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New testing approach to predict outcome in patients with bladder cancer

A new testing approach has been shown to be effective in identifying patients at the highest risk of cancer relapse after surgery for bladder cancer, say researchers in the February issue of The Lancet Oncology.

29 Jan 2007

Japanese authorities battle with third outbreak of bird flu

Health officials in Japan confirm that chickens on a farm in Okayama have died from a strain of bird flu; around 40 birds are thought to have succumbed to the virus which has not as yet been determined to be the deadly H5N1 strain.

29 Jan 2007

CMS proposes increase in Medicare reimbursements for long-term care hospitals

CMS on Thursday proposed a 0.71% increase in standard Medicare reimbursement rates for long-term care hospitals for 2008, CQ HealthBeat reports.

29 Jan 2007

Time, therapy spur recovery from sudden sensorineural hearing loss

A first-of-its-kind study into time-dependent treatments of sudden sensorineural hearing loss published in the February 2007 issue of Otolaryngology- Head and Neck Surgery has determined that a combination of time and oral corticosteroid therapy can play a key role in helping patients regain full hearing, often within a month of the initial loss of hearing.

29 Jan 2007

Probing proteins can lead to better understanding of anti-tumor agents

There are a number of naturally occurring chemicals that are used in phototherapy of skin diseases. Hypocrellin A (HA), which can be extracted from a parasitic fungus, has been taken orally as a folk medicine for several centuries in China.

29 Jan 2007

Money cannot buy you happiness

The most important sources of happiness are good health and freedom from financial worries, Professor Vani Borooah found.

29 Jan 2007

New type of buckyball

Scientists at Rice University and Baylor College of Medicine have developed a new type of buckyball nanoparticle that acts as a passkey, allowing peptide-based drugs to enter cancer cells.

29 Jan 2007

Scientists tackle huntingtin protein

McMaster scientists are very close to defining small molecule drugs that should be able to redirect the huntingtin protein from accumulating in the wrong place within brain cells, which could potentially translate to a therapy for Huntington's Disease (HD).

29 Jan 2007

Gene produces springy protein keeping nerve cells flexible

If you bend a knee or an elbow, the nerves in your limbs stretch but do not break. A University of Utah study suggests why: A gene produces a springy protein that keeps nerve cells flexible. When the gene was disabled in tiny nematode worms, their nerve cells literally broke.

29 Jan 2007

Women and alcoholism recovery

PhD candidate Ms Janice Withnall, from the University of Western Sydney (UWS) School of Education, is carrying out the project in a bid to better understand the experiences of women who have successfully stopped drinking.

29 Jan 2007

Number of Parkinson's sufferers will double in next 25 years

The study highlights the significant challenge facing countries with rapidly growing economies, particularly in Asia, many of which are ill prepared to meet this impending public health threat.

29 Jan 2007

Dll4 signalling through Notchi regulates formation of tip cells during angiogenesis

All tissues, sick and healthy alike, need a blood supply to survive and grow. The key to many medical problems, like preventing tumour development, is therefore to obstruct the spread of the blood vessels. Research scientists at Karolinska Institutet have now discovered a heretofore unknown mechanism for how the body links together its blood vessels.

29 Jan 2007

New understanding of cholera pathogen

Researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have discovered new details about how bacteria generate energy to live. In two recently published papers, the scientists add key specifics to the molecular mechanism behind the pathogen that causes cholera.

29 Jan 2007

Photoprinted paper supports simultaneous microscale diagnostic tests

Prototype for a new class of inexpensive, highly practical rapid tests that can be used to carry out several biological tests simultaneously on a single drop.

29 Jan 2007

New mobile application for weight control

A Finnish research group with participants from VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, the University of Tampere and Nokia Research Center has developed a new personal health diary for the mobile phone.

29 Jan 2007

Study "on-the-job physical activity" released

The American Council on Exercise (ACE) recently released results of its exclusive study that examined on-the-job physical activity of 10 common occupations.

29 Jan 2007

GlaxoSmithKline's new influenza vaccine accepted for review in Europe

GlaxoSmithKline has announced that its new generation H5N1 split antigen pre-pandemic influenza vaccine has been accepted for review by the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) in Europe.

29 Jan 2007

Public standards for world medications to treat neglected infectious diseases

The United States Pharmacopeia (USP) has released free documentary standards for medicines used outside the United States to treat neglected infectious diseases.

29 Jan 2007

AIDS Healthcare Foundation praises Thai action on AIDS drug licensing

AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), the US' largest HIV/AIDS healthcare and prevention and education provider, which operates free AIDS treatment clinics in the US, Africa, Latin America/Caribbean and Asia, praised the Government of Thailand for its plan to break the patents on some lifesaving drugs, including one for an anti- retroviral drug used in the treatment of HIV/AIDS.

29 Jan 2007

Nanocarrier stimuli-activated gene delivery

One approach to developing tumor-specific drug delivery agents is to create nanomaterials that release a therapeutic payload only after reaching their intended target.

29 Jan 2007