Men are more likely to die of heart disease compared with women of a similar age – and sex hormones are to blame, according to a new study.

The findings of a study by Dr. Maciej Tomaszewski, New Blood Lecturer in Cardiovascular Medicine in the Department of Cardiovascular Sciences at the University of Leicester, suggest that this "male disadvantage" may be related to the sex-specific effects of naturally occurring sex hormones.

The research in the journal Atherosclerosis involved 933 men aged, on average, 19 years, from the Young Men Cardiovascular Association study. The researchers looked at ways that the sex hormones - estradiol, estrone, testosterone and androstenedione - interacted with three major risk factors of heart disease (cholesterol, blood pressure and weight).

HELSINKI, September 1 /PRNewswire/ -- Wärtsilä Corporation's subsidiary in Singapore, Total Automation Pte Ltd, is re-named Wärtsilä Automation Services Singapore Pte Ltd. The change is to be effective from September 1, 2008.

The new name, Wärtsilä Automation Services Singapore, will more clearly identify Total Automation as a part of Wärtsilä's global operations and it will in turn promote the company as an established and well-reputed player in the Middle East, South Asia, East Asia as well as South East Asia regions. This will support the strong synergies between the traditional field services, and Wärtsilä's automation products and services.

BURGESS HILL, England, September 1 /PRNewswire/ --

With some 20,000 UK children with Type 1 diabetes(i) about to start the new school year, new guidance from the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) looks set to revolutionise the way children manage their diabetes, granting more freedom and control for their condition, by greater access to insulin pump therapy. The new recommendations finally acknowledge key research(ii) supported by Roche, that shows the positive impact of pumps on quality of life for sufferers and their families.

LONDON, September 1 /PRNewswire/ --

LONDON, September 1 /PRNewswire/ --

- "Big Tidy Up" Launched With Recreation of 1954 Photo-Call

- With Photo

Keep Britain Tidy will turn the clock back half a century as it launches the biggest litter pick in history.

Thousands of organised clean-ups will take place as Keep Britain Tidy calls for a return to 1950s values - when people cared about their environment.

With levels of rubbish on our streets constantly unsatisfactory, the nationwide "Big Tidy Up" will see an unprecedented month-long blitz on litter.

Starting today, thousands of litter picks take place the length and breadth of the country. It's hoped half a million bin bags of litter will be collected. So far 6,000 groups have signed up.

LONDON, September 1 /PRNewswire/ --

LONDON, September 1 /PRNewswire/ --

- Parents in England Resent Government Intrusion

As parents and children prepare for the new school term in England, a new survey conducted by ICM reveals a massive 85% of parents say they should be the ones to decide what goes into their children's school lunchbox. Just 1% thinks the Government knows best.

The vast majority of parents across England (80%) reveal overwhelmingly that they trust themselves when it comes to deciding what to feed their kids in comparison to only 19% who trust the Government guidelines.(i)

Tobacco companies have no restrictions or mandatory levels for some of the major carcinogens and toxicants in cigarettes. Tobacco manufacturers can, and do, add anything they want into their goods.

But other consumer products, even something like strawberry jam, is strictly regulated and labelled and required to pass stringent tests before it can be sold.

An editorial in Respirology called “Regulation of Consumer Products: The Bizarre Case of Strawberry Jam and Cigarettes” discusses the issues surrounding tobacco regulations and how the industry could be more effectively governed.

The widely-held perception that the influenza vaccination reduces overall mortality risk in the elderly does not withstand careful scrutiny, according to researchers in Alberta. The vaccine does confer protection against specific strains of influenza, but its overall benefit appears to have been exaggerated by a number of observational studies that found a very large reduction in all-cause mortality among elderly patients who had been vaccinated.

The study included more than 700 matched elderly subjects, half of whom had taken the vaccine and half of whom had not. After controlling for a wealth of variables that were largely not considered or simply not available in previous studies that reported the mortality benefit, the researchers concluded that any such benefit "if present at all, was very small and statistically non-significant and may simply be a healthy-user artifact that they were unable to identify."

Principal investigator Sumit Majumdar, M.D., M.P.H., associate professor in the Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry at the University of Alberta said the findings are a reminder to researchers that "the healthy-user effect is everywhere you don't want it to be."

The hereditary disease ponto cerebellar hypoplasia (PCH) occurs when certain areas of the brain do not develop properly; this results in severe mental and physical developmental disorders. Life expectancy of those affected ranges from a few months to a few years.

Scientists from Cologne and Amsterdam have discovered the mutations in human genetics which cause PCH of the types 2 and 4.

“In the case of PCH, the protein complex – the so-called tRNA-Splicing-Endonuclease, is mutated. This complex in involved in the manufacture of proteins in the human body and was identified in connection with a disease for the first time,” reports Birgit Budde from the Cologne Center for Genomics and Institute for Genetics of the University of Cologne.

MUNICH, Germany, August 31 /PRNewswire/ --

- Sub-group analysis of landmark trial showed prasugrel substantially reduced risk of heart attack and stent thrombosis compared with clopidogrel among ACS patients with diabetes

MUNICH, Germany, August 31 /PRNewswire/ --

Press conference The BEAUTIFUL study: a step further in title Coronary Artery Disease ESC Hotline Title: The BEAUTIFUL study: efficacy of session title ivabradine in reduction of cardiovascular events among patients with stable coronary artery disease and left ventricular dysfunction ESC Hotline 31st August 2008, 11:18 - 11:31 AM session time Press conference 9.00-10.00 Timing Executive 31st August 2008: 9.00 - 10.30 AM committee members available for interview