The symptoms of a severe autism spectrum disorder affecting at least 10,000 children in the UK could be reversed following research by Scottish scientists.Rett syndrome, which can leave children wheelchair bound, unable to speak and suffering from breathing difficulties, has until now been considered an untreatable neurological disorder.But experts have now been able to make symptoms disappear in mice by activating a specific gene. [click link for full article]

Researchers at Columbia University Medical Center have uncovered the complex structure of a protein that serves as a central energy gauge for cells, providing crucial details about the molecule necessary for developing useful new therapies for diabetes and possibly obesity. A paper published online in the journal Science details this structure, helping to explain one of the cell’s most basic and critical processes. [click link for full article]

There is an increased risk of fetal heart problems when mothers carry particular antibodies associated with rheumatic diseases, according to an abstract presented by Yale School of Medicine researchers at the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine Conference February 9 in San Francisco. Congenital heart block (CHB) is present at or before birth and impairs the heart’s electrical signaling from the upper to the lower chambers. [click link for full article]

A UQ health assessment program has helped bring about a new Medicare rebate and improved health for people with an intellectual disability.Program creator, UQ Associate Professor Nicholas Lennox, has spent the last decade researching and advocating the use of his [click link for full article]

The number of newly diagnosed end-stage renal disease (kidney failure) patients with diabetes increased by 114% over 10 years, from 1,066 in 1995 to 2,139 in 2004, according to a new report released recently by the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI). This increase in the presence of diabetes among new end-stage renal disease (ESRD) patients correlates with an increase in the incidence of diabetes in the Canadian population overall. [click link for full article]

The United Nations World Food Programme and non-governmental organisations have warned that two million people hit by recent floods in Burundi need urgent assistance until June to avert a food crisis. This follows last week’s joint appeal for 132 million USdollars by UN agencies and NGOs for their work in Burundi during 2007. [click link for full article]

UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, has renewed its call for intensified global efforts to save the 3 million girls who still face the risk of female genital mutilation or cutting every year. [click link for full article]

Using data from over 700,000 births in Missouri from 1989 to 1997, researchers found that African American mothers were 3 times more likely than Caucasian mothers to deliver prematurely at 20-34 weeks and almost 4 times more likely to deliver extremely prematurely at 20-28 weeks. (Full term births occur at 37-41 weeks gestation.) The results of the study are published in the February issue of the American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology. [click link for full article]

The United Nations World Food Programme has warmly welcomed a critical and timely contribution of 500,000 euros (US$648,000) from the Government of Spain that will allow it to resume vital food assistance to more than one million poor and vulnerable Cambodians.The Spanish donation provides a much needed boost to WFP’s operations in Cambodia, following the recent suspension of programmes in education and health as a result of funding shortages. [click link for full article]

The Christopher Reeve Foundation (CRF) announced today that it has awarded $717,404 in Quality of Life grants to 90 nonprofit organizations around the world. The Quality of Life program was conceived by the late Dana Reeve as a way for the CRF to help improve the day-to-day health and well-being of those living with paralysis. Since the program’s inception in 1999, 1,163 grants totaling $9,220,980 have been awarded. [click link for full article]