A Johns Hopkins study has proven false established medical practice that an antiretroviral drug widely used to treat hepatitis B liver infections was safe to use on its own in patients co-infected with HIV. Their findings demonstrate that treatment with entecavir leads to cross-resistance to other antiviral drugs used to treat the AIDS virus. [click link for full article]

Drinking a little alcohol every day, especially wine, may be associated with an increase in life expectancy. That’s the conclusion of Dutch researchers who reported the findings of their study at the American Heart Association’s 47th Annual Conference on Cardiovascular Disease Epidemiology and Prevention.The researchers found that a light intake of alcohol (on average less than one glass per day) was associated with a lower rate of cardiovascular death and death from all causes. [click link for full article]

Obese patients tend to have a higher prevalence of total hip replacements due to a higher incidence of hip osteoarthritis. This is of particular concern in light of the trend in rising rates of obesity in developed countries. A new study published in the March 2007 issue of [click link for full article]

Each year, Karolinska Institutet’s Board of Research confers the title of honorary doctor for services to the university or the field of medicine. In 2007, three honorary doctorates are to be conferred, two in medicine and one in odontology. The ceremony will take place in Stockholm City Hall on 11 May, when the honorary doctors will receive their caps, diplomas and rings from the Dean of Research as confirmation of their new status. [click link for full article]

According to a review in Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, evidence is mounting that lifelong stress-related conditions such as depression and chronic pain may be linked to fetal growth and timing of delivery. [click link for full article]

Among the central mysteries of neurobiology is what properties of the young brain enable it to so adeptly wire itself to adapt to experience - a quality known as plasticity. The extraordinary plasticity of the young brain occurs only during a narrow window of time known as the critical period. For example, children deprived of normal visual stimulation during an early critical period of the first few years of life suffer the permanent visual impairment of amblyopia. [click link for full article]

Just one week after confirming Laos’ first human case of bird flu infection, the World Health Organization (WHO) fears a second case has emerged. The patient is a woman, aged 42, from Vientiane province. She was hospitalized on February 28th with bird flu like symptoms. Doctors say she is in a stable condition. Experts believe it is ‘most likely’ the H5N1 bird flu virus strain - the most virulent one. Two samples have tested positive for H5. [click link for full article]

Got a train to catch? The walk to the nearest stop has been put under scientific scrutiny, looking at distances involved and the environment along the way.The findings, which include the discovery that people often walk farther than they had thought despite their desire to minimize time and distance, are detailed in an award-winning paper by researchers at the University of Oregon and San Jose State University. A goal of the research - conducted in Portland, Ore. [click link for full article]

The more a 3-year-old watches television, the more he or she consumes sugary drinks, and extra calories, Harvard researchers said at the American Heart Association’s 47th Annual Conference on Cardiovascular Disease Epidemiology and Prevention.”For every one-hour increase in TV viewing per day, we found higher intakes of sugar-sweetened beverages including juice (one extra serving per week) and total calories (46.3 more kcal/day),” said Sonia Miller, B.A. [click link for full article]

Adults who met with pharmacists or pharmacy students during a community outreach and screening project about metabolic syndrome, returned four months later with lower risk factors for heart disease, researchers reported at the American Heart Association’s 47th Annual Conference on Cardiovascular Disease Epidemiology and Prevention. [click link for full article]