DCA is an odourless, colourless, inexpensive, relatively non-toxic, small molecule. And researchers at the University of Alberta believe it may soon be used as an effective treatment for many forms of cancer.Dr. Evangelos Michelakis, a professor at the U of A Department of Medicine, has shown that dichloroacetate (DCA) causes regression in several cancers, including lung, breast, and brain tumors.Michelakis and his colleagues, including post-doctoral fellow Dr. [click link for full article]

Researchers at Virginia Commonwealth University’s Massey Cancer Center have created a new method to improve the antileukemic activity of a novel agent that triggers programmed cell death, a development that could lead to more effective strategies for fighting leukemia and other malignancies.The cell death process, or apoptosis, is characteristically impaired in cancer cells. The process is regulated by a large family of proteins that either promotes or inhibits cell death. [click link for full article]

A very high proportion of children who are having surgery are overweight or obese, and because of the excess weight have a greater chance of experiencing problems associated with the surgery, according to a new study from the University of Michigan Health System.Researchers looked at a database of all 6,017 pediatric surgeries at the U-M Hospital from 2000 to 2004, and they found that nearly a third of the patients - 31.5 percent - were overweight or obese. [click link for full article]

Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R) on Thursday proposed expanding access to state health insurance programs and allowing most residents to use pretax dollars to pay for health plan premiums, the St. Paul Pioneer Press reports. [click link for full article]

A surprising discovery by Queen’s University researchers that happened when their work took an unexpected turn may help women with advanced breast cancer respond better to conventional drug treatments. [click link for full article]

Nearly 10 percent of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) victims have mutations or variations in genes associated with potentially lethal heart rhythms (arrhythmias), according to two newly published studies involving Vanderbilt researchers.The findings indicate that arrhythmia-susceptibility genes represent important genetic contributors to SIDS, said Alfred L. George Jr., M.D., senior author on one of the studies. [click link for full article]

Editorials and opinion pieces respond to a House vote on Thursday to approve a bill (HR 3) that would expand federal funding for human embryonic stem cell research. Federal funding for embryonic stem cell research is allowed only for research using embryonic stem cell lines created on or before Aug. 9, 2001, under a policy announced by President Bush on that date. [click link for full article]

An article on sulfite allergy has returned due to popular demand. This site ultimately belongs to you, the reader of allergies.about.com, and I want to provide the information that is…

Allergies may be more than just a pain in the neck. An association between allergic rhinitis and migraine headaches has been determined. People with allergic rhinitis appear to be 14…

A new investigation into Napoleon Bonaparte’s cause of death might finally put to rest nearly 200 years of lingering mysteries about the illness that killed the French emperor during his island exile, a UT Southwestern Medical Center scientist reports. [click link for full article]