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People

Simple blood test could predict Alzheimer's risk

Researchers have developed a simple blood test that may be able to predict whether mild lapses of memory could be an early sign of Alzheimer's disease.

In a study published on Sunday in the journal Nature Medicine, an international team of researchers describe 18 cell-signaling, or communication, proteins found in blood that predicted with 90 percent accuracy whether a person would develop Alzheimer's disease.

People

Male infertility alert over hidden bacteria

Chlamydia, the sexually transmitted infection (STI) carried by one in ten sexually-active young British adults can make men infertile by damaging the quality of their sperm, new research has shown.

While the condition, which usually passes undetected, has long been known to threaten female fertility, scientists from Spain and Mexico have now established that it presents similar risks for men.


Red Flag

New FDA Research Center Rife With Risks

WASHINGTON - The Food and Drug Administration is moving with unprecedented speed to launch a drug research center to be paid for by companies it regulates.

Black Cat

Evil genes made me do it: Bioengineer examines genetic basis for malevolent behavior



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While there have been numerous medical studies investigating the physiological and biochemical basis for behavioral disorders such as antisocial personality disorder and borderline personality disorder, there have been virtually no comprehensive studies aimed at providing a physiological explanation of malignant narcissism - a term that characterizes individuals who exhibit malevolent behavior but are still able to function effectively in society.

Bomb

The Hidden Health Risk of Cell Phones

Research into the link between regular cell phone use and brain cancer reveals the risks rise significantly after 10 years.

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People

U.S. maternal death rate higher than Europe's

The United States has a sharply higher rate of women dying during or just after pregnancy than European countries, even some relatively poor countries such as Macedonia and Bosnia, according to the first estimates in five years on maternal deaths worldwide.

©REUTERS/Katarina Stoltz
A pregnant women waits for a doctor at a hospital in Warsaw March 14, 2007.

Syringe

Latest AIDS vaccine a miserable failure

The only clinical trial in the world investigating whether an HIV vaccine works in people at high risk for AIDS - including 40 in Rochester - has been halted early.

The Merck vaccine didn't prevent HIV infection or slow the disease in those who became infected, according to preliminary results of this latest international study.

Document

Bird Flu Returns To Vietnam

Bird flu returned to southern Vietnam this week after an absence of two months, and officials warned farmers of more outbreaks as the weather cools.

Tests performed at a laboratory for the Mekong delta region confirmed the H5N1 virus in the samples taken from ducks at the farm in Tra Cu district in Tra Vinh province, Tien Phong (Vanguard) newspaper said. At least five ducks were dead among 300 at the farm, officials said.

Info

Folic acid can cut blood arsenic levels: study

Folic acid, found in leafy vegetables, can cut drastically arsenic levels in the blood of people who have suffered long-term exposure to the poison in groundwater, a new study in Bangladesh has found.

Arsenic is a toxin naturally present in some soils and water. Chronic arsenic poisoning occurs after long-term exposure to such tainted drinking-water and it has been linked to skin, liver and bladder cancers, skin lesions and cardiovascular disease.

Magnify

Surgeon Scrutinized in Patient Deaths

MARION, Ill. - Bob Shank was in good spirits as he awaited gallstone-removal surgery at a veterans hospital in August, laughing as he handed his wife his false teeth for safekeeping.