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Chest x-rays may provide information to help detect osteoporosis in the elderly

Undetected osteoporosis in the elderly might be discovered if chest radiographs (x-ray images) that are done for other reasons were examined for fractures of the vertebrae, according to an article in the April 25 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine.

25 Apr 2005

Risk scores may identify young individuals with atherosclerosis

Young people with atherosclerotic lesions may be identified by a risk score calculated from coronary heart disease factors like obesity, sex, age, cholesterol, and smoking, according to an article in the April 25 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine.

25 Apr 2005

Evidence suggests bypass surgery free of long-term brain effects

A broad retrospective review of the effects of coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) on memory and other brain functions concludes that, while there may be transient short-term effects, the procedure itself probably does not cause late or permanent neurological effects.

25 Apr 2005

High risk of second cancers in survivors of childhood soft tissue sarcomas

Children treated for soft tissue sarcomas have a significantly higher risk of developing subsequent cancers later in life, according to a new study. The study appears in the June 1, 2005 issue of CANCER, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society, and indicates children treated with combined chemotherapy and radiation therapy, in particular, had greater risks of developing a new malignancy.

25 Apr 2005

Breast cancer detector that uses electricity instead of X-rays

A painless, portable device that uses electrical current rather than X-ray to examine breasts for cancer is under study at the Medical College of Georgia.

25 Apr 2005

Pattern of gene expression predicts multiple drug resistance, treatment failure in pediatric leukemia

The discovery of a specific pattern of gene expression linked to multiple-drug resistance of leukemic cells is giving researchers crucial information into why standard therapies fail to cure some children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). This finding, from investigators at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, could lead to development of drugs that would overcome that resistance.

24 Apr 2005

Increasing benefit seen in novel drug AMN107, that treats Gleevec resistance

An investigational drug is producing powerful responses in patients resistant to Gleevec, the targeted therapy that helps most people diagnosed with chronic myeloid leukemia (CML), an international research team headed by investigators at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center is reporting.

23 Apr 2005

Maxim Pharmaceuticals issued patent for method of identifying therapeutically effective immunosupressive agents

Maxim Pharmaceuticals have announced the United States Patent and Trademark Office issued U.S. patent number 6,828,091 B2, entitled "Method of Identifying Immunosuppressive Agents."

23 Apr 2005

Smad7 protein levels may predict prostate cancer therapy response

Levels of the Smad7 protein may predict therapeutic response in patients with prostate cancer according to research published by investigators at the Uppsala Branch of the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research (LICR).

23 Apr 2005

Patient with rare liver condition second ever to survive liver transplant after pregnancy

For Billi Tierney, 30, National Donate Life Month in April has a profound meaning. The first-time mother of Sycamore, Ill., was awaiting anxiously the arrival of her first baby. But she never thought that complications from her pregnancy were going to lead to a week in coma and the urgent need for a liver transplant. Tierney suffered from acute liver fatty of pregnancy, a rare, but serious condition of pregnancy in which there is an excessive accumulation of fat in the liver or liver cells.

23 Apr 2005

As syphilis rates increase in Los Angeles County, new study suggests the disease is increasing HIV rates

The syphilis epidemic among men who have sex with men in Los Angeles County may be contributing to rates of HIV in this population, according to a new report published in the Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome.

23 Apr 2005

How Ebola virus infects cells - discovery

Ebola virus reproduction in laboratory-grown cells is severely hampered by enzyme-inhibiting chemicals, and these chemicals deserve further study as possible treatments for Ebola virus infections in humans, report scientists supported in part by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID).

23 Apr 2005

Wide variation in access to HIV medications across states

Twenty-one State AIDS Drug Assistance Programs (ADAPs) report limiting access to their programs in some way, including 11 with waiting lists, despite an increase in the national ADAP budget, according to the ninth annual National ADAP Monitoring Project Report released by the Kaiser Family Foundation and the National Alliance of State AIDS Directors (NASTAD).

23 Apr 2005

Testing new manic depression drugs in slime mould

Research by University College London (UCL) scientists could lead to the development of more effective drugs for treating manic depression thanks to a new screening approach developed in a "slime mould" - a microbe that lives in leaves and dung on forest floors.

23 Apr 2005

Launching of Vaccination Week in the Americas

The Pan American Health Organization, PAHO, together with the governments of the United States, Mexico and Canada, will hold a press conference Monday, April 25 at 10 a.m. at the National Press Club to launch Vaccination Week in the Americas, a multi-country immunization campaign.

23 Apr 2005

Ensuring patient safety at fertility clinics

In the years since the birth of the first ‘test-tube’ baby in 1978, in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) has grown to become an accepted mainstream medical technique, with more than 25,000 treatments carried out every year.

23 Apr 2005

Viramidine demonstrates anti-HCV Genotype 1 activity that compares favorably to Ribavirin

Dose-limiting anemia can be a prominent adverse event of therapy with pegylated interferon and ribavirin. This dose-ranging study examined whether viramidine, a liver-targeting prodrug of ribavirin, may be a safer alternative when used in combination with pegylated interferon alfa-2a/ PEG-IFN (Pegasys).

23 Apr 2005