Categories
Cardiovascular
Diagnostics
Endocrinology
Health Insurance
Medical Devices
Mental Health
Nutrition
Oncology
Public Health
Sexual Health
Popular Articles
Natural Remedies

Editorial, Opinion Piece Discuss Issues Related To Routine HIV Testing
A recent directive to streamline the HIV testing consent process in Massachusetts as well as consent forms "no longer hav[ing] to accompany test specimens to the lab," are bringing "the state closer to a CDC recommendation that clinicians provide HIV screening on an opt-out basis," according to a Boston Globe editorial. "The opt-out provision is at the heart" of legislation sponsored by state Sen. Patricia Jehlen (D) that would end the state"s requirement of written consent for HIV testing "and instead have healthcare providers inform patients verbally that the test is planned but that they can decline it," the editorial states, adding, "The Jehlen bill would help destigmatize HIV testing itself" (7/6).
generic viagra online
Celera Presents Data Replicating Its Immunodiagnostic Assay To Detect Lung Cancer From Blood Serum
Celera Corporation (NASDAQ:CRA) announced yesterday the presentation of data replicating its novel mass spectrometry-based approach to identify and validate circulating protein biomarkers that detect non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in an independent cohort of individuals with lung cancer. This study was performed in collaboration with scientists at NYU Langone Medical Center, NY. A key outcome of the study was the validation of a 9 biomarker immunoassay on a cohort of samples that is enriched for stage I disease, important for screening of early stage disease. The assay detected lung cancer with 92% sensitivity at 93% specificity. The panel also accurately distinguished malignant cases from benign lung disease. The data is being presented at the 13th World Conference on Lung Cancer as part of the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC) in San Francisco, CA.
News of the day
Getting Obese Mice Moving And Curing Their Diabetes
Mice lacking the fat hormone leptin or the ability to respond to it become morbidly obese and severely diabetic - not to mention downright sluggish. Now, a new study in the June Cell Metabolism shows that blood sugar control in those animals can be completely restored by returning leptin sensitivity to a single class of neurons in the brain, which account for only a small fraction of those that normally carry the hormone receptors.
Diagnostics

Heart Attack Damage May Be Reduced By New Drug

A new drug that targets a master disease-causing gene can dramatically reduce heart muscle damage after a heart attack and may lead to significantly improved patient outcomes, UNSW researchers have shown. The drug, known as Dz13, specifically targets and neutralises the gene responsible for inflammation and muscle death in the aftermath of a heart attack, preclinical trials have found. The drug also reduces incidental cell and tissue death resulting from life-saving interventions such as balloon angioplasty and stent placements used to open blocked arteries, or from the delivery of clot-busting drugs. Significantly, the heart"s pumping action is protected by the drug, dramatically improving the patient"s chances of a full recovery after a heart attack. "While this drug doesn"t prevent the heart attack, it does reduce the damaging effects of the blockage on the heart once it"s happened," said lead investigator Professor Levon Khachigian, from UNSW"s Centre for Vascular Research. "It"s a targeted therapy that can be used to complement other procedures and improve chances of a normal recovery," he said. The heart muscle suffers damage at two distinct times during a heart attack, Professor Khachigian said: first when the initial blockage occurs causing the chest pain; and second, when the patient undergoes a "revascularisation" intervention, such as angioplasty or stenting, to reopen the blocked artery. "At both these times a range of potentially damaging coordinated molecular responses kick in," he said. "We have been able to develop a drug to silence a disease-triggering gene. The drug improves heart function, regardless of whether it"s administered at the time of the heart attack, or at the time of the revascularisation process." Co-author on the study, interventional cardiologist Dr Ravinay Bhindi from Royal North Shore Hospital, said the technique represents an important potential advance in the treatment of heart disease, which is Australia"s number one killer. "This drug not only structurally reduces heart attack size but it protects heart muscle function. Both those things in combination improve outcomes and give hope to patients," Dr Bhindi said. Safety trials of Dz13 are now underway ahead of Phase 1 human trials. A paper outlining the animal study appears this month in the high-impact cardiovascular journal Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology. Steve Offner University of New South Wales


Add your comment:
Name:
Site address: http://
Your message:
Enter today\\\\'s date, 2 digits
(spam protection):

© Copyright 2009