Peanut allergy is becoming more common, with the number of people suffering from this form of food allergy doubling over the past 20 years. Approximately 1% of children suffer from…

Despite the fact that congenital heart disease (CHD) is the most common birth defect in the United States, pediatric cardiology receives relatively little attention compared to adult cardiology. But a new photodocumentary volume entitled My Heart vs. the Real World gives a human face to children with CHD.

Genentech’s Avastin, a drug which is currently used to treat colon and lung cancer, has been approved by the FDA for breast cancer treatment. Earning approximately $2.3 billion in the USA alone in 2007, this new approval is expected to boost Avastin sales by at least $500 million.

As we eagerly prepare for the arrival of spring, the American Public Health Association (APHA) wants to ensure that you and your loved ones are prepared for a possible public health emergency. With this in mind, APHA today launched a new campaign aimed at encouraging Americans to make sure their emergency preparedness kits are stocked when they change their clocks for daylight saving time.

On February 20, 2008, President Bush challenged the world to reduce and eventually control and eliminate the burden of neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) as a major threat to health and economic growth in the developing world. The new Presidential Initiative for NTD Control will increase the United States’ commitment to NTDs from $15 million in 2008 to a total of $350 million over five years.

Evanston Northwestern Healthcare, Division of Urogynecology, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Northwestern University Medical School, Evanston, IL, USA.The authors evaluated the role of routine cystoscopy in detecting bladder cancer in women seen in a uro-gynecology practice and to determine whether microscopic hematuria is a reliable predictor of cancer risk. All women had lower urinary tract symptoms.

UroToday.com - A report in the December, 2007 issue of Urology by M.J. Lange and associates links androgen-deprivation therapy (ADT) for prostate cancer (CaP) to incident diabetes mellitus (DM). The study rationale is based upon knowledge that ADT is associated with loss of lean body mass, increase of fat body mass, hyperglycemia, and insulin resistance. An administrative claims database was used to identify men having CaP between 2000 and 2005.

BERKELEY, CA (UroToday.com) - Uroplakin III-delta 4, a splice variant of UP III, was isolated by my Japanese colleagues, Dr. T Yoshiki and others, although its protein structure and function still remains unclear. In this study, the up-regulation of UP III-delta 4 gene was specifically found in non-ulcerative type interstitial cystitis (IC). At the time of this first report, specific antibodies against this variant form had not been available.

BERKELEY, CA (UroToday.com) - Clinical solid organ transplantation is a great success story, and when permanent failure of the kidney, liver, heart, or lung occurs, replacement by transplant is the preferred treatment option. Today with 1-year graft survivals approaching 90% the number of waiting recipients far outstrips organ supply, which has limited further expansion.

UroToday.com - One commonly believed pathophysiologic hypothesis for BPS/IC is based on a disorder of the urine-tissue barrier. Disturbance of the balance between hyperosmolaric urine and the physiologic tissue compartment and penetration of toxic urinary compounds into the bladder wall is thought to be central in the induction of urgency, frequency and pain.