Rare Treatment is Reported to Cure AIDS Patient
from The New York Times
Doctors in Berlin are reporting that they cured a man of AIDS by giving him transplanted blood stem cells from a person naturally resistant to the virus. But while the case has novel medical implications, experts say it will be of little immediate use in treating AIDS. More

Google Tool uses Search Terms to Detect Flu Outbreaks
from CNN
If you have a fever, headache and runny nose, you might go to Google and type the words "flu symptoms" to see whether you've come down with influenza. Google knows that you might do something like that, and it also knows which U.S. state you're in. Now, it's putting that information together in a tool that Google says could detect flu outbreaks faster than traditional systems currently in use. More

HPV Vaccine for Men: It's About Time
from U.S. News & World Report
Two years after it was approved for use in young women, a vaccine against the sexually transmitted human papillomavirus (HPV) has now been shown to be safe and effective in protecting young men as well. Merck's vaccine Gardasil cut infections caused by the four most dangerous strains of this virus by 45 percent. More

Opponents Brace for End of Stem Cell Ban
from USA Today
President-elect Barack Obama could reignite an emotional national debate over the promise and the perils of medical research using cells taken from human embryos. The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops is warning that Obama will alienate millions, and abortion opponents are bracing for a fight. More

Researchers Learn How Bleach Kills Bacteria
from Infection Control Today
Developed more than 200 years ago and found in households around the world, chlorine bleach is among the most widely used disinfectants, yet scientists never have understood exactly how the familiar product kills bacteria. New research from the University of Michigan, however, reveals key details in the process by which bleach works its antimicrobial magic. More

Visualizing Asthma-causing Immune Cells at Work
from Science Daily
Immune cells known as eosinophils have a central role in causing asthma. Now, a team of researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, has developed approaches to noninvasively visualize in real-time eosinophil responses in the lungs and airways of mice with a disease that mimics asthma. More

Peppermint Oil, Fiber Can Fight Irritable Bowel
from Health Day via the National Institutes of Health
For some patients, the best therapy for irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) may be older, cheaper drugs such as fiber, antispasmodics and peppermint oil, a new study finds. According to researchers, these simple treatments have fallen out of favor because of the availability of newer (and more expensive) drugs, some of which have been taken off the market due to safety concerns. More

Study: AIDS Drugs Trigger Inflammation Linked to Diabetes
from Bloomberg
Inflammation triggered by the most commonly used AIDS drugs may help explain why some HIV sufferers are more likely to develop diabetes and heart disease, doctors in Australia said. More