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Broken health system aggravates cholera outbreak in Zimbabwe

A widespread cholera outbreak, under-resourced and under-staffed health system, and inadequate access to safe drinking water and hygiene are threatening the wellbeing of thousands of Zimbabweans. As of 9 December, 16,141 suspected cases of cholera and 775 resultant deaths (case fatality rate of 4.8%) had been recorded since August in two-thirds of the country's 62 districts.

10 Dec 2008

Xencor presents data on anti-CD19 and anti-CD40 antibodies

Xencor, Inc. presented results Sunday at the 50th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Hematology from pre-clinical studies evaluating XmAb 5574, a monoclonal antibody engineered using Xencor's XmAb Fc technologies that targets the antigen CD19.

10 Dec 2008

Major math anxiety in stressful situations

Imagine you are sitting in the back of a classroom, daydreaming about the weekend.

10 Dec 2008

VIDAZA (azacitidine) study reports survival benefit in higher-risk MDS extends to AML patients

Celgene International Sàrl (NASDAQ: CELG) today announced results from a subset analysis of the international phase III trial (AZA-001) demonstrating that the overall survival benefit observed in higher-risk MDS patients extended to patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML).

10 Dec 2008

UK kidney cancer patients face toxic, out-dated treatments with little hope of change

Leading oncologist Professor Tim Eisen has expressed concerns that patients with advanced kidney cancer could be condemned to toxic, barely effective, 20 year-old treatments because the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) is likely to rule out using all four of the new treatments it has assessed.

10 Dec 2008

Study reveals effects of unconscious exposure to advertisements

Fads have been a staple of American pop culture for decades, from spandex in the 1980s to skinny jeans today.

10 Dec 2008

Pregnant women warned not to use statins

Pregnant women or those hoping to start or extend a family should avoid using the cholesterol-lowering drugs statins, say scientists.

From The University of Manchester 10 Dec 2008

Siblings of mentally disabled face own lifelong challenges

People who have a sibling with a mental illness are more likely to suffer episodes of depression at some point in their lives, say researchers who analyzed four decades of data.

10 Dec 2008

DNA vaccine for SARS achieves neutralizing responses in first U.S. human trial

Vical Incorporated (NASDAQ:VICL) today announced that results from a Phase I clinical trial of a DNA vaccine for severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), conducted by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and published in the November 25 issue of Vaccine(1), demonstrated that the vaccine was well-tolerated, and induced neutralizing antibody responses in 80% of the vaccinees and T-cell immune responses in all vaccinees.

10 Dec 2008

New clues to the roots of epilepsy, autism, schizophrenia

Rice University researchers have found a potential clue to the roots of epilepsy, autism, schizophrenia and other neurological disorders.

10 Dec 2008

Reforms needed in adolescent health care

Current health services for adolescents are fragmented and poorly designed to meet the health needs of all of the nation's adolescents, says a new report from the National Research Council and Institute of Medicine.

10 Dec 2008

Quantros acquires MEDMARX from United States Pharmacopeia

U.S. Pharmacopeia (USP) Convention, an official public standards-setting authority for all prescription and over-the-counter medicines sold in the United States, on December 4, 2008 transferred all rights, ownership and management of the overall MEDMARX reporting program to Quantros.

10 Dec 2008

Discovery of gender gap in spatial skills that starts in infancy

Men tend to perform better than women at tasks that require rotating an object mentally, studies have indicated.

10 Dec 2008

UK's first prostate cancer patient treated using RapidArc radiotherapy

65-year-old grandfather of six, Graham McCormack has become the first cancer patient in the UK to be treated using RapidArc radiotherapy technology from Varian Medical Systems.

10 Dec 2008

Experimental drug successfully blocks mutation in bone marrow cancers

Oregon Health & Science University Knight Cancer Institute researchers have found that an experimental drug successfully blocks an enzyme that causes some bone marrow cancers.

10 Dec 2008

Advances in tissue engineering

Some patients wish they had a second skin - for instance because their own skin has been burnt in a severe accident.

10 Dec 2008

Potential breakthrough for T-cell lymphoma

Preliminary results of a pivotal Phase 2 clinical trial of pralatrexate (PDX), a drug that partially works by mimicking folic acid, showed a complete or partial response in 27 percent of patients with recurrent or resistant peripheral T-cell lymphoma (PTCL).

10 Dec 2008

Portola Pharmaceuticals starts phase 2 trial of P2Y12 ADP receptor antagonist in non-urgent percutaneous coronary intervention

Portola Pharmaceuticals has announced that it has initiated patient enrollment in INNOVATE-PCI, a large Phase II clinical trial of PRT060128, the Company's novel P2Y12 ADP receptor antagonist, in patients undergoing non-urgent percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI).

10 Dec 2008