Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni has warned about statements that circumcision reduces the risk of HIV/AIDS. Museveni said such messages were sending wrong signals to the population, and caused apathy in the fight against HIV/AIDS.
Reduce stress by holding the hands of your spouse! A University of Virginia neuroscientist has found that women under stress who hold their husbands’ hands show signs of immediate relief, which can clearly be seen on their brain scans.
Researchers conducting genetic analysis of India-born individuals in the US may have begun to shed light on the genetic variations of the diverse population of India.
Pregnant and nursing women who eat generous amounts of cruciferous vegetables like broccoli and cabbage could help protect their children from cancer, both as infants and later in life. A new study done with laboratory mice found that phytochemicals found in certain vegetables provided a very high level of protection against leukemia and lymphoma in young animals, and also significantly protected against lung cancer during the rodent’s equivalent of middle age.
The Institute of Medicine estimates that medical errors are the eighth leading cause of death in the United States, and poor communication can be a major source of those errors. Now the Clinical Simulation Center at Washington University School of Medicine and Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis hopes to improve patient safety by using clinical simulators to find the source of miscommunications during medical treatments.
The natural herb black cohosh is commonly used by women to treat menopausal symptoms such as hot flashes, but the molecular mechanisms underlying its action have eluded scientists — until now.
Massive quantities of data will soon begin flowing from the largest scientific instrument ever built into an international network of computer centers, including one operated jointly by the University of Chicago and Indiana University. The first phase of the Chicago-Indiana center, formally known as the MidWest Tier 2 Center, is now up and running, crunching test data in preparation for the real thing.
The surge of baby boomers now entering their 60s means more drivers on the road who may be impaired by dementia or other cognitive impairments linked to aging. Researchers at the Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center (ADRC) of Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and elsewhere have developed a three-hour workshop that trains health care providers to identify potentially unsafe drivers with dementia and to encourage appropriate retirement from driving.
A study led by a researcher at the University of Illinois at Chicago compares the safety, effectiveness and reliability of the two most common types of laser eye surgery, laser epithelial keratomileusis (LASEK) and laser in situ keratomileusis (LASIK) in the December 2006, issue of the American Journal of Ophthalmology.
UC Berkeley scientists Jill Banfield and Brett Baker have found some of the smallest organisms known in a sample of slime from a California mine. Their discovery proves the value of a technique called “shotgun” sequencing to identify all organisms in a microbial community, particularly those too small to see in a microscope, those very low in abundance, or those too novel to be picked up by PCR.