Health News

Structure of key breast cancer target enzyme unraveled
A researcher at Hauptman-Woodward Medical Research Institute has moved a step closer to a cure, and possibly the prevention, of the most common type of breast cancer. ANI

Smoking claimed 673,000 Chinese lives in 2005
A multinational research team, led by scientists at Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, has lent more force to the suggestion that smoking is a significant risk factor for mortality and disease. ANI

Genetic mutations can predict childhood leukaemia relapse
A collaborative study by American researchers has revealed that changes in a gene called IKAROS can help predict a high likelihood of relapse in children with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL). ANI

Health News for April 30, 2008

Corn-based film could stamp out food-poisoning bacteria
A US scientist has used corn residues to develop a novel packaging film that could destroy Listeria monocytogene, a rod-shaped bacterium that causes food poisoning in animals and humans. ANI

iPods do not affect pacemaker function: Study (re-issue)
Disapproving a recent suggestion that errant electronic noise from iPods may cause implantable cardiac pacemakers to malfunction, cardiac electrophysiologists at Childrens Hospital Boston say that they have not found any such effect in hundreds of children and young adults requiring pacemakers for their heart conditions. ANI

Stressed-out mums-to-be put unborn babies at risk of life-threatening diseases
Researchers at Edinburgh University have found that women who suffer from stress during pregnancy are more likely to pass on life-threatening diseases to the unborn child and even future generations. ANI

Kids who talk to themselves do better while performing tasks: Study
The next time you see your kids chatting to themselves, dont worry - for a new study has shown that children who talk to themselves do better on motor tasks. ANI

Genes previously believed to be silent may hold key clues on disease, aging
A new research from Colorado State University has suggested that genes, which were previously thought to be non-functional, are in fact working at a low level. ANI

Digital skills divide emerging across socio-economic lines
Internet has become a major tool for parents to search for relevant childrearing information. But this rise in Internet use has been accompanied by a distinct digital divide involving socio-economic status differences in Web usage, according to a Tufts University study. ANI

Scientists identify mechanism that helps fruit flies lock-in memories
Researchers at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) say that they have identified a protein in fruit flies that alters the strength of synaptic connections called plasticity, which play a vital role in both memory formation and learning. ANI