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Women with higher blood levels of PBDEs take longer to become pregnant, say researchers

Women with higher blood levels of PBDEs, a type of flame retardant commonly found in household consumer products, took longer to become pregnant compared with women who have lower PBDE levels, according to a new study by researchers at the University of California, Berkeley.

27 Jan 2010

Scott & White conducts DBS research for Parkinson's patients

At Scott & White Memorial Hospital, a multi-disciplinary team of neurosurgeons, neurologists, neurophysiologist, neuropsychologists and a movement disorders specialist are offering hope to some Parkinson's patients with a treatment called Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS). DBS involves placing a thin wire that carries electrical currents deep within the brain on Parkinson's patients who are no longer benefitting from medications, and have significant uncontrollable body movements called dyskinesia. Scott & White is also performing research into the effects of DBS on the non-motor symptoms of Parkinson's disease including "drenching sweats," bladder dysfunction, depression, hallucination, anxiety, and dementia as well as intestinal disorders, loss of sense of smell, and sleep disturbances.

27 Jan 2010

Testing DBS for treating severe long-term depression

Bewernick and colleagues administered DBS treatment in ten patients with severe long-term depression who had not responded to multiple other antidepressant treatments, including psychotherapy, drug treatments and electroconvulsive treatment. After one year of DBS, all patients showed some improvement, and half of them experienced significant improvement in their symptoms of depression, astonishing considering they had not responded to any prior antidepressant treatment. In addition, the patients showed reduced ratings of anxiety and had only minor side effects. Importantly, none of their overall brain functioning was impaired by the DBS treatment.

27 Jan 2010

Texas to invest $4.5 mn in cancer research at UT Health Science Center

Texas plans to invest $3 billion in cancer research over the next 10 years and six scientists at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston are among the first to receive grants.The researchers, whose grants total $4.5 million, are working to protect girls from cervical cancer, to interrupt tumor growth at the molecular level and to develop a new approach for the treatment of colon cancer, among other cutting-edge projects.

27 Jan 2010

NTNU: 40% of two-year-olds report allergy-related disorders

Allergies and asthma are a continuing health problem in most developed countries, but just how do these ailments develop over the course of a childhood? In a population-based study designed to help answer this question, researchers at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) found that 40 per cent - or two of five -- of nearly 5,000 two-year-olds had at least one reported allergy-related disorder. The most common symptom was wheezing, which was reported in 26 per cent of all children in the study, says Ingeborg Smidesang, a PhD candidate in the university's Faculty of Medicine, and the primary author of the study.

25 Jan 2010

Self-treatment for back pain: Sensory motor learning

Many people with back pain do not know what is causing it and they do not receive effective treatment, but learning to move in a more integrated way makes a big difference, reveals research from the Sahlgrenska Academy at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden.

25 Jan 2010

Reproductive coercion and partner violence increase risk of unintended pregnancy

Young women and teenage girls often face efforts by male partners to sabotage birth control or coerce pregnancy - including damaging condoms and destroying contraceptives - and these efforts, defined as "reproductive coercion," frequently are associated with physical or sexual violence, a study by a team of researchers led by UC Davis has found.

25 Jan 2010

Dermatological nuisance caused by toilet seats making a comeback in pediatricians' offices

Considered a dermatological nuisance that was long gone, skin irritations caused by toilet seats appear to be making a comeback in pediatricians' offices, according to research led by Johns Hopkins Children's Center investigator Bernard Cohen, M.D.

25 Jan 2010

Canadian conference on managing legal & business risks in clinical trials

The nature of clinical trials is constantly changing in the ever-more globalized and adapting market. In this increasingly-scrutinized industry, it is important to maintain a transparent process, to appropriately manage risks and to avoid abuses, in order to get a piece of this multi-billion dollar industry. How? By effectively managing the legal and business risks!

23 Jan 2010

Study: Warburg effect promotes rapid cell proliferation and tumor growth

A team of scientists led by Professor Adrian Krainer, Ph.D., of Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory has discovered molecular factors in cancer cells that boost the production of an enzyme that helps alter the cells' glucose metabolism. The altered metabolic state, called the Warburg effect, promotes extremely rapid cell proliferation and tumor growth. Adrian Krainer, Ph.D.

23 Jan 2010

Pfizer's global R&D facilities to deploy ChemAxon's Markush platform

ChemAxon - a leading provider of cheminformatics software for the life sciences industry has entered into agreement with Pfizer to provide its Markush searching and structure enumeration functionality for global development and deployment within Pfizer's global R&D facilities.

23 Jan 2010

PhRMA funds a two-year research initiative to evaluate the safety and benefits of existing drugs

The Pink Sheet recently reported that the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) and individual drug firms, through the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health, are funding a two-year public/private research initiative to evaluate the safety and benefits of drugs that are currently on the market.

23 Jan 2010

Thomas S. Kilduff named a Fellow of the AAAS

SRI International, an independent nonprofit research and development institute, announced today that Thomas S. Kilduff, Ph.D., director of SRI International's Center for Neuroscience, has been named a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).

22 Jan 2010

Acute adverse reactions rare from using gadolinium-based contrast agents during MRI

Acute adverse reactions from gadolinium-based contrast agents used during magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to help improve the information seen on the images rarely occur, according to a study published in the February issue of the American Journal of Roentgenology.

22 Jan 2010

Quitting smoking doubles survival chances in lung cancer patients

People diagnosed with early stage lung cancer can double their chances of survival over five years if they stop smoking compared with those who continue to smoke, finds a study published on bmj.com today.

22 Jan 2010

University of Miami psychologists use non-expert student observers in autism research

Non-expert is not often a term that one would associate with scientific research, but it could become a new trend in psychology research. Some recent studies have begun to rely on non-expert students to observe and provide data during experiments.

21 Jan 2010

Roche to increase its equity investment in b3 bio

b3 bio inc. today announced that it has signed an agreement with Roche to source and develop innovative early stage technologies that could result in potential therapeutic benefits for patients. Roche will have certain rights for further development and/or commercialization of such technologies. As part of this agreement, Roche will increase its equity investment in b3 bio as well as providing development funds.

21 Jan 2010

CPRIT awards the first $61M in grants for cancer research

The Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT) awarded on January 20th the first $61 million in grants for cancer research projects at academic institutions and private companies throughout Texas. These are the inaugural grants of the $3 billion to be invested in cancer research in Texas over the next ten years.

21 Jan 2010

Benefits of NIH funding through the Recovery Act

In advance of the one-year anniversary of the Recovery and Reinvestment Act's enactment on February 17, twenty of the nation's leading research institutions, patient advocates and biomedical industry have released a detailed report on how Recovery Act funding of medical research through the National Institutes of Health (NIH) is at work across the country in the service of better health and a healthier economy.

21 Jan 2010

Study links thyroid disease with human exposure to PFOA

A study by the University of Exeter and the Peninsula Medical School for the first time links thyroid disease with human exposure to perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA). PFOA is a persistent organic chemical used in industrial and consumer goods including nonstick cookware and stain- and water-resistant coatings for carpets and fabrics.

21 Jan 2010