Cholesterol infusion prevents heart attack

FOR heart attack victims fortunate enough to survive the initial emergency, there is a high risk they will succumb to a second fatal episode in the following weeks or months.

However, new Australian research shows an intravenous infusion of "good" cholesterol can reduce the chances of dying from a subsequent cardiac arrest.

An infusion of high density lipoprotein (HDL) can rapidly boost the body's ability to move cholesterol out of the plaque-clogged arteries that are responsible for heart attacks, a study by Australian biopharmaceutical company CSL Ltd has found.

CSL chief scientist, Dr Andrew Cuthbertson, says this new approach increases "reverse cholesterol transport", which sees the negative cholesterol expelled from the body via the liver.

"The way it does that is to suck the cholesterol out of those plaques in the walls in the arteries and calm them down and make them much less likely to burst and cause a second heart attack," Dr Cuthbertson told AAP.

"It shifts cholesterol out of plaques and back through the liver where you get rid of it."

He said the study's results were "very encouraging so far".

"The increase in reverse cholesterol transport is many, many fold higher following an infusion of this new drug."

Dr Cuthbertson said testing was continuing to determine a dosage that was effective and safe.

"Around the world many thousands of people have second heart attacks and die, so we're trying to provide a treatment that doesn't exist today."

However, he said if testing proved successful it would still be several years before the treatment was widely available.

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Apple sells 3 million iPads in new launch

APPLE says it has sold three million tablet computers in the three days since the launch of the iPad mini and fourth-generation iPad.

The iPad mini and the new fourth-generation iPad were launched on Friday in 34 countries.

The tech giant said demand for the iPad mini "exceeded the initial supply", meaning some orders will be delayed until later this month.

Apple did not break down precise sales of the mini - the 20cm tablet which joins several other small-format tablets - and the new iPad, which has a 25cm screen.

"Customers around the world love the new iPad mini and fourth-generation iPad," said Tim Cook, Apple's chief executive, in a statement.

"We set a new launch weekend record and practically sold out of iPad minis. We're working hard to build more quickly to meet the incredible demand."

The iPad mini is 31 grams lighter than Apple's third-generation iPad. It is 7.2mm thick, 23 per cent thinner than the original iPad.

The iPad mini with Wi-Fi connectivity and 16 gigabytes of memory costs $US329, the 32GB model sells for $US429 and the 64GB version for $US529. It is more expensive than rivals from Google, Amazon and other makers.

Apple's senior vice-president for marketing, Phil Schiller, helped unveil the iPad mini, insisting that it was an entirely new design and not "just a shrunken down iPad".

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Gout medicine may halve heart attack risk

A MEDICATION commonly used to treat gout has been found by a Perth-based study to reduce the chance of a heart attack in some patients by up to 50 per cent.

Doctors from Perth's Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital will present their findings to the American Heart Association Scientific Sessions conference on Tuesday (Australian time), after a study of more than 500 coronary patients over several years.

The anti-inflammatory drug Colchicine has been used for years to reduce the swelling symptoms related to gout, the painful inflammatory arthritis often brought on by excessive food and alcohol.

But advancements in thinking around coronary disease, and the fact blocked arteries might become fatal because cholesterol cells become inflamed, prompted Dr Peter Thompson and his colleagues to take an "educated guess" about the potential of Colchicine.

"We have done a clinical trial with this drug and we have found that when you administer this on a steady, low-dose basis with people with coronary heart disease, you can actually halve heart attack risk," Dr Thompson told AAP from Los Angeles.

"So far it is only a smallish trial but it looks very exciting and interesting.

"We went to this one (Colchicine) knowing that it was a very likely candidate, and the results are very satisfying."

Delegates at the conference have already been raving about the study into the effectiveness of low-dose Colchicine - or LoDoCo as it has been dubbed - saying it could become one of the big breakthroughs in heart disease research this year.

Dr Thompson, from Sir Charles Gairdner's Heart Research Institute, ran the study along with colleagues Dr Mark Nidorf and Canada-based Dr John Eikelboom.

They will publish the full results of the study in the prestigious Journal of the American College of Cardiology later this month.

Dr Thompson says the study could be doubly significant because Colchicine is a low cost, readily available product already on the market, and would therefore not take years in development costs and trials.

"There are other drugs being developed to target particular pathways in the inflammatory process, but they are all going to be brand new drugs which take a long time to develop," Dr Thompson said.

"This is a widely available, relatively inexpensive, relatively innocuous drug that has been with us for generations - and this may end up being the one to go for."

Dr Nidorf, also based in Perth, ran much of the study via his own private practice without traditional funding, with the ethics of the study continually being checked by the hospital.

"That is quite a remarkable thing to be able to do," Dr Thompson said.

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China files WTO green energy complaint

CHINA has filed a complaint with the World Trade Organisation against the European Union over renewable energy subsidies, a source close to the world trade body says.

"I can confirm we have received a complaint from China against ... the EU, Italy, and Greece on certain measures affecting the renewable energy generation sector," the source told AFP in an email on Monday.

The complaint comes after China last Thursday announced a trade investigation into EU exports of solar-grade polysilicon.

China is involved in a bitter trade row with the bloc, which in September unveiled a similar probe into Chinese products.

The Chinese commerce ministry said it would examine alleged subsidies received by the EU producers and exporters of the material, a key component in the making of solar cells, and would probe whether EU firms were selling it at artificially low prices in China.

The row in the solar sector between China and the European Union escalated after Brussels in September launched an investigation into whether Chinese companies were selling panels in Europe at up to 80 per cent below actual cost.

EU ProSun, which groups European makers and called for the anti-dumping probe, has also filed an official complaint with the European Commission over alleged illegal subsidies to Chinese firms.

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Brits held for Cyprus soldier's death

THREE British tourists in Cyprus have been arrested in connection with the killing of a teenage British soldier during a disco row in the holiday resort of Ayia Napa, police say.

David Lee Collins, 19, from Manchester, was stabbed to death during a night club confrontation with a group of British tourists in the early hours of Sunday morning.

The soldier was stationed at Dhekelia garrison with the 2nd Battalion Royal Regiment of Fusiliers. The regiment is part of British army reserve forces for Afghanistan.

The tourists, 19-year-old Mohamed Abdulkadir Osman, and two 17-year-old suspects, are being held for eight days to allow investigators to complete their inquiry.

They face possible charges of premeditated murder, conspiracy to commit a crime, possession of an offensive weapon and use of cannabis.

The London trio appeared in court on Monday looking apprehensive while Osman was sporting a bruised right eye.

Murder carries a maximum life sentence in the eastern Mediterranean island.

Police said the incident occurred when four off-duty British soldiers had a confrontation with the suspects at a club in Ayia Napa.

The fracas is believed to have ignited over taunting related to Manchester-London regional rivalry, officer Stelios Christodoulou told the court.

During the heated row one of the three allegedly drew a knife.

Christodoulou said Osman had admitted to stabbing the victim but said it was in self-defence as he and his friends were allegedly attacked by the soldiers.

Although the two 17-year-olds put themselves at the scene of the crime they claim to have taken no part in the violence, he added.

Collins was pronounced dead on arrival at Famagusta General Hospital in nearby Paralimni.

An official autopsy carried out on the soldier on Monday concluded he died from a "ruptured heart caused by a sharp instrument".

A switch-blade recovered at the scene of the crime was to undergo forensic tests. Eleven similar knives bought in Ayia Napa as "souvenirs" were found at the trio's hotel room, police said.

British Bases spokeswoman Connie Pierce said the incident happened in an area out of bounds to soldiers because of previous incidents, including the rape and murder of a Danish tour guide.

About 9000 British troops and their dependants are stationed on Cyprus as Britain retained two large strategic sovereign base areas after the island gained independence from colonial rule in 1960.

AFP

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Damascus bombing kills 11, wounds dozens

A BOMB attack in the residential Mazzeh district of the Syrian capital has killed 11 people and wounded dozens, state television and an observer group say.

"Terrorists carried out an explosion in the Jabal area of Mazzeh district, which was crowded with people," state television said on Monday.

The channel said children were among the victims.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights also said 11 people had died when the booby-trapped car exploded in Mazzeh, an upscale neighbourhood of west Damascus that houses embassies and a number of security headquarters.

The Britain-based Observatory, which relies on a network of activists and medics for information, said about 30 people were wounded, including eight who were in critical condition.

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Greece hit by mass strikes over austerity

GREEK public transport and media workers have launched a week of strikes, contesting a planned new round of austerity measures needed for a creditor lifeline to the crisis-gripped and cash-strapped nation.

MPs are set to vote on Wednesday on a bill that will bring 18.5 billion euros ($A23 billion) in cuts and other reforms by 2016.

But the bill had not been introduced to parliament by Monday afternoon and could be delayed until midnight, a finance ministry source said, as the coalition government's three leaders grappled for a compromise on the latest cuts.

In Athens on Monday, the metro was shut and only one tram line was running, while taxi drivers halted services, severely disrupting traffic in the capital.

The country was also hit by a media blackout as print, broadcast and electronic media journalists staged a 24-hour strike.

Service at hospitals was slow as only some employees reported for work.

The union of the public electricity company, DEI, meanwhile announced renewable 48-hour strikes from Monday evening, although it did not say whether this would lead to power cuts.

The latest savings plan includes salary and retirement cuts, reductions in civil servant staffing and further labour market deregulation.

Implementing the austerity plan is a precondition for Greece to qualify for a 31.5-billion-euro tranche of bailout funds from the European Union, International Monetary Fund and the European Central Bank.

Without it, Greece risks bankruptcy in mid-November.

The walkout is expected to intensify throughout the country on Tuesday and Wednesday as public union GSEE and private union Adedy have both called general strikes.

Bus workers are expected to join the stoppage from Tuesday, completing the public transport shutdown in Athens, while ferry lines to surrounding islands will be cut for 48 hours.

A three-hour work stoppage has also been announced by air traffic controllers.

In addition, unions have planned demonstrations from Tuesday in the centre of Athens against the package of 18 billion euros in cuts and other reforms to be put to a vote in parliament on Wednesday.

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