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Cost-effectiveness of drugs may vary across borders

A study published in the journal Value in Health reviews variations in estimates of cost-effectiveness of pharmaceuticals from country to country. Data showed that the results seen in one country are not necessarily applicable in another and that decision makers need to interpret data from other countries very carefully.

19 Apr 2005

Australian researchers develop safer and more effective aspirin

Monash University researchers and staff of the Melbourne-based biotechnology company Cerylid Biosciences Ltd, have discovered and developed a new class of anti-clotting drugs that appears to be more effective than aspirin at preventing disease-causing blood clots and has fewer side effects.

19 Apr 2005

Gene expression pattern predicts multiple drug resistance

St. Jude Children's Research Hospital discovery of genetic links to multi-drug resistance gives clinicians new insight into the cause of treatment failure and suggests targets for novel anti-leukemic drugs

19 Apr 2005

Stress can give the immune system a beneficial boost

New research in mice provides more evidence that a brief bout of stress can give the immune system a beneficial boost – under certain conditions.

19 Apr 2005

Plastic surgeons caution against unknown dangers of mesotherapy

The allure of shedding unwanted pockets of fat with a series of simple injections, known as mesotherapy, sounds too good to be true - and it just might be. According to an ASPS Device & Technique Assessment (DATA) Committee report published in the April 15 issue of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery® (PRS), the official medical journal of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS), patients should be wary of mesotherapy until the safety and effectiveness of the procedure are confirmed.

19 Apr 2005

Researchers determine structure of binding site of colon-cancer drug Erbitux and its protein target

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have determined the precise molecular details of how Erbitux, a recently approved colorectal cancer drug, binds to its target on cancer cells. Knowing this chemical configuration will lead to better drug design for this family of cancer medications.

19 Apr 2005

Alcohol-impaired driving increases significantly

A national survey has found that after a long, slow downward trend alcohol-impaired driving has recently increased significantly. From 1993 to 1997 the estimated annual number of episodes of alcohol-impaired driving (AID) declined at a rate of a little more than one percent per year, from 123 million to 116 million. From 1997 to 1999, however, it increased 37 percent, from 116 million to 159 million. It stayed at that increased rate in 2002.

19 Apr 2005

More pressure to lift 13 year near-ban on silicone-gel breast implants

Hot on the heels of the FDA's rejection of Inamed's attempt to have its Silicone-gel breast implants re-instated, a second manufacturer Mentor has also tried to convince sceptical federal health advisers to the Food and Drug Administration to lift a 13-year near-ban on silicone-gel breast implants.

13 Apr 2005

New approach to fighting cancer, based on nanoscale particles

Researchers at Rice University in Texas have developed a new approach to fighting cancer, based on nanoscale particles that can both detect and destroy cancerous cells. The report appears in the April 13 issue of the American Chemical Society's journal Nano Letters.

13 Apr 2005

Scientists reveal the shape of a protein that helps retroviruses break into cells

Retroviruses are among the trickier and more malicious disease agents, causing AIDS and cancers such as leukemia. The viruses manage to sneak into cells with the help of special protein assemblies scattered all over their surfaces. These retrovirus surface proteins cause the membrane envelope of the virus to fuse with the membrane of the cell, spilling virus RNA into the cell to wreak damage.

13 Apr 2005

Link between insomnia and obesity

A possible link between lack of sleep (insomnia) and obesity has been traced to hypocretin/orexin cells in the hypothalamus region of the brain that are easily excited and sensitive to stress, Yale School of Medicine researchers report in the April issue of Cell Metabolism.

13 Apr 2005

History of preeclampsia increases lifetime risk for cardiovascular illness and death

In a study of mothers with a history of preeclampsia, a hypertension complication in pregnancy affecting five percent of all women, researchers at Yale have found that these women have an increased lifetime risk for cardiovascular illness and death.

13 Apr 2005

People with essential tremor are more likely to develop dementia

People with essential tremor, a movement disorder that causes shaking of the hands, head, voice, or body, are more likely to develop dementia, according to research that will be presented at the American Academy of Neurology 57th Annual Meeting in Miami Beach, Fla., April 9 – 16, 2005.

13 Apr 2005

Worship may help slow the progression of Alzheimer's disease

Spirituality and the practice of religion may help slow the progression of Alzheimer's disease, according to research that will be presented at the American Academy of Neurology 57th Annual Meeting in Miami Beach, Fla., April 9 – 16, 2005.

13 Apr 2005

Problem gambling associated with brain impairments

Pathological gamblers exhibit complex impairments in decision-making and executive function processes associated with the prefrontal cortex of the brain, according to research that will be presented at the American Academy of Neurology 57th Annual Meeting in Miami Beach, Fla., April 9 – 16, 2005.

13 Apr 2005

Test kit mistake - labs in race to destroy deadly flu virus

As many as 3,750 medical laboratories, all but 75 of which are in the U.S., have been told by the World Health Organization to destroy a pandemic flu virus sent to them as part of routine testing kits.

13 Apr 2005

Researchers show why mutations in a certain few genes, such as the p53 tumor suppressor gene, are found in different cancers

Scientists have identified some of the first genetic triggers for cancer as mutations in specific oncogenes or tumor suppressor genes. Full-blown tumors and metastatic cancers, however, often exhibit many genetic mutations, sometimes dozens in a given tumor. An important scientific question, and one with significant clinical implications, has been what happens after the initial mutation that leads to dangerous later-stage cancers with multiple damaged genes.

13 Apr 2005

Scientists have discovered the mechanism that enables some CD4 T cells - the main target of HIV - to thwart the virus

The discovery, reported on April 13 in the online version of Nature, could open the door to an entirely new strategy for preventing the spread of HIV infection in the body's cells, according to the senior author of the study, Gladstone Institute of Virology and Immunology Director Warner C. Greene, MD, PhD.

13 Apr 2005

Neurologists may have foot in the door to preventing Alzheimer’s before it starts

A study led by Mayo Clinic shows for the first time that a drug appears to have a slowing effect -- though limited -- on the progression from mild cognitive impairment to Alzheimer's disease. The findings will be published online in the New England Journal of Medicine on April 14.

13 Apr 2005

Common genetic mutation that increases the risk of inheriting Hirschsprung disease

Gene hunters at Johns Hopkins have discovered a common genetic mutation that increases the risk of inheriting a particular birth defect not by the usual route of disrupting the gene's protein-making instructions, but by altering a regulatory region of the gene. Although the condition, called Hirschsprung disease, is rare, its complex genetics mimics that of more common diseases, such as diabetes and heart disease.

13 Apr 2005