BODI

Mutating viruses helps produce antibodies

Scientists at the University of California reported that, a rapidly mutating gene in a virus that preys on bacteria may help lead to a new way to create artificial antibodies. This surprising mechanism may even be found in humans and other life, suggesting a new way of generating biological diversity.// Jeff Miller, author of this study, the viruses are a treasure trove of fascinating b...

Antibodies to fight HIV infection.

HIV is known to cause acute deficiency of immunity in man, a disease called AIDS.// Scientists are now convinced that a part of the body’s immunity system can and do fight back against the virus. The new research, which has come out in the journal Nature Medicine reveals, a small amount of body’s antibodies are successful in fighting and stalling the progress of HIV, although to a smal...

Monoclonal antibodies show promise in treatment of blood cancer

Immunologists at Duke University Medical Center have found that a new monoclonal antibody that targets immune system B cells could be a pioneering treatment for leukemias, autoimmune diseases and transplant rejection//. B cells are the main producers of antibodies, the body's defense mechanism against invading antigens. But the uncontrolled production of these B cells is responsible for...

AIDS Threat Aggravated Due To Sale of Blood by Drug Addicts in Cambodia

Drug users in Cambodia have adopted a new way of marketing their blood to hospitals to pay for their habits. Health experts warn that if this practice is not curbed in time, it would serve as a severe threat to the country's gains in fighting HIV/AIDS.// So far, there has been no report of spread of the deadly infection by blood transfusions. It is however predicted that if the in...

British medical education suffers shortage of bodies

London:Britain has long suffered from a shortage of medical professionals. But now the lack of dead bodies is affecting the training of new doctors. According to the Department of Health, two courses had been cancelled this year because of a lack of cadavers and // experts said more would be hit if the fall in body donations was not reversed. In the last five years, the num...

Heparin Antibodies May Put Patients At Risk

Patients developing antibodies to heparin, an anti-clotting drug, run the risk of either serious complications after undergoing a heart surgery, or death, according to a new research // . The Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center’s professor of anesthesiology Thomas Slaughter said that the study aimed at finding out if an independent risk is posed by the development of heparin antibodies...

Hybrid antibodies to protect from small pox infection

Researchers Robert H. Purcell, NIAID's Laboratory of Infectious Diseases, and Bernard Moss, NIAID's Laboratory of Viral Diseases have developed a hybrid antibody// which is found to prevent and treat small pox virus infection. Though Small pox virus as been eradicated world wide, there is an increased fear over the use of small pox virus as a bioterrorism tool to kill people. Small pox...

Fraudulent Foreign Doctors Practising In Cambodia

An Australian woman Gloria A. Christie, 50, also known as Doctor Gloria set up a popular medical clinic in Phnom Penh, Cambodia//. She is facing hefty fines and a potential jail sentence after being accused of falsely claiming to be a highly qualified medical expert. Her hospital mainly treats tourists. The Health Ministry's deputy director general for health, Chi Mean Hea, said that th...

UN Bodies Launch Action Plan To Check Pregnancy Related Death

The United Nations has launched a coordinated action plan to check the deteriorating sexual reproductive health of women across the globe.// The plan by UN agencies, WHO and UN Population Fund (UNFPA) comes in the wake of estimates that more than half a million women die during pregnancy and childbirth while 340 million contract sexually transmitted disease annually. "Ther...

Chinese PLA Names Bogus Army Medical Bodies Selling Fake Drugs

China's armed forces health department today published a list of 16 bogus military medical institutions advertising fake medicines as the government intensified efforts to crack down on drugs fraud.// "These bogus military institutions advertised fake drugs in newspapers, magazines and on websites, posing a serious threat to public health and to the image of the People's Liberation Ar...

Bird Flu In Eastern Cambodian Districts

An additional two districts in Cambodia have now been affected by bird flu killing thousands of ducks. Health officials suggested// that the outbreaks happened after a man smuggled infected ducks in from Vietnam. Ku Chanthan, a veterinary official in the province was quoted as telling Reuters that two people were admitted to the hospital on suspicion of having contracted the virus. Las...

Cambodia hit by two new bird flu outbreaks

Bird flu outbreaks have been detected in two more districts in Cambodia's eastern province Kampong Cham. According to officials, around 3000 ducks have died in the last week.// "We have discovered two more outbreaks of bird flu, but it has not infected the people yet," Kao Phal, the director of animal health at the agriculture ministry, told AFP on Friday. "The result of tes...

Survival of Mice With Human Breast Cancer Extended by Monoclonal Antibodies

According to a study done by Kate Rittenhouse-Olson, Ph.D., the monoclonal antibody developed by researchers at the University at Buffalo has been shown to extend// significantly the survival of mice with human breast-cancer tumors. The study also finds that the antibody inhibits the cancer's spread to the lungs in the animals by more than 50 percent. The results of this study were publ...

Scientists Develop Antibodies from Plant Seeds

Researchers from Ghent University of Belgium, on Tuesday claimed that they have successfully produced antibodies using plant seeds. // According to the reports, the Belgium scientists have used seeds of a plant called thale cress (also called mouse-ear cress) to produce antibodies against the Hepatitis A Virus. This new development could help scientists produce more drugs that are effec...

Antibodies in Mother Affect Heart of Fetus

A study conducted in 100 pregnant women with anti-Ro and anti-La antibodies revealed development of heart problems in fetus that could be treated in early stages//. There is an increased risk of fetal heart problems when mothers carry particular antibodies associated with rheumatic diseases, according to an abstract presented by Yale School of Medicine researchers at the Society for M...

Cosmetic Genital Surgery may Be Fuelling Womens Insecurity About Their Bodies

Cosmetic genital surgery may be fuelling womens insecurity about their body and their body parts, argue two senior doctors in this weeks BMJ. They believe that women should be warned about the risks of cosmetic genital surgery, and that alternative solutions to concerns about the appearance of their genitals should be developed. More and more women are said to be trou...

BMA Urges Against Merging Fertility and Transplantation Regulatory Bodies

Although the HFEA and the HTA have similarities, there are vast differences in the areas they cover. The complex and sensitive issues that surround reproduction and embryo research are very different from the equally complex and sensitive issues that relate to the retention and use of organs and tissues after death. The BMA is very concerned that the proposed new body will not be a...

Dengue Deaths Sweeping Cambodia Highlight Healthcare Failures

Saing Ratha lies semi-conscious, her thin body shaking with fever as her mother tries desperately to cool her by placing blocks of ice under her arms. Her 10-year-old bother Saing Sokun lies curled around a block of ice next to her in this spartan rural clinic. Both have been struck down by dengue fever that has killed almost as many children in the first six months o...

Bright Bodies Weight Program Lowers Diabetes Risk, BMI in Obese Kids

A new study has found that weight management program cuts diabetes risk and is more effective at decreasing weight, body fat, body mass index (BMI) in overweight children. A family-based weight management program developed by researchers at Yale School of Medicine was more successful at plummeting weight, body fat, BMI and insulin sensitivity than traditional clinic-based weight co...

Bird Flu Antibodies Found in Migrant Birds in Siberia

Scientists have discovered bird flu antibodies in migrant birds in five Siberian regions, a spokesman for a veterinary regulator said here Tuesday . "Out of over 4,000 samples taken in the area this year, samples from 50 wild birds were found to contain genetic material of the A-H5 virus and antibodies in their blood serum," he said. The spokesman said the presence of...

Dengue Deaths in Cambodia This Year Exceed 2006 Toll

Dengue fever deaths in Cambodia so far this year have eclipsed fatalities in 2006 as the country battles one of the worst outbreaks of the disease in a decade , medical officials said Thursday. Some 182 fatalities have been recorded for the first half of this year out of 14,986 cases, said Ngan Chantha, director of the health ministry's dengue program. Last year 152 deaths were repo...

Dinner Guest Recover Bodies in Freezer

A dinner party came to an abrupt end when a guest discovered bodies in the freezer. The bodies belonged to the host Didier Charrons wife Chantal, 46, and son Bryan 11. The female guest opened the freezer while helping to clear up after a dinner with a group of friends Tuesday at the man's home in the city of Verviers, 78 miles east of Brussels, and discovered the bodies....

Scientists Identify Antibodies That Block Human and Animal SARS Viruses

Scientists have for the first time identified human antibodies that can neutralise different strains of the virus responsible for the outbreaks of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). Working with collaborators from the United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID), scientists at the National Institutes of Health conducted in vitro experiments...