Key factors linked to lower death rates among patients with heart attacks

[Karen N. Peart] Reviewing heart attack cases during monthly meetings with emergency medical services and maintaining a positive working environment are two of the relatively inexpensive strategies that can reduce mortality rates among patients with heart attacks, Yale researchers report in a study published in the May issue of Annals of Internal Medicine. Read more >>

Why hay fever may be a good sign

[Helen Dodson] If you're one of the millions of people coughing, sneezing, sputtering, and cursing your body's hypersensitivity to ragweed, trees, and grass this spring, researchers at Yale have what could be considered positive news: Seasonal allergies may be a sign that your immune system is doing what nature intended it to do - protect you against environmental toxins that are far more harmful than pollen. The paper appears in Nature. Read more >>

Economic downturn has a negative impact on healthcare

As the public increasingly labours under the effects of the extended economic downturn, fresh concerns are being raised about the effect that non-compliance with medical treatments will have on the health of individuals and the ultimate cost to the public purse. Although treatment non-compliance has always posed challenges, the problem is exacerbated during difficult economic times. Read more >>

Gauteng ready to pilot NHI

The Gauteng provincial government has announced plans to kick-start its pilot projects for the National Health Insurance (NHI). Read more >>

Developing world lags food and nutrition targets

The developing world's progress is "seriously lagging" on global targets relating to food and nutrition, with child and maternal mortality rates still unacceptably high, according to the Global Monitoring Report (GMR) 2012. Read more >>

People fail to list persistent cough as a lung cancer warning

UK: An astounding lack of public awareness about lung cancer has been revealed in a Cancer Research UK study, published Monday, 30 April 2012. Read more >>

With random lasers, Yale researchers fight random noise, improve imaging

Using "random lasers" as a source of illumination in medical imaging equipment could improve both processing time and the clarity of the final images, according to new research by Yale University scientists. Read more >>

Digging up the healthy dirt on protein power

[Sally-Ann Creed] As a nutritional therapist, I am keenly aware of the serious scientific and biochemical problems of veganism and vegetarianism. Vegetarianism is not a "one-size-fits-all", and while vegetables are very good for you, what is primarily lacking in a vegetarian diet excluding animal flesh is one of the most important compounds needed for health and vitality - protein. Read more >>

US scientist claims to have found elusive G-spot

WASHINGTON, USA: A US gynecologist claims to have found the G-spot, a supposed pleasure center on the front interior wall of the vagina, but some critics say not so fast. Read more >>

Protein 'block' kills childhood cancer cells

An experimental drug that blocks an essential cell protein could be used to treat Wilms' tumour, a childhood cancer that affects the kidneys. Read more >>

GSK and Yale to partner on drug discovery development

[Bill Hathaway] GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and Yale University will partner to design a new class of molecules to target disease-causing proteins. This is the latest in a string of deals between Yale's academic researchers and global pharmaceutical companies. Read more >>

Which ads are winners? Your brain knows better than you do

[Stuart Wolpert] Advertisers and public health officials may be able to access hidden wisdom in the brain to more effectively sell their products and promote health and safety, UCLA neuroscientists report in the what is reputed to be the first study to use brain data to predict how large populations will respond to advertisements. Read more >>

Use land effectively to fight hunger, poverty says Zuma

President Jacob Zuma has encouraged communities to use land more effectively to fight hunger and poverty. He was speaking in Butterworth, in the Eastern Cape, where he handed over tractors and cattle to local community projects on Sunday. Read more >>