Pharmacology News and Research

Latest Pharmacology News and Research

General anesthesia may lower recurrence risk in patients with HCC

For patients undergoing a minimally invasive treatment for liver cancer, the risk of recurrent cancer appears lower with general anesthesia compared to regional (epidural) anesthesia, reports a study in the February issue of Anesthesia & Analgesia, official journal of the International Anesthesia Research Society (IARS).

1 Feb 2012

Continuous wound infusion with local anesthetic reduces pain after hip surgery

In patients undergoing hip replacement surgery, using a special wound catheter to infuse local anesthetic directly into the hip joint provides significant and lasting improvements in postoperative pain control, reports a study in the February issue of Anesthesia & Analgesia, official journal of the International Anesthesia Research Society.

1 Feb 2012

e-health technology slashes hospital prescribing errors

Medication prescribing errors can be reduced by as much as 66 percent with the introduction of electronic prescribing technology in hospitals, new Australia-first research has found.

31 Jan 2012

OHSU research sheds light on molecules involved in cardiorespiratory control

Researchers at Oregon Health & Science University have discovered that a molecule critical to the development and plasticity of nerve cells - brain-derived neurotrophic factor -- is severely lacking in brainstem neurons in mutations leading to Rett syndrome, a neurological developmental disorder.

30 Jan 2012

Researchers identify dual role of key player in human immune system

Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine researchers have identified a new and unusual role for a key player in the human immune system. A protein initially believed to regulate one routine function within the cell has proven vital for another critical step in the activation of the immune system.

30 Jan 2012

Breakthroughs in Alzheimer’s disease research

Researchers are closer to understanding Alzheimer’s disease using a new stem cell technique. They have successfully replicated Alzheimer’s disease neurons with stem cells for the first time.

26 Jan 2012

RPB awards $220,000 to SUNY Downstate for eye research

Capping SUNY Downstate Medical Center's growth into a major center for eye research, Research to Prevent Blindness (RPB) has awarded SUNY Downstate a four-year challenge grant of $220,000 to spur the development of advanced research into the causes, treatment, and prevention of blinding diseases. Douglas R. Lazzaro, MD, professor and chair of ophthalmology, is the principal investigator.

24 Jan 2012

SSRI use raises risk of fall among elderly with dementia: Study

A new study reveals that nursing home residents with dementia who use selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) have an increased risk of having a fall that causes injury compared with those who do not use SSRIs. Additionally those using average doses have 3 times the risk compared with nonusers, the authors, led by Carolyn S. Sterke, from Erasmus University Medical Center, Rotterdam, the Netherlands, report. Authors write, “Even at low doses, SSRIs are associated with increased risk of an injurious fall in nursing home residents with dementia.”

22 Jan 2012

Red wine could play a role in lowering risk of breast cancer

Aromatase inhibitors (AIs) prevent the conversion of androgens to estrogens, and could play a role in the development of breast cancer. This study of 36 pre-menopausal women consisted of a cross-over intervention trial to determine if there were differences between red wine and white wine in their effects on AIs.

20 Jan 2012

Elsevier to publish The Ocular Surface that focuses on external eye and vision

Elsevier, a world-leading provider of scientific, technical and medical information products and services, is pleased to announce newly acquiring The Ocular Surface, a peer-reviewed journal focusing on the external eye and vision. As per January 2012 Elsevier will continue the publication of the quarterly journal.

20 Jan 2012

SSRIs increase risk of falling in nursing home residents with dementia

Nursing home residents with dementia who use average doses of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) are three times more likely to have an injurious fall than similar people who don't use these drugs. The association can be seen in people who use low doses of SSRIs and the risk increases as people take higher doses. The results are published in the British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology.

19 Jan 2012

BJALCF receives $1 million in grants for 2012 Lung Cancer Research

Just two months shy of marking its 7-year anniversary, BJALCF announced today that it has awarded over $1 million in grants for 2012 Lung Cancer Research. BJALCF has made a promise to the Lung Cancer Community to fund only immediate results-oriented projects or programs promising to catalyze progress through early detection, genetic testing, drug discovery and patient-focused outcomes.

17 Jan 2012

Heavy drinking may reinforce itself by stimulating endorphin release: Study

A new study has shown that drinking alcohol causes a pleasant feeling because it releases endorphins, the brain’s natural opioids. It adds that problem drinkers differ from social drinkers in the way alcohol affects one part of the brain. The report appeared Wednesday in Science Translational Medicine.

15 Jan 2012

Researchers discover a way to sensitize glioblastoma to chemotherapy

Brain cancer cells are particularly resistant to chemotherapy - toxins enter the cells, but before the toxins can kill, cancer cells quickly pump them back outside. In fact, brain cancer cells are even better than healthy cells at cleaning themselves. This means that when hit with chemotherapy, healthy cells tend to die before brain cancer cells. Especially in the brain, killing healthy cells is bad.

13 Jan 2012

Complex PCI: Left Main and CTO Summit to be held Feb. 23-25, 2012

The Complex PCI: Left Main and CTO Summit is a three-day conference featuring state-of-the-art technologies, research findings and new developments in therapeutic procedures essential for interventional cardiologists to optimize success in chronic total coronary occlusions and left main coronary interventions.

13 Jan 2012

Drinking alcohol leads to release of endorphins in the brain

Drinking alcohol leads to the release of endorphins in areas of the brain that produce feelings of pleasure and reward, according to a study led by researchers at the Ernest Gallo Clinic and Research Center at the University of California, San Francisco.

12 Jan 2012