The Balm in Gilead, an 18-year-old, national not-for-profit that promotes HIV/AIDS awareness among black religious communities, will expand its focus to address cervical cancer and hepatitis C, Pernessa Seele, founder and CEO of the organization, said on Tuesday, [click link for full article]

A researcher at the University of Missouri-Columbia has found that girls who talk very extensively about their problems with friends are likely to become more anxious and depressed.The research was conducted by Amanda Rose, associate professor of psychological sciences in the College of Arts and Science. The six-month study, which included boys and girls, examined the effects of co-rumination - excessively talking with friends about problems and concerns. [click link for full article]

The United Kingdom should introduce a “stop at two children” or “have one child less” guideline and review incentives that lead many teen girls to become pregnant to decrease the population growth in the country, according to a report released Thursday by the group Optimum Population Trust, London’s Guardian reports. According to figures from the [click link for full article]

At a major conference on prostate cancer yesterday, Dr Chris Parker from The Institute of Cancer Research and The Royal Marsden Hospital, will deplore the lack of clinical trials for men with the disease. “Every year 32, 000 British men are diagnosed with prostate cancer in the UK. But because of a legacy of under-investment in prostate cancer clinical trials in the past, we now know less about the best way of treating patients compared with many other cancers. [click link for full article]

Dr. Daniel More, guide of allergies.com, wants to know what kinds of allergies you suffer from. Participate in the poll below, and then click to see the results from other…

By bypassing a well-known gene implicated in almost one-third of all cancers and instead focusing on the protein activated by the gene, Duke University Medical Center researchers believe they may have found a new target for anti-cancer drugs.In experiments with human cells and animal models, the researchers studied the gene known as ‘Ras,’ which is integral in normal cell growth. [click link for full article]

The United Nations Population Fund and the Vietnam Committee for Population, Family and Children on Wednesday in Hanoi, Vietnam, signed a $1.45 million agreement to deliver family planning supplies and develop an awareness campaign through 2008, the VNA/Thanh Nien News reports. [click link for full article]

Montana has increased the income threshold for SCHIP eligibility to 175% of the federal poverty level effective July 1, the state Department of Public Health and Human Services recently announced, the Billings Gazette reports. The previous limit was 150% of the poverty level. [click link for full article]

Women who have suffered heart attacks have higher rates of lingering depressive symptoms compared to their male counterparts, a University of Alberta and McGill University study shows.In surveying 486 patients, 102 of them female, the joint study found that 14.3 per cent of the women had worsening depression one year after their initial myocardial infarctions, as compared to 11 per cent of the men. [click link for full article]

A new US review of published scientific literature suggests that older oral drugs for treating adults with type 2 diabetes mellitus are just as effective, if not more so, than newer, more expensive ones.The study is published in the early online edition of the journal Annals of Internal Medicine. [click link for full article]