People | Page 354 of 525 | SpiritIndia.com

Tsunami :: U.S. Activity Update on Tsunami Reconstruction

Mark Ward, Senior Deputy Assistant Administrator for the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), spoke at a ‘tsunami relief and recovery’ update briefing at the National Press Club. The purpose of the event was to provide an update on reconstruction activities in the region in recognition of the second anniversary of the Indian Ocean tsunami. Also speaking was Eric Schwartz, the UN Secretary General’s Special Envoy for Tsunami Recovery.

HIV :: Limited options for backup HIV treatment in some developing countries

Thai researchers have discovered that patients who fail treatment with a commonly used, inexpensive, first-line antiretroviral therapy (ART) are also usually resistant to other, similar drugs, leaving progressively fewer options for replacement therapies. Since catching treatment failure early is key to preventing further resistance, this research, published in the February 1 issue of Clinical Infectious Diseases also argues for greater access in the developing world to tests that detect when the amount of virus in a patient’s blood is increasing.

Health Care :: Hopeful nurses are more comfortable, condident in caring for dying children

Nurses with higher levels of hopefulness are more likely to report feeling confident and competent in their ability to care for dying children and their families. Based on a survey of hundreds of pediatric nurses, researchers found that nurses who were more confident about their skills also were more likely to have received education in palliative care — the practice of providing high-quality, responsive care to patients with a life-threatening illness.

Cancer :: How body fights to control spread of cancer?

Scientists at the University of Liverpool have found how two molecules fight in the blood to control the spread of cancer cells.

Diabetes :: Antibody therapy prevents type 1 diabetes

University of Pittsburgh investigators have successfully prevented the onset of type 1 diabetes in mice prone to developing the disease using an antibody against a receptor on the surface of immune T-cells. According to the investigators, these findings, which are being published in the January issue of the journal Diabetes, have significant implications for the prevention of type 1 diabetes.

Instinct :: Trusting your instincts leads you to the right answer

A UCL (University College London) study has found that you are more likely to perform well if you do not think too hard and instead trust your instincts. The research, published online today in the journal Current Biology, shows that, in some cases, instinctive snap decisions are more reliable than decisions taken using higher-level cognitive processes.

Fitness :: Healthy eating is at a supermarket near you

Supermarket “grocery store tours” could be the key to healthier lifestyles and prevent chronic diseases such as coronary heart disease concludes a study published in the Health & Fitness Journal.

Diabetes :: Benefits of Diachrome for people with type 2 diabetes

Nutrition 21, Inc., today announced the results of a recent placebo controlled, double-blind, randomized, single center study that demonstrated that Diachrome, a patented combination of chromium picolinate and biotin, safely improves blood glucose levels and cholesterol metabolism in people with type 2 diabetes.

Cancer :: Availability may influence cancer treatment decisions

Utilization of cancer treatments with limited evidence of benefit may depend on the therapy’s availability according to a new study. The study reveals that patients with pancreatic cancer were almost twice as likely to receive radiotherapy, for which there is more controversy regarding efficacy, when the treating hospital had radiotherapy available compared to patients who were treated at centers where radiotherapy was not available.

Alzheimer’s Disease :: People at genetic risk for Alzheimer’s age mentally just like noncarriers

Australian researchers say that a genotype that heightens the risk for Alzheimer’s disease does not contribute to cognitive change during most of adulthood. The largest study of its kind has found that carriers and noncarriers show the same type and extent of normal age-related cognitive declines, decades before carriers start to more often develop symptoms of dementia. The findings suggest that the higher-risk genotype acts only in later years to layer disease on top of normal aging.