Medical whistleblowers speak out
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) was "the single greatest obstacle to doing anything effective" about Vioxx, said FDA drug safety officer David Graham at an unprecedented roundtable of medical whistleblowers sponsored by the Public Library of Science (PLoS) and the Government Accountability Project. In comments that echoed his now infamous testimony to the US Senate Finance Commi...Bumblebees copy one another when contending with unfamiliar flowers
Researchers have reported findings that offer a surprising new twist to our understanding of how bumblebees, a vital floral pollinator, select the flowers from which they collect nectar. When faced with unfamiliar plants, foraging bees do not choose flowers entirely alone but instead copy the choices of other bees. The new findings suggest that bees adjust their behavior when dealing with flowers...FDA: 'Highly Unlikely' Green Tea Lowers Cancer Risk
The new surgical assistant at the University of North Carolina Hospitals arrived in February sporting three arms, a computerized brain and a glowing track record in helping to repair heart valves, remove cancerous prostates, bypass blocked coronary arteries and perform gastric bypass operations for morbid obesity. The new arrival is a robotic machine, the da Vinci Surgical System, manufact...Reducing antibiotic use lowers rates of drug-resistant bacteria
Fewer antibiotic prescriptions leads to fewer "superbugs." That's the take-home message behind a new study in the Oct. 15 issue of Clinical Infectious Diseases, now available online. The study found that reducing antibiotic use for pediatric respiratory tract infections resulted in lower rates of carriage of drug-resistant bacteria. Drug-resistant bacteria, commonly called "superbugs," ar...Recreating 'Flowers for Algernon' with a happy ending
In a surprise twist that recalls the film classic "Flowers for Algernon," but adds a happy ending, UCLA scientists used statins, a popular class of cholesterol drugs, to reverse the attention deficits linked to the leading genetic cause of learning disabilities. The Nov. 8 issue of Current Biology reports the findings, which were studied in mice bred to develop the disease, called neurofibromato...Brisk Walking lowers memory loss in women
According to a research presented during the American Academy of Neurology in Philadelphia, brisk walking may help women keep their brains young. Women who walk regularly are less likely to experience the memory loss and other cognitive declines in mental function that can come with aging.// In the study, they concluded that the least active women walked an average of about a half mile...B Vitamin protects and lowers toxicity of Arthritis Drug
Rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune disease that most often affects women in their 30s and 40s, especially women.The illness causes the immune system to attack the joints, which can cause pain, inflammation and joint destruction. Methotrexate is the standard drug used to treat the condition, but one third of the patients discontinue treatment early due to toxicity.//...Lecithin lowers cholesterol absorption in body
Nutrition researchers at Kansas State University have published the first evidence that the absorption of cholesterol is reduced by another compound in the egg, the lecithin.The research was done by Sund I. Koo, Yonghzhi Jiang and Sang K. Noh. A peer-reviewed research paper by the three researchers, “Egg phosphatidylcholine decreses the lymphatic absorption of cholesterol in rats,” as in...Salt reduction lowers blood pressure
According to a new study combining a diet rich in fruit and vegetables with decreased salt intake can lower blood pressure, even in those not suffering from hypertension. The DASH (Dietary Approached to Stop Hypertension) diet can lead to significant health benefits.// Previous research has shown it lowers blood pressure, low density lipoprotein (LDL) and levels of homocysteine, an amino...