Health Glance
Major pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline has been accused of pressuring poor Third World parents into enrolling their children in experimental drug trials that have led to the deaths of at least 12 infants.
"In most cases these are underprivileged individuals, many of them unable to read or write, who are pressured into including their children," said Juan Carlos Palomares of Fesprosa.
"This occurs without any type of state control [and] does not comply with minimum ethical requirements," the federation said.
At least 12 Argentinean babies enrolled in the study have died in the past year.
In older adults at risk for heart disease, a Mediterranean diet plus daily servings of mixed nuts may help manage metabolic syndrome, according to a Spanish study. Previous research suggests that a Mediterranean diet lowers the risk of abdominal obesity, high cholesterol, high blood pressure and high glucose levels -- all of which are risk factors for cardiovascular disease.
Mosquito-borne disease kills nearly 1 million people, mostly African children, every year. Results from two phase II trials in Africa show that a new malaria vaccine is effective at preventing both infection and the mosquito-borne disease itself in infants and children.
A material that can be squirted into broken bones, where it hardens within minutes, has been developed by UK scientists.
