Bomber Strikes Rally of Religious Party in Pakistan

A teenage suicide bomber waded into a political rally by an Islamic party, and his explosives detonated Monday, said a policeman.

The bomb, which went to Peshawar, a northwestern town who were tormented by bombs last year, with more than 20 people, including a leader of Jamaat-e-Islami, a hard-line political party, which until recently in the had publicly supported the Taliban. A policeman was among the dead.

Television pictures showed a scene of mad-capped Muslim youth protest help people on stretchers. Nobody has claimed responsibility.

It was unclear whether the target was to rally, or the police station nearby. A bomb disposal officer said the young bomber was wearing an amazing 15 pounds of explosives.

If the goal was rally would be highly unusual. Jamaat-e-Islami is the oldest Islamic Pakistani political party and its hard-line language sometimes echoes of the Taliban: anti-Western, anti-India and strongly against small religious minorities in Pakistan - Christians, Shiites and an Islamic sect known as Ahmedis. But the party is also part of government's operations in Pakistan and critical of any direct attack on Pakistan army, his people.

A senior police official in Peshawar, Kareem Khan, said the policeman who was slain Gulfat Hussain, a Shiite. The members of the sect are several goals since late last week in the violent attacks in western Pakistan.

Mr Hussain was active in protecting the Shiite processions, often the procession to Holy Places militant attack dragging, said Officer Khan. Al Qaeda is fiercely anti-Shiite. Sectarian militancy is so widespread that Shiite policemen sometimes pray not to be posted in the field, for fear that they will get because of their sect.

It was the second bomb on Monday. The first exploded just seven hours before the close of a school and a student slain and wounded 10, authorities said.

Women with hormonal disorder at risk of heart disease

Adelaide researchers have found evidence of a link between a common hormonal disorder in women and heart disease - and they're seeking more women to take part in a new study to confirm their results.

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a hormonal disorder affecting about 10% of women of reproductive age and is a leading cause of infertility.

A preliminary study - conducted by researchers with the University of Adelaide's Robinson Institute and the Cardiology Department of the Queen Elizabeth Hospital - has exposed other major health risks and some common misconceptions about PCOS.

The pilot study, involving a small sample of women, showed that:

• Young women (average age of 31 years) with PCOS had significant abnormalities in blood clotting and blood vessel function, which are important risk factors in heart disease;
  
• This risk was not limited to overweight or obese women with PCOS - it affected women of all body shapes and sizes, including lean women.

"The degree of blood clotting and blood vessel abnormalities seen in women with PCOS in this study was very striking, similar to what we would normally see in older patients with known heart disease," says Dr Alicia Chan, Cardiologist at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital and PhD student with the University of Adelaide's Robinson Institute.

"With women now making up almost half of all Australians affected by heart disease, it's very important that we understand the link between PCOS and these heart disease risk factors.

"Importantly, this is the first study to suggest that PCOS is strongly associated with an increased risk of heart disease independent of women's weight or evidence of diabetes. It's a common misconception that only overweight or obese women are affected by PCOS - we need women to understand that they could still have these heart disease risk factors regardless of their weight,"