Washington, Oct 27 : Republican presidential nominee John McCain has acknowledged that the race to get to the magic number of 270 electoral votes is tough, but said polls are “all over the map” and he is doing better than the numbers would suggest.

“We’re doing fine, we have closed in the last week, we’ll continue to close in the next week and you’ll be up very, very late on election night,” McCain told "Meet the Press" anchor Tom Brokaw in an interview taped in Iowa.

Washington, Oct 27: Following furious complaints from the Pakistan government for further ground raids into its tribal areas, the White House has reportedly begun relying on an intensifying campaign of air-strikes by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) against militants in the Pakistani mountains.

The decision followed after Pakistani officials made clear in public that they regard the Predator attacks as “a less objectionable violation of Pakistani sovereignty”.

Quoting American and Pakistani officials, the New York Times reported that attacks by remotely piloted Predator aircraft had increased sharply in frequency and scope during the past three months.

Washington, October 27 : A new study suggests that rheumatoid arthritis sufferers may be at increased risk for periodontal disease—a gum disease characterized by inflammation that leads to separation of the teeth from the gums, loss of bony support, and possible tooth loss.

Study leader Dr. Clifton O. Bingham III, a rheumatologist from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, revealed that the research team evaluated the prevalence of periodontal disease and other aspects of oral health in 153 patients with RA, who were already enrolled in a cardiovascular disease study.

The researcher said that 66 per cent of the patients were female, ranged in age from 45 to 84 years, were primarily Caucasian, and had, on average, suffered from RA for 

Washington, October 27 : Researchers at Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences (SGPGIMS) in Lucknow say that an erectile dysfunction treatment may also be effective in treating blood vessel narrowing in rheumatic diseases.

Dr. Padmanabha Shenoy, from the department of immunology, says that when used in addition to other treatments, tadalafil is effective and well tolerated in the treatment of secondary Raynaud’s phenomenon, in which blood vessels narrow abnormally when exposed to cold and blood supply to the hands and feet decreases as a result.

Washington, October 27 : A new study has revealed that people with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) are more likely to suffer greater heart-related complications, and have an increased risk of death following a heart attack, when compared to other heart attack patients.

Dr. Hilal Maradit Kremers, a Mayo Clinic epidemiologist and lead author of the study, has revealed that the research team followed 38 heart attack patients who had RA to compare their mortality rates to those who had suffered a heart attack but did not have RA.

The researcher has also revealed that most patients were female, with a mean age of 76 years.

The team evaluated treatment of heart attacks and tracked patient outcomes (heart failure and death).

Washington, October 27 : U. S. Republican presidential candidate John McCain has said that one-third of the clothing and accessories worth 150,000 dollars, purchased by the party on for his running mate Sarah Palin and her family, have been returned.

He insisted that the clothes would be donated to charity after the election.