Pilot screening programmes for abdominal aortic aneurysms in men aged 65 are due to be launched in England this year, but is this move too hasty? Two experts debate the issue in this weeks BMJ. Around 90% of people with a ruptured aortic aneurysm die. But if the aneurysm is discovered before it ruptures and is repaired by an experienced vascular surgeon, mortality is around 7.4%, writes James Johnson, consultant surgeon at Halton General Hospital, Runcorn........

Nearly 20 percent of military service members who have returned from Iraq and Afghanistan -- 300,000 in all -- report symptoms of post traumatic stress disorder or major depression, yet only slight more than half have sought therapy, as per a new RAND Corporation study. In addition, scientists found about 19 percent of returning service members report that they experienced a possible traumatic brain injury while deployed, with 7 percent reporting both a probable brain injury and current PTSD or major depression........

Scientists at National Jewish Medical and Research Center are conducting trials to evaluate a method to prevent allergic reactions to food. They are feeding peanut- and egg-allergic people increasing doses of an investigational protein extract from the foods to see if they can induce the participants' immune systems to tolerate the food........

Mankind triumphed in a recent 'competition' against nature when researchers succeeded in creating a new type of enzyme for a reaction for which no naturally occurring enzyme has evolved. This achievement opens the door to the development of a variety of potential applications in medicine and industry........

How can scientists track where teens go when not in or near home or school to see if this movement has an impact on health-related behavior such as smoking or sexual activity" The answer is through that ubiquitous teen accessory the cell phone. In a paper reported in the recent issue of the Journal of Adolescent Health scientists from Indiana University School of Medicine report on a pilot study which reviewed the feasibility of using global position system -enabled cell phones to track where 14- to 16-year-old girls spent their time........

Scientists at the University of Washington have uncovered how the bacterium Staphylococcus aureus, including the notorious MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staph aureus) superbug strains, resists our body's natural defenses against infection. The work, which was featured on the cover of the March 21 issue of Science, could lead to new ways to fight the bacteria........

A University of California, San Diego-led research team has demonstrated that immunization with a stabilized version of a protein found on Streptococcus bacteria can provide protection against Strep infections, which afflict more than 600 million people each year and kill 400,000. In the March 7 issue of the journal Science, the scientists describe, for the first time, the detailed structure of the streptococcal M protein, which is critical to the virulence of Group A Streptococcus (GAS). GAS causes a wide variety of human diseases including strep throat, rheumatic fever, and the life-threatening flesh-eating syndrome called necrotizing fasciitis. Studies were performed using M1 protein, which represents the version of M protein present on the most common disease-associated GAS strains........

Eventhough scientists have long agreed that girls have superior language abilities than boys, until now no one has clearly provided a biological basis that may account for their differences. For the first time -- and in unambiguous findings -- scientists from Northwestern University and the University of Haifa show both that areas of the brain linked to language work harder in girls than in boys during language tasks, and that boys and girls rely on different parts of the brain when performing these tasks........

The Netherlands, January 14, 2008 A rapid and accurate DHPLC assay for determination of apolipoprotein E genotypes has been developed by scientists from the Department of Medical Genetics, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, China. This assay combines PCR and DHPLC and can be used to conduct efficient genotyping of the human population, which in turn will help in the diagnosis and therapy of Alzheimers disease. A description of the assay has been published this month in the Journal of Alzheimers Disease........

Its a topic people often dont want to talk about, but suicide is a serious issue that needs serious attention. As per a University of Alberta researcher, teens are difficult to reach and there have traditionally been few services that directly target adolescent suicidal behavior. Elaine Greidanus says a number of teens arent picking up a phone, or seeing a counsellor, theyre more likely logging on for emotional support........

ATLANTA Oregon Health and Science University Cancer Institute researchers have opened a new window into the roots of chronic myeloid leukemia (CML). We are looking under the surface of CML to understand better where the cancer is coming from. We have discovered abnormal cells in the early stem cell population in some CML patients, which dont belong to the CML clone. These are abnormal cells that are not part of the CML clone, said Thomas Bumm, M.D., OHSU Cancer Institute member........

Serious head injuries among alpine skiers and snowboarders have risen over the past 15 years, reveals research in Injury Prevention. The increase has coincided with faster speed and the inclusion of more jumping and acrobatics as the norm in these sports, say the authors. The authors base their findings on a comprehensive international trawl of published research on injuries sustained by mountain skiers and snowboarders between 1990 and the end of 2004........

Women die and get infections more often than men after heart surgery because they tend to receive more blood transfusions, which boost the risks of bad outcomes, as per a research studyreported in the December Journal of Womens Health. Co-authored by scientists from the University of Rochester Medical Center and University of Michigan Health System, the study raises another red flag about transfusions, an ancient medical practice that some doctors now believe is overused........

Research at Emory University shows that monitoring the level of an epilepsy drug, called lamotrigine, in the blood helps reduce increased seizure activity and improve the overall health of pregnant women and their fetuses. The findings are published Nov. 28 in the online edition of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology........

Two doctors from Hospital del Mar in Barcelona and UAB professors have observed, through a research carried out during the past 9 years, an increase in the number of children affected by tinea of the nails, as well as an underdiagnosis of this affection by paediatricians. In Europe, Tinea unguium has an incidence rate between 0 and 2.6% (average 0.3%) in general population. The symptoms of tinea of the nails are generally well tolerated by patients, causing a delay in medical consultation. Together these two factors represent a challenge for a pediatrician faced with diagnosis and therapy of tinea of the nails........

A recent study of men co-infected with herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2) and HIV revealed that drugs used to suppress HSV decrease the levels of HIV in the blood and rectal secretions, which may make patients less likely to transmit the virus. This study is reported in the November 15 issue of the Journal of Infectious Diseases, now available online........

The U.S. Pharmacopeia (USP) is pleased to announce 11 new proposed monographs for dietary supplements for public notice and comment. Six Turmeric-related monographs and three Soy Isoflavones monographs appeared in Pharmacopeial Forum (PF) 33(6), the issue corresponding to November/December 2007. These are Turmeric, Powdered Turmeric, Powdered Turmeric Extract, Curcuminoids, Curcuminoids Capsules, Curcuminoids Tablets, Soy Isoflavones Extract, Soy Isoflavones Capsules, and Soy Isoflavones Tablets. Two monographs for single ingredient amino acid formulations, arginine capsules and arginine tablets also appeared in PF 33(6). PF is the journal through which USP offers, for public review and comments, new and revised standards pertaining to the United States PharmacopeiaNational Formulary........

While investigating how the hormone orexin might control sleep and hunger, scientists at UT Southwestern Medical Center have discovered, to. their surprise, that it activates a protein, HIF-1, long known to stimulate malignant tumor growth. The study, appearing today in the online version of the journal Genes and Development, is among the first to show how HIF-1 operates in healthy tissues rather than in tumors, said Dr. Thomas Kodadek, chief of translational research at UT Southwestern and senior author of the study........

New Haven, Conn.A protein measured in a simple blood test may be a new biomarker to identify patients with the most serious form of asthma, Yale School of Medicine scientists report today in the New England Journal (NEJM). Identifying this new biomarker, YKL-40, brings researchers one step closer to a therapy for the nations 2.5 million asthmatics with a severe form of the disease that is difficult to treat, the scientists say........