Friday, December 29, 2006

Heartburn drugs may raise hip-fracture risks

The News
Heartburn drugs may raise hip-fracture risks
By Carla K. Johnson The Associated Press
Article Last Updated: 12/26/2006 08:37:15 PM MST

Chicago - Taking such popular heartburn drugs as Nexium, Prevacid or Prilosec for a year or more can raise the risk of a broken hip markedly in people over 50, a large study in Britain found. The study raises questions about the safety of some of the most widely used and heavily promoted prescription drugs on the market, taken by millions of people.

The Research
Read the research article behind this story in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
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Thursday, December 14, 2006

Slower is better on colon screening

The News
Slower is better on colon screening
By Marilynn Marchione The Associated Press
Article Last Updated:12/14/2006 02:22:56 AM MST

Tell your doctor to take his time during your colonoscopy. Those who spent less than the recommended six minutes on the crucial part of the exam found one-fourth as many precancerous growths as those who lingered longer with the scope, a study found.

The Research
Read the research article behind this story in the journal New England Journal of Medicine.
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Wednesday, December 13, 2006

Newly Found Gene Mutation Banishes Pain

The News:
Newly Found Gene Mutation Banishes Pain
By Richard Knox
National Public Radio, All Things Considered
December 13, 2006

A Pakistani teenager who entertained street crowds by walking on hot coals and sticking knives through his arms has led scientists to find a genetic defect that renders its carriers unable to feel pain. Scientists at the University of Cambridge in England pinpointed the cause: a defect in a gene that codes for a protein on the surface of pain-sensing nerve cells. Pain experts think that if they can find a drug to block the same protein that is disabled in Pakistani children, it could be the safest and most effective painkiller ever devised.
The Research:
Read the research article behind this story in the journal NATURE.

Monday, December 11, 2006

Ancient computer had "unexpected degree of sophistication"

The News:
Ancient computer had "unexpected degree of sophistication"
By John Noble Wilford
The New York Times
Article Last Updated:11/29/2006 09:21:17 PM MST

A computer in antiquity would seem to be an anachronism, like Athena ordering takeout on her cellphone. But a century ago, pieces of a strange mechanism with bronze gears and dials were recovered from an ancient shipwreck off the coast of Greece. Historians of science concluded that this was an instrument that calculated and illustrated astronomical information, particularly phases of the moon and planetary motions, in the second century B.C. The Antikythera Mechanism, sometimes called the world's first computer, has now been examined with the latest in high- resolution imaging systems and three-dimensional X-ray tomography. A team of British, Greek and U.S. researchers was able to decipher many inscriptions and reconstruct the gear functions, revealing, they said, "an unexpected degree of technical sophistication for the period." The researchers, led by mathematician Tony Freeth and astronomer Mike Edmunds, both of the University of Cardiff in Wales, are reporting the results of their study in today's issue of the journal Nature.
The Research:
Read the research article behind this story in the journal NATURE.

Study finds no cancer-cellphone link

The News:
Study finds no cancer-cellphone link
By The Associated Press
Article Last Updated:12/05/2006 07:39:01 PM MST

Washington - A huge study from Denmark offers the latest reassurance that cellphones don't trigger cancer.
Scientists tracked 420,000 Danish cellphone users, including 52,000 who had gabbed on the gadgets for 10 years or more, and some who started using them 21 years ago.
They matched phone records to the famed Danish Cancer Registry that records every citizen who gets the disease - and reported Tuesday that cellphone callers are no more likely than anyone else to suffer a range of cancer types.
The study, published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, is the largest yet to find no bad news about the safety of cellphones.
Cellphones beam radiofrequency energy that can penetrate the brain's outer edge, raising questions about cancers of the head and neck, brain tumors, and leukemia.

The Research:
Read the research journal article behind this story.