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Obese seniors more likely to suffer from disabilities: UTMB study

Thanks to rising obesity rates in Latin America and the Caribbean, elderly people there are becoming more likely to suffer from disabilities, according to a paper recently published by University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston researchers in the American Journal of Epidemiology.

28 Jul 2010

Scientists identify genetic variants for breast cancer

Women with higher risk scores that consisted of having certain genetic variants most strongly linked to breast cancer had an associated higher risk of breast cancer, with these scores also highly predictive of estrogen receptor-positive disease, according to a study in the July 28 issue of JAMA.

28 Jul 2010

Genzyme accepts CMS decision for delaying Renvela administration to dialysis patients

Genzyme Corp.today said it welcomed the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services' decision not to include oral medications without IV equivalents in Medicare's End Stage Renal Disease patient benefit. According to the final rule, these medications, including Genzyme's Renvela (sevelamer carbonate), will not be included in the bundle until January 1, 2014.

28 Jul 2010

GSK awards NCCN $4 million grant for study of ofatumumab and pazopanib

The National Comprehensive Cancer Network has been awarded two individual $2 million grants from GlaxoSmithKline to support clinical studies of ofatumumab (Arzerra®, GlaxoSmithKline) in the treatment of hematologic malignancies and pazopanib (Votrient®, GlaxoSmithKline) in the treatment of solid tumors.

28 Jul 2010

Teenage boys more likely to develop high blood pressure in early adulthood, researchers reveal

Ben-Gurion University of the Negev researchers reveal in a new, large-scale study that "normal" blood pressure at age 17 can still predict hypertension at early adulthood and that teenage boys are three to four times more likely to develop high blood pressure in early adulthood than girls.

28 Jul 2010

Late preterm births risk infant respiratory illness: Study

Babies born between 34 weeks and 37 weeks gestation are much more likely to have respiratory illness compared to infants born at full term, and their risk of respiratory illness decreases with each additional week of gestation until 38 weeks, researchers report.

28 Jul 2010

Insurers test at-home technology, monitoring devices to help cut heart failure hospitalizations

Technology that aims to keep congestive heart failure patients out of the hospital is gaining traction. The idea is for heart patients to take readings like their weight, blood pressure and other key metrics using wireless and other technologies; the data are then transmitted to a case manager or medical care giver.

28 Jul 2010

New study reveals potential role of TGF-β1 in kidney disease

Fibrosis in the kidney is one of the key causes of progressive renal failure. High levels of the inflammatory molecule TGF-β1 in the kidney tubules due to tissue damage can cause fibrosis as well as nephron degeneration, resulting in loss of kidney function. To clarify the mechanisms regulating TGF-β1-mediated renal fibrosis, Koesters et al expressed high levels of TGF-β1 in renal tubules of mice. Nephron degeneration in this system was mediated by decomposition of the tubular cells. These data suggest that TGF-β1 may play a novel role in cell death of renal cells, thus contributing to renal fibrosis.

28 Jul 2010

Delirium increases risk of death in older patients

A review and analysis of previous research indicates that delirium in elderly patients is associated with an increased risk of death, dementia, and institutionalization, independent of age, co-existing illnesses or illness severity, according to a study in the July 28 issue of JAMA.

28 Jul 2010

Cancer survivor to celebrate 100th birthday

Loyola University Hospital cancer patient Mary Cipolla was 89 years old when she underwent one of the most extensive operations in surgery, known as the Whipple procedure.

28 Jul 2010

DIATHERIX Laboratories opens rapid response diagnostic panels for STD, HSV

DIATHERIX Laboratories ,adds a Sexually Transmitted Disease (STD) panel and Herpes Simplex Virus (HSV) panel to its line up of highly sensitive, rapid response diagnostic panels. The HSV panel identifies herpes simplex viruses 1 and 2 and the STD panel identifies 10 sexually transmitted diseases simultaneously, many of which cannot be accurately identified by current testing methods. These STD organisms, if not appropriately treated, can cause diseases such as syphilis, gonorrhoeae, chlamydia, bacterial vaginosis, etc. and may lead to blindness, infertility or complications during pregnancy.

28 Jul 2010

Antares Pharma reports positive results from Anturol Gel Phase 3 study in overactive bladder patients

Antares Pharma, Inc. announced today positive results from its Phase 3 study of Anturol Gel in patients with overactive bladder. The study met its primary endpoint of a statistically significant reduction in urinary incontinence episodes for both doses studied.

28 Jul 2010

Study shows music alleviates anxiety, depression

For decades research has shown that listening to music alleviates anxiety and depression, enhances mood, and can increase cognitive functioning, such as spatial awareness. However, until now, research has not addressed how we listen to music. For instance, is the cognitive benefit still the same if we listen to music whilst performing a task, rather than before it? Further, how does our preference for a particular type of music affect performance? A new study from Applied Cognitive Psychology shows that listening to music that one likes whilst performing a serial recall task does not help performance any more than listening to music one does not enjoy.

28 Jul 2010

FDA approves addition of 10 sites to WorldHeart's Levacor VAD BTT clinical study

World Heart Corporation, a developer of mechanical circulatory systems, announced today that the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the addition of ten sites to the Levacor ventricular assist device (VAD) Bridge-to-Transplant (BTT) clinical study. WorldHeart's pivotal BTT study is now approved to enroll patients at 20 sites in the U.S.

28 Jul 2010

Scientists unveil new biomarkers for stroke, coronary heart disease

Analysis of blood protein data from the Women's Health Initiative cohorts has revealed new biomarkers for stroke and coronary heart disease (CHD). Research published in BioMed Central's open access journal Genome Medicine found that beta-2 microglobulin (B2M) levels were significantly elevated in postmenopausal women with CHD, and insulin-like growth factor binding protein 4 (IGFBP4) was strongly associated with stroke.

28 Jul 2010

Research on method to open blood-brain barrier for safe cancer drug delivery

One of the human body's most powerful defensive tools, the blood-brain barrier is a chemical labyrinth that prevents toxins and viruses in the bloodstream from reaching the brain. This foolproof security system, however, limits the ability of physicians to deliver drugs directly to the brain, making it difficult to treat brain tumors. Researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute are endeavoring to solve this problem by investigating new methods for bypassing the blood-brain barrier and combating the spread of brain cancer.

28 Jul 2010

Scientists develop novel chemotherapeutic method for anticancer drug delivery

Combining nature and Greek mythology, researchers at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology have developed a tiny "Trojan Horse" system for delivering cancer-fighting drugs. With this system, the drugs are delivered only once they are inside the cancerous cells, so there is no damage to the healthy cells in the surrounding area.

28 Jul 2010

Attaching transferrin to nanoparticle surface can kill cancer cells

A normally benign protein found in the human body appears to be able - when paired with nanoparticles - to zero in on and kill certain cancer cells, without having to also load those particles with chemotherapy drugs.The finding could lead to a new strategy for targeted cancer therapies, according to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill scientists who made the discovery.

28 Jul 2010

Adherence improves long-term effectiveness of exercise therapy in OA patients

Patients with osteoarthritis (OA) of the knee or hip who adhere to the recommended home physical therapy exercises and physically active lifestyle experience more improvement in pain, physical function, and self-perceived effect according to a study from researchers in The Netherlands. Research also shows that maintenance of exercise behavior and physically active lifestyle after discharge of physical therapy improves the long-term effectiveness of exercise therapy in patients with knee or hip OA.

27 Jul 2010

ProTron Technologies creates Stethotron Intra-vascular Atherosclerotic Detector

Cardiovascular and cerebrovascular disease are the major causes of death in the world. Atherosclerotic plaque, the narrowing of blood vessels, causes audible turbulence in the bloodstream. Standard and electronic stethoscopes are designed to listen to heart and lung signals between 10-300 Hz. But as these waves do not travel in straight paths, and this frequency is a physiological sound, this uncertainty of origin may cause diagnosis errors.

27 Jul 2010