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Victoria Beckham Named U.N. Goodwill Ambassador for HIV/AIDS

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It has emerged that Victoria Beckham has been appointed as U.N.'s Goodwill Ambassador. She would be dealing with Joint Program on HIV/AIDS. The 40-year-old former Spice Girls said that her "life-changing" trip to South Africa had made her aware of her "responsibilities" to raise awareness about the disease, and empower women on the whole, E! Online reported. The fashion designer wife of former footie ace David Beckham, who was introduced as a "wife, ...

Rights Must be Respected in Ebola Fight: UN Watchdog

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Countries must not trample over human rights during the battle against Ebola, the UN's top watchdog has cautioned. The 47-nation Human Rights Council -- whose members include Ebola-afflicted Sierra Leone -- said the loss of life in the epidemic was "horrifying" and lauded the "tireless efforts" of a host of players to try to defeat it. Ebola has infected nearly 6,300 people in West Africa and killed nearly half of them, according to the World Health ...

West Africa 'Overwhelmed' by Ebola Epidemic: Obama

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West Africa has been "overwhelmed" by the Ebola crisis, US President Barack Obama has said, adding that the world must never allow such a tragedy to happen again. A day after leading calls at the United Nations for a swift global effort to confront the disease, Obama issued a challenge to inventors to come up with new protective gear for health workers on the front lines. "Hospitals, clinics, treatment centers are overwhelmed, leaving people dying on ...

IMF: (Dollar) 130 Million Fast-Tracked for Ebola Fight in West Africa

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The fight against the Ebola epidemic intensified in the worst-hit countries in West Africa as the International Monetary Fund fast-tracked (Dollar) 130 million in aid on Friday. The IMF executive board strongly approved the financial assistance, "in an expedited decision," to help Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone respond to the rapidly spreading Ebola outbreak that has killed nearly 3,000 since December, it said in a statement. The financing, requested by the ...

Legionnaire's Disease Claims Lives of Eight People in Spain

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Officials have confirmed that an eighth person has died from the lung infection Legionnaire's disease in northeastern Spain. The latest death took place in the town of Sabadell, where another four people have died from an outbreak detected on September 5, the Catalonia regional health department said in a statement. The department reported earlier this week that three people had also died from the disease in Ripollet, about 10 kilometres (six miles) ...

More Efforts Needed to Battle Ebola, World Leaders Told

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Even as Sierra Leone quarantined one million people in a desperate bid to combat Ebola, world leaders were asked to pledge urgently needed aid to battle the disease in West Africa . US President Barack Obama warned that not enough was being done to tackle the crisis that has left close to 3,000 dead and is spreading at an alarming pace. "We are not moving fast enough. We are not doing enough," Obama told a meeting at the United Nations. "Right ...

Researcher Urges Countries to Work Together to Stop Organ Traffickers

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A concerted international effort is needed to confront organ trafficking, the author of new research into the subject has said. Dr Ana Manzano, of the School of Sociology and Social Policy at the University of Leeds, says a combination of factors means nobody knows definitively how many organs are being traded across the world. She said: "Unless these issues are addressed and countries work together to take firm action against the traffickers, more people ...

Heart Treatments in India - Heart Expert Discusses Challenges

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Treatments for heart problems have vastly improved in India. Experienced heart specialist doctors, hospitals with state of the art facilities for treatment and recuperation, have turned India into a favorable hub for advanced heart treatments for patients in India and abroad. Medindia heard Dr. Manokar Panchanatham, a prominent heart intervention specialist who is consultant cardiologist at KHM hospital, and teaches at Sri Ramachandra University and ...

UTSW Study: Many Patients Excluded from Clinical Trials Due to Prior Cancer

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An analysis by cancer researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center has found that lung cancer clinical trials exclude many patients due to a history of prior cancer. Among more than 50 lung cancer clinical trials examined, more than 80 percent excluded patients with prior cancer from participating, according to the study published in the iJournal of the National Cancer Institute/i. The exclusion criterion was even applied in more than two-thirds of trials in ...

Data-Sharing by Life-Science Investigators Improved Due to NIH Policies

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The goal of increasing the sharing of scientific resources among life science investigators is being met thanks to policies put into place by major funding agencies like the National Institutes of Health (NIH). As reported in the open-access journal emPLOS ONE/em, 65 percent of surveyed investigators at major U.S. research institutions believed that NIH policies instituted in recent years had markedly improved the sharing of scientific data. But the survey also ...

Access to Cancer Drugs Differ From Country To Country

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Two new studies at the ESMO 2014 Congress in Madrid show that access to potentially life-extending cancer drugs vary significantly from country to country. Researchers say the results demonstrate the need for better collaboration between doctors and health authorities on an international scale, to ensure patients have access to the best treatments. Coordinated action is needed at an international level to ensure new cancer-fighting drugs are approved ...

Women can Make Choices About Breast Reconstruction Using Decision Analysis

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New research suggests that decision analysis techniques can help surgeons and patients evaluate alternatives for breast reconstruction. The article appears in the October issue of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery (Regd) /i/a, the official medical journal of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS)/a. The special topic article by Mia K. Markey, PhD, and colleagues of The University of Texas at Austin and The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer ...

Mice Study: Genetic 'Instruction Set' for Antibodies Knocks Down Hepatitis C

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A study led by Princeton University researchers has revealed that a triple-punch of antibodies was able to prevent hepatitis C infection in laboratory mice. Instead of delivering the three antibodies directly, the researchers administered a genetic "instruction set" that, once in a cell, developed into antibodies that target the portions of the virus that do not mutate. Mice treated with the antibody genetic code resisted becoming infected with hepatitis ...

European Guidelines Recommend Fecal Microbiota Transplantation for Treatment of C. Difficile

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European treatment guidelines are recommending the transplantation of fecal microbiota from a healthy donor for the treatment of recurrent iClostridium difficile/i (IC. difficile/I) infection . Faecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) has emerged as a revolutionary, potentially life-saving treatment for this common, difficult-to-treat infection, and is showing promise in the management of other microbiota-related conditions.sup3,4/sup Presenting ...

New Genes That Play Key Role in Development of Severe Childhood Epilepsies Identified

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An international team of researchers, including scientists from VIB and Antwerp University has identified novel causes for severe childhood epilepsies in what is the largest collaborative study till date. The researchers analyzed the genetic information of 356 patients and their parents. In their analysis, the research teams looked for genes that had acquired new mutations in the children with severe epilepsies when compared to the DNA of the parents. In total, ...

Maintaining the Ends of Chromosomes for Cancer Cell Immortality

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Cells that are able to continuously divide need to maintain the ends of chromosomes, called telomeres. This feature is also a hallmark of human cancer. "Telomeres are much like the plastic cap on the ends of shoelaces -- they keep the ends of DNA from fraying," says Roger Greenberg, MD, PhD, associate professor of Cancer Biology in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. In a new study published this week in iCell/i, he and his colleagues ...

Dual Purpose of Cancer Drug in Regulating Expression of Genes Discovered

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New clues about a drug instrumental in treating a certain blood cancer have been discovered by Keck Medicine of USC scientists. This finding may provide important targets for researchers searching for cures. The team investigated whether demethylation of gene bodies induced by the drug 5-Aza-CdR (decitabine), which is used to treat pre-leukemia, could alter gene expression and possibly be a therapeutic target in cancer. "When we put the drug in cancer ...

Promising Therapies for Small Cell Lung Cancer Highlighted in Research

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A research team at University Hospitals (UH) Case Medical Center Seidman Cancer Center has recently published two studies that have the potential to advance treatments for small cell lung cell cancer (SCLC). This aggressive form of lung cancer has seen no treatment advances in 30 years and "is a disease in urgent need of new drug therapies," write the study's authors. "In small cell lung cancer, which impacts about 30-40,000 people each year in the ...

Patients With COPD can Improve Mental and Physical Health Via Coping Techniques

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Researchers at Duke Medicine report that quality of life in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease can be boosted by helping them manage stress, practice relaxation and participate in light exercise. In a study published online Sept. 25, 2014, in the journal iPsychosomatic Medicine/i, Duke researchers examined how telephone-based coaching could help patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD, a progressive disease that limits airflow ...

Future Stroke Risk Influenced by Genes Causing Pediatric Glaucoma

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Previous research has shown that about 50,000 people suffer from a stroke every year in Canada. It is caused either by the interruption of blood flow or uncontrolled bleeding in the brain. While many environmental risk factors exist, including high blood pressure and smoking, stroke risk is also frequently inherited. Unfortunately, remarkably little is known regarding stroke's genetic basis. A study from the University of Alberta, published in the ...

Research: Pneumonia Bacterium Leaves Tiny Lesions in the Heart

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Research in the School of Medicine at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio has provided more evidence on the long-observed association between pneumonia and heart failure. The researchers found proof that iStreptococcus pneumoniae,/i the leading cause of community-acquired pneumonia, actually physically damages the heart. The bacterium leaves tiny lesions that researchers detected in mouse, rhesus macaque and human autopsy tissue samples. ...

Developmental Delay Screening and Surveillance Improved by IU-Regenstrief CHICA System

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A computerized clinical decision support system is helping parents answer questions related to developmental milestones in their children, a new study from Indiana University School of Medicine and Regenstrief Institute researchers reveals. The system, which they developed to automate pediatric care guidelines, significantly increased the number of children screened for developmental delay at 9, 18 and 30 months of age, as recommended by the American Academy of ...

World Deaf Day 2014 Draws Attention to the Achievement of Hearing - Impaired

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Hearing-impaired people still face obstacles in many areas of life although things have improved a little over time, Opportunities for a gainful employment still remain one of the biggest challenges facing them. To make a difference to the lives of hearing-impaired people, World Federation of Deaf (WFD) observes 'World Deaf Day' or 'International Day of the Deaf' every year on the last Sunday in the month of September. The day falls on September 28 ...

Home Remedies To Prevent Premature Graying of Hair

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Premature graying of hair occurs in children ( 8yrs old), teenagers, and adults. Stress, malnutrition, heredity, damaging hair products, among others can cause premature graying of hair.

US President Barack Obama Says 'Not Enough' Done to Battle Ebola

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Barack Obama said that not enough was being done to tackle the deadly Ebola outbreak in West Africa and called for more international aid. "We are not moving fast enough. We are not doing enough," Obama told a meeting at the United Nations on the health crisis. "Right now, everybody has the best of intentions, but people are not putting the kinds of resources necessary to put a stop to this epidemic," he said. The meeting was called ...

Unexpected Clue to Peripheral Neuropathies Identified

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Disrupting the molecular function of a tumor suppressor causes improper formation of a protective insulating sheath on peripheral nerves, finds new research. This disruption leads to neuropathy and muscle wasting in mice similar to that in human diabetes and neurodegeneration. Scientists from Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center report their findings online Sept. 26 in iNature Communications/i. The study suggests that normal molecular function of ...

Link Between Perfectionism and Suicide Risk Identified

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Perfectionists are at a higher risk of suicide, say scientists. Researcher Gordon Flett from York University said that there is an urgent need for looking at perfectionism with a person-centred approach as an individual and societal risk factor, when formulating clinical guidelines for suicide risk assessment and intervention, as well as public health approaches to suicide prevention. The authors document how being exposed to relentless demands to ...