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AIDS Public Awareness Campaign Expands Following Report Of Rapidly Progressive HIV

State Health Commissioner Antonia C. Novello, M.D., M.P.H., Dr.P.H., today announced the expansion of New York State's HIV/AIDS Public Awareness and Education campaign to help combat the potential spread of HIV and further protect New Yorkers from the virus that causes AIDS. Dr. Novello said, "In light of recent reports of a drug-resistant, rapidly progressive strain of HIV in New York Ci...

Use of amino acid supplement following a heart attack provides no benefit, may be harmful

Use of the amino acid supplement L-arginine following a heart attack does not improve certain cardiac functions and measurements and may be associated with an increased risk of death, according to a study in the January 4 issue of JAMA. L-arginine is a widely available dietary supplement and is publicized as having benefits for patients with hypertension, angina, heart failure and sexual d...

Cell death following blood 'reflow' injury tracked to natural toxin

Researchers at Johns Hopkins have discovered what they believe is the "smoking gun" responsible for most tissue and organ damage after a period of blood oxygen loss followed by a sudden restoration of blood oxygen flow. Working with mice, the Hopkins team found that the sudden oxygen bath triggered by restored blood flow causes cells to make a chemical so toxic it kills the cells. The wo...

High levels of blindness in southern Sudan following years of war

Surveys conducted in southern Sudan, after conflict there ended in 2004, found much higher levels of blindness than anticipated. The results, published in PLoS Medicine, have major implications for the provision of health services in the region. Sudan is the largest country in Africa and one of the poorest in the world. The southern region of the country is very remote and was devastated b...

PNAS study reveals why organs fail following massive trauma

Massive trauma, say from a sabertooth tiger attack, meant immediate death for the primitive human. Modern man is more likely to survive severe injury caused by a car crash, gunshot or fall thanks to high-tech emergency medicine. Unfortunately, the body does not know what to do when it survives an injury that would have been fatal until recently in human evolution. Nearly one third of the time, m...

Palau's coral reefs show differential habitat recovery following the 1998 bleaching event

Coral reef bleaching, believed to be one of the detrimental effects of climate change, may receive a welcomed "buffer" through effective local management, according to new research by a team of scientists recording the long-term recovery of coral reefs in Palau and elsewhere. "It appears that coral reefs are very resilient and can bounce back magnificently if subjected to good management p...

Genetic factors are linked to fever following smallpox vaccination

Immunization against infectious agents has been one of the greatest successes of modern me...