Health and Medicine

While most scientists believe that allergies cause asthma, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis are uncovering a second potential cause for this common respiratory illness. Their new model suggests that a viral infection in the first years of life may leave a lasting mark on the immune system, causing chronic respiratory problems later on. “While the allergic response may increase during an asthma attack, our research suggests that the anti-viral response also

Interrupting anti-HIV treatment for an extended period and then re-initiating therapy might be safe in some patients, according to a study by Northwestern University infectious disease experts. Chad Achenbach, M.D., and co-investigators from The Feinberg School of Medicine presented data from their research today at the XIV International AIDS Conference. In an observational study, 25 HIV-infected patients with viral suppression for at least six months while receiving highly active a

Smokers who inherit a particular genetic trait could triple their chances of getting lung cancer according to a report in the British Journal of Cancer.* While tobacco is the biggest cause of lung cancer. the risk of developing it varies. This has led scientists to believe that genetics may have a crucial role in deciding who is most susceptible to the disease. German researchers have found that a quarter of patients with the most common form of lung cancer carry a particular version of a g

Eating a diet rich in soya products such as tofu can affect the make-up of breast tissue, potentially reducing the risk of breast cancer, according to a new study* from Cancer Research UK.

Scientists have previously suggested that soya intake might contribute to the low rates of breast cancer in countries like China and Japan but research has proved inconclusive.

However, the new findings from a collaborative study involving scientists from the National University of Singapore, Can

A study in this week’s issue of THE LANCET highlights a reduction in both HIV-1 incidence (the number of new cases) and prevalence (the number of cases in the population) from the beginning to the end of the past decade among a rural Ugandan population. Authors of the study conclude that the results could offer hope for other sub-Saharan countries where the HIV-1 infection rate remains high.

HIV-1 incidence rates in a community are a more accurate measure of epidemic trends than prevalence r

New screening techniques for Down`s syndrome are less effective than previously supposed, despite a government initiative to offer all pregnant women the new tests by 2004, finds a study in this week`s BMJ.

Researchers identified all cases of Down`s syndrome in eight district general hospitals in the Wessex region between 1994 and 1999. During these six years, 155,501 babies were delivered 335 cases of Down`s syndrome were identified.

Across the region, seven different screening pol