An analysis of 12 recent studies indicate that there is virtually no link between the consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages and weight gain in children and teens. The meta-analysis is published in the June issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

UT Southwestern Medical Center surgeons have completed the first single-incision Lap-Band weight-loss surgery in Texas.

Salmonella is serving up a surprise not only for tomato lovers around the country but also for scientists who study the rod-shaped bacterium that causes misery for millions of people.

One in ten adults in England have had a piercing somewhere other than their ear lobe, with a quarter experiencing complications, and one in 100 piercings resulting in a hospital admission, according to a study published on bmj.com today.

When two catastrophic natural disasters struck within days of each other in May 2008, disaster relief, humanitarian aid, and health officials, as well as members of the news media tapped into a unique set of NASA data products describing the location of the exposed populations.

New data presented today at EULAR 2008, the Annual Congress of the European League Against Rheumatism in Paris, France, show that over half of rheumatoid arthritis patients resistant to methotrexate monotherapy improved when either abatacept or infliximab were added to their methotrexate treatment regimen, with positive results sustained up to one year later.

A drug commonly used to treat alcohol addiction has a similar effect on pathological gamblers - it curbs the urge to gamble and participate in gambling-related behavior, according to a new research at the University of Minnesota.

Scientists have confirmed for the first time that an important component of early genetic material which has been found in meteorite fragments is extraterrestrial in origin, in a paper published on 15 June 2008.

The risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) for people with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) has been found to be comparable to the risk of CVD in people with type 2 diabetes.

A University of Queensland researcher is trialling new, cutting-edge technology for measuring blood pressure and the health of the heart.

The UK government must bring in presumed consent to organ donation or allow a controlled donor compensation programme for unrelated live donors, in order to bring the "inhumane" practice of transplant tourism from the UK to an end, claims a doctor in this week's BMJ.

Recent tabloid hype over the "newly emerging superbug", Stenotrophomonas maltophilia, is misplaced, say experts in this week's issue of the BMJ.

In the June 15th issue of G&D, Dr. Sinisa Urban (Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine) and colleagues reveal a potential role for the rhomboid enzyme, EhROM1, in the pathogenesis of the enteric protozoan parasite, E. histolytica.

Tocilizumab plus methotrexate showed significant clinical improvements in efficacy and safety in patients with moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis (RA), who had not adequately responded to anti-tumour necrosis factor (anti-TNF) therapy.

European researchers have made significant progress unravelling how genes are governed and why this sometimes goes wrong in disease.

New data presented today at EULAR 2008, the Annual Congress of the European League Against Rheumatism in Paris, France, show that intake of oily fish is associated with a reduced risk of developing rheumatoid arthritis (RA), whereas psychosocial work stress and smoking can increase the risk of developing the condition.

A new DNA microarray chip can predict severe disability and remission in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), as presented today at EULAR 2008, the Annual Congress of the European League Against Rheumatism in Paris, France. The chip (called the 'ARTchip') has yielded two clinical-genetic models of RA outcomes, to assist physicians in anticipating likely disease progression and prognosis and thereby guide decisions on the best course of treatment for individual patients.

The TRAF1/C5 locus on chromosome 9 has been revealed to play a role in multiple autoimmune diseases including type 1 diabetes and systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE).

Estrogen therapy may limit stroke damage if started close to, but not long after reproductive cycles are over, according to a new animal study. The results were presented Sunday, June 15, at The Endocrine Society's 90th Annual Meeting in San Francisco.

Certain cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors and rheumatoid arthritis (RA) disease factors have a similar effect on an RA patient's risk of experiencing myocardial infarction (MI) or stroke.