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'Surprising Link' Points Toward A New Antibiotic
As the best drugs become increasingly resistant to superbugs, McMaster University researchers have discovered a completely different way of looking for a new antibiotic. Don't forget to buy zoloft online no prescription.

Economist Examines 'Snail-Fever' In China
The Economist examines schistosomiasis in China. The disease, which is also called snail-fever, is the "world"s second-most prevalent tropical disease after malaria, affecting 207 million people of whom 726,000 are Chinese, according to the most recent official figures, from 2004," the Economist reports.

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GOP Senators Say They Do Not Plan To Delay Hearing For Supreme Court Nominee Sotomayor
Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), the ranking Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, said on Tuesday that GOP senators would not use procedural maneuvers to delay Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor"s confirmation hearing, CQ Today reports. According to CQ Today, "It could be in the Republicans" own political interest to go ahead with the Sotomayor hearings as currently scheduled," because it would allow them to "argue that the Senate Finance Committee cannot mark up its version of a health care overhaul next week because four of its GOP members" -- including ranking Republican Charles Grassley (Iowa) -- also serve on the Judiciary Committee. The first hearing is scheduled to begin Monday. Sessions said, "We"re going to do our best to be ready Monday" (Perine, CQ Today, 7/7). Barring any unexpected developments, Sotomayor should be confirmed before the August recess, according to The Hill. Republicans this spring had pushed for delaying a floor vote to the fall, but the change of course shows that Democrats "continue to enjoy the upper hand" in the confirmation process, The Hill reports. It also indicates that most Republicans agree with Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) that only a week of hearings will be necessary (Rushing, The Hill, 7/7).
Public Health

Risk Of Heart Failure Doubled By Obesity And Diabetes -- Patients With Both Conditions 'Very Difficult' To Treat

The twin epidemics of obesity and type 2 diabetes will continue to fuel an explosion in heart failure, already the world"s most prevalent chronic cardiovascular disease, according to John McMurray, professor of cardiology at the Western Infirmary, Glasgow, and President of the Heart Failure Association. He reported that around one-third of patients with heart failure have evidence of diabetes, and for them the outlook is very serious. For doctors, he added, effective treatment is "very difficult". Obesity, like diabetes, is increasing in prevalence. The latest report from Euroaspire, Europe"s largest survey of cardiovascular risk factors in coronary patients, found that the prevalence of obesity had increased from 25 per cent in 1997 to 38 per cent in just ten years - and this in people who had already had at least one heart attack. Now, a session at Heart Failure 2009 emphasises that obesity is not just associated with an increased risk of heart attack, but also - and especially - with an increased risk of heart failure.1,2 "Obesity is at least as great a risk factor for heart failure as it is for heart attack or stroke," says Professor McMurray. "Obesity more than doubles the risk." The pathways by which obesity plays such a role in heart failure are not yet fully understood, but have been shown to have an indirect effect via hypertension, or heart attack, or diabetes - and a direct effect on the heart muscle itself. "We know that the underlying changes in the structure and function of the heart may be different in obese and non-obese patients with heart failure," says Professor McMurray. An even more "intriguing" suggestion, he added, is that adipose cells might act as an endocrine tissue, secreting substances which may have a harmful effect on heart tissue and blood vessels. The relationship between diabetes and heart failure is also a subject of investigation, with the risk of heart failure doubled in diabetics. Heart failure patients with diabetes also have worse symptoms, a higher risk of hospitalisation and a greater risk of death than those without diabetes - suggesting that the underlying pathophysiology of heart failure may be different in diabetics and non-diabetics. Professor McMurray also notes an "intersection" of the two conditions by which those with diabetes have a higher risk of heart failure, and those with heart failure have a higher risk of diabetes. "But whichever is the causative factor," he adds, "it"s very bad news for those with both conditions." Heart failure, obesity and diabetes. 31 May, 11.00-12.30. Heart Failure Congress 2009 is organised by the European Society of Cardiology and Heart Failure Association of the ESC, and takes place from 30 May to 2 June at the Palais Acropolis, Nice, France. * Information on the scientific programme for Heart Failure Congress 2009 is available at http://spo.escardio.org/Welcome.aspx?eevtid=31 ESC Press Office European Society of Cardiology


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