An experimental HIV vaccine has for the first time cut the risk of infection, researchers say.
The vaccine – a combination of two earlier experimental vaccines – was given to 16,000 people in Thailand, in the largest ever such vaccine trial.
Researchers found that it reduced by nearly a third the risk of contracting HIV, the virus that leads to Aids.
It has been hailed as a significant, scientific breakthrough, but a global vaccine is still some way off.
The study was carried out by the US army and the Thai government over seven years on volunteers – all HIV-negative men and women aged between 18 and 30 – in some of Thailand’s most badly-affected regions. Read the rest of this entry »
Each of the studies combined data from all previous studies of the effects of smoking bans on heart attacks.
Each came up with the same finding: Overall, smoking bans cut heart attacks by 17% — and this effect increases over time. There’s a 26% drop in heart attacks each year after smoking bans are in effect, one of the studies calculates.
This reduction in risk “is not trivial,” notes an editorial by Steven A. Schroeder, MD, of the University of California, San Francisco. Read the rest of this entry »
A new study has found probiotics may help weight loss surgery patients avoid a vitamin B12 deficiency, which is a common side effect of the procedure.
Researchers at Stanford University School of Medicine followed 44 patients who had gastric bypass surgery. They found that those who received a probiotic supplement everyday for three months following their procedure had a significantly higher weight loss as well as higher levels of vitamin B12 than those who got a placebo pill.
The group who received the probiotics had a 47.6 percent weight loss compared with a 38.5 percent loss in the control group. Read the rest of this entry »
You’ve heard that chicken soup can help cure the aches and pains associated with the flu and now experts are touting the benefits of some other flu-fighting foods.
Registered dietician Andrea Garen says that a healthy diet is important all year round, but particularly during the flu season. “Adding flu-fighting foods like yogurt, garlic, citrus and chicken to your diet can boost your body’s immune system and help you to avoid getting sick,” she says.
Previous research has suggested that low levels of vitamin D, found in milk and other dairy products, is linked to a seasonal increase in cold and flu and a higher incidence of respiratory infections. Cultured milk products, like yogurt, also contain probiotics which are beneficial bacteria with immunity-boosting benefits. Read the rest of this entry »
It’s difficult to test for, but new research suggests that zinc deficiencies are widespread across the world, with as many as 12 percent of the total U.S. population and an estimated 40 percent of elderly Americans affected by it.
A new study conducted at Oregon State University finds that even minor zinc deficiencies can cause DNA damage.
“Zinc deficiencies have been somewhat under the radar because we just don’t know that much about mechanisms that control its absorption, role or even how to test for it in people with any accuracy,” said Emily Ho, a researcher at OSU. Read the rest of this entry »
The United States and Europe face a new health threat from a mosquito-borne disease far more unpleasant than the West Nile virus that swept into North America a decade ago, a U.S. expert said on Friday.
Chikungunya virus has spread beyond Africa since 2005, causing outbreaks and scores of fatalities in India and the French island of Reunion. It also has been detected in Italy, where it has begun to spread locally, as well as France.
“We’re very worried,” Dr. James Diaz of the Louisiana University Health Sciences Center told a meeting on airlines, airports and disease transmission sponsored by the independent U.S. National Research Council. Read the rest of this entry »
