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.

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.

Washington - The race for the US presidency was entering the backstretch Monday as Democrat Barack Obama pushed to keep Republican John McCain on the defensive in states long regarded as Republican strongholds - like Virginia and Florida.

Senator Obama was to deliver a speech in the hotly contested manufacturing-intensive Rust Belt state of Ohio that his campaign called his "closing argument."