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New insight on rehabilitating brain function in addicts

People with addictions to stimulants tend to choose instant gratification or a smaller but sooner reward over a future benefit, even if the future reward is greater. Reduced value of a future reward, called "delay discounting" by neuroscientists, is the major challenge for treatment of addiction. A new study in the February 2011 (Vol. 69, Issue 3) Biological Psychiatry appears to present a strategy for increasing the value of future rewards in the minds of addicts.

28 Jan 2011

ACP details challenges facing the U.S. health care system

"The United States is facing an unprecedented crisis in our health care system," reported J. Fred Ralston Jr., president of the American College of Physicians (ACP), at today's annual State of the Nation's Health Care briefing. "We face a crisis in affordable health insurance coverage. We have more uninsured people than ever before. We still are facing a crisis in access to primary care. Health care costs are increasing at rates that the country-and individual families-can't afford."

28 Jan 2011

Cetero Research completes 20,000th early-phase clinical study

Cetero Research, the leading early-stage contract research organization, today announced that it has reached another industry milestone with the completion of its 20,000th early-phase clinical study.

28 Jan 2011

Transcranial magnetic stimulation helps rats to learn more quickly

What sounds like science fiction is actually possible: thanks to magnetic stimulation, the activity of certain brain nerve cells can be deliberately influenced. What happens in the brain in this context has been unclear up to now. Medical experts from Bochum under the leadership of Prof. Dr. Klaus Funke (Department of Neurophysiology) have now shown that various stimulus patterns changed the activity of distinct neuronal cell types.

28 Jan 2011

Prototype drug halts GVHD in mouse models of bone marrow transplantation

A prototype drug already shown to hold promise for treating autoimmune disorders like lupus, arthritis and psoriasis halts established graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) in mouse models of bone marrow transplantation, research at the University of Michigan and the University of Florida shows.

28 Jan 2011

Bioniche Life Sciences joins Australian Securities Exchange

Bioniche Life Sciences Inc., a research-based, technology-driven Canadian biopharmaceutical company, today announced that it has joined the official list of the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) and its securities are now trading on that exchange under the code "BNC".

28 Jan 2011

Arena reduces workforce by 25% and provides update on lorcaserin

Arena Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced today a reduction of its US workforce of approximately 25%, or 66 employees. As a result of the workforce reduction, which Arena plans to complete around March 28, 2011, the company expects to incur restructuring charges, primarily in the first quarter of 2011, of approximately $3.8 million in connection with one-time employee termination costs.

28 Jan 2011

PCMD forms 6M research and analysis network to investigate role of virus infection in type 1 diabetes

The Peninsula College of Medicine and Dentistry (PCMD), University of Exeter, is one of 13 academic institutions and businesses across Europe to form a -6m research and analysis network, funded by the EU for a five-year period, which is designed to investigate the possible role of virus infection in the cause of type 1 diabetes.

28 Jan 2011

Taxol drug promotes regeneration of nerve cells in CNS after spinal cord injury: Study

In a study published today in Science, a global research team reports that the cancer drug Taxol promotes the regeneration of injured nerve cells in the central nervous system after spinal cord injury.

28 Jan 2011

Preclinical data on Inovio’s intradermal electroporation delivery devices presented at Phacilitate Vaccine Forum

Inovio Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a leader in the development of novel therapeutic and preventive vaccines against cancers and infectious diseases, announced today the presentation of recent preclinical data using its next generation of minimally invasive intradermal (skin) electroporation delivery devices at the Phacilitate Vaccine Forum 2011 in Washington, DC.

28 Jan 2011

World Economic Forum launches risk network to address financial, food security risks

The World Economic Forum launched the Risk Response Network (RRN) at its meeting, which opened Wednesday in Davos, Switzerland, the Economic Times reports.

28 Jan 2011

Diabetes Spring Conference 2011 to take place at University of Greenwich

A conference on diabetes is to take place at the University of Greenwich's Medway campus.

28 Jan 2011

Study suggests newborn diagnosis can improve survival in SCID patients

Severe Combined Immunodeficiency occurs in just one out of every 50,000 to 100,000 births in the United States, yet it is the most serious primary immunodeficiency disorder. A study published today in Blood, the Journal of the American Society of Hematology, demonstrates that babies with SCID who are diagnosed at birth and receive a hematopoietic stem cell transplant, which is the transplantation of blood-forming stem cells, have significantly improved survival.

28 Jan 2011

New molecular player responsible for regulation of appetite and metabolism

A study by researchers at Mayo Clinic's campus in Florida and Washington University School of Medicine adds a new twist to the body of evidence suggesting human obesity is due in part to genetic factors. While studying hormone receptors in laboratory mice, neuroscientists identified a new molecular player responsible for the regulation of appetite and metabolism.

28 Jan 2011

Study identifies gaps in primary health care for seniors with multiple chronic conditions

The number of health care services seniors use is determined more by the number of chronic conditions they have than by their age, according to a new study from the Canadian Institute for Health Information.

28 Jan 2011

Small minority of employers more familiar with Health Care Reform overall: New study

As provisions of the ''Affordable Health Care for America Act'' continue to come into effect, there is a tremendous need for employers across the country to learn about its impact on their businesses and employees, according to the results of "Health Care Reform 360 degree," a new national study by Market Strategies International, the highly-regarded global market research and consulting firm.

28 Jan 2011

Study: Running-related injuries increased to 34% in children

Researchers at the Center for Injury Research and Policy of The Research Institute at Nationwide Children's Hospital examined running-related injuries among children and adolescents 6 to 18 years old and found that an estimated 225,344 cases were treated in U.S. emergency departments from 1994 through 2007, for an average of more than 16,000 each year. During the 14-year study period, the annual number of running-related injuries increased 34 percent.

28 Jan 2011

Protein Erk necessary for nerve fibers to be wrapped with myelin

Researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have pinpointed a crucial function for a key player in the development of the nervous system. They found that this player - a protein called Erk - is necessary for nerve fibers to be wrapped with an insulating substance called myelin, which allows messages to be sent from the brain to the peripheral limbs and back again.

28 Jan 2011

Patients and spouses experience distress related to diabetes

Older patients with diabetes who are not dealing well with the disease are likely to have symptoms of depression, and spouses of older patients also suffer distress related to diabetes and its management, according to research from Purdue University.

28 Jan 2011

Reduction in secondhand smoking associated with fewer cases of middle ear infection among children

Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) researchers and colleagues from Research Institute for a Tobacco Free Society have found that a reduction in secondhand smoking in American homes was associated with fewer cases of otitis media, the scientific name for middle ear infection. The study appears on January 26, 2011, as an online first article on the website of the journal Tobacco Control.

28 Jan 2011