Time running out to stop bird flu - experts
It could infect 20 percent of the world’s population, kill many millions and create an economic crisis but scientists say not enough is being done to combat a bird flu virus that could trigger a global pandemic.
The Asian H5N1 virus that first surfaced in poultry in Hong Kong and China eight years ago has killed 37 people in Vietnam, 12 in Thailand and four in Cambodia.
Global health officials fear it could mutate into a lethal strain that could rival the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic that killed between 20 and 40 million people.
Strong genetic basis for tonsillitis
Recurrent tonsillitis (inflammation of the tonsils) may have a strong genetic component, researchers report in the Archives of Otolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery.
Lead investigator Dr. Ellen Kvestad from the Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo told Reuters Health that the disease is known to run in families but the finding that this is due to genetic factors with no contribution from common environmental factors “was a bit surprising.”
Kvestad and associates used data from 9479 Norwegian twins to investigate the possible genetic and environmental contributions to recurrent tonsillitis.
Danish tax may drain world’s top sperm bank
The source of the world’s biggest sperm bank may soon run dry if Danish authorities decide to tax donors, Cryos International Sperm Bank said on Wednesday.
Denmark, with the world’s highest income tax levels, wants sperm donors to pay tax on the 500 crown ($84.59) reimbursement men receive for their services.
WHO launches study on harmful use of alcohol
The World Health Organisation (WHO), already campaigning against obesity and smoking, launched a probe on Wednesday into alcohol, which is estimated to kill 1.8 million people each year.
A resolution, initiated by Nordic countries, was adopted by ministers from the WHO’s 192 member states on the final day of their annual 10-day assembly.
It expressed alarm at “trends in hazardous consumption”, or binge drinking, particularly among young people, and cited a growing risk in developing countries.
Indiana executes man who wanted to donate liver
Indiana on Wednesday executed a convicted murderer who had sought a reprieve so he could donate part of his liver to an ailing sister.
Gregory Johnson, 40, was pronounced dead at 12:28 a.m. CDT (0528 GMT) after an injection of lethal chemicals, officials at the Indiana State Prison said.
Study links garden pesticides to Parkinson’s risk
Gardeners should wear protective clothing when using pesticides, say scientists who have concluded in a new study that the chemicals can increase the risk of Parkinson’s disease.
Researchers at the University of Aberdeen in Scotland have discovered that the more pesticides gardeners are exposed to, the more likely they are to develop the degenerative brain disease.
Taiwan denies reports of re-emergence of SARS
Taiwan’s health authorities denied on Wednesday domestic media reports that a man who died last week had tested positive for SARS.
The Chinese-language China Times reported that a businessman who had recently returned from China was suspected to have died from Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome and one of his sons had since been hospitalised with similar symptoms.
The bladder does not shrink with age
Bladders do not appear to shrink with age, suggesting that urinary troubles in older people can no longer be considered a normal part of aging, according to new study findings released this week.
Investigators from the University of Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania found that women between the ages of 22 and 90 had bladders that could hold roughly the same amount of fluid.
