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Washington Post Examines Health Toll Of Congo Conflict
The Washington Post examines the devastating toll the conflict in the Congo has had on the health of the country"s displaced civilians, as told through the death of a 36-year-old farmer, who succumbed to typhoid fever far away from the home he abandoned. The newspaper writes, "By some estimates, at least 5 million Congolese have died in more than a decade of conflict touched off by the 1994 genocide in neighboring Rwanda, which sent a flood of militiamen across the border into mineral-rich eastern Congo."

Donors To Reevaluate Support For Myanmar's Fight Against HIV/AIDS
The AP/KTVZ.com examines how after years of strained relationships between the "military-run nation" of Myanmar and international donors that led to a large reduction in HIV/AIDS funding, donors are considering reinvesting in the country"s HIV/AIDS programs. According to AP/KTVZ.com, "Myanmar receives only about $3 per capita in aid, compared with $23 for Vietnam and $50 for Laos."
News of the day
Health Canada Is Warning Canadians Not To Use Clean Testing HIV Home Test Kit, Or Any Home HIV Test Kit
Health Canada is advising Canadians not to use Clean Testing HIV Home Test Kit, or any HIV home test kits, as these are unlicensed medical devices and may provide false test results.
Oncology

Risk For Sleep Apnea In Musicians May Be Reduced By Playing A High Resistance Wind Instrument

The naturalistic respiratory muscle training with high resistance wind instruments may potentially reduce musicians" risk for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), according to a research abstract presented at SLEEP 2009, the 23rd Annual Meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies. Results suggest that instrumentalists who played high resistance, double reed woodwinds, such as the oboe, had a lower risk of OSA than other instrumentalists. No significant difference in risk for OSA was found in instrumentalists (29.1 percent) versus non-instrumentalists (33.3 percent). According to principal investigator Christopher Ward, PhD, assistant professor of psychology and lead author Kaki York, PhD, at the University of Houston-Clear Lake, Houston, it is difficult to determine why only instrumentalists who played double reed instruments showed the least likelihood of having OSA. The reduced risk could be caused by different physiological requirements to play the instrument, or simply by lifestyle choices made by certain musician groups. "The number of hours practiced per week seemed to be the most important variable in lowering risk for OSA. Double reed instrumentalists at low risk for OSA played their instrument 17 hours a week on average, while those at high risk only averaged 8.5 hours per week," said Ward. The study surveyed 847 professional musicians, including 760 instrumentalists and 87 conductors/vocalists. Participants" average age was 42.5, and the majority of the sample was male (62.2 percent). Musicians had an average of 30.2 years of experience and played for an average of 15 hours a week. Of the musicians, 29.2 percent were high risk for OSA and 4.3 percent of the participants were already diagnosed with OSA. Although future clinical trials will be needed to confirm this hypothesis, findings suggest that naturalistic respiratory muscle training with high resistance wind instruments may reduce risk for OSA in at-risk populations. Abstract Title: Risk of Obstructive Sleep Apnea in Wind Musicians Presentation Date: Tuesday, June 9 Category: Sleep Disorders - Breathing Abstract ID: 0715 Kelly Wagner American Academy of Sleep Medicine


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