Here are some of the latest health and medical news developments, compiled by editors of HealthDay:

Stagnant Funding Threatens U.S. Health Research: Report

If the budget of the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) remains stagnant, the country could lose a generation of young researchers and their potential discoveries, which would pose a threat to the future of Americans' health, warns a report released Tuesday by seven leading academic research institutions.

The report, A Broken Pipeline? Flat Funding of the NIH Puts a Generation of Science at Risk, details how five consecutive years of flat funding for the NIH have affected 12 promising junior researchers who specialize in areas such as stem cells, cancer and brain diseases, and kidney disease.

"This is a real problem, discussed at almost every meeting one attends on campus, that can't simply be dismissed," Drew Faust, president of Harvard University, said in a prepared statement.

"This is about the investment that America is -- or is not -- making in the health of its citizens and its economy. Right now, the nation's brightest, young researchers, upon whom the future of American medicine rests, are getting the message that biomedical research may be a dead end and they should explore other career options -- and in too many cases, they're taking that message to heart. The President's latest budget proposal that calls for another year without an increase will only make the problem worse," Faust said.

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HIV Can Hide in Cells for Years

U.S. researchers have found that HIV is able to hide in some of the body's cells for years in order to avoid destruction by antiretroviral drugs. The finding confirms that HIV-positive people must take the drugs indefinitely to maintain control of the virus, which causes AIDS, BBC News reported.

The U.S. National Cancer Institute team followed 40 HIV-positive patients and found that 77 percent of them still had low levels of dormant HIV seven years after starting -- and responding well to -- antiretroviral therapy.

The researchers believe that HIV hides in CD4+ cells, which play a role in the immune system. It's likely that HIV infects these cells before the start of antiretroviral therapy and the amount of virus produced by the infected cells is low, BBC News reported.

The findings were published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

"It is extremely important that new drugs are developed to eradicate HIV infection as the side effects associated with long-term HIV treatment can be severe," said researcher Dr. Sarah Palmer.

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Diesel Exhaust Causes Brain Changes: Study

Just a short amount of exposure to diesel fumes can cause brain changes that may trigger health problems, a European study found.

The study of 10 volunteers revealed that half an hour of inhaling levels of diesel fumes found on a busy city street was enough to induce a "stress response" in the brain, and this response continued to increase even after the participants had stopped breathing the fumes, The Guardian newspaper in Great Britain reported.

The researchers suggested that these brain changes may activate other well-established physical responses to diesel fumes, such as oxygen deprivation in the heart.

"We believe our findings are due to an effect of nanoparticles or 'soot' particles that are a major component of diesel exhaust," said study leader Paul Borm, of Zuyd University in the Netherlands. "These may penetrate to the brain and affect brain function."

The study appears in the journal Particle and Fibre Toxicology.

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U.S. Drinking Water Contains Wide Variety of Pharmaceuticals

A broad range of prescription and over-the-counter drugs are present in the drinking water supplies of at least 41 million Americans, according to an Associated Press investigation that raises questions about the potential impact on human health.

The investigation included reviews of scientific studies and federal drinking water databases, visits to environmental study sites and water treatment plants, and interviews with hundreds of experts and officials.

Among the findings:

  • Pharmaceutical drugs have been detected in the drinking water of 24 major metropolitan areas.
  • Testing in Philadelphia revealed 56 pharmaceuticals or byproducts in treated drinking water.
  • A sex hormone was found in San Francisco's drinking water.
  • A metabolized angina medicine and the mood-stabilizing drug carbamazepine was found in the drinking water of 850,000 people in northern New Jersey.
  • A portion of the drinking water supplied to 18.5 million people in Southern California contained anti-epileptic and anti-anxiety medications.
  • Six pharmaceuticals were detected in the drinking water for Washington, D.C. and surrounding areas.

When people take a medication, the body doesn't use all of it. The excess is flushed out with other wastes and ends up in wastewater treatment plants, which discharge treated water into rivers, lakes or reservoirs, the AP said.

The concentrations of pharmaceuticals found in drinking water were extremely low and the exact risks to human health from long-term exposure aren't fully understood, the AP reported. However, recent research has shown that such drugs cause alarming effects on human cells and wildlife.

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Gene Variant Linked to Gout

A gene variant that may increase a person's risk of gout has been identified by Scottish researchers, who said their finding may lead to improved treatments for the painful joint condition, BBC News reported.

In healthy people, uric acid is removed by the kidneys and passed out of the body in urine. Gout occurs when there's a buildup of uric acid in the blood, forming crystals in the joints, resulting in inflammation, stiffness and pain. Diet is believed to play a major role in the development of gout. However, many people whose eating habits would seem to put them at risk for gout don't develop the disease.

This new study, by researchers at the MRC Human Genetics Unit in Edinburgh, may help explain why. The researchers found that a variant of the SLC2A gene appears to make it more difficult for the body to remove excess uric acid from the blood, BBC News reported.

The SLC2A gene plays an important role in determining the efficiency of uric acid transport across the membranes of the kidney, the researchers explained. Depending on the form of the gene they inherit, some people will have a higher or lower risk of gout.

The researchers said it may be possible to develop new drugs that target SLC2A, and the protein it controls, in order to better treat gout, BBC News reported. The findings may also lead to improved diagnosis of the condition.

The study was published in the journal Nature Genetics.

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Probiotic Treatment May Benefit Kidney Stone Sufferers

Treatment with "friendly" bacteria may benefit people who suffer from recurrent kidney stones, suggests a Boston University study of about 500 people, BBC News reported.

The study found that those who naturally carry the bacterium Oxalobacter formigenes in their gut were 70 percent less likely to have recurrent calcium oxalate kidney stones. Calcium oxalate is the major component in up to 80 percent of kidney stones.

The study also found that O. formigenes was present in 38 percent of those with no kidney stones, compared to 17 percent of those with recurrent kidney stones, BBC News reported.

The study was published in the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology. The researchers are now investigating the possibility of using the bacteria as a probiotic treatment.