Pharmaceutical magazine Live Life launched

Free Radical Media has launched Live Life magazine, which is targeted at the high-end consumer and will cover health, medical and lifestyle matters in an easy-to-read format. The magazine is the brainchild of pharmacist Fanie Hendriksz. Read more >>

Ndebele: Road safety is a collective responsibility

According to News24, transport minister Sibusiso Ndebele said that road safety campaigns will succeed only when all road users change their behaviour. "Road crashes kill over 14 000 people every year in South Africa," Ndebele said at the launch of the I-Pledge road safety campaign in Sandton. The campaign, aimed at changing the behaviour of road users, was first introduced by Imperial Car Rental in July and targeted the company's employees. Read more >>

Preventing pancreatic cell death in type 1 diabetes

[Helen Dodson] Diabetes researchers at Yale University have developed a method to detect and measure the destruction of beta cells that occurs in the pancreas by measuring DNA expression in the blood. The destruction of beta cells leads, over time, to type 1 diabetes. Their finding could ultimately lead to a treatment that stops the progression of the disease. The paper appears in the Online Early Edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Read more >>

Nike opens Soweto training centre

Along a bustling stretch of Soweto's Chris Hani Road, you can't miss the rectangular wooden structure with four perfectly mowed soccer pitches. This is the Nike Football Training Centre. The state-of-the-art facility is a honing ground for aspiring young South African soccer players. Read more >>

Kraft Foods donation to aid famine victims

In response to calls for continued humanitarian assistance to ease the plight of millions in the drought-ravaged Horn of Africa, Kraft Foods is donating US$100 000 (Ksh10 million) to the Kenya Red Cross and Somali Red Crescent, which are coordinating relief efforts in the region. Read more >>

Improved health pricing model needed, say experts

[Evan Pickworth] Decision-making on annual health benefit and price changes in SA would be better served by a proper price index for medical scheme contributions, a new study has revealed. Read more >>

Major role for communities in climate change adaptation

Business Live reports that the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the South African government have stepped up efforts to ensure that the SA public understands global warming issues and the role that communities will play in the process of adaptation to climate change. Read more >>

Report indicates food industry under pressure

The Coface Group, a leader in credit insurance, has released its analysis on food industry companies, which process agricultural products (wheat, barley, rice, cocoa beans, sugar etc) and livestock for human consumption. Wines and spirits are not included within its scope. The analysis covers commodity prices upstream in the food industry, and wholesalers and retailers further downstream. Read more >>

PMBs here to stay, court rules

Legalbrief reports that the North Gauteng High Court has thrown out, on technical grounds, a bid to clarify what medical aid funds are required to pay for the treatment of a basic set of conditions, ranging from tuberculosis to malaria. Read more >>

SA can learn lessons from NHI in Africa

The government's proposed National Healthcare Insurance (NHI) scheme must be embraced, not just because all citizens have the right to quality healthcare, but because without implementing such a measure, SA will be left behind other major emerging African economies that have already begun introducing similar schemes. Read more >>

Wits scientists working to neutralise HIV

Professor Caroline Tiemessen is attempting to understand why some individuals - referred to as elite controllers - are able to be HIV infected, but successfully suppress virus replication to undetectable levels. This is according to a report published on allAfrica.com. Read more >>

Woodsmoke from cooking fires linked to pneumonia

Researchers at the University of Liverpool and the universities of California, Berkley and del Valle, Guatemala, have found that cases of severe pneumonia among young children are reduced by one-third in homes with smoke-reducing chimneys on cooking stoves. Read more >>

Scientists discover nucleoli damage could kill cancer cells

Damaging a cell's nucleolus could destroy cancer cells by increasing levels of the most important tumour prevention protein, p53, reveals research presented at the National Cancer Research Institute (NCRI) Cancer Conference in Liverpool, last week. Read more >>

Stem cell approach primes immune system to fight cancer

Stem cell techniques have been used in the lab as a new way of priming the body's own immune cells to attack cancer, in a proof-of-principle study by Oxford University scientists. Read more >>

New research links hayfever to poor academic performance

The impact of hayfever on school and in particular exam performance has long been a concern of allergy specialists the world over, and new research recently confirmed the serious implications for learners. Read more >>

Gene test helps tailored treatment for cancer patients

PARIS, FRANCE: Doctors on Wednesday, 9 November, said they had used a wide-ranging genetic test for mutations in cancer cells to help fine-tune treatment for patients with lung tumours. Read more >>

EEG scan helped contact patients in vegetative state

PARIS, FRANCE: Electro-encephalography (EEG) helped doctors realise that several patients diagnosed as being in a permanently vegetative state were in fact aware, according to a study published on Thursday, 10 November, in The Lancet. Read more >>

Autistic brains are heavier, with more neurons

WASHINGTON, USA: A post-mortem analysis of half a dozen autistic boys showed that their brains were heavier and contained many more neurons than counterparts without the disorder, US researchers said Tuesday. Read more >>

Woolworths' virtual store supports World Diabetes Day

Woolworths will once again mark the occasion of World Diabetes Day on 14 November 2011, with a month of activities to help raise awareness of this disease and the important role nutrition plays in helping to control it. As part of these activities, it is launching an online virtual store tour led by dietician, Maryke van Zyl, to help diabetics and their families learn more about making better food choices. Read more >>

Class of breast cancer drugs could treat other types of cancer

A class of drugs used to treat breast cancers which overproduce a protein called HER2 could also treat other types of cancer - particularly head and neck cancers, according to research presented at the National Cancer Research Institute (NCRI) Cancer Conference in Liverpool this week. Read more >>

Govt to launch child abuse council: Xingwana

Speaking at the National Children's Day celebrations last Saturday, Women, Children and People with Disabilities Minister, Lulu Xingwana announced that the Government is to launch a National Council that will focus on child abuse. Read more >>

EirGen Pharma, Equity Pharmaceuticals sign major partnership agreement

Irish company EirGen Pharma today, 9 November, announced a significant partnership agreement with South African pharmaceuticals company, Equity Pharmaceuticals, to develop and commercially supply five oncology products from its facility in Waterford, Ireland. EirGen is a speciality pharmaceutical company focusing on the development and supply of niche highly potent drugs typically used in cancer treatment. Read more >>

Recycle a polycarbonate baby bottle, save a life

The Cancer Association of South Africa (CANSA) is calling on all South Africans to join them in their BPA Baby Bottle Exchange & Recycling Project. The new law just passed by the government stops the importation, distribution and sale of polycarbonate baby bottles containing BPA with immediate effect, but this still leaves millions of BPA baby bottles in circulation used by mothers unaware of the health risks. Read more >>

US judge blocks graphic warnings on cigarettes

WASHINGTON, USA: A US judge on Monday blocked the government's attempt to place graphic warning labels on cigarette packs, saying big tobacco was likely to succeed in arguing it was a violation of free speech. Read more >>

Rape Crisis faces closure

The Rape Crisis Cape Town Trust might have to close some of its services due to a lack of funding, The New Age reports. Having been established in 1976, the non-profit organisation runs three centres in Cape Town, assisting more than 2500 rape survivors per year and is the oldest centre for rape counselling in the country. Read more >>