http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. Exposure to cigarette smoke has long been associated with increased frequency of respiratory infections—which are harder to treat in smoke-exposed people than in those who lack such exposures. Now Ritwij Kulkarni of Columbia University, New York, NY, and colleagues show that cigarette smoke actually boosts virulence of Staphylococcus aureus bacteria. Their study appears in the November 2012 issue of the journal Infection and Immunity. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-cigarette-boosts-virulence-staphylococcus-aureus.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Thu, 08 Nov 2012 15:45:02 EST news271611884 Oral bacteria that escape into the bloodstream are able to cause blood clots and trigger life-threatening endocarditis. Further research could lead to new drugs to tackle infective heart disease, say scientists presenting their work at the Society for General Microbiology's Spring Conference in Dublin this week. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-dental-plaque-bacteria-trigger-blood.html Cardiology Mon, 26 Mar 2012 04:54:30 EST news251956461