Health and Medicine

Researchers at the University of Cambridge have launched a major study to assess the benefits of screening for Type 2 diabetes. Type 2 is the most common type of diabetes, and is on the increase, due largely to the rise in obesity and sedentary lifestyles.

The study, named ADDITION, is based at the Department of Public Health and Primary Care. Launching the study, one of the Principal Investigators Dr Simon Griffin, explained its aim.

“Undetected diabetes is common and often people

Cloned cells organize into muscle, heart and kidney tissue; animals show no rejection

Boston – In a study published in the July issue of Nature Biotechnology, available on the internet June 3, researchers from Children’s Hospital Boston and colleagues demonstrated that laboratory-engineered tissues created from heart, skeletal, and renal cells cloned from cows, then transplanted back into the animals, developed into functional tissues and caused no signs of rejection.

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Ph.D. candidate Lital Alfonta wins Kaye Award

Lital Alfonta, a Ph.D. candidate in the Faculty of Science at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, has developed a fast, inexpensive test to determine if an AIDS patient has developed resistance to the medication he is taking. Ms. Alfonta was selected to receive the prestigious Kaye Innovation Award for her work, which could vastly improve treatment of AIDS patients.

Ms. Alfonta, who developed the test under the guidance of Prof.

Rising levels of gonorrhoea and syphilis across western Europe since 1995 imply that complacency over HIV prevention efforts may have set in among individuals and some governments, argue researchers in this week’s BMJ.

Angus Nicoll and Francoise Hamers examined national trends in diagnosed HIV infections, gonorrhoea, and infectious syphilis from 1995 to 2000.

They found the numbers of new diagnoses of sexually acquired HIV infections increased by 20% in western Europe. Rates of go

Popular arthritis drugs, known as selective COX 2 inhibitors, may not be superior to traditional non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, conclude researchers in this week’s BMJ.

A study published in September 2000 concluded that the COX 2 inhibitor, celecoxib, was associated with a lower rate of stomach and intestinal ulcers than two older drugs for arthritis. However, only data for the first six months of the study were published. When all the data were considered, the published results appe

Scientists from Imperial College London have discovered that xenon gas could help in protecting damaged nerve cells.

The research, published today in Anesthesiology, shows that xenon, an inert gas, acts as a neuroprotectant, helping to protect damaged nerve cells from dying. Based upon pre-clinical trials, researchers believe it could have human applications, eventually leading to treatments for people suffering from nerve damaging illnesses, such as strokes, and brain and spinal cord injur