Some breast cancers depend on hormones and some do not. That thereexists a biological distinction between the types of breast cancer isreported in the open-access journal PLoS Genetics.It has been generally accepted in the medical community that hormonedependent breast cancers (ER positive) came from the same biologicalpathway as breast cancer that are hormone independent (ER negative).

A new study published in the open-access journal PLoSGenetics reports that mitochondria in yeast cellsare very influential in the process of cell division.Biochemist Heidi M. Blank and colleagues from Texas AgriLife Researchindicate that mitochondria are the fuel of the cell and act as a typeof “driver” in cell division. The authors maintain that this knowledgeof mitochondria’s role may help find cures for several human diseases.

“Eat breakfast if you want your baby to be a boy”, the headline in the Daily Mail read. Women are “more likely to have boys if they eat plenty and, crucially, have breakfast every day. And if it is cereal, the odds are even more in a boy’s favour”, the newspaper explains. This new scientific study investigating whether calorie intake around the time of conception can influence the sex of your baby has received widespread press coverage.

“Skin cancers on the scalp or neck are more deadly than those elsewhere on the body, a large study has suggested”, BBC News reported. The Daily Telegraph also describes the results of a new study that examined the prognosis (chance of survival) of patients who developed a malignant melanoma on their scalp or neck.

A new report on trends in early and middle childhood in the US suggests that a number of health, wellbeing, education, family and social indicators are improving, but there are one or two critical areas where things are seriously wrong, such as the childhood obesity crisis and the rising number of low birthweight babies.

Cost Estimate for Protecting the Medicaid Safety Net Act of 2008, Congressional Budget Office: The CBO cost estimate examines legislation (

The percentage of seniors who said they skipped taking medications because of costs declined after the Medicare prescription drug benefit took effect in January 2006, but the sickest beneficiaries still skip prescriptions because they cannot afford to pay for them, according to a study published Wednesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association,

The Bush administration on Tuesday issued a formal veto threat against legislation (HR 5613) that would place a one-year moratorium on seven new Medicaid regulations, CongressDaily reports (CongressDaily, 4/22). The legislation would delay implementation of the regulations until April 1, 2009.

Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee Chair Daniel Akaka (D-Hawaii) and committee member Patty Murray (D-Wash.) on Tuesday called for the resignation of Department of Veterans Affairs

The Wall Street Journal on Tuesday examined a hormone test “gaining wider use” in the U.S. that might provide a “more accurate snapshot of a woman’s egg count” compared with commonly used tests in the U.S.