Men with high testosterone may live longer

BEIJING, Nov.

27 (Xinhuanet) -- Researchers in Britain found men in the upper 25 percent of natural testosterone levels have a 41 percent lower risk of dying from heart attack, stroke and other cardiovascular conditions, cancer and all other causes, compared to men with the lowest levels.

"Low testosterone seems to predict increased risk of total mortality in cardiovascular disease as well as cancer," said Dr.

Kay-Tee Khaw,professor of clinical gerontology at the University of Cambridge School of Clinical Medicine in Britain, as quoted by media reports Tuesday.

The researchers tracked 11,606 British men ages 40 to 79 who had no known cancer or cardiovascular disease at the start of the study.

They joined the study from 1993 to 1997 and were followed until 2003.

Among these men, 825 died during the study period.

The researchers measured their testosterone levels using frozen blood samples provided earlier, and compared their levels to a group of men still alive at the end of the study period.Khaw said the relationship between testosterone levels and cardiovascular disease mortality was comparable in magnitude to well-established risk factors like high blood pressure and cholesterol levels.Khaw said the findings suggest that men with low levels of testosterone might be able to cut their risk of death with testosterone supplementation, but did not recommend doing this without more research backing up these results.(Agencies)

128 per 100,000: Washington has highest U.S. AIDS rate

BEIJING, Nov.

27 (Xinhuanet) -- With a rate of 128cases per 100,000 people, Washington, D.C., has the highest rate of AIDS in the United States, while the national rate is 14 cases per 100,000, according to a report released Tuesday."Heterosexual contact in the District is the leading mode of HIV transmission at 37 percent of newly reported infections, while nationally men who have sex with men lead new transmissions," it said.

The report, the first to look at the HIV epidemic in Washington specifically, found that nearly 70 percent of all people with HIV developed full-blown AIDS within a year, which means they were diagnosed years after having been infected.

This compares with 39 percent nationally.

Dr.

Shannon Hader of Washington's Department of Health said the report does not examine why Washington is hit so hard by the human immunodeficiency virus."We have a lot of transmission going on among heterosexuals, we have a lot of transmission going on with men who have sex with men and we have a lot of transmission among injecting drug users," Hader said.

(Agencies)

Low Vitamin B12 may accelerate mental decline with age

BEIJING, Nov.

27 (Xinhuanet) -- Study finds low levels of vitamin B12may speed mental decline in older people, media reports quoting researcher as sayingTuesday.

Dr.

Robert Clarke of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom and colleagues followed 1,648 men and women 65 and older whose mental function was tested at least three times over a 10-year period.

They foundlower holotranscobalamin levels and higher methylmalonic acid levels -- both of which are markers for low levels of vitamin B12 -- were each independently linked to faster mental decline.

Higher folate levels along with low B12 levels did not accelerate mental decline.

Doubling a person's vitamin B12 levels by taking oral supplements could slow cognitive decline by one third, according to Clarke and his team.

Based on the findings, low levels of vitamin B12 appear to precede mental decline, the researchers conclude.

"Correction of vitamin B12 deficiency may be appropriate among those with relevant symptoms," said Clarke.(Agencies)

Vietnam contains acute diarrhea outbreaks

HANOI, Nov.

27 (Xinhua) -- Vietnam has basically contained an acute diarrhea after it has hit the country for over one month, local newspaper Labor on Tuesday quoted Vietnamese Deputy Health Minister Trinh Quan Huan as saying.

The number of new infection cases admitted to hospitals sharply decreased last weekend.

Only 12 patients, including a cholera one, were admitted to the Tropical Disease Hospital and four to the Bach Mai hospital in capital Hanoi.

To eliminate the disease, Vietnam has taken drastic measures, including monitoring food safety, ensuring environmental hygiene and intensifying publicity on acute diarrhea, especially in food-hit localities.

Acute diarrhea has affected over 1,800 people in Vietnam since Oct.

23.

Of the patients, 267 have been tested positive to cholera virus, according to the ministry.

GE's new CT scan with clearer images, fewer radiation

BEIJING, Nov.

27 (Xinhuanet) -- GE will lauchits new high-definition CT scanner in 2008, which can produce clearer images of the body's internal organs, bones and soft tissue whileemitting fewer cancer-causing radiation,media reported Tuesday.

Computed tomography, known as CT, uses X-rays to produce pictures that allow doctors to look inside a patient for early warnings of cancer, heart disease and other problems.

Historically, higher-quality CT images have only been achieved by using more radiation.

The new technology is capable of producing images that are 30 percent clearer, generated 100 times faster using half the radiation dose of today's technology, said Corey Miller, spokesman of GE Healthcare, a 17 billion U.S.

dollarsunit of General Electric Co,.

Cardiac scans are able to achieve an even greater dose reduction of up to 83 percent, he said.

The improved quality of the images using high-definition CT scanners is analogous to the improved clarity of high-definition video, according to the company.

(Agencies)

China's scenic Hainan plans three nonstop flights to Russian cities

HAIKOU, Oct.

5 (Xinhua) -- China's southern province of Hainan plans to open nonstop flight routes to Russian cities of New Siberia, Vladivostok and Habarovsk by the end of the year as the scenic island is attracting an increasing number of Russian tourists.

The first flight from New Siberia to Sanya, a coastal city of Hainan, will be launched in early November, according to the tourism authorities of Sanya.

The other new routes - one from Vladivostok to Sanya and the other from Habarovsk to Sanya or Haikou, capital of Hainan - will start trial operation ahead of the New Year's Day.

Flights from Russia to Hainan have been increasing sharply in the past few years.

In 2005, there were only two chartered flights from Moscow to Sanya operated by Russia's Transaero Airlines.

The airliner opened aviation from St Petersburg to Sanya in 2006, in which year the two routes saw a total of 98 flights.

In the first seven months this year, the number of flights from the two Russian cities to Sanya increased to 106.

U.S. company to resume testing arthritis drug

BEIJING, Nov.

27 (Xinhuanet) --Drug developer Targeted Genetics Corp.

said Monday it will resume the study of an experimental arthritis drug that was halted in July after the unexpected death of a patient.The U.S.

Food and Drug Administration gave the Seattle-based company permission to continue the trial after reviewing information on all 127 patients, including a 36-year-old woman who died a few weeks after receiving the drug.

The woman's family and government scientists have questioned whether a genetically modified virus used when the drug is injected played a role in her death.

However, government advisers for the National Institutes of Health said earlier this year that the woman probably died of an unrelated fungal infection.

The company's own investigation reached a similar conclusion earlier this month, noting that only trace amounts of the virus were found in the woman's body.

The injected virus is meant to deliver a new gene that helps ease arthritis pain.

Jolee Mohr of Taylorsville, Ill., was also taking antiviral and antibiotic medicines, which government experts said could have weakened her body's ability to fend off infection.

The National Institutes of Health's advisers are scheduled to meet in December to complete their inquiry, though panelists have said it may not be possible to unequivocally identify Mohr's cause of death.

While NIH's advisers make recommendations on how to conduct clinical trials, companies do not need their permission to start or resume studies.

(Agencies)