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Dire health consequences for millions of people in Darfur, Sudan

The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned of dire health consequences for millions of people in Darfur, Sudan. A significant increase in disease and death is inevitable without a rapid increase in external help.

3 Jun 2004

Latest version of the Approved List of Biological Agents published

The Advisory Committee on Dangerous Pathogens (ACDP) today published the latest version of the Approved List of Biological Agents.('The Approved List').

3 Jun 2004

FDA investigates school lunch illness in Massachusetts

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Massachusetts Department of Public Health and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are actively investigating what may have caused four outbreaks of illnesses in children related to meals served at several schools in Massachusetts.

3 Jun 2004

Trial to beat cholesterol with soy and dairy combo

Researchers in the joint Adelaide Uni / UniSA Nutritional Physiology Research Group are looking for people to take part in a trial to see if combination low-fat dairy and soy foods will have an impact on reducing cholesterol and be more appealing to consumers.

3 Jun 2004

Lack of funding and staff in the UK hinders patient care

Doctors across the UK are leading innovative approaches to patient care but are blocked from developing their projects further by lack of funding and staff according to a new publication launched today (3 June) by the BMA.

3 Jun 2004

BMA to publish an A to Z of Doctors Making a Difference

The British Medical Association will today (Thursday 3 June 2004) publish an A to Z of Doctors Making a Difference. This UK-wide report illustrates how doctors are leading developments to increase patient care, improve access to services and enhance the patient experience.

3 Jun 2004

Exercise can help brain healing process

Exercise can stimulate injured neurons to regenerate their axons, which are the primary transmission lines of the nervous system, according to a study published June 1 in the print edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, and the last week of May in the early online edition.

2 Jun 2004

Drug to extend lives of colorectal cancer patients

A drug designed to cut off a tumor's blood supply, when paired with a chemotherapy combination, resulted in significant improvement in survival in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer, the first time in decades that survival times have been extended in patients with this devastating form of advanced cancer.

2 Jun 2004

Compulsive hoarding study could improve diagnosis and treatment of psychiatric disorders

A PET imaging study conducted at the UCLA Neuropsychiatric Institute indicates the neurobiology of America's estimated 1 million compulsive hoarders differs significantly from people with other obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) symptoms. The findings indicate that different medications could improve treatment success.

2 Jun 2004

Growing problem of obesity in women from developing countries

Increasing obesity threatens to undermine the health of women in nations previously not known for a growing percentage of overweight citizens, the researchers say. As the amount of available food grows in most countries, the condition is becoming a greater issue for poorer women than for richer ones.

2 Jun 2004

Chromium picolinate supplementation reduced carbohydrate cravings and atypical depression

Results of a new double-blind, placebo-controlled human clinical trial found that daily supplementation with chromium picolinate significantly reduced some key symptoms of atypical depression.

2 Jun 2004

Positive benefits of sun exposure

There is no getting around the fact that sunlight is hard on your skin. But what about the positive benefits of sun exposure? The June Harvard Health Letter discusses the good and the bad of the sun.

2 Jun 2004

Black box recording devices for ambulances

Technology similar to the "black box" recording devices on aircraft is making a marked difference in safety performance for the country's largest ambulance service provider. American Medical Response, Inc., using event recorders in its ambulance fleet to monitor the driving of its medical crews, is measuring substantial improvements in road safety.

2 Jun 2004

San Francisco judge has slammed the new Bush legislation on abortions as unconstitutional

US federal Judge Phyllis Hamilton has slammed the new Bush legislation on abortions as unconstitutional "This court concludes that the act is unconstitutional because it poses an undue burden on a woman's ability to choose a second trimester abortion; is unconstitutionally vague; and requires a health exception,".

2 Jun 2004

Harvard and government of Cyprus to launch health initiative

The Government of the Republic of Cyprus will establish an international research, education and training effort for the environment and public health in association with the Harvard School of Public Health.

2 Jun 2004

Avastin study shows significant improvement in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer

Genentech, Inc. and Roche have announced that the New England Journal of Medicine published the first Phase III study of an anti-angiogenesis cancer therapy, showing that the addition of Avastin™ (bevacizumab) to the IFL chemotherapy regimen (5-FU/Leucovorin/ CPT-11) significantly extended survival in patients with first-line (previously untreated) metastatic colorectal cancer.

2 Jun 2004

Spacecraft will relay humanity’s thoughts, feelings, hopes and dreams to earth's inhabitants in 50,000 years

Thousands of people are being asked to contribute messages for a journey into the future. ‘KEO’, designated ‘project of the century’ by UNESCO, will carry the messages into space, returning them to earth in 50 000 years.

2 Jun 2004

Tongue Display Unit allows blind people to see with their tongue

The Tongue Display Unit (TDU) can activate areas that are normally reserved for visual information and are unused when someone suffers from congenital blindness.

2 Jun 2004

Scientists reveal the crystal structure of the first described enzymatic RNA

Scientists in the department of molecular biophysics and biochemistry at Yale revealed the crystal structure of the first described enzymatic RNA - what it looks like and how it reacts - in the journal Nature.

2 Jun 2004

Anti-violence money directed at wrong end of the problem

Millions of dollars allocated to this Sunday’s (June 6) launch of the federal government’s National Elimination of Violence Against Women Campaign would have been better directed to programs with long term vision, aimed at prevention of the attitudes leading to violence.

2 Jun 2004