The World Health Organization is concerned that a deadly strain of bird flu, that has already killed more than 50 people in Asian countries might mutate into a form that can be passed from one person to another and create a global pandemic.

WHO spokesman Peter Cordingley says so far there is no conclusive proof of human-to-human transmission. "We have found a couple of cases that were very suspicious, but we couldn't actually hammer that nail home."

Two out of three Americans with type-2 diabetes do not have their disease under control and risk early deaths from stroke, heart attack or kidney failure as well as blindness and limb loss.

Diabetes management actually worsened in the past 10 years," Dr. Jaime Davidson, a diabetes expert at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School in Dallas, told a news conference.

Christina Ficara - All Headline News Staff Reporter

The problems developed in women given the standard intravenous drug doxorubicin along with a newer drug called docetaxel. The two drugs are frequently used alone to treat breast cancer. Scientists have been exploring the effects of combining them, with mixed results.

A recent study at The OregonHealth and Science University has shown that a potentform of Vitamin D may help men dying of prostatecancer extend their lives by upwards of seven months.The study considered men who had advanced tumorsgrowing despite having undergone surgery, radiation orsubsequent drug treatments. In such cases, patientsare given the chemotherapy drug, docetaxel. When the experimental vitamin DN-101 was taken withthe chemotherapy, patients increased their expectancyrates by roughly two years.A two-year survival "is the highest ever seen in arandomized study," said Dr. Bruce Montgomery, aSeattle Cancer Care Alliance prostate cancer expertwho was not involved in the research. "It clearly is abig step forward."Researchers know DN-101 adds at least seven months tothe average survival rate, but they can't yetcalculate the new median life expectancy because halfthe men who took the vitamin for the study are stillalive.The treatment "has a lot of guys I see every daygetting a meaningful chunk of extra time, without anyextra side effect," said Dr. Tomasz Beer, the OHSUCancer Institute scientist who helped develop thedrug.The study folllowed 250 men who were randonly assignedto receive docetaxel alone or along with DN-101. Themedian survival rate of those who took the chemo drugalone was 16.4 months. An additional 7.1 monthsminimum was added to those who combined the chemo andthe vitamin.Beer says the study is big enough to indicate thepills extend life, but it is not big enough to proveDN-101 is market-ready."That will take a study with about 600 men," he added.According to the AP, if DN-101 makes it to market,OHSU stands to profit. The university licensed thedrug to Novacea in 2002, getting payments includingstock in the privately held company and royalties onany sales of the drug.

A medical test has conclusively identified the virus which has killed nine people in the Congo as being Ebola.

Adamou Yada, the World Health Organization's (WHO) representative in Congo, is reporting that "the results (of laboratory tests) came in yesterday ... It is indeed a case of Ebola."