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New drugs have longer clinical development times despite faster FDA review

While the U.S. Food and Drug Administration Drug has quickened review and approval of new medicines, the complex nature of diseases for which new therapeutics are being developed has resulted in longer clinical development times, according to the Tufts Center for the Study of Drug Development.

8 Jan 2009

10.9 million Americans under age 65 have individual health insurance

About 10.9 million Americans under age 65 purchased individual health insurance policies at some point in 2006, but only 7 million were covered by these policies for the full year, according to the latest News and Numbers from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

8 Jan 2009

Mortality rates higher for heart disease patients in neighbourhoods with poor socioeconomics status

Heart disease patients living in poorer areas of B.C. are up to twice as likely to die from chronic diseases than patients living in better-off areas, a University of British Columbia study has found.

8 Jan 2009

Discovery of gene that increases susceptibility to Crohn's disease

Researchers at McGill University, the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre (RI MUHC) and the McGill University and Génome Québec Innovation Centre, along with colleagues at other Canadian and Belgian institutions, have discovered DNA variations in a gene that increases susceptibility to developing Crohn's disease.

8 Jan 2009

Maslinic acid from olive-skin pomace protects against colon cancer

Researchers from the University of Granada and the University of Barcelona have shown that treatment with maslinic acid, a triterpenoid compound isolated from olive-skin pomace, results in a significant inhibition of cell proliferation and causes apoptotic death in colon-cancer cells.

8 Jan 2009

New genetic markers for ulcerative colitis could lead to treatment

An international consortium of researchers, including major contribution from a team led by Dr. John D. Rioux, a professor of medicine at the Université de Montréal and the Montreal Heart Institute, has identified genetic markers associated with risk for ulcerative colitis.

8 Jan 2009

Estrogen plus progestin therapy may decrease risk of colorectal cancer

The combination of estrogen plus progestin, which women stopped taking in droves following the news that it may increase their risk of breast cancer, may decrease their risk of colorectal cancer, according to a report published in the January issue of Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention , a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.

8 Jan 2009

Growth of new brain cells requires 'epigenetic' switch

New cells are born every day in the brain's hippocampus, but what controls this birth has remained a mystery.

8 Jan 2009

Genta Incorporated issued two key U.S. patents for gallium products franchise

Genta Incorporated has announced that two new patents related to the Company's franchise in gallium-containing products have issued in the United States.

8 Jan 2009

Gene abnormality found to predict childhood leukemia relapse

Scientists have identified mutations in a gene that predict a high likelihood of relapse in children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL).

8 Jan 2009

New cataract early detection device

A compact fiber-optic probe developed for the space program has now proven valuable for patients in the clinic as the first non-invasive early detection device for cataracts, the leading cause of vision loss worldwide.

8 Jan 2009

New avenue for TB therapy

Masses of immune cells that form as a hallmark of tuberculosis (TB) have long been thought to be the body's way of trying to protect itself by literally walling off the bacteria.

8 Jan 2009

Black raspberries have chemopreventive potential

A study published in Cancer Prevention Research , a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research, identifies components of black raspberries with chemopreventive potential.

8 Jan 2009

New study examines the experiences of older people

It's debilitating, isolating and can lead to severe depression - yet pain is widely accepted as something to be expected and regarded as 'normal' in later life.

8 Jan 2009

Multifidus muscle design contributes to spine stability

The novel design of a deep muscle along the spinal column called the multifidus muscle may in fact be key to spinal support and a healthy back, according to researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine.

7 Jan 2009

Women's access to donated kidneys declines with age, particularly compared with men

Younger women have equivalent access to kidney transplants compared with their male counterparts, but older women receive transplants much less frequently than older men, according to a study appearing in the March 2009 issue of the Journal of the American Society Nephrology ( JASN ).

7 Jan 2009

Sun Pharmaceutical extends tender offer for Taro

Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. today announced its subsidiary, Alkaloida Chemical Company Exclusive Group Ltd. (Alkaloida), has extended the Expiration Date of the Tender Offer for the purchase of all outstanding Ordinary Shares of Taro Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (Taro).

7 Jan 2009

Sun Pharmaceutical receives FDA approvals for 4 generics

Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. announced that together with its subsidiaries, it has received final approval from U.S. FDA for several Abbreviated New Drug Applications (ANDA).

7 Jan 2009

Study looks at Fatal Familiar Insomnia

Fatal Familiar Insomnia (FFI) is one of the diseases considered as rare - there are less than 100 cases described throughout the world.

7 Jan 2009

Study finds failure to include nurses in process of admitting errors to patients, families

Even though nurses routinely disclose nursing errors to their patients, a new study published in the January 2009 issue of The Joint Commission Journal on Quality and Patient Safety shows that nurses often are not included when physicians tell patients about more serious mistakes.

7 Jan 2009