Health Fitness & Beauty - latest

HETAUDA, Nepal (AP) -- Raj Kaliya Dhanuk sits on a wooden bench, barefoot, with a tattered sari covering thin arms as rough as bark.

Thick clear tears bleed from her eyes, milky saucers that stare at nothing....

(California Institute of Technology) A Caltech-led team of researchers and clinicians has published the first proof that a targeted nanoparticle -- used as an experimental therapeutic and injected directly into a patient's bloodstream -- can traffic into tumors, deliver double-stranded small interfering RNAs, and turn off an important cancer gene using a mechanism known as RNA interference.

Moreover, the team provided the first demonstration that this new type of therapy can make its way to human tumors in a dose-dependent fashion.

Here we go again.  The latest settlement in the parade was made by the Alpharma subsidiary of King Pharmaceuticals, as reported by Reuters:

Alpharma Inc, a unit of King Pharmaceuticals (KG.N), has agreed to pay $42.5 million to resolve allegations that it gave kickbacks to doctors to prescribe the pain drug Kadian and misrepresented its safety and effectiveness, the Justice Department said on Tuesday.

As mentioned in my previous post on the MIT controversy surrounding an economist's testifying to Congress on healthcare policy without revealing possible economic conflicts of interest that could affect his views, frequently expressed on this blog are concerns about undisclosed conflicts of interest and their corrosive effects upon healthcare (query link).

Pregnant or postpartum women were seven times more likely than other women of childbearing age to be admitted to intensive care if they had the H1N1 pandemic flu, Australian and New Zealand researchers said.

ATLANTA (AP) -- As one superbug seems to be fading as a threat in hospitals, another is on the rise, a new study suggests....

(Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America) Researchers at the University of Nebraska Medical Center found an Infrared Thermal Detection System (ITDS) to be a fast and effective fever screening tool in clinical settings during the H1N1 influenza pandemic.

The ITDS detected fever in patients through split-second, non-contact skin temperature measurements. Fever is a primary symptom of seasonal influenza, H1N1, avian influenza, SARS and other infectious diseases.

Testing for a virus linked with cervical cancer during traditional screening does not help identify high risk women, say doctors.

ATLANTA (AP) -- An unexpected big drop in new U.S. tuberculosis cases is probably because of stepped up screening and treatment of immigrants before they leave their native countries, health officials say....

– As a follow up to the voluntary recall of black pepper from Mincing Overseas Spice Company announced on March 5, 2010, John B.

Sanfilippo & Son, Inc. (Nasdaq: JBSS) (the "Company") announced today that it is voluntarily recalling various snack mix and cashew products, which have been flavored with seasoning containing the recalled black pepper and which are listed below, as a precautionary measure because the product may be contaminated with Salmonella.

To date, the Company has not received any reports of illnesses in connection with the item listed below.