Medical News

RSS

DARA's KRN5500 reduces allodynia in Phase 2a study for neuropathic pain in cancer patients

DARA BioSciences, Inc. announced today additional positive results from its successfully completed KRN5500 Phase 2a Clinical Study for treatment of neuropathic pain in patients with cancer. Statistically significant primary endpoint results were released earlier.

15 Dec 2010

Davita launches online tool for dialysis patients

DaVita Inc., a leading provider of kidney care services for those diagnosed with chronic kidney disease and end stage renal disease, today announced the launch of MyDaVita, an online tool intended to help patients connect with one another for friendship, support and educational information.

15 Dec 2010

Flu vaccination during pregnancy prevents infant hospitalization

A three-year study by Yale School of Medicine researchers has found that vaccinating pregnant women against influenza is over 90 percent effective in preventing their infants from being hospitalized with influenza in the first six months of life.

15 Dec 2010

Medicaid budget challenges continue to plague states, threaten safety net

States across the country continue to face challenges related to their Medicaid budgets and their abilities to provide care to a growing population of poor and disabled people.

15 Dec 2010

UCSF scientists explain why oligodendroglioma is more responsive to therapy than other brain tumors

For patients with glioma, the most common primary brain tumor, new findings may explain why current therapies fail to eradicate the cancer. A UCSF-led team of scientists has identified for the first time that progenitor rather than neural stem cells underly a type of glioma called oligodendroglioma.

15 Dec 2010

Accidental ingestion of Tessalon could be dangerous for young children, FDA warns

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is warning that accidental ingestion of Tessalon (benzonatate) by children younger than 10 years can result in serious side effects or death.

15 Dec 2010

Abbott initiates ABT-806 Phase 1 trial in EGFR expressing tumors

Life Science Pharmaceuticals (LSP) announced today a milestone related to monoclonal-antibody (mAb) 806 licensed to Abbott. A Phase 1 trial with ABT-806, a humanized version of mAb 806 that selectively targets the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), has been initiated by Abbott in the U.S. The trial will assess the safety and pharmacokinetics of ABT-806 in patients with advanced solid tumors likely or known to express EGFR.

15 Dec 2010

IOM reconfirms the importance of calcium and vitamin D intake

Recently, the Institute of Medicine examined and reconfirmed the importance of calcium and vitamin D throughout life in a report titled "Dietary Reference Intakes for Calcium and Vitamin D."

15 Dec 2010

Also in Global Health News: Drought in Middle East; HIV/AIDS, TB in Indonesia; MSF warnings over needs of HIV/AIDS patients; Non-profit at work in Uganda

Inter Press Service examines the effects a "devastating drought this fall" has had on farmers in the Middle East, particularly those living in Syria. Once "[a] large wheat exporter, the drought's impact has now forced the agriculturally self-reliant Syrian government to import the staple to meet local consumption," the news service writes.

15 Dec 2010

Neuropeptide S protein boosts memory

UC Irvine researchers have identified a novel mechanism in the brain that boosts memory.

15 Dec 2010

Study: HUCBs boost survival and maturation of hippocampal neurons

Laboratory culture studies examining the activity of human umbilical cord blood cells on experimental models of central nervous system aging, injury and disease, have shown that HUCBs provide a 'trophic effect' that enhances survival and maturation of hippocampal neurons harvested from both young and old laboratory animals.

15 Dec 2010

cFLIP protein makes breast cancer cells resistant to TRAIL-induced apoptosis

Researchers at the Andalusian Institute for Molecular Biology and Regenerative Medicine and the University of Granada found that cFLIP -an inhibitor of death ligand-induced apoptosis- is not only essential in breast tumor cells resistance to TRAIL treatments (a death ligand with a potent therapeutic potential against cancer), but this protein is also key to the survival of such cancer cells.

14 Dec 2010

Watson files generic Exalgo ANDA, confirms patent challenge from Mallinckrodt

Watson Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today confirmed that its subsidiary, Watson Laboratories, Inc. – Florida, filed an Abbreviated New Drug Application (ANDA) with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) seeking approval to market Hydromorphone Hydrochloride Extended-release Tablets, 8 mg, 12 mg, and 16 mg.

14 Dec 2010

Two patients receive first kidney transplants through OPTN national program

A man in St. Louis and a woman in New Hampshire have received the first kidney transplants made possible through a new national program of the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network that uses a Carnegie Mellon University computer algorithm to match transplant candidates with living donors.

14 Dec 2010

OpEds: Assessing Judge Hudson's decision on individual mandate

In March, New Hampshire preschool teacher Gail O'Brien, who was unable to obtain health insurance through her employer, was diagnosed with an aggressive form of lymphoma. Her subsequent applications for health insurance were rejected because of her condition. With each round of chemotherapy costing $16,000, she delayed treatment because she knew her savings wouldn't last (Eric H. Holder and Kathleen Sebelius, 12/14).

14 Dec 2010

MVI, Merck and NYU collaborate to research potential malaria vaccine

Development of a vaccine to prevent the malaria parasite from entering the human liver is the goal of a new collaboration announced today by global leaders in malaria research and vaccine development. The PATH Malaria Vaccine Initiative (MVI), Merck (known outside the US and Canada as MSD), and NYU Langone Medical Center are working together to evaluate an approach targeting a novel part of a major surface protein on the malaria parasite. Malaria is estimated to kill close to 900,000 people each year with the majority of deaths occurring in children under the age of five in sub-Saharan Africa.

14 Dec 2010

Study links large waistline to increased risk of heart problems and type 2 diabetes

Researchers at Eastern Virginia Medical School’s Strelitz Diabetes Center and the school’s department of physiological sciences have published research showing a strong link between a large waistline and increased risk of Type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

14 Dec 2010

Poverty and obesity links

According to U.S. government researchers in a new report, women who are poor are much more likely to be obese but men are not. They revealed this Tuesday that where income does not greatly affect whether a man is obese, education affects both sexes. The team at the National Center for Health Statistics writes, “Among men, obesity prevalence is generally similar at all income levels, with a tendency to be slightly higher at higher income levels.”

14 Dec 2010

Program reduces cervical cancer deaths among HIV-infected women in Zambia

A new study undertaken in Zambia shows that, using setting-appropriate human resources and technology, morbidity and mortality from cervical cancer among HIV-infected women can be reduced. The study’s lead author is Dr Groesbeck Parham, Professor of Gynecologic Oncology and Infectious Diseases, University of Alabama at Birmingham, and Director of the Centre for Infectious Disease Research in Zambia’s Cervical Cancer Prevention Program. The research was published in the December issue of HIV Therapy.

14 Dec 2010

Adelaide man guilty of deliberately spreading HIV

An Adelaide man, Stuart McDonald, 43, has been accused of deliberately infecting his sexual partners with HIV. He has been found guilty of two counts of endangering life.

14 Dec 2010