(July 3, 2008 - Insidermedicine) From Geneva - The World Health Organization has unveiled a new diagnostic test that can tell whether patients have drug-resistant tuberculosis within hours, instead of months, and can be used to determine from a person's saliva whether the tuberculosis can be treated with antibiotics. Tuberculosis is a contagious respiratory disease that kills 1.5 million people each year.

From North Carolina - Researchers believe that a cure for the virus that causes cold sores is on the horizon. Cold sores, which typically appear as painful ulcers around the mouth, are caused by the herpes simplex virus, which usually lies dormant. Researchers have discovered how the virus becomes activated and believe a treatment can be developed which includes artificially activating the virus, and then killing it with antiviral medication.

And finally, from London - Including broccoli in one's diet may help protect men from prostate cancer. Researchers asked men at risk for prostate cancer to eat 4 servings of broccoli each week. After taking tissue samples from the men's prostate glands the researchers found that eating broccoli changed how certain genes behaved, reducing the risk of developing prostate cancer, and preventing the disease from becoming more aggressive.

For Insidermedicine in 60, I'm Dr. Susan Sharma.