A NEW WEPON AGAINST AN OLD SCOURGE

You should care about this while - you - wait tuberculosis test: it will rein in one of the biggest killers in the developing world (according to WHO, TB caused some 1.4 million deaths worldwide in 2012, more than a fifth of them in India).

Tuberculosis can be cured if its diagnosed and treated properly. But because the standard test is slow and unreliable, many people in countries across, many people in countries across the globe go undiagnosed - or are treated ineffectively, which makes it more likely that the bacteria will become impervious to medication. In a world where travel can speed an infected tourisr or immigrant to another place, multidrug - resistant TB threatens everyone. The new test is 99 percent accurate and gives results in 100 minutes - an amazing fast - forward compared with the three month's wait standard in some parts of the world.

A rapid test could help elicit more effective treatment - even the eventual elimination of the disease, said Peter Small, MD, head of TB programs at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which helped fund the research. "You can tell [patients] before they leave the office if they have TB and if's drug resistant," he told the Associated Press, "It's transformational."

Meanwhile, the Indian Council of the Medical Research has also come up with a loe- cost, rapid TB test kit which is expected to be launched soon.

SAVING THE BRAIN

Thanks to numerous studies - and heart breaking stories from onetime pro athletes - we know that concussions can cause immense, even life - altering, damage. Now sports teams have started to protect athletes by penalizing risky behavior and more carefully examining players after high - impact collisions.

That's having a trickle - down effect in youth teams at least in the USA, where kids are being taught to tackle using their hips and shoulders, not heads.

BETER PROTECTION AGAINST HIV

After years of disappointments and dead ends, HIV researchers reached a long - sought goal, finding a way for women to reduce their risk - even if their partner won't use a condom. "This is really a game changer," Harvard AIDS researchers Bruce Walker, MD, told the Washington Post. 

BETTER PROTECTION AGAINST HIV

The vaginal gel isn't ideal - it lessened the chance of catching HIV by up to 54 percent- and needs further study. But its giant success for researchers who spent over 15 years searching for a way to defend some of the worlds's most vulnerable people.

A DAILY PILL MAY PREVENT CANCER

A pill in your medicine cabinet might be a powerful cancer fighter. In an analysis of four large studies, people who took a daily low- dose aspirin cut their risk of dying of colon cancer by as much as  as 35 percent. And that's not the only common drug that might offer this bonus. A couple of preliminary trails suggested that diabetes drug metformin may protect against lung and colon cancers.

Both drug reduce inflammation, says Susan Love, MD - and inflammation egg on cancer growth, "We always think we have to kill every cancer cell," Dr Love says. "But if you can keep them asleep, who cares?"
It's too soon to start  pooping  either of these pills in hopes of preventing cancer, since both can have serious side effects. But if you're already taking them for other reasons, you may be doing yourself a lifesaving favour.

MORE CAUTION ABOUT TESTS

A CT scan is a terrific medical tool - just note its benefits for people with lung cancer ( A LIFESAVING TEST FOR LUNG CANCER is one the list ) - but there's now a long overdue fot its potential dangers. "A remarkable series of studies showed that CT scan are responsible for a huge number of cancers every year," says Robert Wachter, MD, a patient safety expert and chief of hospital medicine at the University of California, San Francisco. What's "huge"?

More than one in 300 women and one in 600 men who undergo a single cardiac CT scan will develop cancer because of the radiation exposure, one study showed.
Radiologists say, you should keep a record of your X-rays, CT scan, and other radiation tests and alert your doctors if you think they're requesting a test you've already had.

TRAINING THE BODY TO FIGHT CANCER

What if you could dispense with chemo and radiation and use your immune system to destroy cancer cells. That's the principle behind Provenge, a vaccine used to treat prostate cancer, recently approved by [US] FDA. The men who used Provenge in studies so far (all of whom had advanced prostate cancer) lived an extra four -and -a -half months, on average - but some got an extra three years. Equally important, side effects were minimal. The results are imperfect and the cost high - more that $90,000 for a full round of treatment -but the Provenge is still a remarkable development, Len Lichtenfeld, MD, deputy chief medical officer for the American Cancer Society, said when the vaccine was approved.

 TRAINING THE BODY TO FIGHT CANCER

The reason: It provides evidence that the immune system can be stimulated to fight cancer. Already the FDA is considering a second cancer - treatment vaccine - this one aimed at a hard -to - treat form of lymphoma.

DOING LESS FOR BREAST CANCER BENEFITING MORE

It has been clear for years that a women who has a lumpectomy to treat breast cancer must get a radiation too - otherwise, her risk of dying from the decease increases. But many women skip the treatment, partly because it's so inconvenient. So it was significant when researches finally got proof that a three -week regimen can work just as well for women with early -stage breast cancer as one that lasts five weeks.

Another study last year even suggested that some women might be able to get a single radiation treatment during surgery -and be done with it. "When it comes to cancer, we tend to think that more treatment is better," says Susan Love, MD, breast surgeon and founder of the Dr Susan Love Research Foundation, California. "But that's not what the science is showing."

KNOW MORE