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Parkinson’s Disease :: Boehringer Ingelheim’s pramipexole, mirapexin/sifrol to improve depressive and motivational symptoms

New data presented today from a meta-analysis* of nearly 1,300 Parkinson?s disease (PD) patients, indicate that pramipexole (Mirapexin?/Sifrol?) has a beneficial effect on depressive and motivational symptoms in PD.1 This confirms findings from previously published clinical trials,2,3,4 and is in addition to its established efficacy in controlling motor symptoms. These findings are of particular interest as mood symptoms in PD can affect up to 50 percent of the patient population.1,5 The data were presented at the 10th International Congress of Parkinson?s Disease and Movement Disorders (MDS) in Kyoto, Japan.

Baby Care :: Defective serotonin pathways in the brainstem may increase infants’ vulnerability – SIDS

New autopsy data provide the strongest evidence yet that sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) is not a “mystery” disease but has a concrete biological basis. In the November 1 issue of JAMA, researchers at Children’s Hospital Boston document abnormalities in the brainstem — a part of the brain that regulates breathing, blood pressure, body heat, and arousal — in babies who died from SIDS. The term cot death is often used in the United Kingdom, and crib death in North America.

Health :: Special needs children more likely to be bullied

Children with special health care needs are more likely to be bullied, according to a new study. In “Bullying and Peer Victimization Among Children With Special Health Care Needs,” researchers used National Survey of Children’s Health data of more than 102,000 households with children, ages 6 to 17, to measure associations between children with special health care needs (approximately 21 percent of children in the study) and the likelihood of them being bullied, bullying other children, and being both a bully and a victim of bullying.

Education :: Television viewing linked with poor school performance among middle school students

A new study links poor school performance among middle school students with television viewing time and content. In “Association Between Television, Movie and Video Game Exposure and School Performance,” researchers surveyed more than 4,500 middle school students (grades 5 through 8) about weekday and weekend television and video screen time, cable channel availability, parental R-movie and television content restriction, and school performance.

Ageing :: Calorie restriction – a prescription that extend life

The approach, called calorie restriction, involves eating about 30 percent fewer calories than normal while still getting adequate amounts of vitamins, minerals and other nutrients. Aside from direct genetic manipulation, calorie restriction is the only strategy known to extend life consistently in a variety of animal species, a report of study in a laboratory at the Wisconsin National Primate Research Center, highlighted by Michael Mason in the New York Times.

Breast Cancer :: Breast cancer gene offers promising target for drugs

Researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have for the first time described how multiple copies of a gene are responsible for metastases in early-stage breast cancer and poor prognosis for patients. In a study published in this week’s issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the gene, called uPAR, offers a promising target for therapeutic drugs to stop or slow the progression of the disease and could serve as a screening tool for assessing which types of drugs a patient will respond to.

Flu :: Americans willing to make changes in their lives

In the case of an outbreak of pandemic flu, large majority of Americans willing to make major changes in their lives. Survey also finds many people would face critical work-related problems. The latest national survey conducted by the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) Project on the Public and Biological Security finds that when faced with a serious outbreak of pandemic flu, a large majority of Americans are willing to make major changes in their lives and cooperate with public health officials’ recommendations.

Health :: Highest Honor awarded to infectious disease experts from Harvard School of Public Health

Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) has awarded its highest honor, for the promotion of high public health standards among vulnerable populations, to William H. Foege, former Director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and a founder of the Task Force for Child Survival and Development, and Anthony S. Fauci, Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID). The two recipients have dedicated their lives to protecting people in this country and throughout the world from infectious diseases.

Health :: Investigation of the physical and psychological health of UK Armed Forces

The King’s Centre for Military Health Research (KCMHR) has received further funding from the UK Ministry of Defence to continue its research into the health and well-being of military personnel, many of whom have served in Iraq. The research, which began in 2003 as a prospective investigation of the physical and psychological health of over 12,000 UK service personnel serving in Iraq, will be monitoring service personnel more widely, including those deployed to Afghanistan.

Asthma :: Asthma symptoms linked to soot particles from diesel trucks in South Bronx

Soot particles spewing from the exhaust of diesel trucks constitute a major contributor to the alarmingly high rates of asthma symptoms among school-aged children in the South Bronx, according to the results of a five-year study by researchers at New York University?s School of Medicine and Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service.