HEALTH & MEDICINE

University of Canberra researchers will be collaborating with a pharmaceutical company to test the effectiveness of medical marijuana in treating melanoma.

Leukaemia drug Dasatinib treats ovarian clear cell carcinoma by targeting a faulty gene found in ovarian cancer tumours.

A substance in marijuana may treat the brain-damaging effects of Alzheimer’s disease. Salk Institute scientists found out that cannabis compounds may promote cellular removal of the toxin amyloid beta associated with Alzheimer's disease.

The body’s lymphatic system may allow breast cancer cells to spread faster if a sufferer is stressed. New Australian research has shown chronic stress accelerates the spread of cancer in mice.

Scientists from Queen Mary University of London have made a breakthrough in understanding how cancer cells spread around the body and form tumours. The study says that a cancer cell’s ability to survive as it spreads may well be the weapon to fight the disease. As per the scientists, cancerous cells depend on an unusual survival mechanism to spread around the body. Thus, how cancer spreads and survives could well be the key to curing it.

An Australian breast cancer breakthrough has offered new hope to women with the faulty gene that causes aggressive breast cancer. The research has offered an alternative treatment to mastectomy.

Health expert Dr. Miriam Stoppard has revealed that there are now drugs that can stop deadly skin cancer melanoma cells from dividing. Treatments such as immunotherapy and targeted therapy can help thousands of people diagnosed with skin cancer.

Gluten-free diets are a fad these days and they have taken hold of health fanatics worldwide. According to the reports, gluten-free diet has surpassed all other searches on Google in the US, beating Palaeolithic diets, Atkins and South Beach.

A deadly superbug, ancomycin resistant enterococcus faecium (VRE), resistant to even the last line of antibiotics, has made its way to Australia. Australia has the highest rate of the deadly superbug in the world surpassing England, Canada, Sweden, Denmark and Norway.

Recent research has shown that women with advanced ovarian cancer may benefit a lot from immunotherapy right after chemotherapy sessions. Chemotherapy given to women with advanced ovarian cancer boosts ability of tumour cells to protect themselves from the immune system.

An American man literally lived without heart for more than one and a half years. Stan Larkin, 25, has finally been transplanted a real human heart, 555 days after living without one and just carrying an artificial organ in his backpack.

In October 2012, Myriam Ducré-Lemay died after kissing her new boyfriend. It was found out that the girl was severely allergic to peanuts but did not find time to let her new boyfriend know about her medical condition.

Australian hospitals may be contributing to the creation of antibiotic-resistant superbugs. Results of a survey have revealed some grave figures as hospitals continue to inappropriately prescribe antibiotics to patients. The drug is being wrongly prescribed in up to 20 percent of cases, the survey revealed.

Common prescription drug methotrexate, used to treat medical conditions such as inflammatory bowel disease, psoriasis and rheumatoid arthritis, has been linked to at least seven deaths in Australia since 2000. Researchers have warned of a rise in dosage errors that are leading to avoidable deaths.

California’s marijuana activists believe that cannabis legalisation 2016 has hit a roadblock as advocates are not happy with a pair of bills in the legislature. The bills would impose fees and taxes on medical marijuana to raise costs.

Breast Cancer Care, a British charity organisation, has warned that women aged between 50 and 70 are too reliant on mammograms for detecting breast cancer signs.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has lodged an appeal against the size of fine imposed by the Federal Court on Nurofen makers Reckitt Benckiser for breach of consumer laws.

In order to combat drug-resistant superbugs, UK farmers have taken the initiative to cut down antibiotics use in agricultural products. A new UK taskforce will reduce antibiotics use in farming.

A South Australian family is desperately waiting for the government to legalise medical marijuana and is not happy with the SA government’s inaction on the same.

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a global threat. Experts are worried that lack of new antibiotics may make antibiotics-resistant superbugs kill more people than even cancer if left unchecked.

Scientists fed Aedes aegypti mosquitoes with human blood containing either the original Zika virus or the cloned Zika virus. In both the cases, the number of infected mosquitoes was similar.

Molecules in White Rock sea snail eggs not only can tackle normal cancer, but also uterine sarcomas and resistant lymphomas that require the painful chemotherapy.

A new study states that antidepressants are not as effective as they are thought to be.

Lucy Haslem said that the focus was now on educating doctors about medical marijuana’s benefits. She added that the biggest challenge was to break the misconceptions that people have about cannabis.

CSIRO scientists have received $1.4 million research grant from Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to start trials for the malaria breath test in Sudan, Malaysia, Malawi and Bangladesh.

MGC Pharmaceuticals’ initial cannabis-based products include anti-ageing mask, sun-protective moisturiser, eye serum and facial cream.

The study should not be used as an escape route for not taking action against air pollution. If people start using “active transport” more, then pollution levels will come down automatically.

The researchers stumbled upon a vital supply route cancer cells use to obtain their nutrients. This discovery can lead to new treatments to stop tumour growth.

Scientists have not only found a way to grow legions of good bacteria inside human intestines in laboratories, they are also hoping to develop a pill that can cure many intestinal problems.