Late peak may have prevented severe flu season from becoming worse
The 2004-2005 flu season was at least as severe as the 2003-2004 season, but peaked later according to data from Solucient, a leading provider of healthcare information. This later peak may have prevented the most recent flu season from being even worse. A flu season's severity is reflected in hospital admissions for community-acquired pneumonia (CAP), one of the most common complications...Study reveals genomics of inflammation from severe injury
Could improve prediction of patient outcomes, lead to tailored treatmentsWhen it comes to inflammation, too much of a good thing can be deadly. In some severely injured patients, this normal healing process can develop into a lethal, whole-body response, including bloodstream infection (sepsis) and multiple organ failure. How and why inflammation turns from healing to harming is still mysterious,...Study shows pine bark naturally decreases severe chronic venous insufficiency
Recent findings published in the journal of Clinical and Applied Thrombosis/Hematosis show a significant symptom reduction of chronic venous insufficiency (CVI) in patients after supplementing with Pycnogenol® (pic-noj-en-all), an antioxidant plant extract from the bark of the French maritime pine tree. Over 35 years of research on Pycnogenol® demonstrate the antioxidant's ability to improve blo...New treatment for severe malaria
The most dangerous form of malaria is difficult to treat and claims two million lives a year. Now, researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden have developed a powerful new weapon against the disease. Severe anaemia, respiratory problems and encephalopathy are common and life-threatening consequences of serious malaria infection. The diseases are caused when the malaria bacteria P.falc...Low Cholesterol Linked to Severe Depression and Violent Behavior in Men
It is not high levels of cholesterol but low levels that are making news. Recent reports are indicating that Low levels of Cholesterol maybe linked to depression and violent behavior. A new study shows that men with relatively low cholesterol levels were up to seven times more likely to report symptoms of severe depression. Edward Suarez, PhD from Duke University Medical Center in Durham, N.C....More Severe Earthquakes May Hit Kashmir In Future
Roger Bilham a seismologist has revealed that more devastating earthquakes are likely to take place in the Kashmir region over a period of 50 years. // They will inflict far greater damage than the 8 October 2005 earthquake in Muzaffarabad in Pakistan. Roger Bilham who has been working in quake-affected areas of Pakistan for the past two months, said that a huge amount of energy was s...Severe stress weakens immunity
People undergoing oppressive stress have measurable anomalies in their immune system that make them more vulnerable to illness. It's widely believed that stress may impair health, although the underlying// mechanisms are not clear. Now researchers at Washington University in the US reveal that exposure to chronic stress has a specific effect on immunity. When an inflammatory response...Severe Acute respiratory Syndrome (SARS)
This respiratory diesease that can be fatal and threatens to become an epidemic. At present according to WHO 1485 cases have been identified worldwide with more than 50 reported deaths mostly in Asia. More dramatically the Italian doctor who discovered this illness recently succumbed to the disease in Thailand.// Dr.Carlo Urbani (46) a an expert on communicable diseases woking for WHO wa...WHO Travel Advice to prevent spread of "Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS)
WHO on 5th April reported a cumulative total of 2416 cases of SARS with 89 deaths from 18 countries. Recent deaths have occurred in Hong Kong SARS (3), Malaysia (1), and Singapore (1).New cases that were reported reported in Canada (5), Hong Kong SARS (39), Taiwan, China (2), Singapore (1), the United Kingdom (1), and the United States of America. The SARS outbreak in Hong Kong has d...