China confirms latest human bird flu case
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China confirmed its eighth human infection from bird flu on Monday, the official Xinhua news agency said, revealing that a 6-year-old boy came down with the symptoms in December.
The boy, surnamed Ouyang and from Guiyang county in the central province of Hunan, is undergoing hospital treatment for the deadly H5N1 strain of the virus, Xinhua said in a brief report, citing the health ministry.
Surgery Can Ease Sleep Problems in Those with Brain Malformations
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People with a brain defect called Arnold-Chiari Malformation often develop sleep apnea, a disorder that causes breathing interruptions during sleep and can lead to daytime sleepiness. In Arnold-Chiari Malformation, abnormalities cause the cerebellum portion of the brain to protrude through the bottom of the skull against the spinal cord. This protrusion can cause compression on the brain stem, including the areas that control breathing.
A new study, published in the January 10, 2006, issue of Neurology, the scientific journal of the American Academy of Neurology, shows that surgery to remove the compression on the brain stem can also improve sleep apnea.
Motor Symptoms Associated with Increased Risk for Parkinson’s Disease
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Elderly people who complain of stiffness, loss of balance and tremors may be at increased risk for future Parkinson’s disease (PD), according to a study posted online today that will appear in the April 2006 print issue of Archives of Neurology, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.
PD develops over time as neurons in certain areas of the brain that control muscle movement slowly waste away, according to background information in the article. The degeneration occurs in areas that produce a neurotransmitter known as dopamine. Typical symptoms of PD-including severe tremors, rigidity and slow movements-begin when the brain loses more than half of its dopamine production ability.
Canadian woman offers her dead body for display
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A Toronto woman, not content with having merely a dusty demise, has become the first Canadian to donate her body for public display after she dies.
The 30-year-old mutual fund worker said the “Body Worlds” exhibition at the Ontario Science Centre, which displays real human bodies, would fulfill her desire to have a posthumous purpose.
Italy says ready to go it alone on bird flu
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Italy, concerned by the spread of bird flu in Turkey, may go it alone with preventive measures if the European Union does not move swiftly enough should the situation worsen, the health minister said.
Health Minister Francesco Storace said in an interview with newspaper La Repubblica published on Monday that he might also consider a ban on travel to high-risk areas, including Turkey where the authorities have reported the death of three children from the virus.
Worried Turks head to hospital for bird flu tests
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Turkey reported a spike in suspected bird flu cases among people across the country on Monday as fears grew that the deadly disease was sweeping westward towards mainland Europe.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) said victims appear to have contracted the virus directly from infected birds, allaying fears it was now passing dangerously from person to person.
Long-term Antabuse keeps most alcoholics abstinent
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Alcoholics may have a better chance of staying abstinent if long-term therapy includes drugs such as Antabuse, a new study shows.
Someone on one of these so-called alcohol deterrents will get sick with even a sip of alcohol, with a flushed face, rapid heartbeat, nausea, vomiting and anxiety. But the main power of these pills is their psychological effect, Dr. Hannelore Ehrenreich of the Max-Planck-Institute of Experimental Medicine in Gottingen, Germany, the study’s lead author, told Reuters Health.
Human-to-human spread not seen in Turkish bird flu
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There are no signs that the bird flu virus spreading in Turkey is being passed among humans, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Monday.
The WHO has confirmed four human bird flu cases in Turkey, including the deaths of two siblings last week from Dogubayazit in the poor eastern part of the country.
“At the moment there is no element in this village indicating human-to-human transmission. It’s typically similar to what we have seen so far (in Asia),” Guenael Rodier, heading the WHO’s mission to Turkey and a specialist on communicable diseases, told Reuters Television.
For Latinas, cancer treatment is a family affair
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Many Latin women with breast cancer rely on family members to decide on the type of treatment they should receive, according to new study findings, which may offer insight into the disparities observed in breast cancer treatment among minority groups.
“Family is the chief decision maker” in older Latina patients with breast cancer, study author Dr. Rose C. Maly, of the University of California at Los Angeles, told Reuters Health. She added that “it is a family affair and has to be addressed as such.”
Data establishes safety profile of new GlaxoSmithKline rotavirus vaccine candidate
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Data from one of the largest infant vaccine trials ever conducted, published in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM), showed GlaxoSmithKline’s (GSK) rotavirus vaccine candidate as effective against rotavirus disease (rotavirus gastroenteritis) in the first year of life. Rotavirus is the leading recognized cause of diarrhea-related illness and death among infants and young children.
Every year, rotavirus is associated with an estimated 25 million clinic visits, two million hospitalizations and more than 600,000 deaths worldwide among children younger than five years of age. In the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates the annual rotavirus disease burden among children younger than 5 years of age as 2.7 million illnesses, resulting in 410,000 clinic visits, up to 70,000 hospitalizations and 20 to 70 deaths. The vaccine is not approved for use in the United States, however, it has been introduced as the first vaccine available to control this highly infectious disease in several markets across the world.
Viral infections linked to cerebral palsy
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Exposure to certain viral infections around the time of birth is linked to cerebral palsy, Australian scientists said on Friday.
Findings by researchers at the University of Adelaide suggest that neurotropic infections—viral infections that target nerves, which include the herpes viruses, mumps and measles—could trigger brain damage and cerebral palsy, a group of disorders that impairs the control of movement.
Vitamin D during pregnancy affects kids’ bone mass
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The children of mothers who had low levels of vitamin D during their pregnancy have reduced bone mineral content during childhood, potentially increasing their risk of osteoporosis in later life, British investigators report.
Vitamin D is required for skeletal growth during infancy and childhood, the team notes, and recent findings raise concerns that low levels of vitamin D during pregnancy may have a deleterious effect.
Psychotropic drug prescriptions for teenagers has skyrocketed
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Psychotropic drug prescriptions for teenagers skyrocketed 250 percent between 1994 and 2001, rising particularly sharply after 1999, when the federal government allowed direct-to-consumer advertising and looser promotion of off-label use of prescription drugs, according to a new Brandeis University study in the journal Psychiatric Services.
This dramatic increase in adolescent visits to health care professionals which resulted in a prescription for a psychotropic drug occurred despite the fact that few psychotropic drugs, typically prescribed for ADHD, depression and other mood disorders, are approved for use in children under 18. The study is one of the first to focus on prescriptions to adolescents, rather than children in general.
New procedure offers hope to patients at high risk for recurrent stroke
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Surgeons at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center are the first in the New York City metropolitan area to successfully implant into the brain arteries a new stent specifically designed to treat high-risk stroke patients who have not previously responded to medical therapy.
The WingspanTM Stent System is used for those individuals diagnosed with intracranial atherosclerotic disease (ICAD)—excess plaque buildup in the brain arteries.
Liver cirrhosis in Britain worst in Europe
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Britain has had the steepest increase in death rates from liver cirrhosis in western Europe since the 1950s, according to a study in this week’s issue of The Lancet.
Rates of mortality due to liver cirrhosis can indicate the extent of alcohol harm occurring in a population. David Leon (London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, UK) and Jim McCambridge (King’s College London, UK) calculated the mortality rates for liver cirrhosis using data from the World Health Organization Mortality Database. They calculated rates for all ages and specific age groups in Scotland, England and Wales and compared these to rates in 12 other western European countries - Austria, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, and Denmark.
