Nervous fathers mean more pain during caesarean surgeries for mothers

Fathers who are anxious during a caesarean operation may increase the pain experienced by the mother after the delivery of their baby, according to new research published in the journal Psychosomatic Medicine. more  

Use your brain, halve your risk of dementia

Research from UNSW provides the most convincing evidence to date that complex mental activity across people's lives significantly reduces the risk of dementia. The researchers found that such activity almost halves the incidence of dementia. more

International breast health guidelines

Specific recommendations for improving breast-health care and cancer treatment in countries with limited resources have been published by the Breast Health Global Initiative (BHGI), an international coalition of doctors, scientists, policy makers and advocates led by Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. more  

Studies examine withholding of scientific data among researchers, trainees

Open sharing of information is a basic principle of the scientific process, but it is well known that secrecy has become a fact of life in academic science. Several studies have described how researchers may withhold the results of their studies from other scientists or deny them access to data or materials. In two new reports, researchers from the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) Institute for Health Policy examine a broader range of withholding behaviors among life scientists than previously reported and describe how data withholding is affecting researchers in several fields during their training years. The papers appear in the February 2006 issue of Academic Medicine. more

Polycystic kidney disease 

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the PKD Foundation have launched two treatment trials for autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD). The common inherited disorder is characterized by cysts in the kidneys and other organs, high blood pressure, and aneurysms (bulges in blood vessels, which may burst) in the brain. Symptoms usually appear between the ages of 30 and 40 and include back and side pain and headaches. About half of ADPKD patients eventually develop kidney failure and require dialysis or a kidney transplant. more

HIV prevention hope: yogurt bugs that make antiviral drugs  

Researchers have come up with a novel delivery system for anti-AIDS drugs: milk-curdling bacteria used to make yogurt and cheese. more

Diabetes complications rooted in faulty cell repair

University of Florida researchers say primitive cells that act like molecular maintenance men - traveling throughout the body to repair damaged blood vessels - become too rigid to move in patients with diabetes, fueling the disease's vascular complications. But they have found a way to restore the cells' flexibility, at least in the laboratory, according to findings published in the January issue of the journal Diabetes. more