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British scientists have created an artificial bone material that supports human bone marrow-derived STRO-1+ skeletal cells.

Professor Mark Bradley told The Telegraph that it would be five years before human trials and longer before whole replacement bones could be created. The eventual aim is to have an implantable scaffold that can support new bone growth before dissolving, leaving patients with a naturally produced replacement.

The influenza pandemic in 2009 led to the vaccination of high-risk groups with new vaccines targeting swine flu, when only limited information about the safety of the vaccines was available.

Researchers at UCL and vaccine manufacturers GSK found that Pandemrix had an acceptable safety profile in all age and risk groups studied.

The researchers analysed side effects reported within 6 months in more than 8500 people, aged 7 months to 97 years, who had received at least one dose of the adjuvanted H1N1 pandemic vaccine during the national pandemic influenza vaccination campaign in the UK.

The observed number of adverse events of special interest was below the expected number for Bell’s palsy, Guillain-Barré syndrome, and demyelination, but above the expected number for neuritis (1 case within 31 days), and convulsions (8 cases within 181 days).

Analysis of 12 years of health records for 388000 Americans in the NIH-AARP Diet and Health Study found that calcium supplements are associated with an excess risk of CVD death in men but not in women.

Total calcium intake had a U-shaped association with total CVD mortality in men, with increased total CVD mortality observed at calcium intakes of 1500mg/d and higher.

Commentary Are Calcium Supplements Harmful to Cardiovascular Disease? concludes, The paradigm ‘the more the better’ is invalid for calcium supplementation.

A large international study found that exposure to pollution is associated with low birth weight.

Maternal exposure to particulate pollution was associated with low birth weight at term across 3 million births in 9 countries.

Nature’s article on the research provides background and quotes.

Scientists were able to scare patients with bilateral amygdala damage using carbon dioxide.

Three rare patients, who do not normally experience fear due to damaged amygdalae, experienced fear and panic attacks when breathing 35% CO₂. The results indicate that the amygdala is not required for fear and panic, and make an important distinction between fear triggered by external threats from the environment and fear triggered internally by CO₂.

Researchers John Wemmie and Colin Buzza discussed their new study with Nature’s Kerri Smith.

A new study adds to evidence that there is a link between antidepressants and abnormal electrical activity of the heart.

Two SSRIs (citalopram and escitalopram) and one tricyclic antidepressant (amitriptyline) were associated with a prolonged QT interval, a risk factor for rare heart rhythm problems.

NHS Choices has provided an analysis of the research and explanation of the QT interval, which is electrical activity of the heart measured by an electrocardiogram (ECG).