Earlier diagnosis of ovarian cancer possible
Symptoms associated with ovarian cancer, especially abdominal bloating and pain, often start several months prior to diagnosis, a study shows, suggesting that with appropriate testing the diagnosis can be made earlier than it is currently. Ovarian cancer is much more curable when detected early.
In the October 1st issue of Cancer, the study team says their observations “provide objective evidence that patients with ovarian cancer, as a group, are distinguishable symptomatically from controls at least 6 months prior to diagnosis.”
Exercise good for those at risk for osteoarthritis
Moderate regular exercise may strengthen knee cartilage in people at high risk of developing knee osteoarthritis—the leading cause of disability in adults, Swedish researchers report.
“Exercise may have important implications for disease prevention in patients at risk of developing knee osteoarthritis,” the authors conclude.
Russia registers new birdflu outbreaks
Russia’s Agriculture Ministry said on Friday that new bird flu outbreaks had been registered in three Russian regions already hit by the virus.
A ministry statement said outbreaks had been confirmed in the Tambov region, 400 km (298 miles) southeast of Moscow, in Omsk region in eastern Siberia and Kurgan in southern Urals.
Bird flu virulence key concern for scientists
No one can predict when or where a bird flu virus will mutate into a human pandemic strain, but scientists are preparing so that when it does, they will be ready to pounce on it, a leading virologist said on Friday.
While surveillance centres dotted around the globe are keeping an eye on changes in the H5N1 bird flu virus, Dr Jim Robertson and scientists at the National Institute for Biological Standards and Controls (NIBSC) in England are working on vaccines in case it becomes highly infectious in humans.
Big SAfrican firms to help smaller ones fight AIDS
An initiative to expand testing and treatment of HIV-infected workers in mid-sized companies in South Africa was launched on Friday, to help fight a disease affecting one in nine people in the country.
Big companies, which run successful in-house HIV/AIDS testing and treatment facilities and pay for their workers’ life-prolonging drugs, have teamed up with the World Economic Forum (WEF) to try to offer similar care to smaller businesses.
