Researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) found consistent evidence that smoking is associated with an increased risk of TB. They also found that passive smoking (secondhand smoke) and the burning of biomass fuels was associated with an increased TB risk.
A review of published data on use of human growth hormone by healthy elderly people found that the synthetic hormone was associated with small changes in body composition but not in body weight or other clinically important outcomes. Further, people who took GH had increased rates of unhealthy side effects such as soft tissue swelling, joint pain, carpal tunnel syndrome, and, in men, abnormal breast development and were also somewhat more likely to develop diabetes.
Scientists at the Wellcome Trust Center for Neuroimaging, University College London, have shown that people with damage to the hippocampus, the area of the brain that plays a crucial role in learning and memory, not only have trouble remembering the past but also in imagining new and future experiences.
Results of a recent study linking low LDL cholesterol to Parkinson’s provide the strongest evidence to date that it could be real, because statins work by reducing LDL cholesterol. The study by researchers at University of North Carolina showed that patients with low levels of LDL cholesterol are more than three and a half times more likely to develop Parkinson’s disease than those with higher LDL levels.
Being a member of a large family may not be best for your health. A new study found that family size greatly influenced the development of stomach cancer linked to the bacterium Helicobacter pylori, and younger siblings from large families appeared to be especially vulnerable to the most common type of stomach cancer.
Smokers have an increased risk of tuberculosis (TB) infection, TB disease and of dying from TB compared to people who do not smoke.
A study of nearly 4,000 HIV-infected people in Denmark, matched with about 380,000 people who were not infected, found that people diagnosed with HIV infection between 1995-2005 had a shorter life expectancy (20 years beyond age 25) than the general population (51 years beyond age 25).
A review of published data on use of human growth hormone by healthy elderly people found that the synthetic hormone was associated with small changes in body composition but not in body weight or other clinically important outcomes.
Patients who undergo combined heart bypass surgery and carotid endarterectomy, the most commonly used stroke prevention surgery, significantly increase their chances of death or stroke, according to a study published in the January 16, 2007, issue of Neurology?, the scientific journal of the American Academy of Neurology.
University of Minnesota stem cell researchers, together with collaborators at Stanford University, have successfully used adult stem cells to replace the immune system and bone marrow of mice, offering the promise of new therapies for people in the future.