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Angelina Jolie’s Double Mastectomy
From the BBC: Hollywood actress Angelina Jolie has undergone a double mastectomy to reduce her chances of getting breast cancer… She said her doctors estimated she had an 87% risk of breast cancer and a 50% risk of ovarian cancer. “I decided to be proactive and to minimise the risk as much I could,” she … Continue reading
SARS-like virus spreading
From Reuters: World Health Organization (WHO) officials said on Sunday it seemed likely a new coronavirus that has killed at least 18 people in the Middle East and Europe could be passed between humans, but only after prolonged contact… A public health expert who declined to be identified, said “close contact” meant being in the … Continue reading
Antibiotics treat back pain?
From Sky News: Researchers from the University of Southern Denmark say 40% of patients with chronic low back pain are suffering from an infection in their spine. They found that a 100-day course of antibiotics could significantly reduce pain and disability. Dr Hanne Albert, who led the research, told Sky News: “These people suffer constantly. … Continue reading
Welsh Measles epidemic now over 800
From the BBC: The number of measles cases in the Swansea epidemic has increased to 808, officials say. Areas to think about: What is measles? Why was the young population in Wales susceptible to a measles epidemic? How does vaccination work? What was responsible for a drop in MMR vaccination rates, and what do you … Continue reading
97% of GPs have recommended placebos
From the BBC: In a poll, 97% of 783 GPs admitted that they had recommended a sugar pill or a treatment with no established efficacy for the ailment their patient came in with. The PLOS One study authors say this may not be a bad thing – doctors are doing it to help, not to … Continue reading
Bionic vision
From Sky News, via Yahoo: A bionic eye has enabled blind people to read letters and simple words. The implant converts images from an external camera into electronic signals that the brain can “see”. Tests on 21 patients with retinitis pigmentosa, a degenerative disease that destroys light-receiving cells at the back of the eye, showed … Continue reading
Conscious under Anaesthesia?
From Science: “We’ve known since the 1930s that brain activity changes dramatically with increasing doses of anesthetic,” says the study’s corresponding author, anesthesiologist Patrick Purdon of Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. “But monitoring a patient’s brain with EEG has never become routine practice.” … The researchers… found a pattern unique to the transition period. During … Continue reading
Using a virus to heal?
From Sci-News.com: The study, published today in the journal Nature, finds that a viral predator of the cholera bacteria can steal the functional immune system of bacteria and use it against its bacterial host. The bacteriophage (phage for short) used the stolen immune system to disable – and thus overcome – the cholera bacteria’s defense … Continue reading
SARS-like virus death in the UK
From the BBC: A patient infected with a new respiratory illness similar to the deadly Sars virus has died in the UK… Of the 12 people known to have been infected with the virus around the world, six have died. The threat to the general population is thought to be small, although the virus has … Continue reading
Searching for Antibiotics
From the BBC: Researchers are embarking on an £8m project to discover new antibiotics at the bottom of the ocean… Few samples have ever been collected from ocean trenches – deep, narrow valleys in the sea floor that can plunge down to almost 6.8 miles (11km). Yet researchers believe there is great potential for discovering … Continue reading
