As February 14th fast approaches, love is most certainly in the air, and today Legal & General are proposing an all-together unusual, but nonetheless heartfelt gift for your loved one; life insurance. We all know love isn't a bunch of flowers. Love is a promise: "I'll always care for you. I'll always look after you." But could you keep that promise if you or your partner became critically ill, or if one of you were to die? To truly look after each other, you need to secure your future, together or apart. That's why perhaps the best gift you can give each other ...

The Co-operative Insurance has strengthened its customer proposition with the launch of a new, affordable pet insurance product. The Co-operative Insurance now offers dog and cat owners the peace of mind that if their animal is ill or injured, at home or abroad, their treatment will be covered. Prices start from GBP10.69 per month for dog cover and GBP6.32 for cat cover with policies bought online benefiting from an additional 15% discount. Pet Insurance from The Co-operative Insurance is provided by Allianz Insurance Plc. Two types of cover are available: - ...

For more than a decade, MyCoolCell has been providing high quality cell phone accessories for the cool generation. They have recently launched their Facebook Fan Page at http://www.facebook.com/MyCoolCell to connect with even more cell phone owners. By visiting the page and clicking "Like" or posting a positive feedback, customers can receive a 10% discount on their next retail order. MyCoolCell.com has had a strong online presence since the company was founded in 2000. With the slogan, "Where the Cool Generation Buys Their Cell Phone Accessories", MyCoolCell has attracted ...

H. Ross Ford, president and CEO of TCN Worldwide, has announced that York Properties of Raleigh, North Carolina is the newest member of the international commercial real estate organization. The return of York Properties, a past member of TCN Worldwide, is another example of the improving commercial real estate market and also the success of TCN Worldwide in enhancing the services and value it offers its membership. York Properties/TCN Worldwide is a full-service real estate firm offering a wide array of commercial brokerage services throughout the state of North Carolina. ...

Heartburn is a signature symptom of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), which is a cluster of symptoms and signs associated with regurgitation of stomach acid up to the pharynx and mouth. Patient-based studies of GERD have shown high prevalence and chronicity, particularly in Western societies. GERD is associated with significant health-care utilization and diminished quality of life. Heartburn, coupled with acid regurgitation and painful swallowing are considered to be highly specific for GERD. Very few epidemiological studies have been performed with regard to heartburn, ...

Concerning treatment, until recently the only definitive treatment for hydatid disease had been surgery. Different surgical techniques and procedures have been carried out and even in some cases, a liver transplant has been required. Advances in drug therapy has been influenced by the introduction of albendazole and accelerated by addition of praziquantel, but this requires a long period of treatment i.e. up to a year or more, and is not effective for everyone. A research article to be published on February 7, 2011 in the World Journal of Gastroenterology addresses this ...

The concept of fast track rehabilitation program has been recently introduced in colorectal surgery. It is basically a multidisciplinary perioperative care strategy for patients after resection of colorectal cancer. A research article to be published on February 7, 2011 in the World Journal of Gastroenterology addresses this question. The authors compared the complications, restoration of gastrointestinal functions, and hospital stay time of postoperative colorectal cancer patients after fast-track rehabilitation program and conventional care. The results indicate that ...

CSIRO research has shown that some mining by-products can be effective in preventing nutrients from entering river systems, thereby reducing the potential for algal blooms. A joint project between CSIRO and the Western Australian Department of Water investigated a range of mining industry by-product materials, which are currently unused, to determine whether they could instead be used to filter nutrients from natural waters or to treat wastewater that would otherwise be discarded. CSIRO project leader, Dr Grant Douglas, says the use of abundant, low-cost by-product materials ...

ST. PAUL, Minn. – People who spend more time in the sun and those with higher vitamin D levels may be less likely to develop multiple sclerosis (MS), according to a study published in the February 8, 2011, print issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. MS is a chronic disease of the brain and spinal cord, usually with recurrent flare-ups of symptoms. It is often preceded by a first episode (or event) of similar symptoms lasting days to weeks. "Previous studies have found similar results, but this is the first study to look at people ...

Focused programs and public health policies can help reduce the burden of alcohol in Canada, which contributes significantly to acute and chronic diseases, social problems and trauma, states an analysis in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal) (pre-embargo link only) http://www.cmaj.ca/embargo/cmaj100825.pdf. The analysis, by researchers at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, the Centre for Addictions Research of British Columbia and the University of Victoria, outlines several steps that must be taken to reduce the impact of alcohol in society ...

Exposure to low-dose radiation from cardiac imaging and other procedures after a heart attack is associated with an increased risk of cancer, found a new study published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal) (pre-embargo link only) http://www.cmaj.ca/embargo/cmaj100463.pdf. The use of procedures with low-dose ionizing radiation, such as computed tomography (CT) angiography and nuclear scans, is increasing which has led to mounting concern in the medical community that patients may be at increased risk of cancer. For patients with known or suspected coronary artery ...

A five-week old infant most likely contracted a vaccine strain of yellow fever virus through breastfeeding, according to a case report published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal) (pre-embargo link only) http://www.cmaj.ca/embargo/cmaj100619.pdf "Until recently, avoidance of vaccination of breastfeeding women with yellow fever vaccine had been based on theoretical grounds only," writes Dr. Susan Kuhn, with coauthors. "We report the probable transmission of vaccine strain of yellow fever virus from a mother to her infant through breastfeeding," which supports ...

STANFORD, Calif. — The root causes of complex diseases such as type-2 diabetes and obesity have been difficult to identify because the diseases are, well, complex. They occur at the dicey biological intersection of genes and environment, and, because they arose in our relatively recent past, it's not easy to simply compare DNA sequences from "then" and "now" to pinpoint likely genetic culprits. Now researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine have identified genetic variations in a hormone involved in the secretion of insulin — a molecule that regulates blood ...

The majority of fatal cases of malaria are caused by infection with the parasite Plasmodium falciparum. Most at risk are young children and women who are pregnant. A team of researchers, led by Patrick Duffy, at the National Institutes of Health, Rockville, has now developed an approach to profile P. falciparum parasites in such a way that they are able to identify parasite genes associated with severe infection. In the study, they identified a distinct subset of genes in parasites infecting pregnant women, including a gene whose protein product is already known to be ...

EDITOR'S PICK: Profiling malaria-causing parasites The majority of fatal cases of malaria are caused by infection with the parasite Plasmodium falciparum. Most at risk are young children and women who are pregnant. A team of researchers, led by Patrick Duffy, at the National Institutes of Health, Rockville, has now developed an approach to profile P. falciparum parasites in such a way that they are able to identify parasite genes associated with severe infection. In the study, they identified a distinct subset of genes in parasites infecting pregnant women, including ...

Kyoto, Japan -- Unprecedented single molecule imaging movies of living cell membranes, taken by a research team based at Kyoto University and the University of New Mexico, have clarified a decades-old enigma surrounding receptor molecule behaviors. The results, appearing in the latest issue of the Journal of Cell Biology, promise to open the door to new possibilities for drug development. The work focuses on G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs), a class of molecules in cell membranes that comprise the largest superfamily in the human genome. In spite of being the focus ...

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Numerous studies have shown that the brain molecule neuropeptide Y (NPY) helps to restore calm after stressful events. A team of University of Michigan-led researchers has now found that people whose genes predispose them to produce lower levels of NPY are more responsive to negative stimuli in key brain circuits related to emotion – and are therefore less resilient in the face of stress and may be at higher risk for developing a major depressive disorder. The scientists hope the research will eventually help with early diagnosis and intervention for ...

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — As loved ones with dementia disappear into symptoms of aggression, agitation or delusions, families are left with few good medical solutions. A new generation of antipsychotic medications gained popularly in the 1990s because they avoided side effects such as Parkinson's syndrome associated with conventional antipsychotic medications used to treat dementia. But a new study led by University of Michigan and VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System researchers shows the use of these second-generation medications began to decline significantly in 2003, years ahead ...

The bone marrow stem cells responsible for generating new blood cells are less fixed and more flexible than previously thought, according to a paper published online on February 7 in the Journal of Experimental Medicine (www.jem.org). Some earlier studies suggested that these hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) come in two distinct varieties: those that remain dormant during times of health but possess the ability to regenerate the whole blood system after trauma such as irradiation or chemotherapy, and those that divide frequently and contribute to new blood production during ...

Never before has a therapy proven more beneficial for women than men in preventing heart disease – until now. A new study, published today in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, found that women receive a significantly greater benefit – a 70 percent reduction in heart failure and a 72 percent reduction in death – from cardiac resynchronization therapy with defibrillator (CRT-D) than men. "In prior cardiac studies, men and women generally received similar benefit from preventive medical therapy," said cardiologist Arthur J. Moss, M.D., professor of Medicine ...

In a finding of significant worldwide public-health consequence, researchers at the UC Davis School of Medicine and in the Academy of Sciences in the Czech Republic have found that emissions from the indoor use of coal for heating and cooking may impair early childhood growth and development. The research, published online today in the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, a JAMA Archives journal, found that children reared in homes where coal was the primary fuel source exhibited shorter stature at 36 months of age when compared with children reared in households ...

Berkeley – New experiments at the University of California, Berkeley, may one day lead to anti-viral treatments that involve swallowing Salmonella bacteria, effectively using one bug to stop another. Researchers at UC Berkeley's School of Public Health have reprogrammed Salmonella, the same foodborne pathogen that can cause diarrhea, fever and abdominal cramps, to safely transport virus-stopping enzymes into cells without causing disease. Not only did this technique effectively treat mice infected with cytomegalovirus, it worked as an oral solution that was swallowed ...

Grenoble (France) – A novel X-ray imaging technology is helping scientists better understand how in the course of evolution snakes have lost their legs. The researchers hope the new data will help resolve a heated debate about the origin of snakes: whether they evolved from a terrestrial lizard or from one that lived in the oceans. New, detailed 3-D images reveal that the internal architecture of an ancient snake's leg bones strongly resembles that of modern terrestrial lizard legs. The results are published in the 8 February issue of the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. The ...

A diet, high in fats, sugars, and processed foods in early childhood may lower IQ, while a diet packed full of vitamins and nutrients may do the opposite, suggests research published online in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health. The authors base their findings on participants in the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC), which is tracking the long term health and wellbeing of around 14,000 children born in 1991 and 1992. Parents completed questionnaires, detailing the types and frequency of the food and drink their children consumed ...

Care home residents are more than four times as likely to get the wrong dose of medicine when it is in liquid form as they are when given pills/capsules provided in a dispenser, indicates research published online in BMJ Quality and Safety. Dispensers, known as monitored dosage systems or MDS for short, comprise a tray or cassette with compartments for one or more doses for a particular day or a given time. They are intended to simplify drug rounds for care home staff and cut the risk of mistakes. But swallowing difficulties mean that some elderly people need to take ...