Health News

Wine Intolerance May Result In Allergy-Like Symptoms

Date: Jul-09-2012
According to German researchers, approximately 7% of people have an intolerance to wine. The study, published in Deutsches �rzteblatt International, was conducted in order to assess the prevalence of wine intolerance among adults. In 2010, the researchers, led by Peter Wigand, randomly selected 4,000 people aged 20 to 70 to fill out a survey about their alcohol intake and whether they suffered any allergy-like symptoms after consuming wine. Of the 948 people who completed the survey, the team found that 8.9% of women reported wine intolerance versus 5.2% of men...

New Guideline Provides Evidence-Based Recommendations On Use Of Sentinel Lymph Node Biopsy For Melanoma Staging In The United States

Date: Jul-09-2012
The American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) and the Society for Surgical Oncology (SSO) have issued their first evidence-based clinical practice guideline on the use of sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) to stage patients with newly diagnosed melanoma. Although SLNB has proven to be an important tool for determining prognosis and selecting treatment for many patients with melanoma, recent studies suggest that the procedure is inconsistently used...

Childhood Obesity Challenge Launched By American Journal Of Preventative Medicine

Date: Jul-09-2012
The Childhood Obesity Challenge is a competition open to individuals or teams from any sector that has been launched by the American Journal of Preventive Medicine (AJPM) and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The Challenge aims to promote creative and innovative solutions to childhood obesity outside the box of scientifically published research. Participants are asked to submit a brief proposal with a description of their entry. Supplementary videos, images, apps or other media related to the entry will be accepted...

Global AIDS Response Undermined By Punitive Laws And Human Rights Abuses

Date: Jul-09-2012
Enormous resources aimed at fighting HIV/AIDS are going to waste, or not being used properly because of punitive laws and human rights abuses, resulting in a "stifled" global AIDS response and tragic loss of human life, says a new report issued by the Global Commission on HIV and the Law. The authors are calling for laws to be put in place which save lives, money, and put an end to the epidemic, and protect human rights. The Global Commission on HIV and the Law consists of HIV, legal, and human rights experts, as well as a number of former heads of state...

Do Fertility Drugs Alter Risk For Cancer? Researchers Say Yes

Date: Jul-09-2012
According to a study published in the July 6 edition of the Journal of The National Cancer Institute, the risk of breast cancer in women who failed to conceive at least a 10-week pregnancy and were using fertility drugs was statistically considerably lower than in those who did not use fertility drugs. Although the risk for those on fertility drugs who did conceive a 10-plus week pregnancy was higher than that of unsuccessfully treated women. Fertility drugs stimulate ovulation in women by temporarily raising their estrogen levels...

Gene Discovered By Scientists Linked To Facial Abnormalities

Date: Jul-09-2012
Researchers have discovered a gene called PHF21A, whose mutation results in malformed faces and skulls, as well as mental retardation. The finding was published in The American Journal of Human Genetics and was conducted by Dr. Hyung-Goo Kim, molecular geneticist at the Medical College of Georgia at Georgia Health Sciences University and his team. The researchers discovered the PHG21A mutated gene in patients with Potocki-Shaffer syndrome, a rare disorder that can result in significant abnormalities, like a small head and chin as well as intellectual disability...

HPV Vaccine Reduces Spread Even In Unvaccinated

Date: Jul-09-2012
The Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center published a study in Pediatrics today showing that non immunized teens were showing a lower infection rate of the human papillomavirus. Usually, in large populations, vaccination tends to reduce the spread of a disease even in those without the vaccine. It is thought to be the first study to definitively show a decrease in HPV in a community setting, whilst at the same time demonstrating the 'Herd Protection' that occurs when a critical mass of people are immunized against a contagious disease...

Improving Efforts In The Fight Against HIV

Date: Jul-09-2012
A Johns Hopkins expert in drug treatments for HIV and AIDS has taken the lead in an international effort to drastically change the manufacturing and prescribing of widely used combination therapies during the last 10-years to ensure that 8 of the 34 million infected people worldwide can keep their disease under control. The report is published in the journal The Lancet Infectious Diseases. Charles Flexner, M.D...

Babies With Pet Dogs Or Cats Have Fewer Respiratory Tract Infections

Date: Jul-09-2012
Babies who are in close contact with dogs or cats during their first twelve months of life were found to enjoy better health and were less likely to suffer from respiratory infections, compared to those without any pets in the house or no close contact with these animals, researchers from the Kuopio University Hospital, Kuopio, Finland, reported in the journal Pediatrics. The team had set out to determine what effect contact with dogs and cats might have on respiratory symptoms among children during their first year of life...

Uncircumcised Boys At Higher Risk Of Urinary Tract Infections

Date: Jul-09-2012
Uncircumcised boys are at higher risk of urinary tract infection, regardless of whether the urethra is visible, found a new study published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal). Urinary tract infections are one of the most common serious bacterial infections in children and, if not treated, can cause an infection of the blood or scar the kidneys. To determine whether the risk for infection is higher in boys with a visible urethral meatus, researchers looked at a cross-section of 393 boys who visited an emergency department with symptoms of a possible urinary tract infection...