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Nuts and Mediterranean diet appear to help metabolic syndrome

A traditional Mediterranean diet with an additional daily serving of mixed nuts appears to be useful for managing some metabolic abnormalities in older adults at high risk for heart disease, according to a report in the December 8/22 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine.

8 Dec 2008

Changes in medical terminology confuses patients

The label used to identify a disease - whether it is common language or medical terminology - can influence how serious people think the condition is, according to new research from McMaster University, the second part of a larger study on how people understand and interpret disease.

8 Dec 2008

Mathematical model shows how organelles function within cells

Cells are filled with membrane-bound organelles like the nucleus, mitochondria and endoplasmic reticula.

8 Dec 2008

Relationship woes hinder breast cancer recovery

Breast cancer patients who have a poor relationship with their spouse may face a more difficult road to recovery than would other women, according to a new study.

8 Dec 2008

Lenalidomide safe for elderly patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia

The oral medication lenalidomide is safe and well-tolerated for elderly patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia, a group without a well-defined frontline therapy for their disease, researchers from The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center reported today at the 50th annual meeting of the American Society of Hematology.

8 Dec 2008

Low-income settings require local guideline development for childhood illness

The next generation of case management guidelines for childhood illness need to be more locally informed, rather than relying on those centrally generated by organizations like the World Health Organization (WHO), argues a new essay published in the open access journal PLoS Medicine.

8 Dec 2008

Potential new therapy for hepatitis C treatment

Combination therapies similar to those used for HIV patients may be the best way of treating hepatitis C virus (HCV), say researchers from the University of Leeds.

8 Dec 2008

Kiadis Pharma receives two orphan drug designations for Reviroc

Kiadis Pharma has announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted its product Reviroc Orphan Drug Designations (ODD) for the treatment of two types of Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma (NHL).

8 Dec 2008

C. elegans worms may hold key to new treatments for obesity in humans

A previously unknown mutation discovered in a common roundworm holds the promise of new treatments for obesity in humans, McGill University researchers say.

8 Dec 2008

Best obesity treatment

Severely obese patients who have lost significant amounts of weight by changing their diet and exercise habits may be as successful in keeping the weight off long-term as those individuals who lost weight after bariatric surgery, according to a new study published online by the International Journal of Obesity.

8 Dec 2008

Light cigarettes may be more toxic than traditional cigarettes

Typically, tobacco companies market harm-reduction cigarettes as being safer than traditional "full-flavored" brands, leading many smokers to conclude that the use of harm-reduction brands lowers their exposure to toxicants.

8 Dec 2008

Exercise and no TV may reduce type 2 diabetes in African-American women

Researchers from Boston University's Slone Epidemiology Center have found that reducing time spent watching television and increasing time spent walking briskly or engaged in vigorous physical activity may reduce the incidence of type 2 diabetes in African-American women.

8 Dec 2008

Half-dose vaccination in healthy young individuals may be effective in times of vaccine shortage

Individuals younger than 50 who have been previously vaccinated do not appear to have a substantially different immune response to a half-dose of influenza vaccine than to a full dose, according to a report in the December 8/22 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine.

8 Dec 2008

GlaxoSmithKline extends Genelabs offer

GlaxoSmithKline has announced today that it has extended its previously announced tender offer to purchase all of the outstanding shares of common stock of Genelabs Technologies, Inc. for $1.30 in cash per share without interest and less any required withholding taxes, until 12:00 midnight EST on Friday, December 12, 2008, unless the tender offer is further extended.

8 Dec 2008

Genetic signature may lead to better treatments for pediatric liver cancers

Scientists have identified a genetic signature that is remarkably effective at predicting the prognosis of an aggressive liver cancer in children.

8 Dec 2008

Networks of interactive genes may predict Leukemia's development

Rather than testing for individual marker genes or proteins, researchers at the University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego) and the Moores UCSD Cancer Center have evidence that groups, or networks, of interactive genes may be more reliable in determining the likelihood that a form of leukemia is fast-moving or slow-growing.

8 Dec 2008

Discovery of protein that may cause breast cancer to spread

In an important finding published online in Developmental Cell , researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University, along with collaborators at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, have identified a protein likely responsible for causing breast cancer to spread.

8 Dec 2008

Electronic prescribing system may encourage physicians to prescribe lower-cost medications

Clinicians using an electronic prescribing system appear more likely to prescribe lower-cost medications, reducing drug spending, according to a report in the December 8/22 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine.

8 Dec 2008

deCODE to integrate new genetic risk factor for type 2 diabetes into its personal genome scan service

deCODE genetics has announced the discovery by an international consortium of scientists from deCODE and major European and US academic institutions of a single letter variation in the human genome (SNP) that is associated with increased fasting glucose levels and risk of type 2 diabetes (T2D).

8 Dec 2008

Cytori reports benefit of adipose-derived regenerative cells in spinal disc model

Cytori Therapeutics, Inc. reported preclinical study results, which demonstrate the potential benefit of adipose-derived stem and regenerative cells (ADRCs) for the treatment of damaged intervertebral discs, evidenced by significantly increased disc tissue density and disc-specific extracellular matrix components at 12-months post treatment in a large animal model.

8 Dec 2008