This is the second post in a series of five, originally published on April 05, 2006: In the previous two posts, here and here, I have mentioned how the discovery of circadian clocks in Cyanobacteria changed the way we think about the origin and evolution of circadian clocks. Quite soon after the initial discovery, the […]
Archive for February, 2012
Clocks in Bacteria II: Adaptive Function of Clocks in Cyanobacteria
Venezuela says "ignore rumors" in Chavez cancer saga
CARACAS (Reuters) – President Hugo Chavez’s government urged Venezuelans on Wednesday to ignore rumors the socialist leader’s health may be worse than the official version that he is in good condition after surgery in Cuba. Despite allies’ upbeat assessment of his latest operation, some sources including a prominent pro-opposition Venezuelan journalist are suggesting the 57-year-old […]
HPV Vaccine for Boys Is Important Step for Health of Future Generations
COMMENTARY | On Feb. 27, the American Academy of Pediatrics released a statement supporting the inclusion of the human papillomavirus, or HPV, vaccine in the standard preventative care plan for children of both sexes. Although the HPV vaccine has been used for nearly a decade in girls, major medical establishments are only just beginning to […]
Dozens charged in U.S. auto insurance fraud
(Reuters) – Federal authorities unveiled charges on Wednesday against three dozen people suspected of involvement in a scheme to defraud automobile insurers that provide healthcare benefits to accident victims out of more than $275 million. The charges include conspiracies to commit racketeering, healthcare fraud and money laundering over a scheme dating back to at least […]
China to promote condoms to cap HIV/AIDS cases
BEIJING (Reuters) – China hopes to cap the number of people living with HIV/AIDS at 1.2 million by 2015, up from around 780,000 at present, partly by promoting increased condom use, the government said in an action plan released on Wednesday. While praising achievements made over the past few years, including improved life expectancy for […]
First-Ever Quadruple Limb Transplant Fails
In 1998, 12-year-old Sevket Cavdar lost his arms and legs to electrocution. This week, Cavdar, now 27 years old, briefly experienced a sensation he hadn’t felt in a decade and a half — the feeling of having limbs. A team of 52 doctors worked for 20 hours to attach arms and legs to Cavdar’s body, […]
Health Tip: Help Prevent Eye Problems
The number of women dying from breast cancer in the European Union is expected to drop by nine percent this year thanks to advances in treatments, researchers said on Wednesday. Views: 0
Efforts to Improve Research on Kids’ Drugs Paying Off: Report
WEDNESDAY, Feb. 29 (HealthDay News) — Federal laws requiring medical companies to conduct pediatric drug studies have helped provide guidance on whether it’s safe or effective for children to use certain medications, a new U.S. report finds. The Institute of Medicine (IOM) report noted, however, that there’s still not enough data on the use of […]
Health Highlights: Feb. 29, 2012
Here are some of the latest health and medical news developments, compiled by the editors of HealthDay: Feds Uncover Record-Breaking Medicare Scam A Texas doctor allegedly recruited homeless people as fake patients in a wide-ranging, $375 million Medicare home health-care scam, the largest ever uncovered, investigators say. Dr. Jacques Roy, 54, was arrested Wednesday and […]
Could a Statin Lower Your Risk for Depression?
WEDNESDAY, Feb. 29 (HealthDay News) — Patients who have heart disease and take cholesterol-lowering medicines known as statins are less likely to develop depression than those not on such drugs, a new study suggests. For the study, Dr. Mary Whooley of the San Francisco VA Medical Center and colleagues evaluated 965 heart disease patients for […]
Job Loss Fears Sow Unhappiness in Work, Family Life
The number of women dying from breast cancer in the European Union is expected to drop by nine percent this year thanks to advances in treatments, researchers said on Wednesday. Views: 0
Health Tip: Protect Your Kids’ Teeth From Cavities
The number of women dying from breast cancer in the European Union is expected to drop by nine percent this year thanks to advances in treatments, researchers said on Wednesday. Views: 0
U.S. Kids Still Eat Too Much Added Sugar: CDC
WEDNESDAY, Feb. 29 (HealthDay News) — Added sugar in drinks and foods makes up almost 16 percent of the calories U.S. children and teens consume, federal health officials report. That’s far more than the daily recommendation of no more than 15 percent of calories from both sugar and fat, according to the report from the […]
Sleep Aids Tied to Early Death
A study published in the British medical journal BMJ has discovered that taking a sleeping pill might increase your risk of early death significantly, according to U.S. News. A link was found between people who took sleeping pills and what researchers labeled “excess deaths” throughout the country. How do sleeping pills cause early death? Researchers […]
Official: Doctor had recruiters in Medicare scheme
DALLAS (AP) — Years after Jacques Roy started filing paperwork that would have made his practice the busiest Medicare provider in the U.S., authorities say they’ve found most of his work was a lie. They accused Roy on Tuesday of “selling his signature” to collect Medicare and Medicaid payments for work that was never done […]
US seeks new review of easier-to-spread bird flu
WASHINGTON (AP) — A scientist who created an easier-to-spread version of the bird flu said his work is not as risky as people fear. The U.S. government is asking its biosecurity advisers to reconsider if the research should be made public. Bird flu only occasionally sickens people, mostly after close contact with infected poultry, but […]
7 accused of $375M Medicare, Medicaid fraud
DALLAS (AP) — Years after Jacques Roy started filing paperwork that would have made his practice the busiest Medicare provider in the U.S., authorities say they’ve found most of his work was a lie. They accused Roy on Tuesday of “selling his signature” to collect Medicare and Medicaid payments for work that was never done […]
Divides emerge in US, world response to mutant flu
A divide has emerged between the United States and the rest of the world on whether to publish or keep secret the details of an engineered mutant bird flu virus that can pass in the air between animals, health experts said on Wednesday. But that split could be resolved when new data, including how the […]
EU breast cancer deaths ‘to drop 9% in 2012’
The number of women dying from breast cancer in the European Union is expected to drop by nine percent this year thanks to advances in treatments, researchers said on Wednesday. In the 20-49 age group specifically, the death rate in 2012 will fall by as much as 13 percent, the Italian-Swiss study found. Breast cancer […]
Meet the three teenage daughters of a reverend… who can also perform exorcisms
By Beth Stebner Last updated at 8:24 PM on 28th February 2012 Most teenagers are proud to go into the family business, be it working the store that’s been around for generations or taking over a law practise. But Rev Bob Larson’s teenage girls have gone into a more peculiar trade – expelling demons from […]