The Massachusetts Department of Public Health on 27th December issued a warning to consumers who bought Whittier Farms dairy foods not to consume any of their milk products for the time being because there is a risk they could be contaminated with listeria bacteria.Whittier Farms is a family run dairy business based in Shrewsbury, Massachusetts , USA, that provides fresh farm milk to consumers mostly via home delivery in the greater Worcester/Shrewsbury area. [click link for full article]

On December 13th a woman who was sick with TB (tuberculosis) flew on American Airlines Flight 293 from New Delhi, India, to Chicago, USA. She then took another plane from Chicago to San Francisco. The infected woman is from Nepal and now lives in Sunnyvale, California. Those sitting next or near to her did not know she was infected and posed a danger to their health. The woman had been diagnosed with drug-resistant tuberculosis in India. [click link for full article]

Baywood International, Inc. (OTCBB:BYWD) announced that resveratrol, an antioxidant found in red wine, may counter type 2 diabetes and insulin resistance, according to a new study. Insulin is a hormone that controls blood sugar. Insulin resistance occurs when the body becomes less sensitive to insulin. This condition can lead to type 2 diabetes. Chinese scientists report that resveratrol curbs insulin resistance in mice. [click link for full article]

People rate their smiles higher than dentists do, according to a new study. Teeth and eyes rated as the most important features of an attractive face, the study also found, and people younger than age 50 were most satisfied with their smiles. The study, published in this month’s Journal of the American Dental Association (JADA), asked 78 patients in Norway to rate their own smiles on a 100-point satisfaction scale. [click link for full article]

The American Diabetes Association (ADA) today issued its annual Clinical Practice Recommendations to help health care providers treat people with diabetes using the most current evidence available. This year, one notable change occurs in the Medical Nutrition Therapy section dealing with weight loss. Until now, the ADA did not recommend low carbohydrate diets because of lack of sufficient scientific evidence supporting their safety and effectiveness. [click link for full article]

The American Diabetes Association (ADA) today issued its annual Clinical Practice Recommendations to help health care providers treat people with diabetes using the most current evidence available. This year, one notable change occurs in the Medical Nutrition Therapy section dealing with weight loss. Until now, the ADA did not recommend low carbohydrate diets because of lack of sufficient scientific evidence supporting their safety and effectiveness. [click link for full article]

Contrary to previous studies, married patients with lung cancer do not have longer survival, according to analysis of an extensive Mayo Clinic database in the December issue of “The Oncologist.” However, the results suggest some other potentially important differences among patient subgroups — including the possibility that married patients receive a more aggressive approach to lung cancer treatment, write Dr. Aminah Jatoi and colleagues. [click link for full article]

Patients with severe COPD may benefit more from therapy that combines salmeterol and fluticasone [SFC] than treatment with tiotropium, according to results from a long-term, multi-center study, “Investigating New Standards for Prophylaxis in Reducing Exacerbations” (INSPIRE) that directly compared the two therapies. [click link for full article]

Advanced BioPhotonics Inc. (OTCBB: ABPH) announced that it has completed its initial phase and review of the clinical trial protocol previously announced earlier this year. This trial is investigating the use of Advanced BioPhotonics’ patented BioScanIR® System, together with its proprietary DIRI® method of dynamic infrared imaging in detecting and assessing pigmented lesions of the skin including melanoma and other forms of skin cancer. [click link for full article]

Researchers at the Ireland Cancer Center of University Hospitals Case Medical Center are the first in the region to have joined a nationwide clinical trial to evaluate the effectiveness of a gene therapy in patients with advanced melanoma which is aimed to help a patient’s own immune system fight their cancer. The gene therapy is termed Allovectin-7®, and is injected directly into the cancer while it is still in the body in order to make it appear foreign to the immune system. [click link for full article]