University of Newcastle researcher Kathryn Skelding, funded by the National Breast Cancer Foundation and Viralytics Ltd, has been working on a new treatment which only affects cancer cells - this would be an improvement on conventional chemotherapy and radiation treatment, which also impact on normal body cells. [click link for full article]

A comparison of the 1918 Spanish influenza and the H5N1 avian influenza viruses suggests that while the two viruses appear to trigger a similar abnormal immune response in animal models, there are distinct differences. Researchers from the University of Washington School of Medicine in Seattle reported their findings at the ASM Biodefense and Emerging Disease Research Meeting.”The influenza pandemic of 1918-19 was responsible for at least 40 million deaths worldwide. [click link for full article]

Given that in the year 2000 an estimated 83 million people in the Asia-Pacific region were living with type 2 diabetes, representing almost half of the 171 million people with diabetes worldwide, these findings highlight the huge impact that diabetes prevention and awareness campaigns could have in the area. In Australia alone, diabetes is responsible for 4,000 fatal heart attacks and strokes each year. [click link for full article]

Two studies released this week examine cost increases for Medicare beneficiaries enrolled in the prescription drug benefit and language services provided by Medicare drug plans. Summaries of news coverage appear below. [click link for full article]

Researchers have managed to almost eliminate malaria incidence in a group of HIV-positive children by providing them with insecticide-treated nets and a daily dose of the low-cost antibiotic cotrimoxazole, according to a study presented on Tuesday at the 14th Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections in Los Angeles, the [click link for full article]

Canadian scientists have found that ibuprofen is a more effective pain reliever for children with acute musculoskeletal injuries than acetaminophen and codeine.The study is published in the online edition of the journal Pediatrics. [click link for full article]

Molecular scientists at the Brown Foundation Institute of Molecular Medicine for the Prevention of Human Diseases (IMM) - which is part of the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston - have developed a new procedure for the differentiation of human embryonic stem cells, with which they have created the first transplantable source of lung epithelial cells.The process, created in the laboratory of Rick A. Wetsel, Ph.D. [click link for full article]

Molecular scientists at the Brown Foundation Institute of Molecular Medicine for the Prevention of Human Diseases (IMM) - which is part of the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston - have developed a new procedure for the differentiation of human embryonic stem cells, with which they have created the first transplantable source of lung epithelial cells.The process, created in the laboratory of Rick A. Wetsel, Ph.D. [click link for full article]

Drinking whole fat milk and eating ice cream appears to be better for women trying to become pregnant than a diet consisting of low-fat dairy products such as skimmed milk and yoghurt, according to new research published in Europe’s leading reproductive medicine journal, Human Reproduction. [1]Researchers in the United States have found a link between a low-fat dairy diet and increased risk of infertility due to lack of ovulation (anovulatory infertility). [click link for full article]

The Washington Times this week published a four-part series examining the prevalence of sex-selective abortions in India. The country in 1994 approved the Prenatal Determination Act, which bans the use of technologies such as ultrasounds and sonograms for the purpose of sex-selective abortion. The law also bans advertisements for prenatal sex determination, as well as the practice of preconception sex selection law. According to a [click link for full article]