Current World News

According to new research published in the November issue of Archives of Surgery, women who live in wealthier communities with lower population densities and a larger proportion of college-educated individuals are more likely to have immediate breast reconstruction after mastectomy. Every year in the Unites States, breast cancer affects 134 of every 100,000 women.

The first simulation of how it feels to age decades in minutes will be run by staff from Eisai at the new University of Hertfordshire simulation centre tomorrow (19 November). The Elderly Simulation Experience, forms part of a two-day workshop designed by Eisai to provide their staff with a deeper understanding of the experiences of elderly patients.

A study published in the November issue of Archives of Surgery finds that non-Hispanic white patients and patients from minority ethnic groups in the US receive a similar level of trauma care. Shahid Shafi, M.D., M.P.H., and Larry M. Gentilello, M.D.

A new study provides the first evidence of a link between alcohol-industry sponsorship and hazardous drinking among sportspeople. Researchers from The University of Manchester and the University of Newcastle in Australia quizzed nearly 1,300 sportspeople and found alcohol-related companies sponsored almost half of them.

Metabolex, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery and development of proprietary new medicines for the treatment of metabolic diseases, announced positive results from a Phase 2 clinical trial of MBX-8025. A summary of the results was presented at the World Congress on Controversies to Consensus in Diabetes, Obesity and Hypertension (CODHy) on November 1, 2008.

A randomized clinical trial involving over 3,000 elderly people in the US found that the popular herbal supplement Gingko biloba fared no better than placebo at preventing dementia or Alzheimer's disease.

XTL Biopharmaceuticals Ltd. (Nasdaq: XTLB; TASE: XTL) announced the top-line results from the Bicifadine Phase 2b clinical trial for the treatment of diabetic neuropathic pain. The trial's primary objective was to compare the efficacy of two doses of Bicifadine against placebo in reducing pain associated with diabetic neuropathy.

Delcath Systems, Inc. (Nasdaq: DCTH), a medical technology company testing its proprietary liver cancer treatment for melanoma metastatic to the liver, announced that the United States Food and Drug Administration ("FDA") granted to Delcath two orphan-drug applications for the drug melphalan.

Tibotec recently announced long-term study results from a phase 3 clinical trial, which compared PREZISTA(R) (darunavir)/ritonavir to lopinavir/ritonavir, as part of HIV combination therapy, in lopinavir/r-naive, treatment-experienced HIV-1 infected adults.

According to findings from a National Diabetes Economic Barometer study, undiagnosed, pre-diabetes and diabetes cost the United States an estimated $217.5 billion in 2007 due to higher medical expenditures and lost productivity. The research shows that beyond the estimated $174 billion that is widely-accepted as the cost of diagnosed diabetes in 2007, an additional $18 billion was spent on 6.

Parents can help prevent a common and painful foot problem in children by following a few simple tips, according to the American College of Foot and Ankle Surgeons (ACFAS). Foot and ankle surgeons say ingrown toenails (http://www.footphysicians.com/footankleinfo/ingrown-toenail.htm) are a common condition they treat in children.

Forty-two leading U. S. scientists and specialists gathered at a November national forum to consider cutting-edge innovations that may defend America's public health and national economy from outbreaks of dangerous zoonotic diseases, the FAZD Center announced.

The risk of non-AIDS cancer is higher for individuals infected with HIV than for the general population, according to a meta-analysis presented here at the American Association for Cancer Research's Seventh Annual International Conference on Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research. Compared with the general population, the risk for non-AIDS cancers was 2.3 times higher for men with HIV and 1.

New research in mice suggests that high levels of social support may provide some protection against strokes by reducing the amount of damaging inflammation in the brain. Researchers at Ohio State University found that male mice that lived with a female partner before and after a stroke had a much higher survival rate compared to those mice that lived alone.

Early breast health education may be the key to lowering breast cancer mortality rates in Washington, D.C., which has the highest rates in the country, according to research presented at the American Association for Cancer Research's Seventh Annual International Conference on Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research.

An abstract presented at the American Association for Cancer Research's Seventh Annual International Conference on Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research shows that lower socioeconomic status reduced the chance of early stage diagnosis and survival of colorectal cancer in Colorado. "Diagnosis of colorectal cancer at an early stage can lead to better survival.

African-American women are at a higher risk for ER/PR negative breast cancer. A new study, to be presented at the American Association for Cancer Research's Seventh Annual International Conference on Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research, found that race, socioeconomic characteristics and other tumor characteristics are all important predictors of having ER/PR negative breast cancer.

A University of Iowa-led international research team has found a new gene associated with the brain disorder epilepsy. While the PRICKLE1 gene mutation was specific to a rare form of epilepsy, the study results could help lead to new ideas for overall epilepsy treatment. The findings, which involved nearly two dozen institutions from six different countries, appear in the Nov.

New research at West Virginia University is examining whether a smokeless, spitless tobacco product aimed at young adults is catching on. And the researchers have found that RJ Reynolds' Camel Snus touted as a socially acceptable way to satisfy addiction contains surprisingly high levels of nicotine.