http://www.physorg.com/ en-us Physorg.com internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Physics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. Controlling neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) in developing countries would help improve the reproductive health and rights of girls and women in the poorest countries of Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Caribbean, according to a new editorial published November 24 in the open-access journal PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases. The analysis demonstrates that NTDs are "important factors that impair reproductive health in developing countries; increase the transmission of sexually transmitted infections (STIs); and promote stigma and gender inequality." http://www.physorg.com/news178902913.html Medicine & Health Tue, 01 Dec 2009 15:40:01 EST news178902913 Using an unconventional approach that they designed, University of Pittsburgh drug discoverers and their collaborators at Walter Reed Army Institute of Research have identified compounds that hold promise for treating leishmaniasis, a parasitic infection that many consider one of the world's most overlooked diseases. The findings are available online today in PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases. http://www.physorg.com/news176449759.html Chemistry Tue, 03 Nov 2009 06:30:01 EST news176449759 It is possible to simultaneously survey a number of neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) in the challenging environment of Southern Sudan, according to a new study published October 27 in the open-access journal PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases. The research, coordinated by Malaria Consortium Africa on behalf of the government of Southern Sudan, rapidly identified areas requiring mass treatment for schistosomiasis and intestinal worm infections, and showed that two diseases, lymphatic filariasis and loiasis, were not endemic in Northern Bahr-el-Ghazal State, an area the size of Belgium. http://www.physorg.com/news175842633.html Medicine & Health Tue, 27 Oct 2009 06:11:05 EST news175842633 Infecting mosquitoes with a bacterial parasite could help prevent the spread of lymphatic filariasis, one of the major neglected tropical diseases of the developing world, according to research published today in the journal Science. http://www.physorg.com/news173627112.html Biology Thu, 01 Oct 2009 15:30:01 EST news173627112 (PhysOrg.com) -- Controlling the bug that causes Chagas disease, a chronic infection of 10 million people worldwide with no available cures or vaccines, is the primary goal of public health officials in the developing world. New research suggests that insecticide spraying should be concentrated during the seasons when bugs disperse over long distances to make the best use of limited resources. http://www.physorg.com/news171815554.html Medicine & Health Thu, 10 Sep 2009 15:50:01 EST news171815554 An analysis published August 25 in the open-access journal PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases sheds new light on the toll that neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) take on sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), with an estimated 500 million people suffering from these debilitating and sometimes deadly diseases. Helminth infections account for approximately 85% of the NTD burden. Overall, the NTD burden may be equivalent to more than double that caused by tuberculosis and up to one-half of SSA's malaria disease burden. http://www.physorg.com/news170396885.html Medicine & Health Tue, 25 Aug 2009 05:28:50 EST news170396885 Schistosoma haematobium (S. haematobium) is a parasitic flatworm that infects millions of people, mostly in the developing world, and is associated with high incidence of bladder cancer although why is not clear. Now, however, two works by Portuguese researchers just out in The Journal of Experimental Pathology 1 and  the International Journal of Parasitology 2 reveal that cells infected in laboratory with S. haematobium, acquire cancer-like characteristics and, when injected into mice develop into tumours. http://www.physorg.com/news168156930.html Medicine & Health Thu, 30 Jul 2009 07:16:04 EST news168156930 Schistosomiasis, one of the most important of the neglected tropical diseases, is caused by infection with parasitic helminths of the genus Schistosoma. These parasites are long lived (>10 years) and dwell within blood vessels, where they produce eggs that become the focus of intense, chronic inflammatory responses. In severe cases, this inflammation is associated with life-threatening liver disease. http://www.physorg.com/news167923493.html Medicine & Health Mon, 27 Jul 2009 14:50:02 EST news167923493 University of Minnesota Medical School researchers have discovered an important new insight into how a commonly prescribed drug may work to treat those infected by a parasitic flatworm. http://www.physorg.com/news164977646.html Medicine & Health Tue, 23 Jun 2009 12:08:01 EST news164977646 All members of the household need to be treated for trachoma in order to prevent rapid re-infection, according to a new study published in PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases. http://www.physorg.com/news157732852.html Medicine & Health Tue, 31 Mar 2009 15:41:18 EST news157732852 Stating that neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) not only promote poverty but also destabilize communities, former Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson and Sabin Vaccine Institute President Peter Hotez call upon the public-health and foreign-policy communities to embrace medical diplomacy and NTD control as a means to combat terrorism in an article published January 27 in the open-access journal PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases. http://www.physorg.com/news152254765.html Medicine & Health Tue, 27 Jan 2009 04:59:59 EST news152254765 A study published today concludes that in the ten years since its initiation, the international effort to eliminate lymphatic filariasis (LF) has made a large impact towards ridding the world of one of its most debilitating diseases. The analysis found that the LF elimination programme has prevented 6.6 million children from acquiring LF and stopped another 9.5 million people already infected with the disease from progressing to more debilitating stages. These efforts are the result of the most rapid scale-up of a drug administration programme in public health history, delivering what the study calls a "best buy in public health". http://www.physorg.com/news142656435.html Medicine & Health Wed, 08 Oct 2008 03:47:15 EST news142656435 According to a new analysis published September 24th in the open-access journal PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, "The Neglected Tropical Diseases of Latin America and the Caribbean: A Review of Disease Burden and Distribution and a Roadmap for Control And Elimination,", neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) as a group may have surpassed HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria as the most prevalent infectious diseases in Latin America and the Caribbean. The analysis found that NTDs are the most common infections of approximately 200 million of the poorest people in the region. They include tens of millions of cases of intestinal worm infections, and almost 10 million cases of Chagas disease, as well as schistosomiasis, trachoma, dengue fever, leishmaniasis, lymphatic filariasis (LF), and onchocerciasis. http://www.physorg.com/news141468961.html Medicine & Health Wed, 24 Sep 2008 09:56:01 EST news141468961