Study finds limited options for backup HIV treatment in some developing countries

Thai researchers have discovered that patients who fail treatment with a commonly used, inexpensive, first-line antiretroviral therapy (ART) are also usually resistant to other, similar drugs, leaving progressively fewer options for replacement therapies. Since catching treatment failure early is key to preventing further resistance, this research, published in the Feb. 1 issue of Clinical Infectious Diseases and currently available online, also argues for greater access in the developing world to tests that detect when the amount of virus in a patient's blood is increasing. more  

Turning green gunk to gold, anti-cancer gold

Combining synthetic chemistry techniques with a knowledge of the properties and actions of enzymes, scientists have been able to produce an exciting class of anti-cancer drugs originally isolated from blue-green algae. more

Hopeful nurses are more comfortable, confident in caring for dying children

Nurses with higher levels of hopefulness are more likely to report feeling confident and competent in their ability to care for dying children and their families. Researchers at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, reporting on a survey of hundreds of pediatric nurses, said that nurses who were more confident about their skills also were more likely to have received education in palliative care--the practice of providing high-quality, responsive care to patients with a life-threatening illness. more  

Homing nanoparticles pack multiple assault on tumors

A collaborative team led by Erkki Ruoslahti, M.D., Ph.D., of the Burnham Institute for Medical Research at UC Santa Barbara (Burnham) has developed nanoparticles that seek out tumors and bind to their blood vessels, and then attract more nanoparticles to the tumor target. Using this system the team demonstrated that the homing nanoparticle could be used to deliver a "payload" of an imaging compound, and in the process act as a clotting agent, obstructing as much as 20% of the tumor blood vessels. more

Study finds obese patients fair better than lean patients when hospitalized for acute heart failure  

Researchers report that for patients hospitalized with acute heart failure, a higher body mass index (BMI) was associated with a substantially lower in-hospital mortality rate. For every 5-unit increase in body mass, the odds of risk-adjusted mortality fell 10 percent. The finding held when adjusted for age, sex, blood urea nitrogen, blood pressure, and additional prognostic factors. more

Scientists discover how body fights to control spread of cancer  

Scientists at the University of Liverpool have found how two molecules fight in the blood to control the spread of cancer cells. more

Trusting your instincts leads you to the right answer

A UCL (University College London) study has found that you are more likely to perform well if you do not think too hard and instead trust your instincts. The research, published online today in the journal Current Biology, shows that, in some cases, instinctive snap decisions are more reliable than decisions taken using higher-level cognitive processes. more

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