Richard Knox

Vaccine against HPV has cut infections in teenage girls

Richard Knox — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 20:33:35 +0000

A vaccine against human papillomavirus — the most common sexually transmitted infection and the cause of almost all cervical cancer — is dramatically reducing the prevalence of HPV in teenage girls.

The first vaccine against HPV, Merck's Gardasil, was approved by the Food and Drug Administration in 2006.

Middle East virus spreads between hospitalized patients

Richard Knox — Mon, 13 May 2013 18:40:59 +0000

It's been eight months since a Saudi Arabian doctor described a previously unknown virus related to SARS.

Researchers find hormone that grows insulin-producing cells

Richard Knox — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 00:11:39 +0000

The work is only in mice so far, but it sure is intriguing.

A newly found hormone revs up production of cells that make insulin — the very kind that people with advanced diabetes lack.

Harvard scientists, reporting the discovery Thursday in Cell, call the hormone betatrophin because it stimulates the production of beta cells in the pancreas. These cells make insulin, which the body needs to control blood sugar.

Boston doctors compare marathon bomb injuries to war wounds

Richard Knox — Tue, 16 Apr 2013 16:35:43 +0000

Boston hospitals always staff up their emergency rooms on Marathon Day to care for runners with cramps, dehydration and the occasional heart attack.

But Monday, those hospitals suddenly found themselves with more than 100 traumatized patients — many of them with the kinds of injuries seen more often on a battlefield than a marathon.

Like most big-city hospitals these days, Tufts Medical Center runs regular disaster drills, featuring simulated patients smeared with fake blood.

So when word came Monday afternoon that there had been mounting pile of studies suggesting that cheap, common aspirin lowers the risk of many cancers — of the colon, breast, esophagus, stomach, prostate, bladder and ovary.

The new study, in the journal Cancer, looked at melanoma in 60,000 post-menopausal Caucasian women.

SARS-Like Virus Found In Jordan, Hunt Is On For Other Cases

Richard Knox — Fri, 30 Nov 2012 23:06:24 +0000

The World Health Organization says a new coronavirus has killed two people in Jordan — the third country where the novel microbe has been traced.

That brings lab-confirmed cases to nine, with five fatalities.

The latest cases are actually the oldest known so far.

Rare Fungal Meningitis Outbreak Spreads To Six States

Richard Knox — Fri, 05 Oct 2012 00:12:09 +0000

It's a troubling story authorities think will unfold over the next month or so. An untold number of Americans who got steroid injections in their spine to relieve back pain may end up with a rare fungal meningitis. The drug was contaminated with the spores of a common leaf mold — nobody knows how.

So far, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has recorded 35 cases of the fungal meningitis in six states: Tennessee, North Carolina, Florida, Virginia, Maryland and Indiana.

Scientists Parse Genes Of Breast Cancer's Four Major Types

Richard Knox — Tue, 25 Sep 2012 03:47:28 +0000

Scientists have known for a while that breast cancer is really four different diseases, with subtypes among them, an insight that has helped improve treatment for some women.

But experts haven't understood much about how these four types differ.

Kids Of Older Fathers Likelier To Have Genetic Ailments

Richard Knox — Wed, 22 Aug 2012 22:32:12 +0000

Scientists have found solid evidence that older men have more random mutations in their sperm cells.

Oldest Americans living longer, and are fitter and richer, too

Richard Knox — Tue, 21 Aug 2012 14:07:00 +0000

America's oldest citizens are generally getting healthier, living longer and doing better financially. But there's lots of room for improvement.

That's the take-home from an exhaustive picture of Americans over 65 put together by the federal government and released last week during the summer doldrums.

Long-term gains in longevity continue. Today's 65-year-olds can expect to live a tad over 20 more years.

Two more nearing AIDS 'cure' after bone marrow transplants, doctors say

Richard Knox — Fri, 27 Jul 2012 00:10:43 +0000

The so-called Berlin patient is famously the only person in the world who has been cured of HIV. But he may soon have company.

Two people in Boston also seem to be free of HIV after undergoing bone marrow transplants for cancer, just as the Berlin patient did five years ago.

Drug-Resistant Germ In Rhode Island Hospital Raises Worries

Richard Knox — Sat, 23 Jun 2012 07:17:34 +0000

A highly resistant form of a common bacterium recently popped up in two Rhode Island patients, only the 12th and 13th times it has been spotted in this country.

And while the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention cites Rhode Island Hospital for fast work in stamping it out, federal officials are worried the next time might not go as well.

Traces of virus in man cured of HIV trigger scientific debate

Richard Knox — Wed, 13 Jun 2012 15:51:16 +0000

Top AIDS scientists are scratching their heads about new data from the most famous HIV patient in the world — at least to people in the AIDS community.

Timothy Ray Brown, known as the Berlin patient, is thought to be the first patient ever to be cured of HIV infection.

Brown, 45, had two bone marrow transplants in Berlin in 2007 and 2008 to treat leukemia that is apparently unrelated to his HIV infection.

Fake Adderall pills hit the market

Richard Knox — Wed, 30 May 2012 01:54:34 +0000

A shortage of Adderall began last year, sending millions of people with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder and narcolepsy on perpetual wild goose chases to find drugstores with the pills they need to stay alert and focused.

So it's not surprising that Adderall counterfeiters have seized a big marketing opportunity.