Study of energy and health in Africa focuses spotlight on charcoal and forest management
...e (400,000 in sub-Saharan Africa) from respiratory diseases caused by the pollution from such fires, according to previous studies by the researchers. The current study, published in the April 1 issue of the journal Science, concludes that by 2030, smoke from wood fires used for cooking will cause about 10 m...Charcoal and forest management could reduce greenhouse gas levels & save lives in Africa
...e (400,000 in sub-Saharan Africa) from respiratory diseases caused by the pollution from such fires. The study finds that smoke from wood fires used for cooking will cause about 10 million premature deaths among women and children by 2030 in Africa and release about 7 billion tons of carbon in the form of gre...Study shows promise in identifying kidney failure
...rdiac surgery," he said. While many conditions and diseases can lead to kidney failure, it is more often the result of decreased blood flow to the kidneys from major surgery or injury, stroke, sepsis, dehydration, or adverse reactions to medications. The kidneys will stop working over a period of hours, days,...The trust game: Measuring social interaction
...nd. The technique holds promise for understanding diseases such as autism in which the ability to form models of the actions of other people is impaired. Or it might help in the understanding of maladies such as schizophrenia....HIV testing should be routine part of primary health care for sexually active
... says Timothy P. Flanigan, MD, chief of infectious diseases at The Miriam Hospital and a professor of medicine at Brown Medical School. The researchers recommend that routine testing be covered by private medical insurance and by Medicare and Medicaid. They also recommend changes in current counseling practi...... also needed to investigate if patients with those diseases show any clinically relevant changes in the pharmacokinetics of different statins at various doses. Finally, the author suggests a reexamination of the product labeling on statins, which currently calls for monitoring of liver biochemistries before a...Novel therapy tested in mice could chase away cat allergies
...research to prevent, diagnose and treat infectious diseases such as HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted infections, influenza, tuberculosis, malaria and illness from potential agents of bioterrorism. NIAID also supports research on transplantation and immune-related illnesses, including autoimmune disorde...Child care may affect entire community's risks of infection
... conditions such as ear infections to more serious diseases like sinusitis, pneumonia, and meningitis. A childhood vaccine released in 2000 has decreased rates of illness due to S. pneumoniae, also known as pneumococcus. Children are more likely to carry pneumococci than adults, and in a large group child car...Oral bacteria may predict pregnancy outcomes
...a and bacteria that are not related to periodontal diseases to better understand this potential important link...Findings from this study indicate that periodontal diseases in the pregnant mother significantly increase the risk of subsequent preterm birth or low birth weig...First mouse model for multiple system atrophy points to new treatment targets for brain diseases
...rative disorders once thought to be three separate diseases sheds new light on this little-studied brain disease, according to research from investigators at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. Virginia M.-Y. Lee, PhD, Director of Penn's Center for Neurodegenerative Disease Research, and colle...Risky surgery not always necessary to treat cervical disease
...utionary advancements in the treatment options for diseases associated with human papillomavirus (HPV) now inc...tment for HPV-related disease to date, other viral diseases are not treated in this way. More research is underway to review treatments and make further advanc...Opponents of needle-exchange programs should think about their message to drug users
... measure for reducing the incidence of blood-borne diseases and increasing access to treatment for drug users, Martin said. "In addition, they have persuasively documented that access to sterile needles neither encourages people to start injecting drugs nor increases drug use by those who are already users."...New studies suggest airborne SARS transmission is possible
...ng to Dr. Yu, "no other known routes of infectious diseases transmission could adequately explain the spread of the disease in the outbreak, and hence we feel that the evidence is quite strong." An editorial accompanying the Toronto study, by Tommy Tong, MBBS, of Princess Margaret Hospital in Hong Kong, empha...Sudan surveys show high rates of death and malnutrition among displaced population
...uses predominated in Kass and Kalma with diarrheal diseases responsible for many of those deaths affecting mainly young children under 5 and adults older than 50. "Violence was the major cause of death in Muhajiria (72 percent), with all but one of the 25 violent deaths in men." "The prevalence of acute mal...Chronic fatigue patients show lower response to placebos
...ecause the placebo effect seems to be strongest in diseases with highly subjective symptoms, some medical professionals believed it could be as high as 50 percent among CFS patients. The review, reported in the current issue of Psychosomatic Medicine, pooled data from 29 studies in which 1,016 people with CFS...Rural America vulnerable to bioterrorism and natural disaster threats
...ts such as ice storms and hurricanes, and emerging diseases like SARS that do not result from terrorist actions." Campbell continued: "This issue - the financing of preparations for potential bioterrorist attacks- has forced us to confront the inadequacy of our public health defenses in rural areas of this co...Alcohol relapse adversely affects 10-year liver transplant survival
... may account for the higher rate of these types of diseases and subsequent mortality in those who resumed alcohol consumption. In addition, although there was a lower incidence of acute rejection in patients who had alcohol relapse, it was not statistically significant and may be attributable to an inhibitory...Diagnostic test for range of blood disorders on the horizon
...andomised clinical trials make management of these diseases especially challenging. Tony Green (Cambridge Institute for Medical Research, UK) and colleagues analysed a candidate gene called JAK2 in 140 patients with myeloproliferative disorders from haematological clinics in the UK. They also took control DN...Public policy should address the social factors behind ill health
...s on addressing poverty and controlling infectious diseases must not ignore the social determinants. The circumstance in which people live and work are as important. As a response to this challenge WHO is launching an independent Commission on Social Determinants of Health, which will review evidence, raise d......It is important that we ensure that cardiovascular diseases in women are better understood and that the prevention of risk factors is actively promoted among female patients. This isn't 'women's lib' but rather a necessity for good medical practice". "The analysis of our Euro Heart Survey databases in light ...