Pseudohypoaldosteronism type 2 (PHA2), also known as Gordon syndrome, is an inherited disease that causes high blood pressure and high levels of potassium in the blood. Recent studies have identified mutations in two genes (WNK1 and WNK4) as causes of PHA2. [click link for full article]

Patients admitted to a hospital’s intensive care unit (ICU) already are seriously ill, so the last thing they need is a new infection. Unfortunately, statistics show that as many as 25 percent of all patients admitted to the ICU and placed on ventilators develop pneumonia, which can be fatal. [click link for full article]

Sutent® (sunitinib malate) has received a European Association of Urology (EAU) recommendation, as first-line therapy in patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma of good and intermediate risk, just two months after gaining EU marketing authorization for first line use in all patients with advanced and/or metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC). [click link for full article]

Hispanics are the fastest growing minority population in the United States, and a Cincinnati medical oncologist says this trend highlights the urgent need for a national health agenda on cancer prevention and education that spans both developed and developing countries.Margie Gerena-Lewis, MD, of the University of Cincinnati (UC), presented her concerns at the annual meeting of National Hispanic Medical Association (NHMA) in San Antonio. [click link for full article]

A New York University College of Dentistry (NYUCD) research team has found the first oral bacterial evidence supporting the dispersal of modern Homo sapiens out of Africa to Asia. [click link for full article]

In the study of 500,000 adults, published in the American Journal of Epidemiology, the Asia-Pacific Cohort Studies Collaboration (APCSC) shows that the risks of dying from lung cancer were about twenty times higher among women who smoke compared with male smokers, a worrying finding given the increasing trend for women to take up the habit in many countries. [click link for full article]

The Egyptian Central Public Health Laboratory and the US Naval Medical Research Unit Number 3 (NAMRU-3) have confirmed that two more people have become infected with the avian influenza A(H5N1) virus. — A girl, aged 6, was hospitalized on March 25th with bird-flu-like symptoms. She is from Qena Governorate. — A boy, aged 5, was hospitalized with bird-flu-like symptoms, also on March 25th. He is from Menia Governate. [click link for full article]

Proteins released by the placenta may damage blood vessels in women with preeclampsia (PE), according to an abstract presented by Yale School of Medicine researchers at the Society for Gynecologic Investigation Conference March 17 in Reno, Nevada. [click link for full article]

Recurring chlamydia infections are prevalent in young women ages 14-19, according to a Yale Department of Epidemiology and Public Health (EPH) study published by Linda Niccolai, assistant professor in the division of Epidemiology of Microbial Diseases, in the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine. [click link for full article]

A new investigation of a rural, Old Order Amish community shows Amish children have higher physical activity levels and lower rates of obesity when compared to children living in a modern, industrialized society. The study offers a compelling look at the prevalence of childhood obesity among children who, by lifestyle, are more active and do not utilize modern technology, including television, video games, or computers. [click link for full article]