BBCTue, 06 Feb 2007 08:17 UTC
Early dementia could be detected with a simple eye test, similar to those used to test for high blood pressure and diabetes, US scientists believe.
The test, developed by a team led by Dr Lee Goldstein, of Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, uses a non-invasive laser to study the lens of the eye.
It checks for deposits of beta-amyloid - the protein found in the brains of those with Alzheimer's disease.
The procedure has worked in a trial in mice, a conference in Spain heard.
Shahreen Abedin
CNNTue, 06 Feb 2007 05:37 UTC
Imagine an entire day of seeing faces -- friends, co-workers, even family -- but not being able to retain those images in your mind. For 48-year-old Kiki Latimer, each time she sees someone is often like the first time. She has face blindness.
She first realized she had a problem in her 20s while working at a youth hostel. "One particular guest came back every week, and every time I didn't recognize him. He started to look at me like I was a fruitcake."
San Francisco - Your ability to reproduce - and the health of your child and even your child's children - hinges on an exquisitely timed series of chemical reactions controlled by infinitesimally tiny amounts of hormones.
You scramble those reactions at your peril, in other words, and last week hundreds of researchers gathered at the University of California, San Francisco, warned society may be doing exactly that with synthetic chemicals.
Dr. James R. Shannon, former director of the National institute of health declared, "the only safe vaccine is one that is never used."
BBCMon, 05 Feb 2007 13:23 UTC
HIV can dodge destruction by powerful antiretroviral drugs by hiding out in the testicles, scientists say.
The French work in the American Journal of Pathology suggests the gonads provide an ideal environment for the Aids virus to replicate itself.
Evidence shows even the best antiretrovirals find it difficult to penetrate the testes.
This may explain why HIV can still be found in the semen of men on drugs that successfully clear their blood of it.
The foot-and-mouth outbreak could have been started deliberately by someone who stole a test-tube of the virus from a laboratory in Britain.
The Sunday Express says a container of foot-and-mouth virus went missing from a secret Government lab at Porton Down in Wiltshire two months before the crisis began.
News articles on newscientist.com and mercola.com indicate that burning incense can expose people to dangerous levels of cancer-causing chemicals.
Both articles are based on a study that was published in a September, 2001 issue of the Bulletin of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology.
Tehran - After 7 long years of arduous work, Iranian scientists here on Saturday introduced a herbal medicine which cures Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS).
Judy Fortin
CNNSun, 04 Feb 2007 16:17 UTC
It's the time of year when people start complaining about the winter blues. Up to 18 million Americans suffer from a serious form of depression called Seasonal Affective Disorder or SAD. Dr. Norman Rosenthal, psychiatrist and author of "Winter Blues," spoke to CNN about the condition.
CNN: What is SAD?
Rosenthal: SAD is a condition that occurs year after year when the days become short and dark.
CNN: How does it differ from the winter blues?
Rosenthal: Winter blues differs from SAD just in that it is milder. In this condition people will have a reduced quality of life, they will have less sparkle, less fun, less productivity, but they won't be impaired to the degree that they can't work or their relationships suffer.
Comment: What about a deep depression as a result of everything that is going on in this world? What about a depression caused by psychopathic leaders, who unleash death and horror on this planet?
Scientists at Children's Hospital Oakland Research Institute (CHORI), the University of Iowa and Roche Molecular Systems are the first to identify a new gene variant that makes women more susceptible to developing heart disease. The affected gene is called Leukotriene C4 Synthase (LTC4S) and its variant could be identified through a genetic test at birth. The use of such a test would allow physicians to initiate preventative treatments to reduce or even eliminate the risk of heart disease in those women possessing the variant gene.
The study will be published in the February issue of the American Heart Association journal Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology and was conducted by CHORI Scientists David Iovannisci, Ph.D. and Edward Lammer, M.D. (*1). The study began in 1971 with 11,377 children in Muscatine, Iowa. During the study, researchers periodically evaluated the participants' risks of developing heart disease starting in their teens and into their 40's. Their weight, height, blood pressure, cholesterol and other health factors and risks were recorded between 1971 and 1996. The women and men in the study were selected because they live in the City of Muscatine, Iowa where residents rarely move, which is an ideal component to conduct a multi-year study.
Comment: What about a deep depression as a result of everything that is going on in this world? What about a depression caused by psychopathic leaders, who unleash death and horror on this planet?