Improved survival rates for mitral valve heart surgery patients

[Karen N. Peart] Patients with mitral regurgitation, a type of valvular heart disease common in the elderly, are living longer after surgery, Yale School of Medicine researchers report in the journal Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes. Read more >>

Unite against child abuse, believe in zero

UNICEF is calling on all South Africans to unite behind the goal of zero violence against children. In the run up to Child Protection Week, which takes place from 28 May - 3 June 2012, UNICEF's newly launched 'Believe in Zero' campaign highlights the role that everyone - not only the authorities - has to play in the protection of children. Read more >>

Tricky NHI transplant

The five-year pilot phase of the National Health Insurance (NHI) may be limited to rural and peri-urban areas, but it has unnerved the predominantly urban private medical aid scheme industry. Read more >>

Don't lose sleep over weight, scientists say

PARIS, FRANCE: A lack of sleep could make you fat, scientists said on Thursday, 10 May 2012. Not getting enough shut-eye may inhibit a hormone which controls hunger satisfaction and boost an appetite-stimulating hormone, said a paper presented to the European Congress on Obesity in Lyon, France. Read more >>

Research yields new clues to how brain cancer cells migrate and invade

Johns Hopkins researchers have discovered that a protein that transports sodium, potassium and chloride may hold clues to how glioblastoma, the most common and deadliest type of brain cancer, moves and invades nearby healthy brain tissue. Read more >>

Evolution's gift may also be at the root of a form of autism

[Bill Hathaway] A recently evolved pattern of gene activity in the language and decision-making centers of the human brain is missing in a disorder associated with autism and learning disabilities, a new study by Yale University researchers shows. Read more >>

Deep brain stimulation may hold promise for mild Alzheimer's Disease

A study on a handful of people with suspected mild Alzheimer's disease (AD) suggests that a device that sends continuous electrical impulses to specific "memory" regions of the brain appears to increase neuronal activity. Results of the study using deep brain stimulation, a therapy already used in some patients with Parkinson's disease and depression, may offer hope for at least some with AD, an intractable disease with no cure. Read more >>

Research reveals link between red hair gene and rare birthmarks

New research, using data from Children of the 90s (ALSPAC) at the University of Bristol, has identified that the gene causing red hair (MC1R) is more common in children with Congenital Melanocytic Naevi (CMN), a rare form of birthmark. The research was carried out at Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) and the UCL Institute of Child Health. Read more >>

Food labelling legislation - not just about compliance

[Odette van der Haar] The requirements of the new 'food labelling' legislation, which became effective on 1 March 2012, presents an enormous opportunity for the advertising profession. Read more >>

US panel gives nod to new obesity drug

WASHINGTON, USA: A panel of experts on Thursday, 10 May 2012, urged US regulators to approve what could be the first new anti-obesity drug on the market in more than a decade - Lorcaserin, made by Arena Pharmaceuticals. Read more >>