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Discovery of entirely new mechanism that promotes blood clot formation

A Monash-led research team has discovered an entirely new mechanism that promotes blood clot formation - a major breakthrough that will impact on treatment and prevention of heart disease and stroke.

26 May 2009

Arthritis drug Abatacept may be effective in fighting the flu

Researchers at the University of Maryland School of Medicine have found that an approved drug for treating rheumatoid arthritis reduces severe illness and death in mice exposed to the Influenza A virus. Their findings suggest that tempering the response of the body's immune system to influenza infection may alleviate some of the more severe symptoms and even reduce mortality from this virus.

26 May 2009

Recognition for pioneering stem cell research to mend broken bones

Funding from the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) could lead to the development of new and better treatments for broken bones and other orthopaedic problems associated with ageing.

24 May 2009

New understanding on how superbugs manipulate the immune system

It appears that some superbugs have evolved to develop the ability to manipulate the immune system to everyone's advantage.

24 May 2009

Poor vitamin D status linked to common vaginal infection in pregnant women

Pregnant women with low levels of vitamin D may be more likely to suffer from bacterial vaginosis (BV) - a common vaginal infection that increases a woman's risk for preterm delivery, according to a University of Pittsburgh study.

22 May 2009

People with Down syndrome may have more cancer-protective genes

Most cancers are rare in people with Down syndrome, whose overall cancer mortality is below 10 percent of that in the general population. Since they have an extra copy of chromosome 21, it's been proposed that people with Down syndrome may be getting an extra dose of one or more cancer-protective genes.

20 May 2009

Opinion piece examines efficacy of foreign aid

"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."

19 May 2009

UN, WHO heads meet 30 vaccine manufacturers

WHO Director-General Dr Margaret Chan and United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon met with over 30 vaccine manufacturers from developing and developed countries at WHO headquarters today.

19 May 2009

Many low-income women breast cancer patients skipping hormonal therapy, lowering their survival rates

Many low-income women are failing to take the hormonal therapy prescribed as part of their breast cancer treatment, possibly lowering their survival rates, according to a study led by a researcher in the Duke Comprehensive Cancer Center.

18 May 2009

Research points to a new way to protect kidneys threatened by insufficient blood or toxins

Better treatments for acute renal failure may be possible by blocking the mitochondrial fragmentation that occurs when kidneys don't get enough blood or are exposed to toxins, researchers at the Medical College of Georgia report in the may issue of the Journal of Clinical Investigation.

18 May 2009

New hope for warding off diabetes nerve loss

A common blood test for triglycerides - a well-known cardiovascular disease risk factor - may also for the first time allow doctors to predict which patients with diabetes are more likely to develop the serious, common complication of neuropathy.

18 May 2009

Early mobilization of patients in intensive care improves outcomes

Aside from the obvious and immediate health problems that patients undergoing mechanical ventilation face, those who recover often do so with profound loss of strength and mobility that can impair their daily functioning and even lead to increased risk of morbidity and mortality down the line.

17 May 2009

Self-treatment lowers overall health care costs for chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder sufferers

Individuals suffering from chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder (COPD) can experience significant savings in healthcare costs by employing a self-treatment program with the judicious use of medications, according to the results of a new study. The self-treatment program achieves these savings by reducing the duration of flare-ups.

17 May 2009

Pirfenidone shows promise for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis

A large, well-controlled, multi-national clinical trial program has demonstrated the effectiveness and safety of what may become the first FDA-approved medicine for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, or IPF.

17 May 2009

Transplant patients experience worse outcomes from cancer

After comparing two patient cancer registries - one featuring transplant patients and the other the general population - researchers at the University of Cincinnati (UC) have found that transplant patients experience worse outcomes from cancer.

17 May 2009

Early use of antiretroviral treatment improves survival rate of HIV patients

A clinical study, led by researchers from University College Dublin, Ireland, and Stanford University, California, USA, with international collaborators, demonstrates that mortality rates of HIV patients can be almost halved when early antiretroviral (ARV) therapy is added to the treatment of AIDS-related opportunistic infections (OIs) such as pneumonia, meningitis or other serious bacterial infections.

17 May 2009

Tobacco control must be elevated as a public health priority

An Essay published this week in the open access journal PLoS Medicine calls for the President Obama to "make a strong public commitment" to tobacco control by mobilizing US Government departments and agencies to achieve a coherent policy after eight years of neglect.

15 May 2009

Swine flu preoccupies world health leaders

It is expected that the upcoming World Health Organisation's (WHO) annual assembly will be dominated this year by the emergence and spread of the new influenza virus H1N1 (swine flu).

14 May 2009

Black women develop breast cancer at earlier ages, have higher mortality rates

Although black women are one-third less likely than women of other races to develop cancer, they are 30% more likely than other women to die if they are diagnosed with the disease, according to a study published in the Journal of the American College of Surgeons, the Miami Herald reports.

13 May 2009

High levels of estradiol hormone in men with heart failure linked to increased risk of death

Men with systolic chronic heart failure who have low or high levels of estradiol, a form of the hormone estrogen, have an increased risk of death compared with men with moderate levels of this hormone, according to a study in the May 13 issue of JAMA, the Journal of the American Medical Association.

12 May 2009