|
Nanobubbles
pop cancer
SALT LAKE CITY
— Tiny bubbles can deliver the chemo drug
doxorubicin to tumours without harming surrounding cells,
says a July 10 study from the Journal of the National
Cancer Institute. "Imagine soap bubbles," one researcher
described the technique. "Now imagine a drug in the
soap bubbles." The drug-filled polymer nanobubbles are
injected into the bloodstream and adhere to tumour cells,
where they can be popped by ultrasound. The treatment
was effective in mice with human breast cancer tumours.
Killer
wrestler's MD charged
ATLANTA —
The doctor who supplied steroids to Canadian wrestler
Chris Benoit, who killed his wife and son before hanging
himself in late June, has been charged with improper
prescribing in two other patients' cases. Investigators
are considering whether steroid abuse might be to blame
in the Benoit case, but Georgia's chief medical examiner
says it's impossible to tell. Dr Phil Astin reportedly
prescribed 10-months' worth of testosterone to the Montreal-born
wrestler every three to four weeks.
TB
goes on macro binge
VANCOUVER —
How can TB bacilli survive and live inside macrophages,
the immune system's hit-men? Thanks to UBC scientist
Lindsay Eltis and his team, now we know. Turns out TB
gets 'eaten' by the macrophage and proceeds to mooch
off the immune cell's cholesterol-rich membrane, according
to the February 6 PNAS study. The team also identified
the set of genes that allow TB to digest the cholesterol.
Next step: targeting those genes in future TB treatments
in order to starve the dangerous bacteria to death.
Pet
turtle linked to tot's death
ATLANTA —
A three-week-old Florida girl died in March from a Salmonella
pomona infection soon after her family had been
given a small turtle. The Salmonella strain isolated
from the turtle was identical to the one that killed
the baby. Pet turtles have recently caused Salmonella
infections in 11 states, warns the CDC's July 6 Morbidity
and Mortality Weekly Report. Eleven percent of all
under-21 salmonellosis cases are linked to contact with
reptiles and amphibians.
Fortified
bread cuts defects
QUEBEC CITY —
It's official: food fortification with folic acid dramatically
cuts neural-tube defects. Looking at Canadian data from
1993 to 2002, researchers in the July 12 issue of NEJM
found a nearly 50% reduction in defects after folic
acid was added to cereal products in Canada in 1998.
The effect was most pronounced in the eastern half of
the country, which had had the highest defect rates.
For instance, Newfoundland and Labrador saw defect rates
drop from 4.56 per 1,000 to just 0.76.
Pregnant?
Sign here
NEW DELHI —
India's Women and Child Development Minister wants all
pregnant women to register with the government and ask
permission for abortions. Renuka Chowdhury told the
Hindustan Times that the proposed measure would
reduce unsafe abortions of girls — a major problem
in India, where boys often get preferential treatment.
Prenatal sex-determination tests and abortions on basis
of gender — both illegal — pushed down the
number of girls per 1,000 boys from 945 in 1991 to 927
in 2001. Women's rights activists call the plan undemocratic
and a violation of privacy.
|
