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Medical Research
'Squeamish' attitudes hurts AIDS efforts
Issue Date: Aug 31, 1992
THE EIGHTH international conference on AIDS "will be sadly remembered for the change in venue from Boston to Amsterdam, necessitated by the discriminatory travel restrictions still in place in the USA". This rueful comment was made at the opening session by Michael Merson, director of WHO's global programme on AIDS, referring to the US ban on the entry of people infected by the killer virus.
US scientist uses herpes virus to fight brain tumours in rats
Issue Date: Aug 15, 1992
SURGEONS may soon be able to call upon living micro-organisms to fight tumours that cannot be reached by the surgeon's scalpel. US scientists are proposing a new form of "molecular surgery" involving the transfer of a viral gene into the tumour and then attacking it with the anti-viral drug, ganciclovir. The technique may be approved soon for human trials.
Gout gene
Issue Date: Aug 15, 1992
SCIENTISTS are now looking for a defective gene that leads to over-production of uric acid, a condition that may lead to gout-related disorders and kidney complaints. Recent research shows that gout is not confined to overweight, elderly people with a penchant for alcohol. Children can also develop gout and kidney disorders if they have an enzyme defect.
No-fracture hormone
Issue Date: Aug 15, 1992
A RECENT study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine has established that women with osteoporosis suffered fewer fractures after treatment with estrogen. Osteoporosis is a potentially debilitating disease characterised by weakened bones and an increased risk of fractures. Estrogen is already being used to prevent osteoporosis in postmenopausal women.
Celery for blood pressure
Issue Date: Aug 15, 1992
SCIENTISTS have discovered that celery, which was used as a herbal remedy in ancient times, contains a chemical that may lower blood pressure.
Sunlight kills cancer
Issue Date: Jul 31, 1992
Sunlight can be used to treat cancer using a method developed by University of Tokyo researchers. Their method focusses sunlight on the cancer-affected areas using optical fibres. The photochemical reaction with a previously injected substance kills cancer cells.
Diagnosing tuberculosis
Issue Date: Jul 31, 1992
Medical researchers at the University of Arkansas have found a way to reduce dramatically the time needed to diagnose tuberculosis. The new method, which involves analysing genetic material found in tuberculosis cells, will enable laboratories to diagnose TB in just 36 hours, instead of upto four weeks that it takes now. This would allow for an early start to treatment and the saving of many lives.
AIDS researcher aquitted of misconduct charge
Issue Date: Jul 31, 1992
WAS ROBERT C Gallo guilty, along with his colleagues at the US National Institute of Health, of scientific misconduct for their conduct and reporting of the crucial experiments that led to the development of a diagnostic blood test for HIV, the virus that causes AIDS?
The ACD of malaria control
Issue Date: Jun 30, 1992
WHY HAS the National Malaria Eradication Programme (NMEP) never really been able to contain the disease? The answer may finally be here. The Malaria Research Centre (MRC) in New Delhi has found that Anopheles culicifacies, the mosquito species responsible for 70 per cent of malaria in India and 80 per cent of the malaria control budget, is actually a complex combination of four species with different genetic characteristics.
Hair-raising promise
Issue Date: Jun 15, 1992
MERCK and Co's "hair raising"
research involves Proscar, its
experimental prostate shrinking drug, which holds out a promise of
greening the bald heads of men.
Scientists believe Proscar might
grow hair by blocking the formation of the male
hormone dihydrotestosterone.
People born with reduced levels of
this hormone are rarely bald. Proscar apparently shrinks enlarged
prostates by blocking the formation
of the same hormone.
