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Cardiovascular leaders to review data for Riata and Riata ST ICD leads

Cardiovascular leaders will gather in Minneapolis for a one-day summit on Jan. 20, to review data for Riata and Riata ST implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) leads, which recently underwent a Class I FDA recall. Physicians from the Minneapolis Heart Institute Foundation and Mayo Clinic have organized the summit to develop a consensus regarding the management of patients who have these leads.

4 Jan 2012

IQWiG examines added benefit of pirfenidone for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis

Pirfenidone inhibits the development of inflammation and scarring (fibrosis) in pulmonary tissue and has been approved for the treatment of mild to moderate idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) since the beginning of 2011.

4 Jan 2012

PEDF may suppress brain from tumor-induced damage, metastasis

Scientists are one step closer to repairing the damage caused by brain metastasis, a major challenge in cancer treatment, according to data published in Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.

4 Jan 2012

Amyloid precursor protein fragment may be a biomarker for autism

Immune system abnormalities that mimic those seen with autism spectrum disorders have been linked to the amyloid precursor protein (APP), reports a research team from the University of South Florida's Department of Psychiatry and the Silver Child Development Center.

4 Jan 2012

IQWiG identifies additional recommendations for diabetes mellitus type 2 DMP

On 3 January 2012, the German Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care (IQWiG) published the results of a literature search for evidence-based clinical practice guidelines on the treatment of people with diabetes mellitus type 2.

4 Jan 2012

Shorter Chk1 protein neutralizes longer sibling to potentially benefit cancer patients

Scientists have found at least one instance when the smaller sibling gets to call the shots and cancer patients may one day benefit.

4 Jan 2012

Genomic architecture predisposes supercentenarians to age-related diseases

The first-ever published whole-genome sequences of not just one, but two supercentenarians, aged more than 114 years, reveal that both unusual and common genetic phenomena contribute to the genetic background of extreme human longevity.

4 Jan 2012

Study reveals possibility to selectively target and block crucial microRNA in liver cancer

A new study shows that it is possible to selectively target and block a particular microRNA that is important in liver cancer. The findings might offer a new therapy for this malignancy, which kills an estimated 549,000 people worldwide annually.

4 Jan 2012

Home-monitoring interventions may benefit patients with heart failure

Heart failure affects 5.8 million people in the U.S. alone and is responsible for nearly 1 million hospitalizations each year, most resulting from a build-up of body fluid in the lungs and other organs due to the heart's inability to pump effectively. The disease needs to be closely tracked in order to avoid such hospitalizations, and home-monitoring interventions may be especially useful, UCLA researchers say.

4 Jan 2012

Bariatric surgery may reduce cardiovascular deaths and events in obese patients

Among obese individuals, having bariatric surgery was associated with a reduced long-term incidence of cardiovascular deaths and events such as heart attack and stroke, according to a study in the January 4 issue of JAMA.

4 Jan 2012

Researchers discover culprit that leads from heart failure to diabetes

Either heart failure or diabetes alone is bad enough, but oftentimes the two conditions seem to go together. Now, researchers reporting in the January Cell Metabolism appear to have found the culprit that leads from heart failure to diabetes and perhaps a novel way to break that metabolic vicious cycle.

4 Jan 2012

MTR technique indicates that COPAXONE therapy results in tissue repair in RRMS patients

Researchers utilizing an advanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technology to characterize and chart the evolution of MS lesions found that relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) patients treated with COPAXONE (glatiramer acetate injection) experienced significantly increased magnetization transfer ratio.

4 Jan 2012

Losartan may help prevent smoking-related COPD

Working with mice, scientists at Johns Hopkins have successfully used a commonly prescribed blood pressure medicine, losartan (Cozaar), to prevent almost all of the lung damage caused from two months of exposure to cigarette smoke. The treatment specifically targeted lung tissue breakdown, airway wall thickening, inflammation and lung over-expansion.

4 Jan 2012

Adolescent children of lesbian mothers report good quality of life

Adolescent children of lesbian mothers report as good quality of life as those with heterosexual parents, reports a study in the January Journal of Developmental & Behavioral Pediatrics, the official journal of the Society for Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics.

4 Jan 2012

UofL surgeons perform first transcatheter aortic-valve replacement at Jewish Hospital

Some individuals with severe aortic stenosis - also known as narrowing of the aortic valve in the heart - who are not well enough to undergo open heart surgery have a new treatment option thanks to a new procedure now available in Kentucky from University of Louisville physicians at Jewish Hospital.

4 Jan 2012

BSD expands sales programs for MicroThermX Microwave Ablation System

BSD Medical Corporation, a leading provider of medical systems that utilize heat therapy to treat cancer, announced today that the Company is approaching 100 patients successfully treated with the MicroThermX Microwave Ablation System at hospitals throughout the U.S.

4 Jan 2012

Young stem/progenitor cells improve health and life of progeria mice

Mice bred to age too quickly seemed to have sipped from the fountain of youth after scientists at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine injected them with stem cell-like progenitor cells derived from the muscle of young, healthy animals.

4 Jan 2012

Researchers discover a way to make cigarette smoking less toxic

From a health care perspective, the best cigarette is no cigarette, but for the millions of people who try to quit smoking every year, researchers from Cornell University may have found a way to make cigarette smoking less toxic.

4 Jan 2012

ASE/EAE issue recommendations on image acquisition using 3DE

For the first time, a joint committee of the European Association for Echocardiography and the American Society of Echocardiography have issued recommendations on image acquisition using three-dimensional echocardiography.

4 Jan 2012

BioTime to market muscle progenitor cell lines bearing hereditary diseases

BioTime, Inc. today announced that it has elected to market progenitors of muscle stem cells bearing hereditary diseases. BioTime will produce the products from five human embryonic stem (hES) cell lines from Reproductive Genetics Institute (RGI) of Chicago, Illinois.

4 Jan 2012