Sydney, September 25 : Scientists from Australia, Europe and the US have found that a Chinese herb, which has been used to treat snakebites and boils for centuries, has the potential to fight HIV/AIDS.

The researchers say that an Asian violet known as Viola yedoensis contains tiny proteins that appear to kill off infected cells. Such anti-HIV and anti-bacterial qualities, say the researchers, make the plant a target for new drug therapies to treat the HIV virus.

Washington, Sept 25: Researchers at the University of Munich in Germany have found that circulating tumour cells (CTC), cancer cells circulating in the blood, can be detected before and after chemotherapy treatment, and so can be helpful in identifying patients who are likely to have a recurrence of cancer after the procedure.

Addressing a press conference at the European Cancer Conference (ECCO 14) on Monday, Dr. Julia Juckstock said that the results could help improve the design of trials of chemotherapy in breast cancer, and reduce costs to health services.

Washington, Sept 25: Hormone therapy in early post-menopause increases sexual interest, but has no effect on memory, a new study has revealed.

The study was led by Pauline Maki, associate professor of psychiatry and psychology at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

"Contrary to what we predicted, hormone therapy did not have a positive affect on memory performance in younger mid-life women," Maki said.

Washington, Sept 25: Researchers from the University of Warwick and University College London have found that while a lack of sleep doubles a person’s risk of death from cardiovascular diseases, too much of sleep can also have the same mortality effect from predominantly non-cardiovascular diseases.

London, Sept 25: UK’s National Health Services scientists have revealed that available influenza jabs have not done enough to prevent flu among the elderly.

In an article published in the October issue of The Lancet Infectious Diseases, they describe how sources of bias in other, non-randomized studies have exaggerated the flu vaccine’s value in preventing flu deaths among those over 70.

The authors also say that a less-than-ideal flu vaccine is beneficial than no vaccine at all.