chromosome that dads pass to sons.
By studying the DNA of over 3,000 men they found a particular version of the sex chromosome increases the risk of coronary artery disease by 50%.

As many as one in five British men carry this version of Y.

And the risk of this heart disease inherited confers is in addition to other heart risk factors like cholesterol, The Lancet reports.

Experts already know that men develop heart disease a decade earlier than women, on average. By the age of 40, the lifetime risk of heart disease is one in two for men and one in three for women.

Lifestyle factors like smoking and blood pressure are important contributors. This latest work suggests the male Y chromosome can also play a role in coronary artery disease - a common form of heart disease that kills thousands each year in the UK.

Dr Maciej Tomaszewski, from the University of Leicester, and colleagues studied 3,233 biologically unrelated British men who were already enrolled in other medical studies investigating heart disease risk.

When they carried out genetic tests on the men they found that 90% possessed one of two common versions of Y chromosome - named haplogroup I and haplogroup R1b1b2.

And the risk of coronary artery disease among the men carrying the haplogroup I version was 50% higher than in other men.

The scientists say they now need to pinpoint precisely which genes on the Y chromosome are responsible.

But they believe they already know how they exert their effect - by upsetting a man's immune system.

Dr Maciej Tomaszewski, a clinical senior lecturer at the University's Department of Cardiovascular Sciences, said: "We are very excited about these findings as they put the Y chromosome on the map of genetic susceptibility to coronary artery disease.

"Doctors usually associated the Y chromosome with maleness and fertility but this shows it is also implicated in heart disease."

He said, ultimately, the discovery could lead to new ways to treat and prevent heart disease in men, as well as a genetic test to spot those greatest risk.

In the meantime, he said men should focus on risk factors that they already have the power to modify themselves, such as getting enough exercise and eating a healthy diet to keep their blood pressure and cholesterol down."

in BBC

NHS claims breast implants

2012-02-08T19:04:00.001+00:00

" NHS claims about breast implants about 1,000 private patients with them have contacted the NHS in England.

The figure was given by Professor Sir Bruce Keogh, NHS Medical Director, in evidence to the Commons Health Select Committee receive all NHS claims many more to come.

Last month the NHS in England said it would remove breast implants from private patients but would not replace them. So NHS claims started.

It is thought around 40,000 women in Britain have breast implants, the vast majority of surgery being for breast augmentation performed in the private sector.

Professor Keogh said 745 NHS patients with breast implants had so far been identified but this figure may rise. Most of this surgery was reconstructive following breast cancer. (...)"

in BBC

Birth Defects

2012-02-06T11:53:00.001+00:00

" Birth defects risks increases four-fold if the pregnant mother has diabetes, researchers say.

The study, published in the journal Diabetologia, analysed data from more than 400,000 pregnancies in the north-east of England.

The risk of birth defects such as congenital heart disease and spina bifida were increased.

National guidelines already recommend having good control over blood sugar levels before trying to conceive.

Both Type 1 diabetes, which tends to appear in childhood, and Type 2 diabetes, largely as a result of diet, lead to problems controlling the amount of sugar in the blood.

This is known to cause problems in pregnancy, such as birth defects and miscarriage, and the baby being overweight due to too much sugar.

There is concern that rising levels of diabetes, particularly Type 2, could make the issue worse.

Researchers at Newcastle University analysed data from 401,149 pregnancies between 1996 and 2008 - 1,677 women had diabetes.

The risk of birth defects went from 19 in every 1,000 births for women without pre-existing diabetes to 72 in every 1,000 births for women with diabetes.

Their report said that sugar levels in the run-up to conception were the "most important" risk factor which could be controlled.

The lead researcher, Dr Ruth Bell from Newcastle University, told the BBC: "Many of these anomalies happen in the first four to six weeks."

She said the number of pregnancies with poor sugar control were "more than we would like".

"It is a problem when the pregnancy is not intended or when people are not aware they need to talk to their doctors before pregnancy," she said.

Guidelines from the National Institute of Health and Clinical Excellence say women should reduce their blood sugar levels to below 6.1% before trying to have a baby. (...)"

in BBC

Birth Control recalled in US

2012-02-02T12:37:00.002+00:00

"Birth Control. Around one million packets of birth control tablets are being recalled in the US, as they might not prevent pregnancy.

The pharmaceutical company Pfizer said a "packaging error" meant the doses were not correct.

It said the tablets did not pose any health dangers, but there was a risk of "unintended pregnancy".

Pfizer is advising women affected to use non-hormonal forms of contraception immediately.

Fourteen lots of Lo/Ovral-28 tablets and 14 lots of Norgestrel and ethinyl estradiol tablets have been recalled. The lot numbers have been published on the company's website.

Throughout the month women would take 21 tablets containing active ingredients and seven which were inert.

The correct dose is essential for preventing pregnancy, however, the drug maker said: "The daily regimen for these oral contraceptives may be incorrect and could leave women without adequate contraception, and at risk for unintended pregnancy."

Women affected have been advised to tell their doctor and return the tablets to their pharmacy."

in BBC

Women Are Better Than Men at Parking, Study Finds

2012-01-31T13:22:00.000+00:00

"A U.K. study has shown that while men are more confident drivers and take less time to park into a perpendicular space, women end up with their cars closer to the center of the space and are better at parking overall.

Driving instructor Neil Beeson came up with the experiment, which examines how the different sexes perform using parking-lot surveillance. A team of researchers observed 2,500 drivers across 700 parking lots. The project is reportedly one of the most comprehensive studies ever that looks at gender differences in driving.

Researchers found that women were better at finding spaces, because men drove too quickly and missed free spots. Female drivers were also in more accurate positions before starting each maneuver and were more likely to reverse into the spaces, which is encouraged by instructors in the U.K. When using this parking method, women were more likely to cleanly execute reversing into a space than men. But men were more adept at driving forward into spaces, while fewer chose to reposition their cars after pulling into a space.

Based on scores for seven components, women averaged 13.4 points out of 20, compared to the men’s score of 12.3 points.

Beeson told the Telegraph that the findings might imply that women retain information better. “They results also appear to dispel the myth that men have better spatial awareness than women,” he said. NewsFeed assumes that if “asking for directions” was a scoring component, women would have scored even higher."

in Time

Breast implant boss face charges

2012-01-28T11:18:00.000+00:00

" Breast implant boss, Jean Claude Mas, the owner of a French breast implant maker that sparked a safety scare faces charges of "involuntary injury", his lawyer says.

He said Poly Implant Prothese (PIP) founder Jean-Claude Mas, 72, had been freed on bail of 100,000 euro ($130,000).

In 2010, France banned PIP implants made with the low-grade silicone, amid fears they could rupture and leak.

Up to 400,000 women in 65 countries are believed to have been given breast implant.

Mr Mas remained at his home in Six-Fours-les-Plages, in the South of France, while police searched it - as required by French law. He was later taken to the national police station in Marseilles.

His lawyer, Yves Haddad, told AFP news agency: "He is not well, he is tired and he is waiting for his doctor."

Mr Mas has been under investigation since he revealed in a police interview last year that PIP ordered employees to hide the unauthorised silicone when inspectors visited its factory.

It was thought that he would be investigated for manslaughter but although Mr Mas is still considered a suspect, his lawyer told Reuters news agency that "on the charge of involuntary homicide [manslaughter], the judge decided that for now there is no link".

A lawyer representing women who had been fitted with PIP implants said he welcomed the arrest of Mr Mas.

"This is a relief. It's come late, but at least it's happened," Philippe Courtois said.

"He's been placed in preventive detention. Let's see in the coming hours what his interrogation by the investigating magistrate brings. But what we're really hoping for is his formal investigation, under remand in custody, just to make sure that he doesn't leave French soil during the investigation."

Mr Mas told police in an interview last year that PIP had deceived European safety inspectors for 13 years.

But he has insisted they posed no threat to health and attacked the French authorities for offering to pay for their removal because it put women through a "surgery risk".

He also said he had "nothing" to say to women facing surgery for their removal and that victims had only filed complaints "to make money".

Excerpts from Mr Mas's interview have been re-examined by a French magistrate.

In France, 30,000 women have been advised to remove the implants and 2,700 have filed complaints against Mr Mas.

Women in 65 countries - mainly in Latin America and elsewhere in Europe - have received implants made by the company, which closed down in March 2010.

Health officials in Germany, the Czech Republic and Venezuela have advised women to have them removed.

But the medical advice in the UK, where 40,000 are affected, is that there is no need for all the implants to be removed, only those causing problems such as pain or tenderness.

In England, patients fitted with PIP implants by the NHS will have them replaced by the health service, while it will remove implants from private patients if their clinics refuse. The NHS in Wales said it would replace implants only when it was deemed medically necessary.

Women in Northern Ireland who received PIP implants for health reasons will have them replaced, but the NHS will only remove, not replace, those inserted for cosmetic reasons.

Scotland's Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon said concerned women who had them fitted privately would be offered advice and the option of removal if necessary. There are no records of PIP implants being used by the NHS.

On Thursday, two more private firms in the UK said they would remove PIP implants free of charge.

Transform, which has just over 4,000 UK patients with the implants, had originally said patients would have to pay for removal. It now says those who have had the implants fitted since 2001 can have free removal - but will have to pay around £2,500 for replacements.

Those who had replacements since 2006 may still be within their warranty period and would therefore get both removal and replacement for free.

The Hospital Group also announced it would offer free removal for patients who had PIP implants fitted between 2001 and 2009 - but would charge between £1,500 and £3,500 for replacements.

The international police agency Interpol has said Mr Mas is wanted in Costa Rica over a drunk driving charge.

It said the "red notice" over an alleged incident in June 2010 was "totally unconnected" to PIP."

in BBC

Breast implant boss arrested in France

2012-01-26T10:05:00.002+00:00

"Breast implant owner of a French maker at the centre of a safety scare has been arrested in southern France.

Poly Implant Prothese (PIP) founder Jean-Claude Mas, 72, was held at his home in Six-Fours-les-Plages, police sources told reporters.

In 2010, France banned PIP implants made with the low-grade industrial silicone, amid fears they could rupture and leak.

Up to 400,000 women in 65 countries are believed to have been given implants.

In France, 30,000 women were advised to remove the breast implant.

Mr Mas has been under investigation since he revealed in a police interview last year that PIP ordered employees to hide the unauthorised silicone when they visited its factory.

He told police in an interview last year that PIP had deceived European safety inspectors for 13 years.

But he has insisted they posed no threat to health and attacked the French authorities for offering to pay for their removal because it put women through a "surgery risk".

He also said he had "nothing" to say to women facing surgery for their removal and that victims had only filed complaints "to make money".

Excerpts from Mr Mas's interview have been re-examined by a French magistrate.

The BBC's Christian Fraser in Paris said he had been "quite arrogant" about what had happened and had not felt any remorse.

Around 2,700 women in France have filed complaints against Mr Mas.

Women in 65 countries - mainly in Latin America and elsewhere in Europe - have received implants made by the company, which closed down in March 2010.

The medical advice in the UK, where 40,000 are affected, is that there is no need for all the implants to be removed, only those causing problems such as pain or tenderness.

In England, the NHS will only replace them in exceptional circumstances and the NHS in Wales said it would only do so when it was deemed medically necessary.

Northern Ireland women who received PIP implants for health reasons will have them replaced, but the NHS will only remove, not replace, those inserted for cosmetic reasons.

The international police agency Interpol has said Mr Mas is wanted in Costa Rica over a drunk driving charge.

It said the "red notice" over an alleged incident in June 2010 was "totally unconnected" to PIP."

in BBC

First patients shown to improve with embryonic stem cells

2012-01-24T10:09:00.000+00:00

"Before treatment, the 51-year-old graphic artist was legally blind, unable to read a single letter on a standard eye chart. She has suffered from Stargardt's disease, the most common form of macular degeneration in young patients, since she was a teenager, and it was getting progressively worse.

A second patient, aged 78, suffered from dry macular degeneration -- the leading cause of blindness in the elderly -- and could not even see well enough to go shopping.

But after being treated with stem cells from a donated human embryo, both women have improved dramatically, researchers said on Monday. Stem cells are master cells that can differentiate into any of the 200 kinds of cells in the human body.

Their results are the first-ever report of the medical use of stem cells taken from human embryos, making them crucial barometers of whether the controversial technique will ever find widespread therapeutic uses.

In a paper published online in The Lancet on Monday, physicians at the University of California, Los Angeles, and scientists at biotechnology company Advanced Cell Technology report that the first two patients in the clinical trial suffered no adverse health effects from the treatment and seem to have benefited from it.

A week after having cells derived from a days-old embryo injected into her eye, the graphic artist could count fingers, and after one month she could read the top five letters on the eye chart. She can see more color and contrast, has started using her computer, and for the first time in years can read her watch and thread a needle. The macular degeneration patient recently went to the mall for the first time in years.

The safety findings, not any vision improvement, is what people should focus on, said Dusko Ilic, senior lecturer in stem cell science at Kings College London, who was not involved in the work.

"If everyone expects that the blind patients will see after being treated ... it will end up as disaster," he said.

Nevertheless, advocates for the blind are already hailing the results. "At last we are seeing fruits of human embryonic stem cell research entering clinical trials," said Peter Coffey, Director of the London Project to Cure Blindness.

Using human embryonic stem cells for research or treatment has incited controversy for ethical and medical reasons. Some opponents argue that because removing stem cells from days-old human embryos almost always destroys the embryo, the technique amounts to murder.

ACT is the only company currently testing human embryonic stem cells in study patients. Last November, stem-cell pioneer Geron announced that it was halting what had been the first-ever clinical trial of the cells-testing them in patients with spinal cord injuries - and leaving the field.

When Robert Lanza, chief scientific officer of ACT, approached ophthalmic surgeon Steven Schwartz of UCLA about leading the clinical trial, Schwartz asked for ethical advice from two of his patients: elderly nuns. They gave him the go-ahead, he said last year.

Even scientists who support stem cell research argue that they could be dangerous to use therapeutically. The very property that makes them so valuable in research - stem cells can morph into any of the kinds of cells in the human body - also makes them risky.

They can form teratomas, a type of tumor that arises when stem cells differentiate into a profusion of cell types. (...) "

in Reuters

Bioterror fears halt research on mutant bird flu

2012-01-22T12:13:00.000+00:00

"Scientists who created a potentially more deadly bird flu strain have temporarily stopped their research amid fears it could be used by terrorists.

In a letter published in Science and Nature, the teams call for an "international forum" to debate the risks and value of the studies.

US authorities last month asked the authors of the research to redact key details in forthcoming publications.

A government advisory panel suggested the data could be used by terrorists.

Biosecurity experts fear an altered, more contagious form of the virus could spark a pandemic deadlier than the 1918-19 Spanish flu outbreak that killed up to 40 million people.

The National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity (NSABB) recommended key details be omitted from publication of the research, which sparked international furore.

"I would have preferred if this hadn't caused so much controversy, but it has happened and we can't change that," Ron Fouchier, a researcher from Erasmus Medical Center in Rotterdam, told Science Insider.

While the H5N1 strain of bird flu is extremely deadly when caught by humans, its impact has so far been limited because it is not easily transmissible between humans.

But the latest joint research, by Erasmus University in the Netherlands and the University of Wisconsin-Madison in the US, altered the strain and found it was much more easily passed between ferrets.

Two scientific journals now want to publish the research - albeit in redacted form - and are trying to work out with the US government how to make the data accessible to "responsible scientists".

The World Health Organization said in a December statement that limiting access to the research would harm an agreement between its members.

The NSABB is made up of scientists and public health experts, 23 from outside the government, and 18 from within.

It cannot stop publication but makes recommendations to researchers.

The scientists' letter published on Friday argues that knowledge of more infectious strains before they mutate in nature is valuable for public health.

"More research is needed to determine how influenza viruses in nature become human pandemic threats," the statement says, "so that they can be contained before they acquire the ability to transmit from human to human, or so that appropriate countermeasures can be deployed if adaptation to humans occurs."

But some said the 60-day pause on research was not enough.

One critic of the studies, Richard Ebright, a biologist at Rutgers University, told Science Insider that the letter "includes flatly false statements" making assurances about the safety of H1N1 research labs.

Reports say that a meeting debating the research and steps forward could come during a World Health Organization meeting in February."

in BBC

California Town Wards Off Crime With Birdsong

2012-01-19T15:27:00.000+00:00

"How do you sweep crime from L.A.’s streets? With the lusty shrieks of a male songbird.

The mayor of Lancaster, Calif. swears that the sound of tweeting blackbirds, wrens and robins has deterred potential criminals in his town. “Everybody is now in a better mood, a better place,” R. Rex Parris told the Wall Street Journal. He says chirping noises along the city’s main drag have reduced crime in the area.

Is the bird-loving mayor a latter-day John Keats? Hardly. Gone is the nightingale – Lancaster’s improvement is owed to a loudspeaker. Or rather seventy loudspeakers, blasting birdsong blended with synth tones five hours every day for the past 10 months.

Minor misdeeds in the city dropped 15% last year, while serious crimes fell 6%. But not everyone believes it’s down to the winged warblers. “Just because somebody tries something and you see a drop in crime, it doesn’t mean it necessarily caused it,” says Laura Dugan, an associate professor of criminology at the University of Maryland.

But Mayor Parris is a believer. After first trying out a recording of birds from his backyard, he went to the land of the dawn chorus, commissioning a birdsong mashup from a London sound consultant, who says the sounds can ease the body’s response to stress.

This isn’t the first instance of auditory crime control. The London Underground broadcasts classical music in the hopes of soothing ne’er-do-wells. Because that worked so well in A Clockwork Orange."

in Time

Do Antiperspirants Cause Breast Cancer?

2012-01-17T15:14:00.000+00:00

"Maybe you remember the scary rumors that zipped around the Internet a few years ago claiming antiperspirants and deodorants could cause breast cancer. The claims had several things going for them — the fact that antiperspirants and deodorants are applied in the underarm area, close to the lymph nodes, where cancer cells like to congregate, and in the general vicinity of where most breast tumors develop. Then there were the concerns about parabens and aluminum, both ingredients in these products that are easily absorbed by the skin and which some studies had detected in breast tumors.

Doctors scrambled to help patients understand that the disparate facts did not necessarily coalesce into a coherent whole of cause and effect. Just because the parabens were found in breast tumors, for example, didn’t mean that they triggered the cancer.

The latest research on the matter, published in the Journal of Applied Toxicology, may help to alleviate concerns about underarm products further — or rekindle the worry. U.K. researchers have found that paraben traces are present in the tissue of almost all breast cancer patients, whether or not they use antiperspirants.

Among 160 breast-tissue samples from 40 English mastectomy patients, 99% of samples had traces of at least one paraben, and 60% had traces of five different parabens. Even patients who’d never used underarm products had paraben traces in their breast tissue. That’s not surprising, say the authors, since parabens are found in shampoos, make-up, moisturizers, pharmaceuticals and even some food products, where they are used as a preservative. (If you’re looking for them in your own home, they may be listed as methylparaben, ethylparaben, propylparaben, or butylparaben.)

The new study does not support the idea that parabens cause cancer, despite the incredibly high proportion of patient tissues that contain paraben traces. It’s possible that people without cancer might be equally exposed to the chemicals, so that the tissue levels are no higher among women with cancer than among those who are cancer-free. But the study didn’t include an analysis of breast tissue from women without cancer.

Still, people worry about these chemicals because, in the body, parabens act similar to the female sex hormone, estrogen. Lifelong exposure to estrogen has a reasonably well documented association with breast cancer risk. Some researchers have begun to wonder whether lifelong exposure to parabens might not have a similar effect — and there has been great interest in the last 10 years in testing for such a connection."

in Time

Donate to Cancer Charity: Dreams come true

2012-01-13T11:08:00.000+00:00

" Donate to Cancer Charity making dreams come true: A youngster battling cancer had his dream come true this week – to blow up a building, Fox affiliate WUPW in Ohio reports.

Maxwell Hinton, a 7-year-old from Fresno, Calif., didn’t think he’d have the chance to play with explosives at an elementary-school age. But in stepped the Make-A-Wish Foundation, and Hinton was soon initiating the demolition of a massive ConAgra grain silo in Erie County. The site was scheduled for an implosion as part of a redevelopment plan for the area and many people Donate to Cancer Charity.

Maxwell, who is currently cancer-free after undergoing treatment, told reporters he was a fan of the show Mythbusters. “They inspired me to blow a building up,” he told reporters. "

in Time

Stocks up

2012-01-10T10:51:00.000+00:00

"Stocks up. European stocks rose and the euro stayed under pressure on Tuesday as investors weighed the debt turmoil in the euro zone against an improved U.S. economic picture that looks set to deliver upbeat corporate results.

European shares gained from the start on Tuesday, led by mining stocks after forecast-beating results from U.S. aluminum producer Alcoa (AA.N) improved the outlook for commodities.

"A good start to the earnings season; it shows the demand outlook is not so bad and we could get more positive surprises," Mike Lenhoff, chief strategist and head of research at Brewin Dolphin Securities, said.

The key FTSEurofirst 300 .FTEU3 index was up 1.3 percent at 1,021.47 points, while the STOXX Europe 600 euro zone banking index .SX7P gained around 2.0 percent.

Nervous currency markets remained focused on the outlook for the euro zone economy, upcoming government debt sales and how the region's banks will raise much needed capital to repair their balance sheets.

The euro rose slightly to trade around $1.2792, holding firmly above the 16-month lows of $1.2666 hit on Monday, due mainly to traders buying back the currency to square their positions after recent heavy selling.

The Bank of France focused attention on the ailing euro zone economy by reporting growth had stalled at zero in the fourth quarter of 2011 in the region's second-biggest economy.

But separate data showed French industrial production rose 1.1 percent in November, bucking expectations for no growth as output from refineries rose from weak levels of a year ago during strikes.

"There's short-covering and a bit of risk appetite with positive equity markets overnight," said Niels Christensen, currency strategist at Nordea in Copenhagen.

"But we have the debt auctions, the ECB meeting on Thursday and it's still a weak and vulnerable euro..., with no sign of a quick solution to the debt problems in the euro zone," he said.

The worries about the health of the region's banks saw commercial lenders' overnight deposits held at the European Central Bank hit another record high of 482 billion euros.

The banks are awash with cash after taking an unprecedented 489 billion euros in the ECB's first-ever three-year liquidity operation late last month, but they are still uncertain about what to do with the money in the longer term.

French banks were also likely to be in the spotlight after an internal memo obtained by Reuters on Monday showed Societe Generale (SOGN.PA) is forecasting a sharp drop in investment bank revenue in 2012, weighed by higher funding costs and efforts to slash its balance sheet.

Earlier, data showed China's exports and imports grew at their slowest pace in more than two years in December. The figures fuelled expectations of more policy action from Beijing to support the world's second biggest economy, and most Asian markets gained on Tuesday.

Wall Street ended slightly higher on Monday in a light-volume session as investors stayed cautious ahead of the earnings season that kicked off with Alcoa.

Tuesday's focus in euro zone debt markets will mainly be on Austria's auction of 1.3 billion euros of 10-year bonds which should give an indication of how worried investors are about the country's exposure to neighboring Hungary, which is locked in a dispute with the IMF over international aid.

Bund futures were slightly lower in midmorning trade.

Elsewhere, British retailers finished 2011 with the best sales growth in months as hefty discounting lured in shoppers, while weak business a year earlier flattered the figures, the British Retail Consortium said on Tuesday.

It added that it expected another tough year."

Car donations

2012-01-07T11:16:00.004+00:00

"The number of car donations offered to Operation Lookout has increased, over the past year, from a couple per week to dozens every month.

In a recent email to Michael Irwin, President of Kars-R-Us (a Professional Fundraiser specializing in car and boat donation programs), Melody Gibson, Treasurer of Operation Lookout, had this to say:

"I want you to know the net income from KARS R US is literally saving Operation Lookout from extinction! Other sources of donations have crashed and burned - your program is getting it right. You have used a fresh approach and it is fruitful!"

Irwin, with over 15 years experience in car donations, pointed out that: "Car donations are a win-win situation for everyone. First, the donor gets to take a tax deduction. Second, the charity gets much needed funding. And third, that old car puts money back into the economy. Someone gets paid to answer the phones, someone gets paid to pickup the vehicle, someone gets paid to sell it at an auction, and advertising dollars are spent. In short, the money generated by that car donation not only gets used by the charity, it also puts a lot of people to work!"

One criticism of car donations has been that "not enough money goes back to the charities". The truth is that no tow truck drive could afford to transport the cars and trucks for free. And no auction can afford to process the paperwork for free. And, of course, no newspaper or radio station is going to run ads for free. So yes, it does cost money to run a car donation program. But is the glass half full or half empty?

Irwin says, "I think the fact that Kars-R-Us has sent checks to our charity clients for over $500,000 speaks for itself. Some charities would have to close their doors, or at least significantly cut back on their services if they did not have income from car donations."

in Yahoo

Financial help for single moms

2012-01-04T10:40:00.001+00:00

"It is not a easy job being a single mother. At every stage of life, financial help and preparation is essential. At this time as a single mother you have to consider your kids in your planning as well. Your job circumstances, everyday expenditure, medical expenses and the cost of education are few important things you need to keep in mind. You should always be ready and able to take on a second job to support your kids. Always be on the watch out for a better career and keep your resume refined up, in case you must pass it out.

SingleMomFinancialHelp.com is a Quality Resource created to Assist Single Mothers Financial Help.

The Single Mom Help Network is centered on 4 websites, which help with education, parenting, finance and career. Managing Finances can also be very difficult and that is why they have many useful articles and other resources for single moms to use onhttp://www.singlemomfinancialhelp.com/

Single Moms must know that there are many financial aid options available to them. There are many places where to get financial aid. The best aid for struggling mothers is grants for single mothers. These differ in the amount they offer according to the specifications but they can help many needy families substantially.

Many Single Moms are also looking towards buying a home for themselves. While this is great news, it can be quite a huge jump. Our websites also have many complied resources that make buying a house easy. There are many step by step articles that we have put-together to make then process easy for single moms.

There are other financial aid for parents available. There are many government and private agencies that provide many useful financial solutions for single moms. For single moms that are looking to go back to school and get their desired degree, there are also many scholarships that they are eligible for. All of this is covered on the websites alongside help with financial aid.

These websites all have very useful information and they are each connected with a forum in which single moms can talk to other single moms to get ideas and share their success!

This network of sites is also incorporated with Facebook and twitter so they can connect better and get their vision across to single moms. The Single Mom Help Network also has a forum in which people answer questions and other single moms can also ask and answer questions. This is meant to increase the community as a whole and establish a friendly environment on our online resources. The single Mom Help network is also on YouTube. Visit this channel to see lots of helpful videos for single moms. "

in PR

How to purchase your own health coverage

2012-01-02T11:18:00.000+00:00

"Buying private medical insurance international is no picnic, but group benefits aren't an option for everyone. Here's what you need to know to purchase for an individual health policy.

As companies cut expenses and more entrepreneurs strike out on their own, the individual health insurance market is growing.

"There's been a precipitous drop in the number of businesses offering coverage," says Sam Gibbs, the senior vice president of eHealthInsurance, an online insurance broker.

These days, the same people who traded company pension plans for self-managed 401(k)s are being asked to take on one more chore that used to be handled by human resources: shopping, selecting and purchasing health coverage. And it can be daunting.

Rob Snow put it off for more than a year. When he left a successful online company at age 39 to start Snow Portfolio Management in Bethesda, Md., he took advantage of COBRA, or the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act, which allowed him to remain on his old company's group plan as long as he paid the premiums. But that privilege extends only for 18 months. And he was nearing the end of it. (For more, see "Know your COBRA rights.")

So, one weekend, Snow sat down at his computer and searched for "health insurance" -- and got a million hits. "I probably spent an entire day scrolling through those," he says. "I got worn out. I probably didn't do anything for three weeks."

But Snow eventually went back to the computer and zeroed in on a few sites that allowed him to get quotes or compare policies.

His pick was a regular preferred provider organization, or PPO, plan with a high deductible that allowed the family to keep their doctors -- one of his wife's must-haves. "There's no way she was ever going to change pediatricians," he says. And the monthly premiums were $603, a savings of as much as $435 per month for their family of five.

"One of the reasons I probably saved as much as I did was that we're all, thankfully, pretty healthy," Snow says.

Not surprisingly, when you're buying health insurance, your health is a key factor.

"The healthy individual out there buying insurance does not have that much trouble," says Sandy Praeger, Kansas' insurance commissioner and the 2008 president of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners. But for people with health issues or pre-existing conditions, "it can be tough, if not impossible, to find coverage in the individual market."

Uninsured by choice? Are they nuts?

And then there's shopping for policies. For people who've never had to do it themselves, "there is the perception that you make a call or two and you've got it," says Jerry Flanagan, the health care policy director for Consumer Watchdog, an advocacy group. "You have to do a lot of research, know what you're getting and buy it before you cancel your (current) coverage.

"The individual market is a very difficult place for consumers to find affordable care with good coverage," Flanagan says.

Key insurance questions

If you're purchasing your own health coverage, there are three big issues:

Can you get coverage?

Can you afford the premiums?

Does it cover what you need covered? (...) "

in Bankrate

Alzheimer's: Diet can stop brain shrinking

2012-01-01T16:06:00.003+00:00

"A diet rich in vitamins, like magnesium supplements, and fish may protect the brain from ageing while junk food has the opposite effect, doctors say.

Elderly people with high blood levels of vitamins and omega 3 fatty acids had less brain shrinkage and better mental performance, a Neurology study found.

Trans fats found in fast foods were linked to lower scores in tests and more shrinkage typical of Alzheimer's.

A UK medical charity has called for more work into diet and dementia risk.

The best current advice is to eat a balanced diet with plenty of fruit and vegetables, not smoke, take regular exercise and keep blood pressure and cholesterol in check, said Alzheimer's Research UK.

The research looked at nutrients in blood, rather than relying on questionnaires to assess a person's diet.

US experts analysed blood samples from 104 healthy people with an average age of 87 who had few known risk factors for Alzheimer's.

They found those who had more vitamin B, C, D and E in their blood performed better in tests of memory and thinking skills. People with high levels of omega 3 fatty acids - found mainly in fish - also had high scores. The poorest scores were found in people who had more trans fats in their blood.

Trans fats are common in processed foods, including cakes, biscuits and fried foods.

The researchers, from Oregon Health and Science University, Portland; Portland VA Medical Center; and Oregon State University, Corvallis, then carried out brain scans on 42 of the participants.

They found individuals with high levels of vitamins and omega 3 in their blood were more likely to have a large brain volume; while those with high levels of trans fat had a smaller total brain volume.

Study author Gene Bowman of Oregon Health and Master of Science University said: "These results need to be confirmed, but obviously it is very exciting to think that people could potentially stop their brains from shrinking and keep them sharp by adjusting their diet." (...) "

in BBC

Powerful New Painkiller Has Addiction Experts Worried

2011-12-27T15:22:00.000+00:00

"Drug companies are working to develop a pure, more powerful version of the nation’s second most-abused medicine, which has addiction experts worried that it could spur a new wave of abuse.

The new pills contain the highly addictive painkiller hydrocodone, packing up to 10 times the amount of the drug as existing medications such as Vicodin. Four companies have begun patient testing, and one of them — Zogenix of San Diego — plans to apply early next year to begin marketing its product, Zohydro.

If approved, it would mark the first time patients could legally buy pure hydrocodone. Existing products combine the drug with nonaddictive painkillers such as acetaminophen.

Critics say they are especially worried about Zohydro, a timed-release drug meant for managing moderate to severe pain, because abusers could crush it to release an intense, immediate high.

“I have a big concern that this could be the next OxyContin,” said April Rovero, president of the National Coalition Against Prescription Drug Abuse. “We just don’t need this on the market.”

OxyContin, introduced in 1995 by Purdue Pharma of Stamford, Conn., was designed to manage pain with a formula that dribbled one dose of oxycodone over many hours.

Abusers quickly discovered they could defeat the timed-release feature by crushing the pills. Purdue Pharma changed the formula to make OxyContin more tamper-resistant, but addicts have moved onto generic oxycodone and other drugs that do not have a timed-release feature.

Oxycodone is now the most-abused medicine in the United States, with hydrocodone second, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration’s annual count of drug seizures sent to police drug labs for analysis.

The latest drug tests come as more pharmaceutical companies are getting into the $10 billion-a-year legal market for powerful — and addictive — opiate narcotics.

“It’s like the wild west,” said Peter Jackson, co-founder of Advocates for the Reform of Prescription Opioids. “The whole supply-side system is set up to perpetuate this massive unloading of opioid narcotics on the American public.”

The pharmaceutical firms say the new hydrocodone drugs give doctors another tool to try on patients in legitimate pain, part of a constant search for better painkillers to treat the aging U.S. population.

“Sometimes you circulate a patient between various opioids, and some may have a better effect than others,” said Karsten Lindhardt, chief executive of Denmark-based Egalet, which is testing its own pure hydrocodone product.

The companies say a pure hydrocodone pill would avoid liver problems linked to high doses of acetaminophen, an ingredient in products like Vicodin. They also say patients will be more closely supervised because, by law, they will have to return to their doctors each time they need more pills. Prescriptions for the weaker, hydrocodone-acetaminophen products now on the market can be refilled up to five times.

Zogenix has completed three rounds of patient testing, and last week it announced it had held a final meeting with Food and Drug Administration officials to talk about its upcoming drug application. It plans to file the application in early 2012 and have Zohydro on the market by early 2013. (...) "

in Time

Brain Scans Help Predict Alzheimer’s Disease Early

2011-12-24T15:34:00.000+00:00

"Alzheimer’s disease has always been difficult to diagnose — the only way to identify it definitively is by autopsying the brain after death — but scientists may now have an easier way to spot the degenerative brain disease long before that, even before symptoms appear, using brain scans.

People who go on to develop symptoms of memory loss and cognitive deficits are more likely to show shrinkage in certain areas of the brain early on, compared with those who don’t develop Alzheimer’s, and such changes can be seen in MRI scans of the brain, report Dr. Bradford Dickerson at the Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital and colleagues in the journal Neurology. The team worked with hundreds of brain scans of patients at various stages of Alzheimer’s disease, collected by the Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative database.

Dickerson’s team had previously identified nine regions of the cortex of the brain that seem to be most affected by the amyloid plaque deposits and disintegration of nerve networks that are the hallmark of Alzheimer’s disease. By studying people’s brain scans over time, they were able to see that these nine brain regions appear to be thinner in people who eventually go on to develop Alzheimer’s — but that it takes many years for this structural difference to show up as symptoms of memory loss or cognitive problems.

Using this brain-size signature as a yardstick, the researchers decided to confirm the correlation by testing the patients’ cognitive abilities three years after a baseline brain scan. Indeed, they found that 21% of participants, who had the thinnest Alzheimer’s-related brain regions but showed no signs of memory problems or other cognitive deficits at the start of the study did show signs of cognitive decline three years later, compared with none of the subjects who did not have the same brain thinning and 7% who showed moderately thinner brain areas.

The brain regions in question are responsible for functions such as higher-level cognition, memory and language, which are all affected by Alzheimer’s, so it makes sense that they would shrink in those developing the disease.

“We’ve known for years that there are certain areas that are affected by the amyloid plaques and tangles that damage the brain,” says Dickerson. “It’s not as if the whole brain is damaged at first; much of the brain is fine at the early stages. But if you just looked at the whole forest, you might miss the signature brain areas affected by the disease. So you have to zoom in and specifically focus on the areas that are affected in people with known dementia.”

The results are critical for helping doctors identify patients earlier in the course of the disease, and that’s important since many experts now believe that intervening at the beginning stages may offer patients the best chance for controlling the brain degeneration that causes symptoms. Many of the drugs that have failed to help patients in the advanced stages of Alzheimer’s, for example, may benefit those who are in the first weeks or months of the condition. (...) "

in Time

Sun 'stops chickenpox spreading'

2011-12-19T10:17:00.000+00:00

"The University of London team found chickenpox less common in regions with high UV levels, reports the journal Virology. Sunlight may inactivate viruses on the skin, making it harder to pass on. However, other experts say that other factors, including temperature, humidity, and even living conditions are equally likely to play a role.

The varicella-zoster virus is highly contagious, while it can be spread through the coughs and sneezes in the early stages of the infection, the main source is contact with the trademark rash of blisters and spots.

UV light has long been known to inactivate viruses, and Dr Phil Rice, from St George's, University of London, who led the research, believes that this holds the key why chickenpox is less common and less easily passed from person to person in tropical countries.

It could also help explain why chickenpox is more common in the colder seasons in temperate countries such as the UK - as people have less exposure to sunlight, he said.

He examined data from 25 earlier studies on varicella-zoster virus in a variety of countries around the world, and plotted these data against a range of climatic factors.

This showed an obvious link between UV levels and chickenpox virus prevalence.

Even initially confusing results could be explained - the peak incidence of chickenpox in India and Sri Lanka is during the hottest, driest and sunniest season.

However, Dr Rice found that, due to atmospheric pollution, UV rays were actually much lower during this season compared with the rainier seasons.

He said: "No-one had considered UV as a factor before, but when I looked at the epidemiological studies they showed a good correlation between global latitude and the presence of the virus."

Professor Judy Breuer from University College London said that while UV could well be contributing to the differences in the prevalence of chickenpox between tropical and temperate regions, there were other factors which needed to be considered.

She said: "Lots of things aside from UV could affect it - heat, humidity and social factors such as overcrowding.

"It's quite possible that UV is having an effect, but we don't have any firm evidence showing the extent this is happening." (...)"

in BBC

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“Start Quote

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Birth Defects

Birth Control recalled in US

Women Are Better Than Men at Parking, Study Finds

Breast implant boss face charges

Breast implant boss arrested in France

First patients shown to improve with embryonic stem cells

Bioterror fears halt research on mutant bird flu

California Town Wards Off Crime With Birdsong

Do Antiperspirants Cause Breast Cancer?

Donate to Cancer Charity: Dreams come true

Stocks up

Car donations

Financial help for single moms

SingleMomFinancialHelp.com is a Quality Resource created to Assist Single Mothers Financial Help.

How to purchase your own health coverage

Key insurance questions

in Bankrate

Alzheimer's: Diet can stop brain shrinking

Powerful New Painkiller Has Addiction Experts Worried

Brain Scans Help Predict Alzheimer’s Disease Early

Sun 'stops chickenpox spreading'