Health News

UN calls for new understanding of how AIDS spreads

New York  - The United Nations programme on HIV and AIDS said Friday that governments and healthcare services should study new patterns of HIV infections in order to make preventive programmes more effective.

UNAIDS said that as the pattern of an epidemic can change over time, analyses of its spread should be undertaken at regular intervals.

"Not only will this approach help prevent the next 1,000 infections in each community, but it will also make money for AIDS work more effective and help put forward a long-term and sustainable AIDS response," said UNAIDS director Peter Piot.

The realignment of HIV prevention programmes would be based on understanding why new infections occurred, he said.

Diabetics can have sweet, healthy holidays

Diabetics can have sweet, healthy holidaysROCHESTER, N.Y.,  Nov. 27 -- It need not be the season to use sugar in large quantities, a U.S.endocrinologist says.    

There are ways to keep the holidays sweet but healthy suggests Dr. Nicholas Jospe of the University of Rochester Medical Center in New York.

"Sugar isn't necessarily bad -- it just has to be managed," Jospe says in a statement.

U.S. colorectal cancer deaths down

U.S. colorectal cancer deaths downOAK BROOK, Ill.,  Nov. 27 -- A U.S. study shows colorectal cancer deaths among men and women dropped 4.3 percent per year from 2002 to 2005, researchers said.

The study, issued annually since 1998 by the American Cancer Society, the National Cancer Institute, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the North American Association of Central Cancer Registries, said the incidence rate for colorectal cancer -- the rate at which new cancers are diagnosed -- dropped 2.8 percent per year among men and dropped 2.2 percent per year among women from 1998 to 2005.

Obesity gradually numbs taste

Obesity gradually numbs tasteUNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.,  Nov. 27 -- Obesity gradually numbs the taste sensation in rats to sweet foods and drives them to consume larger and ever-sweeter meals, U.S. researchers said.

"When you have a reduced sensitivity to palatable foods, you tend to consume it in higher amounts," Andras Hajnal of the Pennsylvania State University said in a statement. "It is a vicious circle."

Previous studies have suggested that obese persons are less sensitive to sweet taste and crave sweet foods more than lean people, Hajnal said.

Retinal detachment highly treatable through surgeries

Retinal DetachmentWashington, November 27: An American research team has found that retinal detachment, a condition that puts an individual at risk for vision loss or blindness, can be treated with using one of three currently available surgical techniques.

Stars sign up for AIDS charity magazine

Los Angeles  - Many of the biggest stars in music are donating their names and talent to a new format digital magazine aimed at helping fight the spread of AIDS in Africa, it was announced Wednesday.

The idea of RED(WIRE) is an offshoot of the activist organization RED founded by U2 frontman Bono last year and all proceeds will benefit HIV-infected people in Africa.

Subscriptions to the magazine will cost 5 dollars annually. For this users will receive a new issue every Wednesday, featuring an exclusive song from a major musician, a song from a new performer and a multimedia presentation about how the organization is helping Africans in need.

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