Washington, Oct 25: An international team of researchers is testing an artificial pancreas— computerized, subcutaneous system—hoping that it may one day revolutionise how Type 1 diabetics manage their disease.

University of Virginia researchers associated with the project have revealed that the team have already completed the first of several international artificial pancreas clinical trials to test an individually-“prescribed” control algorithm, which regulates blood glucose levels in Type 1 diabetics.

A federal judge ruled that inmates in Maricopa County jails are often housed in unsanitary conditions with inadequate food and health care. The ruling came more than 30 years after a lawsuit to reform jails was filed.

U.S. District Judge Neil Wake ordered in his ruling on Wednesday that anyone who was housed in intake units for more than 24 hours must be provided with a bed and mattress. Access to working sinks and toilets and care that meets their medical and mental health needs must also be met he ruled.

The United Nations has said that additional funds are needed to fight the major cholera outbreak in the West African nation of Guinea Bissau, which has affected over 12,220 people and has killed 201 since May.

The outbreak shows no sign of abating and Veronique Taveau, UNICEF spokeswoman says this outbreak of cholera has been exceptionally difficult to control.  She added that more than half of the cases are in the capital of Bissau but the disease has spread to all provinces since it started in mid-May.

European Medicines Agency reports that Acomplia, an anti-obesity drug, with Rimonabnt as its active substance, doubles the risk of psychiatric disorders. 

Licensed in Europe since 2006 and available on the NHS since June 2008, it has been prescribed to 97,000 people in the UK, but as benefits no longer outweigh the risks, doctors have been advised not to prescribe it any longer. 

Washington, Oct 24 : A new study from the Oxford Centre for Respiratory Medicine in the UK has found that people with even minimally symptomatic obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) may be at increased risk for cardiovascular disease because of impaired endothelial function and increased arterial stiffness.

"It was previously known that people with OSA severe enough to affect their daytime alertness and manifest in other ways are at increased risk of cardiovascular disease, but this finding suggests that many more people—some of whom may be completely unaware that they even have OSA—are at risk than previously thought," said lead author of the study, Malcolm Kohler, M. D.

Dengue took the death toll to four when a 21-year-old, Rupesh Kumar Mishra died at a city’s nursing home by suffering from the same.

The deceased who originally hailed from Jaunpore in Uttar Pradesh was living with his father at Bechu Chatterjee Street in Ward 38, Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) and was admitted to the nursing home on Saturday.