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BOSTON -- The brain of babies who die of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) have multiple serotonin system defects, and this appears to pin down an underlying fatal susceptibility in these children, according to researchers here.

LAS VEGAS -- Pill-sized cameras, self-navigating endoscopes, and other high-tech gadgetry may one day supplant or augment colonoscopy for colon cancer detection, according to a technology review presented here.

LAS VEGAS -- For treating patients with chronic constipation, a recently approved chloride channel activator compares well with other medications in efficacy and tolerability, according to a review of published data presented here.

LAS VEGAS -- Drugs that activate cannabinoid receptors in the colon might help treat lower GI conditions such as diarrhea or certain types of fecal incontinence, according to a proof-of-concept study presented here.

LAS VEGAS -- Chronic constipation may signal a 20% rise in the 10-year risk of mortality, researchers reported here.

BOSTON -- High liver enzyme levels are predictive of a greater risk of death within a decade for anyone in the community at large, researchers reported here.

TUCSON, Ariz. -- Joints affected by the inflammation of rheumatoid arthritis may be soothed by dietary supplements containing extracts of the curry ingredient turmeric, researchers here studying rats reported.

CHICAGO -- The combination of two targeted therapies appears to be a more effective, but less toxic, alternative to chemotherapy for second line treatment of unresectable non-small-cell lung cancer.

SAN DIEGO -- Preliminary results of a small ongoing study of vitamin B12 injections for children with autism showed no signs of significant benefit, researchers reported here, but they remained hopeful.

SAN DIEGO -- The black box warnings ordered by the FDA on the risk of suicidality with pediatric antidepressant use cut overall prescriptions for children and adolescents by some 10%, researchers said here.

SALT LAKE CITY -- For eight years a toy vampire's tooth was lodged invisibly in a man's lung, an unwelcome souvenir of a long-ago Halloween party, before a pulmonologist's persistence, trying to solve a mysterious cough, brought the object to light.

SALT LAKE CITY -- For selected patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, drug therapy may offer limited benefit, investigators reported here.

WASHINGTON -- Coronary bifurcation lesions can be safely stented with Cypher (sirolimus-eluting) stents using either a simple or complex strategy, with no significant difference in clinical endpoints, according to investigators here.

BOSTON -- A couple of drinks-liquor, wine, or beer-added daily to an already heart-healthy lifestyle further reduces the risk of myocardial infarction in otherwise healthy men, researchers here reported.

WASHINGTON -- Use of Visipaque (iodixanol), an iso-osmolar, nonionic contrast agent, did not reduce the rate of nephropathy in angiography patients with renal failure compared with less-expensive agents, researchers reported here.

WASHINGTON -- Infusion of bone marrow-derived progenitor cells directly into a coronary infarct reduced by about half the risk of death, MI, or another revascularization procedure at 12 months, compared with patients getting sham infusions.

LOS ANGELES -- Race and ability to pay appear to be major determinants of whether patients in California hospitals receive complex surgical procedures in high-volume hospitals, researchers here have found.

BOSTON -- For patients with the potentially fatal mucocutaneous blistering disease pemphigus vulgaris, a combination of Rituxan (rituximab) and intravenous immune globulin may succeed where other therapies have failed.