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Urgent steps needed to tackle inadequate support for women with secondary breast cancer

The support provided for women with secondary breast cancer is inadequate and urgent steps are needed to provide better services for patients with this progressive incurable disease, which kills half a million women worldwide every year. Those are the key recommendations to emerge from a trio of papers in the September issue of the European Journal of Cancer Care.

Learning to live on land: How some early plants overcame an evolutionary hurdle

 How some early plants overcame an evolutionary hurdle

Robotic catheter could improve treatment of heart condition

Robotic catheter could improve treatment of heart condition

Existing commercial catheters are manually controlled and can only move in two directions. These catheters require doctors to painstakingly manipulate the catheter to control exactly where each individual lesion should be applied.

Employee with higher level of emotional intelligence is more dedicated and satisfied at work

Employees with a high level of emotional intelligence are more dedicated and satisfied at work, compared to other employees. This has been shown in a new study from the University of Haifa. "This study has shown that employees with a higher level of emotional intelligence are assets to their organization. I believe it will not be long before emotional intelligence is incorporated in employee screening and training processes and in employee assessment and promotion decisions" stated Dr. Galit Meisler, who conducted the research.

King's College London reveals promising techniques for extending the life of an organ transplant

Experts from the Medical Research Council (MRC) Centre for Transplantation at King's College London, based at Guy's Hospital, have revealed exciting new scientific developments for people with an organ transplant, intended to help prevent rejection of the new organ and extend its life.

Although organ transplantation has been taking place for over 50 years, there are a number of significant challenges, such as a shortage of donor organs, maintaining the quality of an organ in transit, and the risk of organ rejection both immediately after transplant and in the following years.

Children under 4 and children with autism don't yawn contagiously

If someone near you yawns, do you yawn, too? About half of adults yawn after someone else does in a phenomenon called contagious yawning. Now a new study has found that most children aren't susceptible to contagious yawning until they're about 4 years old—and that children with autism are less likely to yawn contagiously than others.

The study, conducted by researchers at the University of Connecticut, appears in the September/October 2010 issue of the journal Child Development.

Radiation exposure poses similar risk of first and second cancers in atomic bomb survivors

SEATTLE – It is well known that exposure to radiation has multiple harmful effects – including causing cancer – but until now, it has been unclear to what extent such exposure increases a person's risk of developing more than one cancer.

The first large-scale study of the relationship between radiation dose and risk of multiple cancers among atomic bomb survivors in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan reveals a similar risk in the development of first and second subsequent cancers.

Successful periodontal therapy may reduce the risk of preterm birth, according to Penn dental study

PHILADELPHIA –- A collaboration led by a periodontal researcher from the University of Pennsylvania School of Dental Medicine has found a possible link between the success of gum-disease treatment and the likelihood of giving birth prematurely, according to a study published in the journal BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology.

No support for routine prostate screening, but one-off test at 60 may be beneficial

Existing evidence from randomised controlled trials does not support routine population screening for prostate cancer, concludes a study published on bmj.com today.

However, a second study also published today suggests that a single test at age 60 could identify men who are most likely to develop and die from prostate cancer. These men could then be monitored more closely, while others could be exempt from further screening.

Blood test accurately predicts death from prostate cancer up to 25 years in advance

NEW YORK, September 14, 2010 – A blood test at the age of 60 can accurately predict the risk that a man will die from prostate cancer within the next 25 years, according to researchers at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, in New York, and Lund University, in Sweden. The findings, published today online in the British Medical Journal, could have important implications for determining which men should be screened after the age of 60 and which may not benefit substantially from continued prostate cancer screening.

Selfishness can sometimes help the common good - biologists

Scientists have once again tackled the conventional wisdom that cooperation is essential for the well-being of the whole population, finding evidence that slackers can sometimes help the common good also.

Adapting to darkness: How behavioral and genetic changes helped cavefish survive extreme environment

 How behavioral and genetic changes helped cavefish survive extreme environment

Specialist health journalists write better news stories

David Henry from the University of Toronto and colleagues analysed Australian news stories over a five-year period, and examined whether experienced specialist health reporters write better stories than other categories of journalists. They found that it does matter who writes news stories that cover the benefits and harms of health care interventions: stories written by specialist health journalists working for a single media outlet were of higher quality than those written by less experienced writers.

The 'urban advantage' in health care is more complex than it seems

Amos Channon from the University of Southampton, United Kingdom and colleagues outline the complexities of urban advantage in maternal health where the urban poor often have worse access to health care than women in rural areas. They used improved methods to measure urban poverty in 30 countries, and found substantial inequalities in maternal and newborn health, and in access to health care. The authors outline two main patterns of urban inequality in developing countries, and offer recommendations for improving access to care.

Personal sacrifices, rationalization may play role for physicians who accept gifts from industry

Sunita Sah, M.B.Ch.B., B.Sc., M.B.A., M.S., and George Loewenstein, Ph.D., of Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, conducted a study to determine whether reminding resident physicians of the sacrifices made to obtain training, as well as suggesting this as a potential rationalization, increases self-stated willingness to accept gifts from industry.