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Pilot program helps boost seniors' activity levels, quality of life

Older adults often carry a deeply ingrained belief that inactive, sedentary lives are an inevitable part of aging.

19 Nov 2007

Pfizer to acquire Coley Pharmaceutical Group

Pfizer has announced that it has entered into an agreement to acquire Coley Pharmaceutical Group, a publicly-held biopharmaceutical company specializing in vaccine adjuvant technology and a new class of immunomodulatory drug candidates designed to fight cancers, allergy and asthma disorders, and autoimmune diseases.

19 Nov 2007

NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell opens new section of general surgery called Gastrointestinal Metabolic Surgery

Opening the doors to one of the first academic medical program dedicated to surgical treatment of type 2 diabetes, NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center has created a new section of General Surgery called Gastrointestinal Metabolic Surgery.

19 Nov 2007

MIT researchers devised novel way to create tiny colonies of living human liver cells that model full-sized organs

Liver toxicity is one of the main reasons pharmaceutical companies pull drugs off the market. These dangerous drugs slip through approval processes due in part to the shortcomings of liver toxicity tests. Existing tests rely on liver cells from rats, which do not always respond to toxins the way human cells do. Or they rely on dying human cells that survive for only a few days in the lab.

19 Nov 2007

Low standards of child well-being linked to greater income inequality

Improvements in child wellbeing in rich countries might depend more on reductions in income inequality rather than further economic growth, according to a study published on bmj.com.

19 Nov 2007

Patients taking anti-obesity drugs will only see "modest" weight loss

The study, which looked at the long-term effectiveness of anti-obesity medications, found that three drugs recommended for long-term use - orlistat, sibutramine and rimonabant, reduced weight by less than 5kg (11 pounds). This equated to a loss of less than 5% of total body weight.

19 Nov 2007

University of Sydney leads the way in hospital technology

But a new electronic system developed by the University's School of Information Technologies and introduced at the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital (RPAH) is designed to lead to better patient care, fewer hospital errors and allow researchers to search thousands of medical records.

19 Nov 2007

JRRD releases single-topic issue on traumatic brain injury and polytrauma

The Journal of Rehabilitation Research and Development (JRRD) today released a single-topic issue on traumatic brain injury (TBI) and polytrauma.

19 Nov 2007

The immune system can stop the growth of a cancerous tumor without actually killing it

A multinational team of researchers has shown for the first time that the immune system can stop the growth of a cancerous tumor without actually killing it.

19 Nov 2007

Human health, agriculture and the environment to benefit from bioengineering project at the University of Kent

Martin Warren, Professor of Biochemistry at the University of Kent’s Department of Biosciences, has been awarded over £750,000 from the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council for a study into biochemical pathways that could ultimately lead to improved health benefits for humans, as well as the development of important new technologies and products for agriculture and bioremediation (the use of plants or microorganisms to clean up pollution or contaminated material).

19 Nov 2007

Geisinger rheumatologists redesign osteoporosis, rheumatoid arthritis care

With the nation collectively spending about $18 billion per year on osteoporosis related bone fractures, Geisinger researchers found that streamlining the ordering process for osteoporosis bone density scans quadrupled the number of patients who received the exam.

19 Nov 2007

Persistent genital arousal disorder in women

New research shows that women suffering from Persistent Genital Arousal Disorder (PGAD), a condition marked by unprovoked, intrusive and persistent sensations of genital arousal that are unrelieved by one or several orgasms, are likely to experience a variety of associated psychological conditions.

19 Nov 2007

High cost of pain in Australia

For the first time, a dollar value has been attached to the high cost of pain in Australia in an MBF Foundation funded study that reveals a massive annual cost of $34.3 billion -- nearly $11,000 for each of the estimated 3.2 million people grappling with pain.

19 Nov 2007

HIV-1 vaccines may not be as reliable against superinfection as once thought

Natural HIV-1 infection does not always elicit a protective immune response, according to a new study published November 16 in PLoS Pathogens.

19 Nov 2007

Buffalo State College receives $3 million grant to study drinking and driving behavior

The Center for Health and Social Research (CHSR) at Buffalo State College has received a $3 million grant from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) to study the initiation and continuation of drinking and driving behavior.

19 Nov 2007

Blood clotting protein fibrin plays a role in rheumatoid arthritis

Researchers at Cincinnati Children's have issued the first study showing that a protein normally involved in blood clotting (fibrin), also plays an important role in the inflammatory response and development of rheumatoid arthritis.

19 Nov 2007

Avastin (bevacizumab) shows promise in phase II study of glioblastoma multiforme

Genentech, Inc. has announced that both study arms of a randomized, multi-center Phase II clinical study of Avastin (bevacizumab) administered alone or in combination with irinotecan chemotherapy demonstrated encouraging six-month progression-free survival (PFS) and objective response rate in patients with relapsed glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), the most common and aggressive type of brain cancer.

19 Nov 2007