In Brief
Nov 22, 2009
MEN with large foreskins are more likely to become infected with the AIDS virus, researchers have said. The study of 965 men in Uganda, all without AIDS at the start, showed those with larger foreskins were more likely to become infected.
Foreskin makes men prone to HIV
MEN with large foreskins are more likely to become infected with the AIDS virus, researchers have said. The study of 965 men in Uganda, all without AIDS at the start, showed those with larger foreskins were more likely to become infected.
“Infection rates correlated with the size of the foreskin,†Dr. Godfrey Kigozi of the Johns Hopkins University’s Rakai Health Sciences Programme in Uganda and colleagues wrote in the journal AIDS.
Studies have shown that circumcision can protect men, but not their female sex partners, from HIV. It does not completely prevent infection, but reduces the risk.
More mammograms Should start at 50’
New US breast cancer guidelines released recently recommend against routine mammograms for women in their 40s, and suggest women aged 50 to 74 only get a mammogram every other year.
The new guidelines by the US Preventive Services Task Force would sharply curtail the number of breast mammograms done, sparing women the worry of false alarms and the cost of extra tests.
But US cancer experts say the altered schedule may mean more women will die from breast cancer. The guidelines, published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, predicted that screening women aged 50 to 69 every other year will catch nearly as many breast cancers — 81% — while producing half as many false positive results.
Morphine may speed up cancer growth
Evidence is mounting that morphine, commonly used to manage pain, may accelerate cancer growth, but a newly-approved drug that blocks its side-effects could also keep tumours from spreading, US researchers have said. They said the drug, Relistor, which is used to treat constipation caused by pain drugs like morphine, appeared to reverse some of the tumour-causing effects in mice and in lung cancer cells. “This drug might actually inhibit the progression of lung cancer,†said Patrick Singleton of the University of Chicago Medical Centre.
Reuters
MEN with large foreskins are more likely to become infected with the AIDS virus, researchers have said. The study of 965 men in Uganda, all without AIDS at the start, showed those with larger foreskins were more likely to become infected.
“Infection rates correlated with the size of the foreskin,†Dr. Godfrey Kigozi of the Johns Hopkins University’s Rakai Health Sciences Programme in Uganda and colleagues wrote in the journal AIDS.
Studies have shown that circumcision can protect men, but not their female sex partners, from HIV. It does not completely prevent infection, but reduces the risk.
More mammograms Should start at 50’
New US breast cancer guidelines released recently recommend against routine mammograms for women in their 40s, and suggest women aged 50 to 74 only get a mammogram every other year.
The new guidelines by the US Preventive Services Task Force would sharply curtail the number of breast mammograms done, sparing women the worry of false alarms and the cost of extra tests.
But US cancer experts say the altered schedule may mean more women will die from breast cancer. The guidelines, published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, predicted that screening women aged 50 to 69 every other year will catch nearly as many breast cancers — 81% — while producing half as many false positive results.
Morphine may speed up cancer growth
Evidence is mounting that morphine, commonly used to manage pain, may accelerate cancer growth, but a newly-approved drug that blocks its side-effects could also keep tumours from spreading, US researchers have said. They said the drug, Relistor, which is used to treat constipation caused by pain drugs like morphine, appeared to reverse some of the tumour-causing effects in mice and in lung cancer cells. “This drug might actually inhibit the progression of lung cancer,†said Patrick Singleton of the University of Chicago Medical Centre.
Reuters