Endocrinology
EndoGastric Solutions (EGS), the recognized leader in the emerging field of Natural Orifice Surgery (NOS), announced that the American Society of General Surgeons (ASGS) has published a position statement endorsing its Transoral Incisionless Fundoplication (TIF) procedure for the treatment of GERD. ASGS is the preeminent society of general surgeons with membership exceeding 2,000.
Two new specialist teams will be set up to improve diagnosis, care and support for people with eating disorders in Wales, Health Minister Edwina Hart officially announced.
How The World Health Organization develops its policy recommendations and responds to global health crises is the subject of a talk at The Australian National University today.
safefood today launched a new advertising campaign to highlight common and widespread poor food hygiene practices in the home as new research (1) revealed that 84% of people did not thoroughly wash their hands after handling raw chicken. The campaign titled "Don"t Take Risks" focuses on key messages of proper hand washing, proper cleaning of cooking utensils and thorough cooking, steps all of which can help minimise the risks of food poisoning in the home. The research also revealed that 72% failed to properly wash a knife used in preparing raw chicken before its reuse on salad vegetables, and 56% did not check if the chicken was cooked properly.
People who want to reduce their risk of colon cancer may want to start exercising more and cutting down on red meat and alcohol, a new research review suggests.
HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius released the first in a series of health care "success story" reports that document innovative programs and initiatives that can serve as models for a reformed American health care system. The inaugural report highlights the Michigan Keystone ICU Project. A joint partnership between the Michigan Health & Hospital Association and the Johns Hopkins University, the Michigan Keystone ICU Project helped dramatically reduce the number of health care associated infections in Michigan, saving over 1,500 lives and $200 million.
The Nursing & Midwifery Council (NMC) announced the appointment of Professor Dickon Weir-Hughes as its new Chief Executive and Registrar.
Though discoveries about Alzheimer"s disease risk factors are often in the news, adults do not know about the relationship between Alzheimer"s disease risk and heart health, nor that physical activity can be protective against dementia, according to new research reported today at the Alzheimer"s Association 2009 International Conference on Alzheimer"s Disease (ICAD 2009) in Vienna.
BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc. (Nasdaq: BMRN) announced that patient enrollment has been completed for the Phase I/II clinical trial for BMN-110 or N-acetylgalactosamine 6-sulfatase (GALNS), intended for the treatment of the lysosomal storage disorder Mucopolysaccharidosis Type IVA (MPS IVA), or Morquio A Syndrome. The company expects to report initial results in the first half of 2010.
The Electronic Health Records Association (EHR Association) has made specific recommendations to the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) on measurable criteria for achieving "meaningful use" of electronic health records (EHRs), as called for in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA). The Association specifically calls for 2011 objectives to be based on software and standards that are currently deployed and implemented, with a focus on adoption and use of comprehensive EHRs and recognition of the need for differences between inpatient and ambulatory meaningful use criteria.
Thomson Reuters today announced the results of a study documenting Brazil"s steady rise during the last two decades in both the volume and impact of its scientific work. According to Science Watch, these findings underscore Brazil"s standing among the emergent "BRIC" nations. BRIC -- an acronym for Brazil, Russia, India and China -- are the countries possessing the res and economic potential to capture a significant share of the world"s future economic growth.
Physician-scientists from NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center believe that a heightened level a certain growth factor in the blood may explain why blacks have a greater prevalence of hypertension and kidney disease compared to whites. Results from a new study are the first to show that an elevated level of a protein, called transforming growth factor B1 (TGF-B1), raises the risk of hypertension and renal disease in humans.
An iconic photograph (http://img.timeinc.net/time/80days/images/530228.jpg) of Nobel laureates Drs. Francis Crick and James Watson show the pair discussing with a rigid model of the famous double helix.
Trail results have highlighted the benefit of abdominal massage in the management of constipation - a common symptom in people with multiple sclerosis (MS).
The U.S. Department of Justice and 16 states have joined two whistle-blower lawsuits filed in federal District Court in Massachusetts alleging that Wyeth defrauded the government by not offering the same discounts on two medications to Medicaid that it offered to hospitals, the Wall Street Journal reports. The lawsuits were initiated following a grand-jury investigation by the U.S. Attorney"s Office in Massachusetts (Johnson, Wall Street Journal, 5/19). The other states included in the lawsuits are California, Delaware, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, New York, Michigan, Nevada, New Hampshire, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Wisconsin and the District of Columbia (Barrett, AP/Austin American-Statesman, 5/18).According to the lawsuits, Wyeth from 2000 to 2006 sold hospitals a bundled package called the Protonix Performance Agreement, which included its acid-reflux drugs Protonix Oral and Protonix IV. The suits allege that Wyeth gave hospitals up to a 94% discount for the oral version under the deal, with the understanding that when patients were released from hospitals they would be switched from the intravenous version of the drug to the oral version. According to the complaint, Wyeth hoped to gain an edge in a competitive market for acid-reflux pills by taking advantage of its standing as the only company offering an IV acid-reflux drug. The Journal reports that Wyeth charged hospitals $20 per vial for the IV version of Protonix and $3 for the oral version.Medicaid rules stipulate that the program is entitled to the lowest price on prescription drugs, and drugmakers are required to pay states rebates if they offer discounts to any other entities. The lawsuits state that Wyeth avoided paying hundreds of millions of dollars to state Medicaid programs because it did not offer the programs the same discounts or provide rebates (Wall Street Journal, 5/19).The lawsuits are seeking financial penalties against Wyeth of up to three times the amount lost by Medicaid. Assistant Attorney General Tony West said, "By offering massive discounts to hospitals, but then hiding that information from the Medicaid program, we believe Wyeth caused Medicaid programs throughout the country to pay much more for these drugs than they should have." Wyeth spokesperson Doug Petkus said that Wyeth "believes that its pricing calculations were correct and intends to defend itself vigorously in these actions" (AP/Austin American-Statesman, 5/18).
Rural Americans are hopeful that health reform includes funding for clinics and health care services in their communities, where the cost of care is often high, CNN reports.
HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said Sunday the U.S. has agreed to put an addition $1 billion towards ingredients for the production of a vaccine that offers protection against the H1N1 (swine flu) virus, Reuters reports. "There"ll be another $1 billion worth of orders placed to get the bulk ingredients for an H1N1 vaccination. Congress has agreed with the president that this is the number one priority, keeping Americans safe and secure," Sebelius said (7/12).
One approach being developed as a way to improve heart function following heart attack is the injection of heart stem/progenitor cells directly into the heart. Now, a team of researchers, at Tokyo Women"s Medical University, Japan, and Chiba University Graduate School of Medicine, Japan, has found that transplanting sheets of clonally expanded heart cells expressing the protein Sca-1 (cells that are heart stem/progenitor cells and that the authors term CPCs) improves heart function after a heart attack in mice.
ULTRASOUND OUTPERFORMS SYMPTOM ANALYSIS IN DETECTING OVARIAN CANCER
Patients with multiple sclerosis who smoke appear to experience a more rapid progression of their disease, according to a report in the July issue of Archives of Neurology, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.
The beta-carotene in so-called "Golden Rice" converts to vitamin A in humans, according to researchers at Baylor College of Medicine and Tufts University in an article that appears in the current issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
Previous studies have found that postmenopausal women who have taken a combined estrogen and progestin hormone replacement therapy have increased their risk of developing progestin-accelerated breast tumors. Now, University of Missouri researchers have found that curcumin, a popular Indian spice derived from the turmeric root, could reduce the cancer risk for women after exposure to hormone replacement therapy.
States that have passed privacy laws restricting the ability of hospitals to disclose patient information have seen the sharing of electronic medical records suffer by more than 24%, according to the Management Insights feature in the current issue of Management Science, the flagship journal of the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS®).
For the first time in more than 10 years, the universally accepted lung cancer staging system has been revised to more accurately reflect the prognosis for patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).
If that office inkjet printer has become just another fixture, it"s time to take a fresh look at it. Similar technology may soon be used to develop paper-based biosensors that can detect certain harmful toxins that can cause food poisoning or be used as bioterrorism agents.
A well known UK orchestra conductor Sir Edward Thomas Downes, CBE, and his wife Lady Joan Downes have died after choosing to end their
Memantine improves functional communication skills in patients with moderate to severe Alzheimer"s disease (AD), noticeable by caregivers. These are the study results discussed at the International Conference on Alzheimer"s Disease (ICAD). The data of two recent clinical trials support that AXURA®/AKATINOL® - an uncompetitive NMDA receptor antagonist - effects language skills in AD patients and improves cognitive abilities and functional communication. Leading neurologists emphasize that improvement of communication skills is a meaningful treatment target. Communication breakdown can trigger feelings of frustration in Alzheimer"s patients and these feelings may manifest as behavioral instability. This in turn is known to be a major of caregiver"s burden and distress.
The number of people with Alzheimer"s and dementia - both new cases and
Abraxis BioScience, Inc. (NASDAQ:ABII), a fully integrated biotechnology company, announced that the company has completed patient enrollment of a pivotal, phase III clinical study comparing the company"s chemotherapy agent ABRAXANE® for Injectable Suspension (paclitaxel protein-bound particles for injectable suspension) (albumin bound) with Taxol® (paclitaxel) injection, both in combination with carboplatin, in the first-line treatment of patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The study, which is being conducted at 111 sites globally, includes 1,050 patients and is being led by principal investigator Dr. Mark Socinski at the University of North Carolina Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center. It is one of the largest NSCLC clinical studies to complete enrollment.
A new research study published in The Journal of Sexual Medicine and led by noted men"s health researcher Dr. Paul Turek has a powerful conclusion: that men diagnosed with infertility suffer intense negative sexual, personal and social strains that might be considered typical for other medical illnesses, including cancer.
While total knee surgery is a common procedure with a high success rate in the US, getting a second opinion is still recommended. Each surgeon has had a specific training and education, and more experience with certain procedures over others. Some surgeons embrace new technologies and methods while others are more traditional in their practice. Furthermore, you want to feel comfortable with your surgeon. Taking the additional steps to research, interview, and visit more than one doctor can pay off in the long run.
Accera, Inc., a biotechnology company delivering breakthrough therapies in central nervous system diseases, today announced further evidence for genetic interactions impacting the efficacy of the ketogenic compound AC-1202 (Axona(TM)) in Alzheimer"s disease. New data from the company"s previously completed double-blind, placebo-controlled trial in patients with mild-to-moderate Alzheimer"s disease demonstrates an interaction between two genetic markers that strongly influence the therapeutic response in patients. Dr. Samuel Henderson, Executive Director of Research, will present these results at the 2009 International Conference on Alzheimer"s Disease (ICAD) sponsored by the Alzheimer"s Association.
Quantum Immunologics, Inc. (QI), a Tampa, Florida company focusing on the research and development of cancer immunotherapies, announces that the first patient in its breast cancer trial has begun to receive its dendritic cell therapy.
"President Obama signaled recently a major shift in the way the United States tries to help poor countries," Philip Stevens, policy director at the International Policy Network, writes in a Providence Journal opinion piece, adding, "Whereas the Bush presidency pushed to spend enormous sums on individual high-profile diseases such as AIDS, Obama says he will broaden U.S. aid to improve health more generally." However, Stevens writes that the "$63 billion question remains (for that is the sum proposed by Obama): Is it likely to help improve health over the long term?" He adds, "Because far more people in poor countries die of preventable diseases like pneumonia than AIDS, the plan makes some sense. But, heartless as it seems, health care programs funded by foreign aid rarely if ever live up to the soaring rhetoric with which they are launched by politicians." According to Stevens, "[s]tudy after study shows that health aid makes almost no difference to mortality rates and health outcomes, despite the expenditure of billions." He adds, "In happier economic times, indefinitely financing state health care in Africa may have imparted a warm humanitarian glow to U.S. taxpayers. Now that times are harder, and it is clear such transfers rarely work, maybe it"s time to pare them right back." Stevens writes, "When governments become dependent on foreign s to maintain their activities, it drives a wedge between them and their citizens and allows corrupt and repressive governments to remain in power." It also "discourages governments from enacting the politically difficult reforms needed to promote economic development strengthening the rule of law, establishing property rights and opening markets," Stevens writes, adding, "Without improving prosperity, you can"t improve health care."He concludes, "Fortunately, the recession has accelerated recent declines in foreign aid. Congress still has to approve the funds so it has a chance to end subsidies to corrupt governments and being a new chapter for the world"s poorest people" (Stevens, Providence Journal, 5/17).
The financial crisis and lack of trust in public services mean that the NHS and the government face tough political and economic challenges ahead. In this climate, improvements in health services will only be possible if primary care takes the lead and political leaders sharpen up their vision.
President Obama told Sen. Max Baucus that he wants a Senate Finance Committee health overhaul bill by the end of the week, The Associated Press reports. "These officials said Obama made his wishes known directly to Baucus, D-Mont., at a White House meeting Monday attended by administration officials and senior Democratic lawmakers."
"Senators agreed Monday to give high-tech biologic drugs 12 years of market protection before generic versions can compete," according to The Associated Press.
A new federal rating system to track quality gives nursing homes mixed reviews. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) developed the Nursing Home Compare Web site, which compares the nation"s 15,600 homes. There were complaints that the old site was unmanageable.
"The heavy lifting" for garnering Congressional support for eliminating the federal ban on funding for needle exchange programs "was left to David Obey, the Democrat from Wisconsin who chairs both the House Appropriations Committee and the Subcommittee on Labor, Education, Health and Human Services," Boston Globe columnist Derrick Jackson writes in response to the introduction of legislation by the House Appropriations Committee last week that would lift the ban. Jackson also notes that while President Obama addressed needle exchange during the campaign, his FY 2010 budget continued the ban and that a "White House spokesmen said [President] Obama need[ed] time to "build support" with Congress and the public to get rid of the ban." In discussing the history behind the ban and the science supporting the use of needle exchange programs, Jackson says, "It is time, with the House having taken the lead, for [President] Obama to get out front and say once and for all that science takes the front seat to ideology," concluding, "Some issues are too critical to the very lives of Americans to wait to "build support"" (7/14).
ChemBioOffice 2010 is the latest release of CambridgeSoft Corporation"s full suite of integrated scientific desktop applications designed to aid individual chemists and biologists at their desktops, while also providing a shared solution benefiting scientists across an institution.
"Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Monday she is frustrated over the failure" to name a new head of the USAID, despite it being a priority for the administration, AFP/Google.com reports. "Clinton, addressing USAID staff who asked why there was no administrator and deputy six months into President Barack Obama"s administration, complained about what she called an increasingly burdensome vetting process," the news service writes (7/13).
In the first day of her confirmation hearings before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Supreme Court nominee Judge Sonia Sotomayor said on Monday that "fidelity to the law" is central to her judicial philosophy and that the role of a judge is "not to make law" but "to apply the law," the Washington Post reports. Sotomayor said her record as a district and federal appeals judge "reflects my rigorous commitment to interpreting the Constitution according to its terms, interpreting statutes according to their terms and Congress" intent, and hewing faithfully to precedents established by the Supreme Court and by my circuit court." She also said her "personal and professional experiences help me listen and understand, with the law always commanding the result in every case" (Barnes et al., Washington Post, 7/14). The first day of the hearings was dedicated to opening statements from Sotomayor and senators, with the questioning portion scheduled to begin on Tuesday. According to the Wall Street Journal, Sotomayor is expected to be confirmed, as Democrats outnumber Republicans on the committee 12-7 and hold a 60-member majority in the Senate (Bravin/Bendavid, Wall Street Journal, 7/14). The New York Times reports that senators from both parties are likely to use Sotomayor"s confirmation as a way to frame the debate for the next Supreme Court nominee, with Democrats hoping to "build a lopsided victory" to give President Obama more leeway to choose a more liberal nominee. Conservatives, on the other hand, "hoped to draw a line making the president think twice about picking someone" like Sotomayor in the future, the Times reports (Baker/Lewis, New York Times, 7/14).In Monday"s hearing, both parties gave indications of how they plan to proceed for the rest of the confirmation process, the Post reports. Democrats in their statements portrayed Sotomayor as a role model for the country and a judge with a modest approach who would bring balance to the conservative-leaning court (Washington Post, 7/14). Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) said Sotomayor "puts rule of law above everything else." He added, "Given her extensive and evenhanded record, I am not sure how any member of this panel can sit here today and seriously suggest that she comes to the bench with a personal agenda" (Stern/Perine, CQ Today, 7/13). Republicans used their statements to cast Sotomayor as a partial judge, saying previous statements and rulings show she is an activist judge (Washington Post, 7/14). In particular, GOP senators on the committee referenced a comment from a 2001 speech in which Sotomayor said that a "wise Latina" would reach better decisions than a white man in some cases (Baker/Lewis, New York Times, 7/14). Sen. Jeff Sessions (Ala.), the ranking Republican on the committee, said, "No senator should vote for an individual ... who believes it is acceptable for a judge to allow their own personal background, gender, prejudices or sympathies to sway their decision." He continued, "Call it empathy, call it prejudice or call it sympathy, but whatever it is, it"s not law" (Wall Street Journal, 7/14). However, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) noted that Republicans lost in last year"s presidential election and told Sotomayor, "Unless you have a complete meltdown, you"re going to get confirmed" (Lewis, New York Times, 7/14).Antiabortion-Rights Protesters Arrested During HearingsFour antiabortion-rights protesters were arrested for shouting comments during the senators" remarks (CQ Today, 7/13). One of the arrested protesters was Norma McCorvey, the plaintiff "Jane Roe" in Roe v. Wade. According to the AP/Google.com, McCorvey began screaming that Sotomayor was "wrong" about abortion during the opening statement of Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.). McCorvey and the other three arrested protesters were charged with unlawful conduct-disruption of Congress. The protesters also prompted a warning from Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), who said, "We"ll show respect to everybody who is here, we will show respect to everyb
On July 14, the American Association for Dental Research released its policy statement titled "Oral Health Care within Health Care Reform," which focuses on the scientific base of oral health and its associations to other aspects of health.
Chronic exposure to tobacco smoke in childhood may contribute to early emphysema later in life, according to new research. Environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) is known to be associated with a variety of serious health problems, but it had not previously been associated with the development of emphysema over the life course. The data was presented on Tuesday, May 19, at the 105th International Conference of the American Thoracic Society in San Diego.
The NPHS influenza surveillance scheme, which records reports of diagnoses of flufrom more than 300 GP practices across Wales, shows low but increasing levels of influenza activity in all parts of Wales.
A drug similar to one used in clinical trials for treatment of rheumatoid arthritis and psoriasis has been found to rescue memory in mice exhibiting Alzheimer"s symptoms.
New research published in the July issue of the Journal of the American College of Surgeons reveals that African Americans with gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST), a rare cancer that begins in the wall of the gastrointestinal tract, now have survival rates equivalent to those of Caucasians. Prior to 2000, African Americans were more likely to develop GIST and less likely to undergo surgical treatment for this type of cancer.
The human brain can adapt to changing demands even in adulthood, but MIT neuroscientists have now found evidence of it changing with unsuspected speed. Their findings suggest that the brain has a network of silent connections that underlie its plasticity.
GenWay Biotech, Inc., a US-based diagnostic company has become CLIA certified and received a California lab license. Their license currently permits the testing of immunological biomarkers. This is a very important step in the direction of commercialization of the novel innovative diagnostic tests currently being developed at GenWay. In upcoming weeks, GenWay will add new cancer biomarker tests to their portfolio as well as several infectious diseases such as sexual transmitted diseases. GenWay is seeking to obtain CAP accreditation by the end of the year.
Can-Fite BioPharma (TASE:CFBI), a biotechnology company traded on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange announced that, following the approval by the Israel Ministry of Health and Rabin MC Ethics Committee, a phase I/II clinical trial with CF102 for the treatment of HCV will now start enrolling patients.
This week, more than 3,000 leading scientists convened to report and discuss the latest advances in research on treatments, risk factors, diagnosis and causes for the health epidemic of the 21st century -- Alzheimer"s disease -- at the Alzheimer"s Association 2009 International Conference on Alzheimer"s Disease (ICAD 2009) in Vienna, Austria.
Based on the data presented, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee (ODAC) recommended that the combination of trabectedin when administered with DOXIL(R) (doxorubicin HCI liposome injection) did not provide a sufficient benefit-risk profile for the treatment of relapsed ovarian cancer.
Health reform may succeed in creating better coverage and access for Americans, but until we reduce the barriers to proper medication adherence, many patients will not experience improved health, according to experts meeting today to discuss the challenges of adherence.
Genetics researchers have unveiled a powerful new re for scientists and health providers studying human illnesses--a reference standard of deletions and duplications of DNA found in the human genome. Drawn from over 2,000 healthy persons, the study provides one of the deepest and broadest sets of copy number variations (CNVs) available to date, along with a new research tool for diagnosing and identifying genetic problems in patients.
Commenting on news that Lord Ara Darzi will stand down as a government minister, Dr Peter Carter, Chief Executive of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN), paid tribute to his contribution to the health service. He said:
House Democratic leaders on Tuesday unveiled a health care reform bill that aims to extend coverage to 37 million U.S. residents over 10 years, the Washington Post reports. According to Democratic aides, the bill would ensure that 97% of U.S. residents are insured by 2015 (Montgomery/Connolly, Washington Post, 7/15). The bill would require employers and individuals to get health insurance coverage or pay into a fund (AP/Google.com, 7/14). To help people obtain insurance, the bill would increase Medicaid eligibility and provide tax credits to those with incomes up to 400% of the federal poverty level, or about $43,000 for an individual (Washington Post, 7/15). The bill would establish a government-run public plan option designed to compete with private insurers (Frank, Reuters, 7/14). The bill also includes several provisions designed to slow the growth of Medicare (Pear/Herszenhorn, New York Times, 7/15).The bill does not include total cost figures, and it is unclear whether last-minute changes by its sponsors would satisfy moderate and conservative Democrats who last week refused to support the legislation, according to the AP/Google.com (AP/Google.com, 7/14). The Congressional Budget Office estimated yesterday that the bill would cost $1 trillion over 10 years, though more information is needed before final cost estimates are released. A new surtax on higher-income residents is projected to cover more than half of the bill"s cost over 10 years, with smaller amounts of funding from changes to the corporate tax code, according to the Post (Washington Post, 7/15).
The new surgeon general is expected to focus on primary care.
"Rising unemployment and spiking Medicaid and welfare caseloads have put [New Hampshire"s] most recent budget to the test just two weeks after its adoption," New Hampshire Public Radio reports. The state"s Medicaid caseload is just 39 enrollees away from putting the "state"s Medicaid budget in the red."
GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) on Tuesday announced plans to invest $97 million over 10 years "to improve research, development and access to AIDS drugs in Africa," Reuters reports. GSK also put forth "a new free voluntary licensing agreement for AIDS drug abacavir, or Ziagen with South African generic drugmaker Aspen Pharmacare." According to Reuters, Aspen will be able to "manufacture a cheaper generic version of the drug."
Obama"s Policy Could Make U.S.-Africa Relations "Flower"
Pregnant women and newborns are at greatest risk in a flu epidemic, but more planning must be done to ensure that they receive priority treatment should an outbreak occur, according to a University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) and University of Pittsburgh study. The findings, published online in Emerging Health Threats Journal, raise concerns about the ability of hospitals to adequately treat this vulnerable population, particularly in light of the current H1N1 flu outbreak.
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Clinical Scholars Program® is pleased to announce the selection of 29 young physicians who will learn to conduct innovative research and work with communities, organizations, practitioners and policy-makers on issues important to the health and well-being of all Americans. They will begin their prestigious two-year fellowships in July 2010.
In a feat of trickery, Dartmouth Medical School immunologists have devised a Trojan horse to help overcome ovarian cancer, unleashing a surprise killer in the surroundings of a hard-to-treat tumor.
The molecular machinery that helps brain cells migrate to their correct place in the developing brain has been identified by scientists at St. Jude Children"s Research Hospital. The finding offers new insight into the forces that drive brain organization in developing fetuses and children during their first years. Disruption of this brain-patterning machinery can cause epilepsy and mental retardation and understanding its function could give new insight into such disorders.
An osteoporosis drug proven to save lives after hip fractures may do so by strengthening the body"s immune system, according to geriatrics researchers at Duke University Medical Center.
The capacity to figure out what others are thinking and what they mean is an ability unique to people that"s central to our lives. A new study on the neural mechanisms that govern these abilities sheds light on the relation between how people and groups interact, on the one hand, and how the brain develops and functions, on the other.
Valeo Pharma announced a new study recently published that demonstrated the efficacy and safety of Hydrosal®, a novel high strength topical antiperspirant with 15% aluminum chloride and 2% salicylic acid in proprietary gel base for patients with moderate-to-severe hyperhidrosis (excessive sweating).
Amid reports that swine flu viruses are developing the ability to shrug off existing antiviral drugs, scientists in Japan are reporting a first-of-its kind discovery that could foster a new genre of antivirals that sidestep resistance problems, according to an article scheduled for the July 23 issue of the ACS" Journal of the Medicinal Chemistry, a bi-weekly publication.
The "sloppier copier" discovered by USC biologists is also the best sixth man in the DNA repair game, an article in the journal Nature shows.
In a bold move to back the research projects of the future, the Bupa Foundation is making financial support available for pilot and exploratory studies to encourage researchers to get their projects off the ground.
In a Phase III study, TIP, an inhaled investigational formulation of tobramycin, improved lung function (as measured by FEV1) in cystic fibrosis patients with Pseudomonas aeruginosa (Pa) infection, compared to placebo. The data, presented today at the American Thoracic Society (ATS) 2009 International Conference in San Diego, also demonstrated, with respect to secondary endpoints, that TIP decreased sputum Pa density, hospitalization and other antibiotic use in these patients versus placebo.
Advanced Therapeutics & Co. (ADVTX) announced that Fibrinoplate-S™ has shown efficacy in reducing the bleeding in animals exposed to extreme doses of radiation. Survivors of a nuclear event or a dirty bomb explosion will have similar damage from the ionizing radiation of such bombs.
Chinese researchers have unlocked the mechanism of an emerging mind-body technique that produces measurable changes in attention and stress reduction in just five days of practice.
Researchers at the University of Rochester Medical Center have found a way to block the genetic flaw at the heart of a common form of muscular dystrophy. The results of the study, which were published in the journal Science, could pave the way for new therapies that essentially reverse the symptoms of the disease.
Concerns raised by the Pharmacists" Division of the Association of Professional
In her third day of confirmation hearings before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor deflected lawmakers" attempts to elicit specific answers on how she would rule on abortion-rights cases and other contentious issues, the Washington Post reports (Goldstein et al., Washington Post, 7/16). As she entered what likely will be the final day of testimony on Thursday, Sotomayor"s confirmation "seemed on track," and Republicans appeared to be "conceding that they had not built the momentum necessary to derail the nomination," according to the New York Times, (Stolberg/Lewis, New York Times, 7/16). Cornyn Questions Abortion-Rights ViewsSen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) asked Sotomayor whether reports that Obama administration officials had sought to elicit her views on abortion were accurate. She responded that she "was asked no question by anyone including the president about my views on any specific legal issue" (Espo/Sherman, AP/Houston Chronicle, 7/15). Cornyn cited comments from George Pavia -- the senior partner at the New York law firm where Sotomayor previously worked -- who stated that he could "guarantee" that she would "be for abortion rights." Sotomayor said, "I have no idea why he"s drawing that conclusion," adding, "If he was talking about the fact that I served on a particular board that promoted equal opportunity for people, the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund, then you could talk about that being a liberal instinct, in the sense that I promote equal opportunity in America and the attempts to ensure that." She continued, "But he has not read my jurisprudence for 17 years, I can assure you. He"s a corporate litigator. And my experience with corporate litigators is that they only look at the law when it affects the case before them" (Washington Post, 7/16). Sotomayor added that she "know[s] for a fact that I never spoke to [Pavia] on my views on abortion or my views on any social issue" (Bendavid, "Washington Wire," Wall Street Journal, 7/15). Sotomayor noted that she once ruled to uphold the "global gag rule," also known as the "Mexico City" policy, which barred federal funding of international family planning groups that provide abortion information or services (New York Times, 7/16).Coburn Presses on Hypothetical CasesDuring his questioning, Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) asked Sotomayor about hypothetical cases related to abortion-rights issues, including if it would be legal if a woman sought an abortion at 38 weeks" gestation if the fetus had spina bifida. Sotomayor said, "I can"t answer that question in the abstract, because I would have to look at what the state of the state"s law was on that question and what the state said with respect to that issue." She continued, "The question is, is the state regulation regulating what a woman does an undue burden? And so I can"t answer your hypothetical, because I can"t look at it as an abstract without knowing what state laws exist on this issue or not. And even if I knew that, I probably couldn"t opine, because I"m sure that situation might well arise before the court" (Holman, "NewsHour with Jim Lehrer," PBS, 7/15). Sotomayor also said that the Supreme Court"s 1992 ruling in Planned Parenthood v. Casey "reaffirmed the core holding of Roe v. Wade that a woman has a constitutional right to terminate her pregnancy in certain cases" (Hirschfeld Davis, AP/Boston Globe, 7/16). She added that the ruling said the court should consider whether any state regulation "has an undue burden on the woman"s constitutional right" (Sherman, AP/Sacramento Bee, 7/15). Coburn also asked whether medical advancements that help premature infants survive might "have any bearing on how we look at" Roe (Savage/Oliphant, Chicago Tribune, 7/16). She said, "I can"t answer that in the abstract," adding, "The question as it would come before me wouldn"t be in the way that you form it as a citizen, it would come to me as a judge" (AP/Houston Chronicle, 7/15).Specter Seeks Clarification on RoeDuring question
A recent Obama administration legal filing clears the way for foreign women who have experienced severe domestic beatings and sexual abuse to receive asylum in the U.S., the New York Times reports. The administration stated its position in an April immigration appeals court filing involving a Mexican woman, identified only by her initials, who is seeking asylum in the U.S. because of fear that her abusive common-law husband would kill her. The Times reports that the woman recently consented to having her confidential case documents disclosed to the newspaper.The filing reverses the government"s stance under former President George W. Bush. According to the Times, lawyers say that the Obama administration "has marked a clear, although narrow, pathway for battered women seeking asylum, ... after 13 years of tangled court arguments." Bush administration lawyers had argued as recently as last year that the Mexican woman and others like her could not meet the standards of U.S. asylum law, the Times reports. Applicants for U.S. asylums or refugee status must show a "well-founded fear of persecution" because of race, religion, nationality, political opinion or "membership in a particular social group." The legal debate has been whether women can be included under those terms. According to the Obama administration"s court filing, foreign women who experience abuse would have to prove that their abusers treat them as subordinates and little better than property. They would also have to show that abuse is widely accepted in their country. In addition, they would need to demonstrate that they are unable to find protections from their countries" institutions or by moving somewhere else in their country. The policy does not apply to women fleeing genital mutilation, the Times reports. The Department of Homeland Security has not recommended asylum for the woman. However, DHS senior lawyers wrote in the filing that "it is possible" for her "and other applicants who have experienced domestic violence could qualify for asylum."Under the Clinton administration, Attorney General Janet Reno proposed regulations to clarify the asylum law, but they have never taken effect. DHS lawyers in 2004 raised the possibility of asylum for domestic violence victims, but it was never put into practice in immigration court, according to Karen Musalo, director of the Center for Gender and Refugee Studies at the University of California Hastings College of the Law. "This really opens the door to the protection of women who have suffered these kinds of violations," Musalo said. DHS officials said they now are returning to the 2004 position of stipulating conditions narrow enough to allow domestic violence victims to gain asylum in only a limited number of cases. Matt Chandler, a DHS spokesperson, said, "Although each case is highly fact-dependent and requires scrutiny of the specific threat an applicant faces, the department continues to view domestic violence as a possible basis for asylum in the United States" (Preston, New York Times, 7/16).
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced that it is conducting a safety review of Xolair (omalizumab), a drug used to treat certain adults and adolescents with moderate-to-severe persistent asthma.
Whistleblowers allege in lawsuits unsealed Wednesday that some medical device companies gave kickbacks to heart surgeons to get the doctors to use their products to treat a heart condition, The Wall Street Journal reports.
IRIN examines the efforts of the Geneva-based Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics (FIND) to develop less costly surveillance equipment to improve the ability to detect the parasitic disease trypanosomiasis (sleeping sickness) in endemic countries. Though "trypanosomiasis can be cured within a week of hospitalization," left undetected, the disease advances, making it treatable only by medication that "can be toxic in up to 10 percent of patients," according to Joseph Ndung"u, head of FIND"s trypanosomiasis program.
Daily Monitor Reports On Success, Expansion Of Pilot Study Using Health Text Messages
The Amarillo, Texas City Commission on Tuesday received a grant from the Texas Department of State Health Services, of which $51,636 will be used for HIV surveillance activities across the Texas Panhandle Region, NewsChannel10.com reports. According to NewsChannel10.com, the "grant supports the investigation, review and reporting of HIV/AIDS positive cases to the State Health Department" (Lemmons, 7/15).
A Geographic Information System (GIS)-driven digital map of past and predicted malaria outbreak hotspots has been used in India as part of a national control program. Researchers writing in BioMed Central"s open access International Journal of Health Geographics describe the creation of the GIS and its implementation in the malaria-stricken Madhya Pradesh region.
Four of the nation"s leading experts in suicide research, including Dr. John Mann of Columbia University Medical Center, will carry out the largest study of suicide and mental health among military personnel ever undertaken, with $50 million in funding from the U.S. Army. The announcement came today from the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), which signed a memorandum of agreement with the Army in October 2008 authorizing the NIMH to undertake the investigation with Army funding. Study investigators aim to move quickly to identify risk and protective factors for suicide among soldiers and provide a science base for effective and practical interventions to reduce suicide rates and address associated mental health problems.
New research, has revealed that an extract which concentrates specific nutrients from Klamath blue green algae, could provide an effective natural remedy for women looking for an effective alternative to HRT to control mood swings and improve overall wellbeing.
This statement updates Members on the Influenza A (H1N1v) swine flu outbreak and the latest developments in Wales and across the UK.
The NPHS influenza surveillance scheme, which records reports of diagnoses of flufrom more than 300 GP practices across Wales, shows low but increasing levels of influenza activity across Wales. Further detail can be found on the NPHS website.
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) received copies of Lord Gill"s report[1] into the explosion, caused by a leak of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) on 11 May 2004, when nine people died and many more were injured at the ICL Plastics factory in Maryhill, Glasgow.
Those travelling abroad should take seriously advice to pack their condoms and keep their needles to themselves: research published today in the open access journal Retrovirology shows that tourists, travellers and migrants from Greece, Portugal, Serbia and Spain actively export HIV-1 subtype B to other European nations.
A single evolutionary event appears to explain the short, curved legs that characterize all of today"s dachshunds, corgis, basset hounds and at least 16 other breeds of dogs, a team led by the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI), part of the National Institutes of Health, report. In addition to what it reveals about short-legged dogs, the unexpected discovery provides new clues about how physical differences may arise within species and suggests new approaches to understanding a form of human dwarfism.
LATITUDE Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (LPI), a San Diego-based drug formulation developer, announced today that it has initiated two new collaboration programs for its Phospholipid Gel (PG) Depot drug delivery platform. The programs are designed to provide prolonged and peak-free pharmacokinetic profiles for 3 and 7 days following a subcutaneous injection for an antibiotic and a protein drug, respectively. The new studies bring the total to seven feasibility/license agreements that are applying the PG Depot to deliver small molecules, peptides, and proteins for pain, metabolic disease, anti-bacterial, and cardiovascular applications.
Experiences with relationship violence beyond the formative and developmental years of childhood and adolescence can have far-reaching effects on the health status of disadvantaged urban women, a new study shows.
A new study points to evidence that the 1995 repeal of federal limit controls resulted in an increase of road fatalities and injuries.
THIS month, Cancer Research UK is set to unveil a brand new national television ad campaign to raise awareness and increase donations for vital research into cancer.
Nearly 90 per cent of people in the UK back proposals to stop under 18s from using sunbeds according to a new survey by Cancer Research UK.
Respiratory infectious diseases continue to be a huge and rising burden to health-care systems and societies worldwide. Published by Wiley-Blackwell, the latest issue of Respirology includes an invited review series focused on infectious pulmonary diseases.
Teens who drink heavily are more likely than their peers to have behavioural and attention problems and suffer from anxiety and depression, a team led by researchers from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) has reported.
The Boston Globe: "A state commission recommended yesterday that Massachusetts dramatically change how doctors and hospitals are paid, essentially putting providers on a budget as a way to control exploding healthcare costs and improve the quality of care. The 10-member commission, which includes key legislators and members of Governor Deval Patrick"s administration, voted unanimously to largely scrap the current system, in which insurers typically pay doctors and hospitals a negotiated fee for each individual procedure or visit. That arrangement is widely seen as leading to unneeded tests and procedures. Instead, the group wants private insurers and the state and federal Medicaid program to pay providers a set payment for each patient that covers all that person"s care for an entire year and to make the radical shift within five years" (Kowalczyk, 7/17).
The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) on Thursday said food prices remain high in many developing countries because of reduced harvests, civil conflict and other factors, AP/Google.com reports (7/16).
A proposed amendment to Washington, D.C."s federal appropriation for 2010 "would prohibit the city from using federal funds to distribute needles for the "injection of illegal drugs ò€¦ within 1,000 feet of a public or private day care center, elementary school, vocational school, secondary school, college, junior college, university, public swimming pool, park, playground, video arcade or youth center,"" the Washington Post reports. Local HIV/AIDS advocates "are concerned that [the] proposed amendment ò€¦ would drastically reduce public funding for needle exchange programs and take away a weapon in the fight against HIV and AIDS," according to the Post. A companion bill in the Senate does not contain language prohibiting the use of federal dollars for needle exchange programs. "Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D) urged her colleagues to fight the amendment which is before the full House this afternoon," the article states. The district has provided $700,000 in the past year to four non-profit organizations for needle exchange programs (Fears, 7/16).
CDC"s latest Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) examines the sexual health of young adults and teenagers in the U.S., Reuters reports. "The data presented in this report indicate that many young persons in the United States engage in sexual risk behavior and experience negative reproductive health outcomes," the MMWR states (7/16). For the report, CDC compiled data from several different studies involving hundreds of thousands of teenagers and young adults age 10 to 25. Among other findings, the data indicated that AIDS rates among boys age 15 to 19 increased from 1.3 cases per 100,000 in 1997 to 2.5 cases in 2006. The report also said that new HIV and AIDS diagnoses were highest among young blacks across all age groups (Chicago Tribune, 7/17). Kevin Fenton, director of CDC"s National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD and TB Prevention, said, "It is imperative that all of us at the national and community level work together to ensure STD and HIV prevention programs are reaching young people, particularly in communities with the greatest burden of disease" (Brewington, "Picture of Health," Baltimore Sun, 7/16).
NHS South West Essex has launched an ambitious mobile MMR immunisation programme to improve vaccination rates among 20,000 at risk children.
Tropical cyclone Nargis made landfall in the Asian nation of Myanmar on May 2, 2008, causing the worst natural disaster in the country"s recorded history - with a death toll that may have exceeded 138,000. In the July 2009 issue of the journal Nature Geoscience, researchers report on a field survey done three months after the disaster to document the extent of the flooding and resulting damage.
You can tell without looking whether you"ve been stuck by a pin or burnt by a match. But how? In research that overturns conventional wisdom, a team of scientists from the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) and the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), have shown that this sensory discrimination begins in the skin at the very earliest stages of neuronal information processing, with different populations of sensory neurons--called nociceptors--responding to different kinds of painful stimuli.
In what has been described as the first lupus drug in decades to show effectiveness in phase 3 clinical trials, the announcement that Benlysta
"Where care lodges, sleep will never lie," says Shakespeare in Romeo and Juliet.
Cytori Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CYTX) was informed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that the Celution® 700 System will be regulated as a medical device under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. This determination, in response to Cytori"s Request for Designation, clears the way for Cytori to compile and submit a marketing application to the FDA for the Celution® 700 System for use as a medical device in aesthetic body contouring and/or filling of soft tissue voids.
Fungi (Singular: fungus) are classified within their own kingdom - The Kingdom Fungi, while some are in The Kingdom Protista. A fungus is neither a plant nor an animal. It is similar to a plant, but it has no chlorophyll and cannot make its own food like a plant can through photosynthesis. They get their food by absorbing nutrients from their surroundings.
US Oncology, Inc. today announced that US Oncology Research will participate in the BiPar Sciences" Phase III, Multi-center, Open-Label, Randomized Trial of Gemcitabine/Carboplatin (G/C), with or without BSI-201, in patients with Estrogen Receptor (ER), Progesterone Receptor (PR), and HER2-negative metastatic breast cancer.
Quotient Bioresearch Limited ("Quotient"), a leading provider of drug development services, announces that it has acquired Charles River Laboratories" (Charles River) Edinburgh clinical research facility. This represents the sixth acquisition in approximately three years for Quotient.
Karolinska Institutet accounts for almost half of the academic medical research conducted in Sweden, and contributes regularly to new discoveries that save lives and alleviate suffering. Today, the university"s president, Harriet Wallberg-Henriksson, is to receive an honorary distinction for eminent women in science by Exploratorium, the renowned American science museum.
An FDA-approved drug used for preventing recurrence of breast cancer shows promise in fighting life-threatening fungal infections common in immune-compromised patients, such as infants born prematurely and patients with cancer. Some scientists suspected that tamoxifen has antifungal properties; now new research from the University of Rochester Medical Center shows that it actually kills fungus cells and stops them from causing disease.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Friday announced that he will oppose Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor, even as increased Republican support seemed to ensure that she would be confirmed, the New York Times reports. McConnell said that he would not support Sotomayor"s nomination because her "record of written statements suggests an alarming lack of respect for the notion of equal justice, and, therefore, in my view, an insufficient willingness to abide by the judicial oath." McConnell intends to deliver the remarks to the Senate on Monday. Meanwhile, Republican Sens. Richard Lugar (Ind.), Mel Martinez (Fla.) and Olympia Snowe (Maine) said that they would support Sotomayor. The Times reports that the senators" backing of Sotomayor -- combined with her "solid Democratic support" -- shows that she should receive "strong confirmation approval" (Hulse, New York Times, 7/18). Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and ranking member Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) would not predict how many Republicans could vote for her confirmation. Sessions said that Republicans are seeking a committee vote on Sotomayor on July 28, one week later than the date sought by committee Democrats. During that week, Republicans hope to review her record, her answers from her confirmation hearings and other responses to questions (AP/Boston Globe, 7/20).