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Low-cost protein gets big results in people with elevated blood pressure

Beverages supplemented by whey-based protein can significantly reduce elevated blood pressure, reducing the risk of stroke and heart disease, a Washington State University study has found.

8 Dec 2010

Bisphenol A tainted money and receipts

Bisphenol A (BPA) has been found in many household items and other common objects and is known to be an endocrine disruptor linked to infertility, genital abnormalities, cancer and more. Now it has been detected on ‘cash’. Since BPA is used to make plastic, manufacturers use about 8 billion pounds of BPA that is moulded, cooked or poured into toys, baby products and other merchandise each year. On these products BPA is chemically bonded but it is simply applied in a powdery film to paper, making it easy to rub off with a touch.

8 Dec 2010

Rapid TB test endorsed by WHO

The World Health Organization (WHO) said that a new test that can detect tuberculosis (TB), including drug-resistant forms, in less than two hours could revolutionize treatment of the disease. Tuberculosis is still a major killer worldwide killing 4,700 people every day last year. The annual death toll of 1.7 million includes 380,000 people who are at particular risk because they have HIV, the virus that depresses the immune system and causes Aids.

8 Dec 2010

‘Queen of Soul’ fighting pancreatic cancer say reports

Aretha Franklin, the 68 year old ‘Queen of Soul’, is fighting pancreatic cancer, according to a family friend. It is a week since she has undergone a surgery for incurable pancreatic cancer.

8 Dec 2010

e-cigarettes spark debate in U.S.

Electronic cigarettes have been seen as a tobacco product but not as drugs. The US Food and Drug Administration had appealed to the court to treat these cigarettes as drugs but the court says this is an oversight. The FDA cited five e-cigarette distributors for poor manufacturing practices and falsely claiming that the products help people stop smoking.

8 Dec 2010

Smoking cessation products available on PBS

Australia’s federal government has announced that it will subsidize the cost of nicotine patches to help smokers quit. The announcement was made by Health Minister Nicola Roxon on Thursday who said that concession card holders would be able to access Nicorette, Nicabate P and Nicotinell under the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) from February 1, 2011. She said, “Cancer scars the lives of too many Australians and we know that reducing the smoking rate is one of the most effective ways to reduce the rate of death from this terrible disease.” Anti-smoking drug Varenicline (Champix) would also be available for willing quitters.

8 Dec 2010

ChipDX validates genetic signature for early-stage colon cancer

ChipDX LLC, a New York-based online molecular diagnostics and personalized medicine company, discovered and validated a genetic signature for early-stage colon cancer and is developing an online screening application to enable clinicians to more accurately identify risk of recurrence. In the study, published in the December issue of the British Journal of Cancer, ChipDX demonstrates how the 163-gene signature stratifies colon cancer patients into high- and low-risk groups for recurrence with greater accuracy than current methods.

8 Dec 2010

Low and high vitamin D levels may increase frailty in older women

A recent study accepted for publication in The Endocrine Society's Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism (JCEM) found that lower and higher vitamin D levels were associated with an increased likelihood of frailty in older women. Women with vitamin D levels between 20.0 and 29.9 ng/ml were at the lowest risk of frailty.

8 Dec 2010

Momenta prices underwritten public offering

Momenta Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a biotechnology company specializing in the characterization and engineering of complex drugs, today announced the pricing of an underwritten public offering of 4,000,000 shares of its common stock at $14.35 per share. The total proceeds, before expenses, to Momenta will be approximately $57.4 million. The offering is expected to close on December 13, 2010, subject to customary closing conditions.

8 Dec 2010

RTI to offer $175 million of convertible senior notes

RTI International Metals, Inc., today announced its intention to offer, subject to market and other conditions, approximately $175 million principal amount of convertible senior notes due December 1, 2015 in an offering registered under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act"). Upon conversion, RTI will deliver or pay, as the case may be, shares of RTI common stock, cash or a combination of cash and shares of RTI common stock, at RTI's election.

8 Dec 2010

New Hora de Hablar CARDIO program launched to help better manage heart health

An innovative new program, Hora de Hablar CARDIO – Creando la Atencion Real y Dialogo Inmediato en la Oficina, launched today to encourage patients and health care professionals to actively partner to help better manage heart health through more productive conversations during medical visits.

8 Dec 2010

MedeAnalytics introduces Accountable Care Solution for healthcare provider and payer organizations

MedeAnalytics, a leading provider of healthcare performance management solutions, today announced the launch of its Accountable Care Solution for healthcare provider and payer organizations.

8 Dec 2010

MassMutual broadens life insurance underwriting guidelines for prostate cancer survivors

Building on a long-standing commitment to helping people before, during and after a cancer diagnosis, Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company has broadened its life insurance underwriting guidelines for prostate cancer survivors.

8 Dec 2010

FDA clears Valeritas' V-Go Disposable Insulin Delivery Device

Valeritas, Inc., a medical technology company committed to the development and commercialization of innovative drug delivery solutions, announced today that the US Food and Drug Administration has cleared the company's V-Go Disposable Insulin Delivery Device for the continuous subcutaneous delivery of insulin in preset basal rates and with on-demand bolus dosing for adult patients requiring insulin.

8 Dec 2010

ResCare announces $200 million private placement of senior notes

ResCare, Inc. announced today that it plans to raise up to $200 million through a private placement of senior notes due 2018 ("New Notes"), subject to market and other customary conditions. The Company's domestic subsidiaries will fully and unconditionally guarantee the New Notes.

8 Dec 2010

Bavarian Nordic receives SPA for Phase 3 study of PROSTVAC for advanced prostate cancer

Bavarian Nordic A/S announced today that the company has received a letter of concurrence from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on a Special Protocol Assessment for a Phase 3 study required for product registration for its product candidate, PROSTVAC, for the treatment of patients with asymptomatic or minimally symptomatic metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer.

8 Dec 2010

Researchers develop imaging technology that can accurately identify prostate cancer

Prostate cancer is the most common type of cancer among men, but its diagnosis has up to now been inaccurate and unpleasant. Researchers at Eindhoven University of Technology in the Netherlands, in cooperation with AMC Amsterdam, have developed an imaging technology that can accurately identify tumors.

8 Dec 2010

First Edition: December 8, 2010

Today's health policy headlines include more detail on the deal reached to avoid a scheduled cut in physician's Medicare pay.

8 Dec 2010

TOS, OAC call on FDA to address urgent need for obesity treatments

The Obesity Society (TOS) and the Obesity Action Coalition (OAC) today called on the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to consider the urgent need for more tools to address the obesity epidemic facing more than 93 million Americans as they convene an advisory panel to review a new treatment for obesity.

8 Dec 2010

Study comparing subcutaneous, intravenous administration of VELCADE in relapsed MM patients presented at ASH

Millennium: The Takeda Oncology Company today reported results from a randomized, international Phase III clinical trial comparing subcutaneous and intravenous administration of VELCADE (bortezomib) in patients with relapsed multiple myeloma. These data were presented at the 52nd annual meeting of the American Society of Hematology, held December 4-7 in Orlando, Florida.

8 Dec 2010