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Pete Bils's background is in sales — or, as he puts it, “retail concepts.” He joined Select Comfort 12 years ago to teach its salespeople how to better sell the company's Sleep Number Bed. The Sleep Number Bed is an air-filled mattress. Each side can be inflated with a little remote control to the ideal level of firmness for the person sleeping on it — his or her “sleep number,” zero to 100 — thus accommodating a husband who prefers his side firm and a wife who likes hers softer. You may recognize the Sleep Number Bed from its television commercials featuring the original Bionic Woman, Lindsay Wagner.

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VALENCIA, Spain: In its final and most powerful report, a United Nations panel of scientists meeting here describes the mounting risks of climate change in language that is both more specific and forceful than its previous assessments, according to scientists here.

Synthesizing reams of data from its three previous reports, the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change for the first time specifically points out important risks if governments fail to respond: melting ice sheets that could lead to a rapid rise in sea levels and the extinction of large numbers of species brought about by even moderate amounts of warming, on the order of 1 to 3 degrees.

The report carries heightened significance because it is the last word from the influential global climate panel before world leaders meet in Bali, Indonesia, next month to begin to discuss a global climate change treaty that will replace the Kyoto protocol, which expires in 2012.

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Teenage girls in the United Kingdom consume more alcohol than their male peers, the Western Mail reported.

According to a survey conducted by the Schools Health Education Unit, 44 percent of girls aged 14 and 15 had at least one alcoholic drink a week, compared with 42 percent of boys. While boys generally drank more beer, girls consumed more wine, spirits, and alcopops. Teen girls were also more likely to smoke.

The researchers attributed the increase in drinking to teen girls trying to emulate the behavior of older peers and to outdo their male counterparts.

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VALENCIA, Spain: Delegates from more than 140 countries agreed Friday on an environmental “instant guide” for policy makers, stating more forcefully than ever that climate change had begun and that it threatened to alter the planet irreversibly.

The document summarizes the scientific consensus on human-induced climate change.

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An anti-psychotic drug already approved in the U.S. to treat adults and adolescents with schizophrenia may soon be available for youngsters age 10 to 17 years of age suffering from bipolar disorder.

The U.S.

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At this year’s 39th World Forum for Medicine in Dusseldorf (MEDICA, November 14-17), Partec, a globally leading developer, manufacturer and provider of dedicated diagnostic solutions in the response to HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria is presenting a breakthrough innovation for high sensitivity TB and Malaria diagnostics in low- and middle-income countries.

Until today, efforts in the challenge to address the urgent needs for increasing patient coverage suffered from the massive bottleneck of missing available diagnostic tools which would be feasible for routine use in regions with low or difficult infrastructure.

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In a petition filed with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, an international coalition of scientists and doctors seeks to compel the agency to stem the flood of dangerous drugs reaching American consumers by mandating the use of scientifically superior non-animal testing methods when those alternatives exist.

Petition signatories include a plaintiff in a Vioxx lawsuit who refuses to accept the recently proposed settlement with Merck because she is concerned that misleading animal drug testing will continue to put consumers at risk. After taking Vioxx to cope with pain from a shoulder injury, Nancy Tufford was diagnosed with congestive heart failure.

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GlaxoSmithKline has announced that it is implementing changes to the US product label for Avandia (rosiglitazone maleate), based on an extensive and thorough review by the FDA of myocardial ischemia data on Avandia, the most widely studied oral anti-diabetic medicine available.

The existing boxed warning has been revised to add the FDA’s conclusion that, while an FDA meta-analysis of short-term studies — mostly against placebo — showed an association between Avandia and an increase in myocardial ischemic events, that risk was not confirmed or excluded in three long-term clinical trials comparing Avandia against both placebo and other oral anti- diabetes medicines.

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The Medical Research Council (MRC), the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) and the health research departments in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales have launched a joint initiative of more than £6millon to identify small carefully defined groups of patients to help researchers detect, treat or prevent diseases.

This new investment will help illuminate previously poorly understood aspects of disease and accelerate the development of new treatments. The initiative forms a key part of an overall strategy for translational research under the auspices of the Office for Strategic Coordination of Health Research (OSCHR).

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Although there is currently no treatment approved by the Federal Drug Administration (FDA) for acute attacks of hereditary angioedema (HAE) - a genetic disease causing swelling of extremities, face and internal organs that can be life-threatening - hope is on the horizon according to a team of experts presenting the latest research at the Annual Meeting of the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (ACAAI) in Dallas.

HAE is a rare but serious problem with the immune system that is passed down through families. There are an estimated 10,000 people with HAE in the United States. HAE is caused by low levels or improper function of a protein called C1-inhibitor.

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