The regular use of a cell phone could potentially raise the risk of tinnitus, which is a constant ringing or buzzing in the ear, a new study suggests.

Austrian scientists studied 100 people with the condition, and another 100 without. They then compared their cell phone use.

They found that tinnitus was more than 70% more likely in those averaging 10 minutes a day in phone use, reported the Occupational and Environmental Medicine Journal.

The British Tinnitus Association says the like is still unproven.

Intense noise, head trauma and certain drugs are known to raise the risk of inner ear problems, a lot of cases leave the reasons unknown.

Researchers from the Medical University of Vienna said that the evidence linking cell phones with tinnitus was anecdotal, but the small study hinted, at the very least, that it warranted more looking into.

Because of the widespread device use, even a slightly increased risk would be important to public health, they wrote, particularly given the condition can, in some cases, profoundly interfere with day to day activities.

About 10% of the population is thought to have some kind of tinnitus, but it is unclear if the prevalence of the condition is rising with cell phones popularity.

Additionally, the risk from using a phone goes up 70%. They found that using a phone for more than 160 cumulatively was in line with a 60% increase.

Their study did show some statistical anomalies, showing a lower risk among those who had made 4,000 calls or more than those who made less.

The team agreed that asking people to recall their used was problematic, allowing for over and underestimations.

Lead researcher, Dr Hans Peter Hutter, said there were biological mechanisms that cell phones could cause ear problems.

The cochlea is the spiral-shaped organ that takes sounds and converts them into electrical impulses the brain can understand. The auditory pathways "are located in an anatomical region where a considerable amount of the power emitted by mobile phones are absorbed".

Prolonged, constrained posture could also potentially affect blood flow while walking and talking .

These reasons are more plausibly the sound of speech on the other end of the line.

A consultant and adviser to the British Tinnitus Association, Veronica Kennedy, said, The association between tinnitus and electromagnetic fields is not a new idea with electromagnetic fields being put forward both as a cause and treatment for tinnitus.

"Some people have attributed their tinnitus to the sounds generated by electromagnetic fields within modern electrical wiring or power plants. Electromagnetic therapy has also been used to treat tinnitus. This is an interesting study but there are a number of complex factors underlying tinnitus which have not been addressed in the study.

"The link between mobile phone use remains unproven with further work still needed."

A new vaccine patch could eliminate the need to painful needles and boost the overall effectiveness of immunization against diseases like flu, say American researchers.

The patch has hundreds of tiny needles which dissolved the vaccine into the skin.

Testing with mice showed that the new technology may produce better immunization responses than conventional needle pokes.

Writing in Nature Medicine, the research team said the patch could enable people to vacciante themselves.

With each patch, developed by researchers at Emory university and the Georgia Institute of Technology, come 100 “microneedles” that are just 0.65 mm in length.

They are designed to penetrate outer skin, dissolving on contact.

The researchers tested the technology by loading the needles with an influenza vaccine.

A group of mice was given the flu vaccine using the normal hypodermic needle, and another group were vaccinated with the patch.

A control group was a group of mice with patches that lacked vaccine.

Three months later, the team saw that the patch seemed to produce more effective immune responsese in mice, then infected with the virus, than a standard vaccination.

If their future trials prove to be effective, the patch could mean the end of the need to medican training to deliver vaccines and turn vaccination into a painless procedure the people could do themselves.

It could also simplify massive pandemic vaccinations, the researchers said.

Though the study only looked into the flu vaccine, the scientists think that it will be useful for other immunizations and would not cost any more than using a needle.

"We envision people getting the patch in the mail or at a pharmacy and then self-administering it at home," said Sean Sullivan, the study lead from Georgia Tech.

"Because the microneedles on the patch dissolve away into the skin, there would be no dangerous sharp needles left over."

Professor Richard Compans, co-author of the study from Emory University Medical School, said that the vaccine does not need to penetrate deeply because there are immune cells present just under the surface of the skin.

"We hope there could be some studies in humans within the next couple of years," he said.

American scientists have successfully genetically engineered a malaria-resistant mosquito.

The researchers hailed from the University of Arizona introduced a gene that affected the insect's stomach, meaning the parasite could not develop.

The advance was reported, which also allows for a lengthened lifespan, in the journal PLoS Pathogens.

The ultimate goal of the scientists is to introduce the disease resistant mosquitoes into nature.

"Before we do this, we have to somehow give the mosquitoes a competitive advantage over the disease-carrying insects," explained Professor Michael Riehle from the University of Arizona a principle investigator on the project.

Researchers also said that they altered a gene that codes for “signaling molecule”.

The molecule is a protein that allows the mosquito's cells to talk with each other, and is crucial for parasitic development inside the insect.

The genetic alteration artificially increased its production, disrupting the entire process, and also shortened the insect's life.

The team then added a fluorescent tag to the gene, to make sure that it had been appropriately “expressed” by the mosquito larvae.

Professor Riehle said, "This is the first time that we've been able to completely block the parasite from developing in the mosquito."

Gareth Lycett, a malaria researcher from Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine in the UK, said it was a crucial advance.

"They have tested it on the most harmful of the malaria parasites, Plasmodium falciparum," he told BBC News. "It is another step on the journey towards potentially assisting malaria control through GM mosquito release."

Dr Lycett added that the work had not been carried out specifically on the Anopheles gambiae mosquito. "That is the major vector of malaria in Africa where the disease is most prevalent," he explained.

The study was a joint effort project with the University of California Davis and the University of Georgia funded by the National Institutes of Health.

Low vitamin D levels could potential increase a person's risk of developing Parkinson's disease later in life, a Finnish study says.

The study of 3,000 people, first published in the Archives of Neurology, found that people with the lowest levels of the sunshine vitamin had three times as much of a risk.

Vitamin D could help protect the nerve cells gradually lost by people with the disease, experts claim.

The charity Parkinson's UK said that the study needed further research.

Parkinson's disease affects several areas of the brain, leading to symptoms like slow movement and tremors.

The researchers are from Finland's National Institute for Health and Welfare. They measured vitamin D levels from the group from 1978 to 1980, using blood samples.

The study group was then followed over 30 years to see whether they developed Parkinson's disease.

They discovered that those with the lowest levels of vitamin D were three times more likely to develop Parkinson's, compared to the group with the highest levels of vitamin D.

Most vitamin D is made by the body when skin is exposed to sunlight, thought some comes from foods like oily fish, milk or cereal.

Skin becomes less able to produce vitamin D as it ages.

Doctors have known for a while that vitamin D helps calcium intake and the formation of bones.

Research is now showing that it also plays a role in regulating the immune system, and the development of the nervous system.

Writing in an editorial for the US journal Archvies of Neurology, Marian Evatt, assitant professor of neurology at Emory University School of Medicine, said that health officials should consider upping the target vitamin D level.

"At this point, 30 nanograms per millilitre of blood or more appears optimal for bone health in humans.

"However, researchers don't yet know what level is optimal for brain health or at what point vitamin D becomes toxic for humans, and this is a topic that deserves close examination."

Dr Kieran Breen, director of research at Parkinson's UK, said, "The study provides further clues about the potential environmental factors that may influence or protect against the progression of Parkinson's.

"A balanced healthy diet should provide the recommended levels of vitamin D.

"Further research is required to find out whether taking a dietary supplement, or increased exposure to sunlight, may have an effect on Parkinson's, and at what stage these would be most beneficial."