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Public service announcement on pediatric pulmonary hypertension

Pulmonary hypertension (PH) sounds like an adult disease, but the life-threatening lung condition strikes children too. Ten-year-old Lucas Van Wormer is one of them.

3 Apr 2012

Neural imaging-maps of brain functions hope to transform lives of people with epilepsy

Neural imaging-maps of brain functions-is a primary tool used by researchers hoping to transform the lives of people living with chronic neurological conditions such as epilepsy. At present, researchers often require several different imaging techniques to fully map brain functions, making research and treatment of these conditions expensive and inefficient.

3 Apr 2012

Gbb38 protein helps explain how cells send many long-haul messages

As they work together to form body parts, cells in developing organisms communicate like workers at a construction site. The discovery of a new signaling molecule in flies by Brown University biologists not only helps explain how cells send many long-haul messages, but also provides new clues for researchers who study how human development goes awry, for instance in cases of cleft lip and palate.

3 Apr 2012

Doctors more reluctant to start their patients on insulin

Doctors are more reluctant to start their patients on insulin than the patients are themselves, according to a new study led by researchers at St. Michael's Hospital.

3 Apr 2012

Moderate caloric intake may reduce risk of obesity in low-birth weight offspring

Babies who are born small have a tendency to put on weight during childhood and adolescence if allowed free access to calories. However, a new animal model study at UCLA found when small babies were placed on a diet of moderately regulated calories during infancy, the propensity of becoming obese decreased.

3 Apr 2012

Genomic fortune-telling fails to provide informative guidance to most people

With sharp declines in the cost of whole genome sequencing, the day of accurately deciphering disease risk based on an individual's genome may seem at hand. But a study involving data of thousands of identical twins by Johns Hopkins investigators finds that genomic fortune-telling fails to provide informative guidance to most people about their risk for most common diseases, and warns against complacency born of negative genome test results.

3 Apr 2012

Study shows how morphine creates inflammatory response in the brain

An international team of researchers involving the University of Adelaide and University of Colorado has made a major discovery that could lead to more effective treatment of severe pain using morphine.

3 Apr 2012

Secondary cancer risk from MDCT scans is low among older adults

The secondary cancer risk from multi-detector computed tomography (MDCT) scans is low among older adults, according to a study from Stanford University in the April issue of the Journal of the American College of Radiology. MDCT is a high-speed imaging technique that is commonly used to diagnose a variety of diseases and conditions.

3 Apr 2012

Viewpoints: 'Outrageously high fee' for emergency services; Mysterious rise in autism cases

The calculus for medical charges in general is beyond comprehension, with outrageously high fees used as a starting point in a bizarre game of bargaining. Glenn Melnick, who teaches hospital finance at USC, told me it's as crazy as if he asked to buy the TV in my living room, and I gave him a price of $1 million to start the conversation.

3 Apr 2012

Onyx announces results from regorafenib Phase 3 trial on GIST

Onyx Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced results from the Phase 3 trial GRID (GIST – Regorafenib in Progressive Disease) evaluating the investigational compound regorafenib (BAY 73-4506), a Bayer-owned compound, for the treatment of patients with metastatic and/or unresectable gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST) whose disease has progressed despite prior treatment with at least imatinib and sunitinib.

3 Apr 2012

TLR4/MD-2 protein complex triggers morphine-induced inflammation

A University of Colorado Boulder-led research team has discovered that two protein receptors in the central nervous system team up to respond to morphine and cause unwanted neuroinflammation, a finding with implications for improving the efficacy of the widely used painkiller while decreasing its abuse potential.

3 Apr 2012

NutraGene introduces first ever commercial type 2 diabetes genetic test

With the launch of the country's first ever commercial genetic test for type 2 diabetes, Indians will now have access to clinically relevant and cost effective genetic risk assessment services. NutraGene, a Delhi based genomics company that launched the tests believes that its type 2 diabetes genetic test will provide physicians an effective tool in assessing the risk of diabetes in the Indian population and will help in implementing personalized prevention and management strategies.

3 Apr 2012

Meda opens China affiliate based in Beijing

Meda has established an affiliate in Hong Kong. At the end of last year, Meda opened its China affiliate based in Beijing. Meda will begin by commercializing two of its well-established products in Hong Kong; Elidel for the treatment of atopic dermatitis (eczema) and azelastine for the treatment of allergic rhinitis.

3 Apr 2012

Combination treatment effective against melanoma

Research from The Cancer Institute of New Jersey (CINJ) shows that a coordinated effort to block signaling pathways that promote cancer cell growth and survival enhances programmed cell death in melanoma.

3 Apr 2012

Expensive robotic-assisted bladder cancer surgery results in fewer deaths, in-patient complications

With technological advancements opening the door to less invasive medical procedures, robotic-assisted surgery is becoming increasingly popular, despite being more expensive than traditional surgery. Robotic-assisted surgical removal of the bladder due to cancer is a new approach to the traditional "open" - or more invasive - operation called a radical cystectomy.

3 Apr 2012

New data demonstrates anti-cancer activities of Oncoprex

New data demonstrating the anti-cancer activities of Oncoprex were presented at the 2012 Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) in Chicago, IL. The study, "Synergistic antitumor activity of AKT inhibitor MK2206 and FUS1 nanoparticles in LKB1 mutant NSCLC" (Meng J, Lara-Guerra H, Ji L, Roth JA) is authored by a team of investigators from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.

3 Apr 2012

Transgenic mice to visualize metastasis and inflammation

One of the major routes of tumor cell dissemination to form metastasis at distant organs in the body is the lymphatic system. To study this process, still poorly understood, and to gain information on which tumors prefer this route for dissemination and how to block it, researchers of the Spanish National Cancer Research Center, led by researcher Sagrario Ortega, have created transgenic mice in which, for the first time, the growth of the lymphatic vessels can be visualized in the whole animal, by a light-emitting reaction, as tumor progresses and forms metastasis.

3 Apr 2012

UCD develops Adult Dose-Risk Smartcard

According to a study in the April issue of the Journal of the American College of Radiology, the department of radiology at the University of Colorado in Denver has developed a convenient, pocket-sized reference card to communicate the effective doses and radiation risks of common adult radiologic exams to referring physicians and patients.

3 Apr 2012

UCB receives FDA approval for Neupro to treat idiopathic Parkinson's, RLS

UCB announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Neupro (Rotigotine Transdermal System) for the treatment of the signs and symptoms of advanced stage idiopathic Parkinson's disease (PD) and as a treatment for moderate-to-severe primary Restless Legs Syndrome.

3 Apr 2012

ACOEM joins AHA, ALA and other organizations to formally oppose S.J. Res. 37

The American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine (ACOEM) has joined the American Heart Association, the American Lung Association, and other leading organizations to formally oppose S.J. Res. 37, a resolution by Senator James Inhofe (R-Okla) that employs the Congressional Review Act to reverse the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Mercury and Air Toxics Standards for Power Plants.

3 Apr 2012