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LONDON - Danish and U.S. researchers said on Tuesday they have found a way to way to attack malaria by knocking out a gene that helps malaria parasites reproduce inside mosquitoes.
The gene -- whose function was previously unknown -- allows the parasite to develop an egg-like structure called an oocyst, which spawns new infectious parasites, the researchers reported in the Proceedings...

NEW YORK - Heart failure patients who are still mobile typically estimate that they will live three years longer than standard models predict they will, according to a report in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
"Because differences in perceived survival could affect decision making regarding advanced therapies and end-of-life planning, the causes of these discordant predictions warrant further study," Dr....

Frequent use of alcohol-based hand sanitizers and a daily disinfectant wipe-down of classroom surfaces can help reduce school absences due to gastrointestinal illness, a new study demonstrates.
In classes where these infection control measures were used, 16 percent of the students were out sick for one day or more because of stomach problems over the course of eight weeks, compared with 24 percent of children in classes that didn't...

WASHINGTON - When pharmaceutical consulting firm Quintiles wants to hire a new employee, the first place it looks is the Food and Drug Administration.
These former insiders bring critical expertise to the consultant and clients like Merck & Co. Inc. and Pfizer Inc., but there is also an unintended downside.
As companies siphon off FDA's most experienced scientists, they leave an increasingly leaner,...

CHICAGO - Tyson Foods Inc, the second largest U.S. chicken producer, said on Tuesday it will eradicate about 15,000 chickens in Arkansas exposed to a mild strain of bird flu, and while there was no risk to human health the news sent its shares lower.
The affected chickens, which will not enter the food supply, had antibodies of a mild or low...

LONDON - Disinfectant wipes routinely used in hospitals may actually spread drug-resistant bacteria rather than kill the dangerous infections, British researchers said on Tuesday.
While the wipes killed some bacteria, a study of two hospitals showed they did not get them all and could transfer the so-called superbugs to other surfaces, Gareth Williams, a microbiologist at Cardiff University, said.
The findings presented at...

A Veterans Affairs psychologist denies that she was trying to save money when she suggested that counselors make fewer diagnoses of post-traumatic stress disorder in injured soldiers.
Norma Perez, who helps coordinate a post-traumatic stress disorder clinical team in central Texas, indicated she might have been out of line to cite growing disability claims in her March 20 e-mail titled "Suggestion." She...

NEW YORK - Adults with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) do about one month's less work each year than people who don't have this condition, a new 10-country study from the World Health Organization (WHO) demonstrates.
And only a few of these days are spent out sick. "They are at work, but the quality and quantity of the work is less than is usual,"...

WASHINGTON - A consumer advocacy group called on the Food and Drug Administration Tuesday to ban the use of eight artificial colorings in food because they have been linked to hyperactivity and behavior problems in children.
Controlled studies conducted over three decades have shown that children's behavior can be worsened by some artificial dyes, says the Center for Science in the Public...

Soda and pudding for lunch? Popcorn for dinner? In response to a recent story about
One new mom found herself battling her own mother over her son's name. "She's insisted since his birth of addressing him by his middle name (which is Michael), except that she calls him Mikey, which annoys me," writes Michelle of Kansas City, Kan. "I'd finally had...

An outbreak of salmonella food poisoning first linked to uncooked tomatoes has now been reported in nine states, U.S health officials said Tuesday.
Lab tests have confirmed 40 illnesses in Texas and New Mexico as the same type of salmonella, right down to the genetic fingerprint. An investigation by Texas and New Mexico health authorities and the Indian Health Service tied those...

ATLANTA - An outbreak of salmonella food poisoning first linked to uncooked tomatoes has now been reported in nine states, U.S health officials said Tuesday.
Lab tests have confirmed 40 illnesses in Texas and New Mexico as the same type of salmonella, right down to the genetic fingerprint. An investigation by Texas and New Mexico health authorities and the Indian Health Service...

(HealthDay News) -- Here are the latest clinical trials, courtesy of CenterWatch:

Allergy

If you are aged 18 to 65 with a history of seasonal allergies during May and June, you may qualify for this study of an investigational drug to treat grass allergies.

The research site is in Draper, Utah

More information

Please see http://www.centerwatch.com/patient/studies/cat166.html.< /p>
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Women's Health

If you are a healthy postmenopausal female aged 35 to 70 and are...

LONDON - A probiotic drink a day may help keep hay fever away, British researchers said on Tuesday.
A small study showed that probiotic, or "good" bacteria in a daily drink can change the immune system's response to grass pollen, a common cause of allergies, and balance antibodies in a way that may provide relief to people with the condition.
"These data show...

TUESDAY, June 3 (HealthDay News) -- A person's risk of cancer increases if he or she suffers from DNA-damaging chronic inflammation of the intestine or stomach, such as ulcerative colitis, according to scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Their findings, confirmed in two studies the researchers did on mice, were published in the June 2 online issue of the Journal of Clinical Investigation.

Researchers have long known...