Month: May 2013

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Some good news for people who enjoy restraints, riding crops and floggers in the bedroom: A new study says you probably don’t have a mental disorder.

The results “seem contradictory to what the general public and professionals believe,” said Andreas Wismeijer of Tilburg University in the Netherlands, who published the study along with Marcel van Assen.

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Kids who are short for their age but otherwise healthy probably don’t need extensive blood tests to determine if a disease is stunting their growth, researchers said in a new study.

Of 235 short kids without symptoms who were referred for specialty testing, just three had a possible diagnosis picked up on those labs, and only one diagnosis – for celiac disease – was confirmed, researchers found.

By James Gallagher Health and science reporter, BBC News

The wraps inflate to move blood through the legs

Cheap inflatable leg wraps may save the lives of patients after a stroke, according to research in Scotland.

The devices regularly squeeze the legs to keep blood flowing and prevent formation of fatal blood clots.

A trial with 2,876 patients, published in the Lancet, showed there were fewer clots with the wraps.

The Stroke Association said the results were “extremely encouraging” and had the potential to save thousands of lives.

Antibiotics use can lead to diarrhoea, but probiotics may hold the solution

People who are on antibiotics may benefit from taking probiotics at the same time, a review of evidence shows.

Scientists at the Cochrane Collaboration say taking the supplements could prevent diarrhoea – a common side-effect of many antibiotics.

They looked specifically at cases of diarrhoea caused by the potentially dangerous Clostridium difficile bug.

Experts say probiotics could be a “pre-emptive strike” to ensure a healthy balance of bacteria in the gut.

Antibiotics use can lead to diarrhoea, but probiotics may hold the solution

People who are on antibiotics may benefit from taking probiotics at the same time, a review of evidence shows.

Scientists at the Cochrane Collaboration say taking the supplements could prevent diarrhoea – a common side-effect of many antibiotics.

They looked specifically at cases of diarrhoea caused by the potentially dangerous Clostridium difficile bug.

Experts say probiotics could be a “pre-emptive strike” to ensure a healthy balance of bacteria in the gut.

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Tranquilizers known as benzodiazepines and certain older antidepressants are linked with a greater chance of having erectile dysfunction (ED), according to a new survey.

“Definitely it confirms the tricyclics (antidepressants)” are tied to ED, said Dr. Richard Balon, a psychiatry professor at Wayne State University School of Medicine.

Contrary to some other studies, however, the research did not find any increased risk of ED among men taking blood-pressure medications.

LONDON (Reuters) – Five top Japanese drug companies are to open their “libraries” of experimental compounds to scrutiny by scientists hunting new treatments for malaria, tuberculosis and other diseases affecting the world’s poor.

The initiative, announced on Thursday, is the first project under a new $100 million partnership between the drugmakers, the Japanese government and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to fund research into neglected tropical diseases.

LONDON (Reuters) – Five top Japanese drug companies are to open their “libraries” of experimental compounds to scrutiny by scientists hunting new treatments for malaria, tuberculosis and other diseases affecting the world’s poor.

The initiative, announced on Thursday, is the first project under a new $100 million partnership between the drugmakers, the Japanese government and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to fund research into neglected tropical diseases.