The UN HIV/Aids programme says HIV has become the leading cause of death for women of reproductive age worldwide.

Too many football grounds in Europe do not have the right equipment to save fans who have heart attacks, a study says.

According to the Asthma In America survey:

• 70% of doctors report regular spirometry use to measure patient airflow on an ongoing basis, but only 35% of patients report having spirometry in the past year.
• While more than 9 out of 10 of doctors stressed the importance of anti-inflammatory drugs for the treatment of asthma, less than 2 out of 10 of asthma patients reported anti-inflammatory medication use in the prior four weeks.
• While more than 8 out of 10 of doctors report prescribing peak-flow meters to their asthma patients, only 6 out of 10 patients have ever heard of a peak flow meter. However only 3 out of 10 asthma patients actually have a peak flow meter and only 1 in 10 actually use it at least once a week.
• While 7 out of 10 physicians report developing asthma action plans for their patients, less than 3 out of 10 patients report receiving an asthma action plan from their asthma care providers.

As a practicing physician that sees both adults and kids with asthma, this is pretty disturbing to me. Why do you think there is such a discrepancy between what physicians and their patients report? What do you think can be done to improve these numbers? What would you suggest

In underserved areas like North Philadelphia, existing research shows a nearly 10 percent higher smoking rate than in the general population, with a lower quit rate to boot. The consequences of this public health problem are magnified for new mothers that smoke, as they also expose their babies to the ill effects of second-hand smoke...

A study published on bmj.com today reports that the longer women wait for radiotherapy after breast cancer surgery, the more chance there is of local recurrence. Starting radiotherapy as soon as possible will minimize this risk according to the authors. The reasonable generally accepted interval between cancer surgery and radiotherapy is four to six weeks...

In underserved areas like North Philadelphia, existing research shows a nearly 10 percent higher smoking rate than in the general population, with a lower quit rate to boot. The consequences of this public health problem are magnified for new mothers that smoke, as they also expose their babies to the ill effects of second-hand smoke...

The shoulder joint is the most mobile joint in the body and consequently one of the most commonly dislocated joints. An article published in the March 2010 issue of The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery (JBJS) reveals that the majority of all shoulder dislocations occur during sports activities and young males are at a higher risk...

The more that teens see cigarette ads, the greater their risk of taking a puff. A new study shows that the particular content of tobacco marketing resonates with youth and that the vivid imagery in tobacco advertising captures their interest, although teens typically are more resistant to the promotional seduction of other products...

President Barack Obama's recent physical examination revealed that he is in generally good health - and that he is still trying to quit smoking. His doctor's advice: keep up his "smoking cessation efforts"; in other words, he should keep trying to kick the habit...

If you aren't getting a good, consistent and regular night's sleep, a new study suggests it could reduce your ability to handle oxidative stress, cause impacts to your health, increase motor and neurological deterioration, speed aging and ultimately cut short your life. That is, if your "biological clock" genes work the same way as those of a fruit fly. And they probably do...

Inovio Biomedical Corporation (NYSE Amex: INO), a leader in DNA vaccine design, development and delivery, announced that its affiliate VGX International Inc. (Korean Stock Exchange: 011000) has received approval in Korea to begin a Phase I clinical trial in healthy volunteers for Inovio's SynCon™ preventive DNA vaccine (VGX-3400) targeting H5N1 avian influenza...

If you aren't getting a good, consistent and regular night's sleep, a new study suggests it could reduce your ability to handle oxidative stress, cause impacts to your health, increase motor and neurological deterioration, speed aging and ultimately cut short your life. That is, if your "biological clock" genes work the same way as those of a fruit fly. And they probably do...

With pressure from the tough economy to bring in extra dollars, more people are sacrificing sleep to work night shifts or two jobs in order to make ends meet, says Raman Malhotra, M.D., assistant professor of neurology at Saint Louis University and director of the SLU Sleep Disorders Center...

New study flags damaging effect of joining a sorority on body image and eating behaviors. Undergraduate women who join a sorority* are more likely to judge their own bodies from an outsider's perspective (known as self-objectification) and display higher levels of bulimic attitudes and behaviors than those who do not take part in the sorority's recruitment process...

In a bold, eye-opening editorial in the March 2010 issue of the Journal of Ultrasound in Medicine, Harvard Professor, Beryl Benacerraf, MD, urges the medical community to use ultrasound instead of Computed Tomography (CT) as the first-line imaging test for better diagnosis capability in the evaluation of acute female pelvic and lower abdominal conditions...

Health Net, Inc. reminds seniors, age 65 or older, and others who are eligible for Medicare that the Medicare Open Enrollment period closes on Wed., Mar. 31, 2010...

The Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) have awarded a $300,000 grant for research focusing on the nature of the immune response induced by the action mechanisms of plant-made Virus-Like Particles (VLP) to Dr. Louis Vezina, Chief Scientific Officer of Medicago and to Dr. Brian Ward and Dr...

Not getting enough sleep does more damage than just leaving you with puffy eyes. It can cause fat to accumulate around your organs - more dangerous, researchers say, than those pesky love handles and jiggly thighs...

Like any successful team effort, the best qualities of two drugs commonly prescribed for enlarged prostate yielded better results than either of the medicines alone, according to a new study from UT Southwestern Medical Center...

President Barack Obama's recent physical examination revealed that he is in generally good health and that he is still trying to quit smoking. His doctor's advice: keep up his "smoking cessation efforts"; in other words, he should keep trying to kick the habit...