Health & Medicine : Science World Report

Apr 26, 2012 10:03 AM EDT

Post Cancer-related Fatigue 'Overestimated'

Despite widespread belief to the contrary, as few as 6 percent of women experience cancer-related persistent fatigue a year after undergoing treatment for breast cancer, a new study has found.

Apr 26, 2012 06:03 AM EDT

Analysis: U.S. Mad Cow Find: Lucky Break or Triumph of Science?

The discovery this week of the fourth U.S. case of mad cow disease was one of two things for food safety experts: a validation of a decade-long focused surveillance regime or a lucky break that highlights the need to revisit previously scrapped efforts for more comprehensive surveillance.

Apr 25, 2012 01:02 PM EDT

GSK Says it the Only Obvious Owner for Human Genome

Drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline said on Wednesday its $2.6 billion bid for long-time partner Human Genome Sciences was "full and fair" and it was the only obvious owner for the biotechnology firm.

Apr 25, 2012 11:50 AM EDT

Scientists Uncover Strong Support for Once-marginalized Theory on Parkinson's Disease

University of California, San Diego scientists have used powerful computational tools and laboratory tests to discover new support for a once-marginalized theory about the underlying cause of Parkinson's disease.

Apr 25, 2012 09:57 AM EDT

From feast to Famine: A metabolic Switch that May help Diabetes Treatment

Humans are built to hunger for fat, packing it on during times of feast and burning it during periods of famine. But when deluged by foods rich in fat and sugar, the modern waistline often far exceeds the need to store energy for lean times, and the result has been an epidemic of diabetes, heart dis...

Apr 25, 2012 08:50 AM EDT

Ophthalmologists Urged to be Alert for Signs of Child Abuse

It has been estimated that roughly 4% to 6% of child abuse victims present first to an ophthalmologist. In a case study in the April issue of the Journal of American Association of Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus, doctors at the University of Washington and the Seattle Children's Hospital des...

Apr 25, 2012 08:38 AM EDT

New Microdevice Enables Culture of Circulating Tumor Cells for Cancer Diagnosis, Treatment

A research collaboration between the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University and Children's Hospital Boston has created a microfluidic device that can harvest rare circulating tumor cells (CTCs) from blood to enable their expansion in culture for analysis.

Apr 25, 2012 07:47 AM EDT

Malaria Resurgence Directly Linked to Funding Cuts

Funding cuts for malaria control are the single most common reason for the resurgence of the deadly disease, according to a new study that has linked overall weakened malaria control programs to the majority of global resurgences since 1930.

Apr 25, 2012 05:40 AM EDT

Mad Cow Disease Found in California; No Human Threat Seen

U.S. authorities reported the first U.S. case of mad cow disease in six years on Tuesday and quickly assured consumers and global importers that meat from the California dairy cow did not enter the food chain.

Apr 24, 2012 04:43 PM EDT

Blood Transfusions Still Overused and May Do More Harm than Good in Some Patients

Citing the lack of clear guidelines for ordering blood transfusions during surgery, Johns Hopkins researchers say a new study confirms there is still wide variation in the use of transfusions and frequent use of transfused blood in patients who don't need it.

Apr 24, 2012 03:47 PM EDT

Physical Abuse May Raise Risk of Suicidal Thoughts

Adults who were physically abused during childhood are more likely than their non-abused peers to have suicidal thoughts, according to a new study from the University of Toronto.

Apr 24, 2012 02:20 PM EDT

Scientists Develop New Technique that Could Improve Heart Attack Prediction

An award-winning research project, funded by the British Heart Foundation (BHF), has tested a new imaging method which could help improve how doctors predict a patient's risk of having a heart attack (1).