Topic: General Health

The drug, called alli (orlistat), is designed to be used o­nly in tandem with a reduced-calorie, low-fat diet by overweight adults aged 18 and older. According to manufacturer GlaxoSmithKline, the drug helps people lose 50 percent more weight than dieting alone, should cost consumers $12 to $25 a week, and is expected to be available by this summer.

A large-scale clinical trial of a candidate HIV vaccine — which previously showed promise in smaller studies in the United States and elsewhere — has now opened in South Africa. The study plans to enroll up to 3,000 HIV-negative men and women, making it the largest African HIV vaccine trial to date.

Researchers at the National Institutes of Health and other institutions have found a second genetic defect that accounts for previously unexplained forms of osteogenesis imperfecta (OI), a disorder that weakens bones, sometimes results in frequent fractures and is sometimes fatal.