Camera in a pill finds early signs of esophageal cancer

Camera in a pill offers cheaper device that could find warning signs of esophageal cancer, the fastest growing cancer in the United States. – What if swallowing a pill with a camera could detect the earliest signs of cancer? The tiny camera is designed to take high-quality, color pictures in confined spaces. Such a device could find warning signs of esophageal cancer, the fastest growing cancer in the United States.

Manuka honey with natural antibacterial methylglyoxal

Manuka honey with natural antibacterial methylglyoxal

Manuka Health New Zealand Ltd announced the launch of the first manuka honey products certified to contain levels of the antibacterial ingredient. – The natural compound methylglyoxal is responsible for Manuka Health New Zealand’s manuka honey’s unique health-giving properties, revealed in a publication by a German university scientist, reported the company.

Pancreatic stem cells may cure diabetes

An international team of scientists has isolated pancreatic stem cells in adult mice, a breakthrough that could lead to treatment for juvenile or Type 1 diabetes. – Just as many scientists had given up the search, researchers have discovered that the pancreas does indeed harbor stem cells with the capacity to generate new insulin-producing beta cells. If the finding made in adult mice holds for humans, the newfound progenitor cells will represent “an obvious target for therapeutic regeneration of beta cells in diabetes,” the researchers report in the Jan. 25 issue of Cell, a publication of Cell Press.

1000 Genomes Project to support disease studies

One thousand people are to have their genomes mapped in a major effort to understand how genes influence disease. – An international research consortium announced the 1000 Genomes Project, an ambitious effort that will involve sequencing the genomes of at least a thousand people from around the world to create the most detailed and medically useful picture to date of human genetic variation.

Heart and stroke death rates steadily decline in US

American Heart Association goals to reduce deaths from heart disease and stroke by 2010 have been virtually met. – In an appropriate prelude to American Heart Month, which is just ahead in February, new mortality data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shows that, since 1999, coronary heart disease and stroke age-adjusted death rates are down by 25.8 percent and 24.4 percent, respectively.

Gene therapy promising for chronic pain relief

Researchers in the Department of Medicine and Department of Neurosciences at Mount Sinai School of Medicine have discovered that chronic pain can be successfully treated with novel targeted gene therapy. – Now, chronic pain can be successfully treated with novel targeted gene therapy. In an effort to find a more effective treatment for chronic pain, researchers at Mount Sinai developed a gene therapy technique that simulates the pain-killing effect of opiate drugs.

Australian health budget for a responsible long term health plan

Australian Medical Association (AMA) Federal Budget Submission 2008-09 provides the Government with suggested health spending priorities to build a sustainable and equitable health system to serve Australians for the long term. – The Australian Medical Association (AMA) Federal Budget Submission 2008-09 provides the Government with suggested health spending priorities to build a sustainable and equitable health system to serve Australians for the long term. The Submission was lodged with Treasury on 18 January in keeping with the Treasurer’s deadline.

Black women get breast cancer two decades earlier than white women

Black British women in UK are diagnosed with breast cancer 21 years younger than white British women. – Black British women in Hackney, East London, are diagnosed with breast cancer 21 years younger than white British women, according to a Cancer Research UK study published online in the British Journal of Cancer.

Lhx2 creator gene for brain tissue repair

UCI study identifies the specific role for gene linked to cortical development, cerebral cortex points to potential stem cell treatments. – University of California, Irvine researchers have identified a gene that is specifically responsible for generating the cerebral cortex, a finding that could lead to stem cell therapies to treat brain injuries and diseases such as stroke and Alzheimer’s.

Statins, cholesterol lowering drugs may not prevent Alzheimer’s Disease

A large US study suggests that statin, cholesterol lowering drug use does not lower the risk of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). – Taking statins, which are cholesterol-lowering drugs, offers no protection against Alzheimer’s disease, revealed by US researchers at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago.

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