A new hereditary breast cancer gene has been discovered by scientists at the Lundberg Laboratory for Cancer Research and the Plastic Surgery Clinic at the Sahlgrenska Academy in Sweden. The researchers found that women with a certain hereditary deformity syndrome run a nearly twenty times higher risk of contracting breast cancer than expected.Several research teams around the world have long been searching for new hereditary breast cancer genes, but thus far few have been found. [click link for full article]

Many women in the menopausal transition experience hot flashes: unpredictable, sometimes disruptive, periods of intense heat in the upper torso, neck and face. Although generations of physicians have prescribed hormones to reduce these symptoms, very little research has focused on the underlying causes of hot flashes. [click link for full article]

University of Cincinnati (UC) environmental health researchers say a therapy commonly used to remove dangerously high levels of lead from the body may also improve muscle functions associated with postural balance and movement in lead-exposed children. [click link for full article]

Although reducing consumption of trans fats is laudable, the Dietitians Association of Australia (DAA) says that a result of focusing on it too much may be an increase in the consumption of saturated fats. While the DAA aggrees that trans fat consumption should go down, it stresses that replacing the decrease with a rise in saturated fats consumption would have terrible health consequences for Australians. [click link for full article]

Horses are inheritably couch potatoes. An overeating, slothful horse leads to an obese horse. Unlike humans, however, horse owners often don’t see the dangers of an obese horse. Caretakers may see no harm in giving their horses rich foods, but obesity in horses is just as unhealthy as obesity in humans and can lead to fatal diseases. [click link for full article]

Three years ago six premature babies died at the St. Justine Hospital, Montreal, Canada. A report indicates that poor pluming, which contributed towards the bacterial infection, was to blame. About fifty babies became infected with pseudomonas aeruginosa, a bacterium which usually affects the respiratory system. Premature babies, whose immune and respiratory systems are undeveloped, are particularly vulnerable to this infection. The first baby died in 2004. [click link for full article]

As American school-kids become fatter and fatter, the Institute of Medicine has indicated there is a serious need to establish school nutrition standards and limit access to competitive foods. Being overweigh/obese during childhood significantly increases a person’s chances of developing serious illnesses, such as diabetes type 2, cardiovascular diseases, hypertension, and many cancers. [click link for full article]

In recognition of his outstanding basic research within the nephrology field, the International Society of Nephrology (ISN) presented Richard P. Lifton, Howard Hughes Medical Investigator at the Yale University School of Medicine (USA) with the prestigious Alfred Newton Richards Award at the Opening Lecture of the World Congress of Nephrology (WCN), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. [click link for full article]

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has caused an unnecessary scare about some pain relievers by adding a warning to drugs that are safe, says Curt Furberg, M.D., Ph.D., from Wake Forest University School of Medicine. At the same time, he says the agency has failed to recognize the harm of a pain reliever that should be taken off the market. [click link for full article]

The anti-anginal medication ranolazine was shown to be safe in regard to certain outcomes but did not reduce the risk of major cardiovascular events such as death, heart attack or recurrent ischemia following acute coronary syndromes, according to a study in JAMA.Despite advances in the treatment of acute coronary syndromes (ACS), the risk of recurrent events remains substantial. [click link for full article]