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.

Washington, October 27 : Mayo Clinic researchers have come up with a method of controlling the viruses behind potential cancer therapeutics, so that they will not damage healthy tissues.

The researchers believe that such viruses can be restricted to specific tissues by engineering the virus''s genetic sequence with the aid of microRNAs.

They say that the microRNAs destabilize the virus''s genome, making it impossible for the virus to run amok.

"Our findings demonstrate a new tool for molecular medicine that should also help allay concern over the use of viruses as a therapeutic delivery system," Nature Medicine quoted Dr. Stephen Russell, Mayo physician-scientist and lead author of the study, as saying.

Santiago - Chilean conservatives won a majority of mayoral seats in weekend elections, narrowly beating the ruling centre-left coalition for the first time since 1990.

Right-wing mayoral candidates won in the key municipalities of Santiago, Valparaiso, Vina del Mar, Temuco, Concepcion, Iquique, Rancagua, Talca and Punta Arenas.

The Alliance for Chile won 40 per cent of the total mayoral votes to 38 per cent for the ruling coalition, which did manage to keep the overall lead in seats on municipal councils by a margin of 45 to 36 per cent.

President Michelle Bachelet acknowledged the mixed results as a wakeup call for the coalition.

Wana, Oct 27: At least 20 persons were killed in South Waziristan last night when suspected US spy drones fired missiles into an alleged militant compound in the tribal area bordering Afghanistan.

Though there was no official confirmation of the strike either from the Pakistani military or from the US-led coalition in Afghanistan, the air strike was the latest in a string of attacks on Pakistani soil that have raised tensions between Islamabad and Washington. South Waziristan is a known hub of Al-Qaeda and Taliban activity.

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