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First study to demonstrate IVIg effective longer than a year

A purified mixture of human antibodies called intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIg) provides lasting benefits to patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD), according to researchers at the NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center.

25 Jul 2006

Birch bark compound may be potent prostate cancer fighter

A compound found in the bark of the white birch tree - betulonic acid, a derivative of betulinol - may finally have been rendered a water-soluble, bio-available drug, and is already showing the potential to be a possible agent against prostate cancer - in cell culture and in an animal model.

25 Jul 2006

Basal tumours may originate from breast stem cells that have undergone genetic mishaps

Findings support previous speculation that breast stem cells, or very early descendents, are the cells from which basal tumours arise.

24 Jul 2006

Which came first, nucleic acids or proteins?

Which came first, nucleic acids or proteins? This question is molecular biology's version of the "chicken-or-the-egg" riddle.

24 Jul 2006

Global early warning system for zoonoses launched

A global early warning system for animal diseases transmissible to humans (zoonoses) was formally launched this week by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) and the World Health Organization (WHO).

24 Jul 2006

Nicotine promotes growth of established tumors

While it is established that nicotine by itself is not carcinogenic, researchers have now shown that nicotine promotes cell proliferation and the progression of tumors already initiated by tobacco carcinogens.

24 Jul 2006

Usefulness of BMI is suspect

For years doctors have used the body mass index (BMI), a ratio of height and weight, to characterize the clinical weight status of their patients.

24 Jul 2006

Scientists slow vision loss with vitamin E, alpha-lipoic acid and other antioxidant chemicals

Scientists at Johns Hopkins have successfully blocked the advance of retinal degeneration in mice with a form of retinitis pigmentosa (RP) by treating them with vitamin E, alpha-lipoic acid and other antioxidant chemicals.

24 Jul 2006

Serotonin reciprocally regulates melanocortin neurons to modulate food intake

Some of the most important weight-loss drugs work by enhancing the effect of the brain chemical serotonin.

24 Jul 2006

Increasing deaths from opioid analgesics in the United States

Trends analysis of drug poisoning deaths has helped explain a national epidemic of overdose deaths in the USA that began in the 1990s, concludes Leonard Paulozzi and colleagues at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

24 Jul 2006

Genetic key to treating deadly fungal infections

University of Minnesota researchers have discovered how a prevalent fungal pathogen that causes 10,000 deaths per year in the United States overcomes the effects of antifungal drugs by duplicating a section of one of its chromosomes.

24 Jul 2006

People who donate a kidney to help someone else often suffer financially to do so

Living organ donors, through their altruistic act to improve the health of others, may experience substantial economic losses in a variety of cost categories.

24 Jul 2006

Evotec sells single molecule detection technology to Olympus

Evotec AG has announced that its Tools and Technologies Division has sold the core of its Single Molecule Detection Technology and transferred or licensed the corresponding IP portfolio to Olympus Corporation, Tokyo, Japan.

From Evident Corporation - Life Sciences 24 Jul 2006

New training technique is proving successful in helping excessive drinkers curb their alcohol abuse

Researchers funded by the Economic and Social Research Council have experimentally tested a computer-based training programme which helps abusive drinkers pay less attention to alcohol, feel more in control of their drinking and drink less.

24 Jul 2006

Gleevec may cause heart problems

Gleevec, the wildly successful poster-child of a new generation of cancer drugs aimed at specific targets in the cancer cell, can be dangerous to the heart.

24 Jul 2006

Inadequate hospital hand hygiene is spreading MRSA

Unwashed hands in England's hospitals are contributing to the spread of meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and will continue unless healthcare professionals are taught to assess risk, reveals new research.

24 Jul 2006

Healthcare providers react more positively to men than women who reveal they're gay

Men and people over 40 are much more likely to report positive experiences when they tell healthcare providers they are not heterosexual, according research in the latest UK-based Journal of Advanced Nursing.

24 Jul 2006

Link between psychological stress and ovarian tumor growth

When mice with ovarian cancer are stressed, their tumors grow and spread more quickly, but that effect can be blocked using a medication commonly prescribed for heart disease.

24 Jul 2006

Nexavar approved in Europe for treatment of advanced kidney cancer

Bayer Pharmaceuticals Corporation and Onyx Pharmaceuticals, Inc have announced that the European Commission has granted marketing authorization to Nexavar (sorafenib) tablets for the treatment of patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma.

24 Jul 2006

First complete kit for whole genome amplification and labeling

Kreatech Biotechnology BV has announced the launch of the "Genome-pULSe, arrayCGH Whole Genome Amplification and Labeling Kit" the latest addition to their product portfolio for arrayCGH analysis.

24 Jul 2006