Washington, Oct 25 : A new study by researchers at the University of California-Davis has suggested that making vegetable juice a daily habit could be a small step that can lead to big changes in meeting daily vegetable recommendations.

For the study, the researchers looked at three groups of healthy men and women. All three groups received dietary counselling on ways to get more vegetables, but only two of the groups were instructed to consume at least one serving of vegetable juice, in the form of V8 100 percent vegetable juice each day.

Of those two groups, one drank one 8-ounce glass of vegetable juice every day and the other drank two 8-ounce glasses of vegetable juice every day as part of a balanced eating plan.

Washington, Oct 25: With the number of HIV/AIDS cases increasing in South Africa, health workers have now resorted to one of the most popular technology to make people aware of the virus and the disease- text messaging.

Health workers have launched an ambitious text messaging campaign, which will inform millions of South Africans daily about HIV/AIDS counseling services and testing centers throughout the country.

The campaign is titled, Project Masiluleke, which means "hope" and "warm counsel" in the South Africa''s major language, Zulu.

Washington, Oct 25: An international team of researchers is testing an artificial pancreas— computerized, subcutaneous system—hoping that it may one day revolutionise how Type 1 diabetics manage their disease.

University of Virginia researchers associated with the project have revealed that the team have already completed the first of several international artificial pancreas clinical trials to test an individually-“prescribed” control algorithm, which regulates blood glucose levels in Type 1 diabetics.

A federal judge ruled that inmates in Maricopa County jails are often housed in unsanitary conditions with inadequate food and health care. The ruling came more than 30 years after a lawsuit to reform jails was filed.

U.S. District Judge Neil Wake ordered in his ruling on Wednesday that anyone who was housed in intake units for more than 24 hours must be provided with a bed and mattress. Access to working sinks and toilets and care that meets their medical and mental health needs must also be met he ruled.

The United Nations has said that additional funds are needed to fight the major cholera outbreak in the West African nation of Guinea Bissau, which has affected over 12,220 people and has killed 201 since May.

The outbreak shows no sign of abating and Veronique Taveau, UNICEF spokeswoman says this outbreak of cholera has been exceptionally difficult to control.  She added that more than half of the cases are in the capital of Bissau but the disease has spread to all provinces since it started in mid-May.

European Medicines Agency reports that Acomplia, an anti-obesity drug, with Rimonabnt as its active substance, doubles the risk of psychiatric disorders. 

Licensed in Europe since 2006 and available on the NHS since June 2008, it has been prescribed to 97,000 people in the UK, but as benefits no longer outweigh the risks, doctors have been advised not to prescribe it any longer.