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Long-term immunosuppressants improve survival for lupus patients with ESKD

Researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University have shown that close supervision by rheumatologists and the use of immunosuppressant drugs improve the survival of lupus patients with end-stage kidney disease—a finding that could reverse long-standing clinical practice.

21 Sep 2011

New FDA-approved antiviral drugs offer treatment hope for hepatitis C

The Methodist Hospital in Houston is excited to share significant news for patients who need treatment for hepatitis C genotype 1, a viral infection that causes liver inflammation that can lead to diminished liver function or symptoms for liver failure.

21 Sep 2011

New organ donation rules under consideration

Surgeons retrieving organs for transplant just after a donor's heart stops beating would no longer have to wait at least two minutes to be sure the heart doesn't spontaneously start beating again under new rules being considered by the group that coordinates organ allocation in the United States.

21 Sep 2011

UAB surgeons perform second toe-to-thumb transplant

Cary Ramey has the word Carpe tattooed on the underside of his right wrist and Diem tattooed on the left. He loves extreme sports, especially mountain biking and "rock climbing without the ropes."

21 Sep 2011

First Edition: September 20, 2011

In today's headlines, details and analysis of President Barack Obama's debt-reduction plan, which would trim health programs by $320 billion and links such entitlement trims to new taxes.

20 Sep 2011

Scientists discover how liver destroys immune T-cells

Scientists at the Centenary Institute in Sydney have seen for the first time (in mice) how the liver goes independent, engulfing and destroying the body's defence troops-T-cells.

20 Sep 2011

Simple strategies prevent bloodstream infections and save hundreds of patient lives

Following some basic rules of central line hygiene and maintenance, Johns Hopkins Children's Center and 87 other pediatric hospitals have, over five years, saved hundreds of patient lives and more than $100 million by preventing nearly 3,000 central line bloodstream infections, hospital officials announced on Monday, Sept. 12.

16 Sep 2011

Novel imaging technique reveals new visual resolution of NK cell action

Scientists reveal in more detail than ever before how white blood cells kill diseased tissue using deadly granules, in research published today in PLoS Biology.

16 Sep 2011

Estrogen therapy can reverse progression of pulmonary hypertension

UCLA researchers have found that the hormone estrogen may help reverse advanced pulmonary hypertension, a rare and serious condition that affects 2 to 3 million individuals in the U.S., mostly women, and can lead to heart failure.

16 Sep 2011

Cleveland Clinic receives NIH grant to study effectiveness of concussion diagnostic test

Researchers at Cleveland Clinic have received a grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to continue studying the effectiveness of a blood test that conclusively identifies concussions in college football players.

16 Sep 2011

Medicated stents lower likelihood of heart attacks in cardiac patients

Researchers at Cleveland Clinic have discovered that cardiac patients receiving medicated stents - a procedure that occurs often when blood vessels are blocked - have a lower likelihood of suffering heart attacks or developing new blockages in the vessel downstream from the stent.

16 Sep 2011

Demand for kidney transplant and dialysis increases due to diabetes prevalence

A survey reveals that the need for kidney transplants and dialysis is expected to soar by 2020 mainly due to a rise in diabetics developing chronic kidney disease and needing treatment. The total number of Australians being treated for end-stage kidney disease is forecast to rise by up to 80 per cent to about 4300 in the coming decade. While the fact that Australia's population is ageing and growing means more people are likely to develop end-stage kidney disease, the number of diabetics with the condition is also on the rise.

15 Sep 2011

ITA president hosts International Small Bowel Transplant Symposium

Fifty-two year-old Paul McNeel, a fire chief from Leonardtown, Maryland was 37 in 1996 when a sudden health problem caused the loss of his small intestine. Almost all of it had to be surgically removed to save his life. For 13 years after that, McNeel continued to fight fires and stayed alive only because he fed himself a special liquid formula through a tube that went from a port in his chest directly to his heart and into his bloodstream.

15 Sep 2011

Natural killer white blood cells caught on film

Scientists reveal in more detail than ever before how white blood cells kill diseased tissue using deadly granules, in research published today in PLoS Biology.

14 Sep 2011

FDA grants Orphan Drug Designation for Accentia's Revimmune to prevent GVHD

Accentia Biopharmaceuticals, Inc. and its majority-owned subsidiary, Biovest International, Inc., today jointly announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted Orphan Drug Designation to Revimmune, the Company's proprietary system-of-care based on high-dose administration of Cytoxan, for the prevention of graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) following bone marrow transplant.

14 Sep 2011

Cardiotrophin 1 has marked effect on fat and glucose metabolism

Scientists from the Center for Applied Medical Research (CIMA) of the University of Navarra (Spain) have discovered that cardiotrophin 1, a protein synthesized by muscle cells and adipose tissue, has a marked effect on fat and glucose metabolism.

13 Sep 2011

Lund University professor receives Fernström Foundation Nordic Prize for brain cell transplants

This year's Fernström Foundation Nordic Prize, with prize money of SEK 1 million, goes to Professor Anders Björklund from Lund University, Sweden. He is a neurology researcher focusing on neurodegenerative diseases, diseases in which the nerve cells die. Professor Björklund's research group is trying to develop customised stem cells to treat Parkinson's disease.

12 Sep 2011

Gay blood donations to be allowed soon in UK

Soon the lifetime ban on blood donations by homosexual and bisexual men will be lifted in England, Scotland and Wales. Ministers have agreed to let men who have not had sex with another man in the past 12 months to donate from November.

12 Sep 2011

Specialists propose changes to allocation and distribution of organs for liver transplants

Transplantation specialists have proposed changes to the allocation and distribution of organs used for liver transplants. The recommended policy modifications take into account the scarcity of available organs, ensuring rapid allocation and delivery of the organ to those most in need in order to reduce mortality for waitlisted patients.

12 Sep 2011

NIH awards $12.8 million renewal grant for Louisville adult stem cell research project

At the time when Dr. Roberto Bolli received word that he was awarded a $12.8 million grant renewal from the National Institutes of Health for one research project, five patients in another of his clinical trials at the University of Louisville have reached the successful endpoint of their participation.

9 Sep 2011