Category: Health Problems

The BMJ questions transparency of information surrounding safety of Pandemrix vaccine

An investigation published by The BMJ today raises fundamental questions about the transparency of information surrounding the safety of GlaxoSmithKline’s Pandemrix vaccine used in 2009-2010. Eight years after the 2009 H1N1 “swine flu” outbreak, new information is emerging of a striking difference in the number and frequency of adverse events reported for three GSK pandemic

Madagascar says plague outbreak ‘under control’

Madagascar’s seasonal outbreak of plague, which has so far killed two people, is “under control”, Health Minister Yoel Rantomalala said Thursday. “We have recorded from August 1 to September 17, 13 suspected cases of plague, three of which are confirmed and caused two deaths,” Rantomalala said. The first fatality was recorded in Fiadanana, north of

New way to target advanced breast cancers

A cytokine signature found in certain kinds of breast cancer cells can not only serve as a diagnostic tool for HER2-negative cancers but also offer an effective treatment target. A research team led by Karolina Palucka, M.D., Ph.D., a professor at The Jackson Laboratory (JAX), has collaborated with researchers at The Baylor Institute for Immunology

Ovary removal may increase risk of chronic kidney disease

Premenopausal women who have their ovaries surgically removed face an increased risk of developing chronic kidney disease, according to a Mayo Clinic study published on Wednesday, Sept. 19, in the Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology. “This is the first study that has shown an important link between estrogen deprivation in younger women

Cardiovascular-related deaths higher for US Hispanics who live in counties with higher Hispanic populations

Hispanics living in the U.S. face more cardiovascular-related death in counties heavily populated by Hispanics than those living in more diverse areas, according to new research in Journal of the American Heart Association, the Open Access Journal of the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association. A decade of national data showed that Hispanic ethnic density or

Incident contrast sensitivity common in middle-aged adults

(HealthDay)—The risk of incident contrast sensitivity (CS) impairment is increased with factors such as cadmium exposure and older age, according to a study published online Sept. 13 in JAMA Ophthalmology. Adam J. Paulsen, from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and colleagues examined the incidence of and factors associated with CS in a cohort of 1,983 participants

Why the brain struggles to get off the sofa

About 30% of adults and 80% of teenagers today do not meet the minimum levels of daily physical activity for staying healthy, as recommended by the World Health Organisation (WHO). Previous studies have already demonstrated that there is a gap between the intention to play sport and actually playing it among individuals with a leaning

Geographic disparities seen in distribution of dermatologists

(HealthDay)—There are substantial disparities in the geographic distribution of dermatologists that are worsening with time, according to a study published online Sept. 5 in JAMA Dermatology. Hao Feng, M.D., from New York University in New York City, and colleagues analyzed county-level data (1995 to 2013) from the Area Health Resources File to evaluate the longitudinal

Antibodies cut heart attack risk

Antibodies could protect against heart attacks, according to a study by researchers from Imperial College London. The researchers, funded by the British Heart Foundation, studied patients with high blood pressure, of whom 87 had developed coronary heart disease. They also studied a further 143 patients who had their heart arteries extensively studied using cutting edge

Making chemotherapy kinder for childhood leukaemia

Chemotherapy often gets a bad reputation – mainly down to the side effects it can cause. This bad reputation can be hard to shake off. And it often stops people hearing the vast improvements that have been made in how chemotherapy is used. I can remember first learning about chemotherapy in my undergraduate pharmacology degree.

Sig­nal­ing path­way fre­quently altered in can­cer con­trols nor­mal kid­ney de­vel­op­ment

The prevalence of kidney diseases is growing rapidly due to an aging population and an increased incidence of diseases like diabetes. Moreover, congenital anomalies of the kidney are among the most frequently occurring birth defects and play crucial causative roles in the development of renal diseases. Currently, the only treatments for these diseases are dialysis

Research reveals link between immunity, diabetes

When it comes to diet-induced obesity, your immune system is not always your friend. Adipose (fatty) tissue is infiltrated by white blood cells that have been linked to the development of inflammation, insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes. How this happens is complicated and under intense investigation by researchers around the world. Now, from a