Health Headlines - August 2

New HIV Test Proves Accurate in Field Test

A new rapid blood test detected both HIV and syphilis in a field trial conducted in Rwanda, according to researchers.

The clear plastic, credit-card shaped "lab on a chip" device provided results within 20 minutes and was 100 percent accurate in detecting HIV and 94 percent accurate in detecting syphilis, the Washington Post reported.

Compared to current methods, the new test could offer a quicker, easier and less expensive way to detect infectious diseases among people in developing countries, according to the authors of the study published online in the journal Nature Medicine.

"This is a big step," Doris Rouse, a vice president at RTI International in North Carolina who specializes in global health technologies, told the Post. "Whats especially exciting about this device is that its rugged, easy to use and doesnt require a lot of infrastructure or training."

She was not involved in the study.

-----

Human Genes Can be Patented: Court

An isolated human gene can be patented, a U.S. federal appeals court has ruled.

Friday's decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit reversed a lower court ruling about Salt-Lake City-based Myriad Genetics Inc.'s patents for two genes (BRCA1 and BRCA1) whose mutations are associated with an increased risk of breast and ovarian cancers, the Wall Street Journal reported.

The case involved a number of researchers, scientific societies and women's health advocacy groups who filed suit to invalidate the patents.

The case may eventually reach the Supreme Court, the Wall Street Journal reported.

-----

Low Income, Poor Diet Speed Aging: Study

Having a low income or eating poorly can hasten aging, according to researchers who evaluated a test that predicts aging by measuring telomeres.

Telomeres are cap-like structures on the ends of chromosomes. Previous research has shown that people with shorter-than-normal telomeres have a shorter lifespan.

In this study, Scottish scientists used the $700 test to compare telomere length in 382 people. Over 10 years, telomeres shorted by 7.7 percent among people with a household income of less than $41,000, compared with 0.6 percent among those who made more money, CBS News reported.

Telomere lengths shortened by 8.7 percent among renters and 2.2 percent among homeowners, and by 7.7 percent among people with poor diets and 1.8 percent among healthy eaters.

The study is scheduled for publication in an upcoming issue of the journal PLoS One.