Recent Bio News
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Lap-Band Weight-Loss Surgery Can Reverse Metabolic Syndrome In Obese Teens A new study of obese adolescents has shown that laparoscopic gastric banding surgery — the “Lap-Band” procedure — not only helps them achieve significant weight loss but can also improve and even reverse metabolic syndrome, reducing their risk for cardiovascular disease and diabetes. Metabolic syndrome is defined as a cluster of risk factors — high blood [...] |
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Study Rewrites Textbook On Key Genetic Phenomenon Because females carry two copies of the X chromosome to males’ one X and one Y, they harbor a potentially toxic double dose of the over 1000 genes that reside on the X chromosome. To compensate for this imbalance, mammals such as mice and humans shut down one entire X-chromosome through a phenomenon known as X-inactivation. [...] |
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Complaints By The Elderly Valuable Information Or Trivialities? What is done when the elderly lodge complaints about their services? elderly care? Why is it that staff describe complaints made by the elderly as “trivialities”? In two recent studies, Tove Persson, doctoral student at the School of Health Sciences, shows that staff, as well as social services directors in local administrations often trivialize complaints [...] |
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New e-Science Service Could Accelerate Cancer Research The University of Manchester and the European Molecular Biology Laboratory’s European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL-EBI) have launched a major new e-science resource for biologists which could accelerate research into treatments for H1N1 flu and cancer. Biocatalogue.org, a centralised registry of curated life science Web Services, is being officially launched today (Wednesday 1 July) at the 17th Annual [...] |
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Lack Of Sleep Could Be More Dangerous For Women Than Men Women who get less than the recommended eight hours sleep a night are at higher risk of heart disease and heart-related problems than men with the same sleeping patterns. Research by the University of Warwick and University College London has found that levels of inflammatory markers vary significantly with sleep duration in women, but not men. The [...] |
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Study Indicates Support Group Attendance Improves Post-Surgical Weight Loss Major scientific contributors within the bariatric and psychiatric industries publicized the results of a recent study demonstrating that LAP-BAND(R) patients who regularly attend support groups experience considerably higher rates of post-surgical weight loss. Authors Dr. Kathryn A. Kaiser, Dr. Susan Franks and [...] |
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Government “No Leg To Stand On” Over Refusalto Compensate Tainted Blood Victims - Willott, UK Today, during a Westminster Hall debate on the Archer Inquiry into the infection of nearly 5,000 haemophiliacs with HIV and Hepatitis C through NHS blood products, Jenny Willott, Liberal Democrat MP for Cardiff Central, revealed evidence to show that the department’s reasons for offering fair compensation to those infected is inaccurate and unjustified. Lord Archer recommended [...] |
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New Jersey Leaders Detail Savings For Health Reform Saying that the savings from chronic disease prevention and treatment “can fill the funding gap for health care reform,” the New Jersey Partnership to Fight Chronic Disease (PFCD) was joined by key state business leaders in urging federal lawmakers to “take the savings and run” with a health care reform bill that works for all [...] |
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Prostate-Specific Antigen: To Test Or Not To Test, From Harvard Men’s Health Watch One of the most controversial issues in men’s health is whether men should routinely have a blood test for prostate-specific antigen (PSA) to screen for prostate cancer. Some experts argue that PSA testing saves lives by helping detect this common form of cancer early. Others say it triggers unnecessary treatment that disrupts many more lives [...] |
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Gefitinib Receives European Licence For The Treatment Of Lung Cancer For Patients With EGFR Activating Mutation Positive Tumours AstraZeneca announced that it has received a licence by the European Medicines Agency (EMEA) for its oral targeted anti-cancer drug, gefitinib, for EGFR (epidermal growth factor receptor-tyrosine kinase) activating mutation positive patients with Non Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC). NSCLC is the most common type of lung cancer and accounts for 80% of all lung [...] |
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Eisai And Pfizer Decide Not To Appeal NICE Decision And Call For An Expedited Review Of Guidance For Alzheimer’s Disease On June 11, the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) announced that, following consultation with stakeholders on the economic model that underpinned NICE’s 2006 guidance on the use of drugs to treat Alzheimer’s disease, the guidance remains unchanged despite recognising significant [...] |
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Burgess Response To President Obama’s Answer To His Question On Medical Liability Reform During today’s White House online town hall on health care, a question was submitted by Congressman Michael C. Burgess, M.D. (R-Texas), Chairman of the Congressional Health Care Caucus. Following President Obama’s response to the question on medical liability reform, Congressman Burgess issued the following statement: “First and foremost, I would like to thank those of you [...] |
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Scientists Uncover Patterns Of Genetic Changes In Mental Retardation Researchers at Radboud University Medical Centre, together with UK Medical Research Council scientists at Oxford University, have uncovered some of the central characteristics of genes underlying mental retardation. The research, which shortens the list of [...] |
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Potential New Drugs: 970 Million And Still Counting - Journal Of The American Chemical Society Like astronomers counting stars in the familiar universe of outer space, chemists in Switzerland are reporting the latest results of a survey of chemical space - the so-called chemical universe where tomorrow’s miracle drugs may reside. The scientists conclude, based on this phase of the ongoing count, that there are 970 million chemicals suitable for [...] |
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Successful Initial Safety Tests For Genetically-modified Rice That Fights Allergy - Journal Of Agricultural And Food Chemistry In a first-of-its-kind advance toward the next generation of genetically modified foods - intended to improve consumers’ health - researchers in Japan are reporting that a new transgenic rice designed to fight a common pollen allergy appears safe in animal studies. Their report is in the current issue of ACS’ Journal of Agricultural and Food [...] |
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Brittle Table Salt Can Stretch Like Taffy In The Nanoworld - Nano Letters Researchers in New Mexico are reporting the surprise discovery that common table salt - so brittle that it crushes easily between a thumb and forefinger - becomes a super plastic in the weird environs of the nanoworld. The super-elastic salt can stretch like taffy to twice its original length without breaking. The discovery could lead [...] |
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Once-A-Month Pill For Both Fleas And Ticks In Fido And Fluffy - Journal Of Medicinal Chemistry Scientists in New Jersey are describing discovery and successful tests of the first once-a-month pill for controlling both fleas and ticks in domestic dogs and cats. Their study is in the current issue of ACS’ Journal of the Medicinal Chemistry, a bi-weekly publication. Peter Meinke and colleagues at Merck Research Laboratories note the need for better [...] |
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Other “-Caines” Often Replace Novocaine In The Dentist’s Office - Chemical & Engineering News Novocaine? Not necessarily. The widespread belief that dentists rely on Novocaine to make those office visits almost painless needs some updating, according to an article scheduled for the June 29 issue of Chemical & Engineering News, ACS’ weekly newsmagazine. In fact, patients are more likely to get any of several other anesthetics than the century-old [...] |
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No Evidence That WHO-recommended Treatment For Insecticide Poisoning Improves Survival A study published this week in the open access journal PLoS Medicine finds no evidence to suggest that a controversial antidote recommended by the World Health Organisation (WHO) to treat patients poisoned with highly toxic insecticides improves their chance of survival. The results may even add weight to existing concerns about pralidoxime, the treatment recommended [...] |
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Seasonal Hunger Devastating And Under Recognized Most of the world’s acute hunger and undernutrition occurs not in conflicts and natural disasters but in the annual “hunger season,” according to an article in this week’s open access journal PLoS Medicine. The hunger season is the time of year when the previous year’s harvest stocks have dwindled, food prices are [...] |
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What Should Be Human Right In this months editorial the Editors argue that-despite recent international objections- access to clean water should be recognised as a human right. At the March 2009 United Nations (UN) meetings coinciding with the World Water Forum, Canada, Russia, and the United States refused to support a declaration that would recognize water as a basic human [...] |
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Pregnancy Complications May Increase Autism Risk Complications during pregnancy may increase the risk of having a child with autism, according to American researchers. The team reviewed 64 studies of prenatal risk factors for autism. It is the first time a meta-analysis of the relationship between pregnancy-related factors and risk of autism has been carried out. The analysis is published in the July [...] |
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No ‘Empty Nest Syndrome’ For Parents In Rural Thailand So-called ‘empty nest syndrome’ does not affect parents living in rural areas as much as previously thought, according to a new study carried out in Thailand. In fact, parents whose children have all migrated to urban areas of Thailand are less likely to experience depression than parents whose children stay at home. Psychiatrists from the Institute [...] |
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Chlamydia Infection - The Most Commonly Reported Sexually Transmitted Infection In Europe - ECDC Issues Chlamydia Control Guidance In the coming summer months it is estimated that 200,000 young people in Europe will become infected with Chlamydia and most of them won’t know that they are infected. Chlamydia trachomatis, the most common bacterial sexually transmitted infection in Europe, continues to increase in many countries. It affects mostly young adults under 25. The true [...] |
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Lautenberg Announces Nearly $17 Million For 20 Health Centers Across New Jersey Sen. Frank R. Lautenberg (D-NJ) announced 20 New Jersey health centers will receive $16,987,384 to address facility and equipment needs, increase access to health care for underserved populations, and create construction-related jobs. The Capital Improvement Program (CIP) funds are being provided under the Economic Recovery Law signed by President Obama in February. “These tough economic times [...] |
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POZEN Submits New Drug Application For VIMOVO™ (PN 400) POZEN Inc. (NASDAQ:POZN), announced the submission of a New Drug Application (NDA) to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the marketing approval of VIMOVO™ (PN 400), the combination of enteric coated (EC) naproxen and immediate release esomeprazole. POZEN and AstraZeneca entered into a global co-development agreement for VIMOVO in August 2006. Pending regulatory [...] |
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Medarex To Receive Milestone Payment For The Approval Of Ilaris For The Treatment Of Cryopyrin-Associated Periodic Syndrome Medarex, Inc. (NASDAQ:MEDX) announced it will receive a milestone payment of an undisclosed amount from Novartis Pharma AG (Novartis), in connection with the marketing approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), to market Ilaris® (canakinumab, previously known as ACZ885) for the treatment of children as young as four years old and adults with [...] |
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XenoPort Reports Positive Results From A Phase 2 Trial Of Arbaclofen Placarbil In Spinal Cord Injury Patients With Spasticity XenoPort, Inc. (Nasdaq:XNPT) announced positive preliminary results from a Phase 2 clinical trial of arbaclofen placarbil (AP), also known as XP19986, for the treatment of patients with spasticity due to spinal cord injury (SCI). Doses of 20 and 30 mg of AP, given twice daily (BID), demonstrated statistically significant improvements compared to placebo for the [...] |
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Red Cross Offers Helpful Water Safety Tips As Holiday Weekend Approaches Now that the warm weather has arrived, there’s nothing like swimming to help cool you off on a hot summer day. The American Red Cross urges everyone to make water safety a priority over the holiday weekend, whether you are taking a dip in the pool, or spending the day at the beach: “With so many [...] |
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Texas Medical Association Agrees: Texas Children Need Access To Health Care Statement from Texas Medical Association President William H. Fleming III, MD, in response to today’s press conference by Sen. Eliot Shapleigh (D-El Paso) and Rep. Garnet Coleman (D-Houston). Senator Shapleigh and Representative Coleman called on Governor Rick Perry to add legislation that would expand the Children’s Health Insurance Program in the special session. “Texas physicians applaud [...] |
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Pharmacies Urged To Register From 1 - 31 July 2009 To Receive Early-bird Payment Community pharmacies are urged to register to participate in Phase 2 of the Dose Administration Aids (DAA) and Patient Medication Profile (PMP) programs. Pharmacies registering from 1 to 31 July 2009 will be eligible for the full incentive payment of $2,250 for DAA and $1,250 for PMP (+GST). While registrations will still be accepted [...] |
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Benefits Of Anti-TB Plan Would Dwarf Costs In Sub-Saharan Africa A diverse international network has proposed to significantly increase the resources devoted to fighting tuberculosis, the second most deadly of the world’s infectious diseases. The “Global Plan to Stop TB” would step up use of treatments and techniques that have proved effective in [...] |
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Targeting Human And Animal Diseases In Africa: Research Network Wins Approximately £5.7 Million Deadly diseases including plague, Ebola and Rift Valley Fever are being targeted as part of a new multi-million pound international partnership involving African researchers and the London International Development Centre (LIDC). The Southern African Centre for Infectious Disease Surveillance (SACIDS) links medical and veterinary institutions from five African countries and the UK to improve the [...] |
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University Of Queensland To Provide Ipswich Healthcare Boost With $2.5m Super Clinic, Australia The University of Queensland will establish a $2.5million GP Super Clinic at Ipswich that will focus on key local health issues. The Australian Government has signed an agreement with the University to develop the Ipswich GP Super Clinic which will have a standard GP service for management of acute presentations complemented by a focus on chronic [...] |
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Intervention Program Targets Siblings “Siblings are Special,” a pilot prevention program targeting fifth graders and their younger siblings, recently received $1.45 million from the National Institute on Drug Abuse as part of the National Institutes of Health’s American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funding. The award is for two years. The program aims to enhance the quality of sibling and family [...] |
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Deep Brain Stimulation Shows Promising Results For Some Patients With Cerebral Palsy Deep brain stimulation improves movement skills and quality of life in some patients with a subtype of cerebral palsy (CP) (dystonia-choreoathetosis CP)*, and could be an effective treatment option for these patients, finds an Article published Online first and in the July edition of The Lancet Neurology. Cerebral palsy with dystonia-choreoathetosis is a common and [...] |
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African Institutions Lead International Consortia In $49 Million Initiative More than fifty institutions from eighteen African countries - from Senegal to Sudan to South Africa - are to participate in international consortia under a £30 million initiative from the Wellcome Trust to strengthen research capacity on the continent. Africa is affected by some of the world’s deadliest diseases, including HIV, malaria and tuberculosis. It also [...] |
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When Husbands Work In US, Mexican Wives’ Mental Health Dives Selected highlights from a new study on immigration, health and gender roles: Mexican wives who stay home when their husbands immigrate to the United States for work have poorer mental health than a comparison group. Shifting gender roles seem to be equally as stressful as the husbands’ absence. “Popular American psychology would suggest that their newfound [...] |
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Management Agreement With The International Society Of Therapeutic Ultrasound Announced By AIUM The American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine (AIUM) has reached a management agreement with the International Society for Therapeutic Ultrasound (ISTU) effective July 1, 2009. The AIUM will support the ISTU’s administrative, financial, and member service functions in an effort to maximize the ISTU’s mission of advancing therapeutic ultrasound applications worldwide. “The AIUM recognizes therapeutic ultrasound [...] |
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Whiskered Robot Rat Unveiled By Researchers A team of scientists have developed an innovative robot rat which can seek out and identify objects using its whiskers. The SCRATCHbot robot will be demonstrated this week (1 July 2009) at an international workshop looking at how robots can help us examine the workings of the brain. Researchers from the University of Sheffield and the [...] |
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The European Association For The Study Of The Liver Renews Publishing Partnership With Elsevier Elsevier, the leading publisher of scientific, technical and medical information, is pleased to announce its renewed publishing partnership with The European Association for the Study of the Liver (EASL), the leading European association in the field of liver research. The agreement calls for Elsevier to publish the society’s flagship journal, the Journal of Hepatology, for [...] |
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AVMA Applauds U.S. House Of Representatives For Introducing Veterinary Public Health Legislation The nation’s largest veterinary association applauded four members of the U.S. House of Representatives for introducing legislation that confronts public health threats by investing in the public health veterinary workforce The American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) commended Representatives Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Tim Murphy (R-PA), Frank Pallone (D-NJ) and Kurt Schrader (D-OR) for acting as introductory sponsors [...] |
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FDA Seeks Public Input On Tobacco Regulation The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced that it is seeking public input on the implementation of its historic new authority overseeing tobacco products in the United States. In a Federal Register notice, the agency invites the public to provide information and share views on a wide range of topics, from product content to advertising [...] |
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Immediate Tendonitis Relief Following Rotator Cuff Treatment A minimally invasive procedure to treat tendonitis in the rotator cuff of the shoulder provides immediate symptom relief to the patient, according to a study published in the July issue of Radiology. The study found that ultrasound-guided nonsurgical therapy significantly reduces pain from calcific tendonitis of the rotator cuff and restores lasting mobility after treatment. “With [...] |
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Australia’s Chief Nurse Wins ICN Presidency The Australian Nursing Federation (ANF) warmly congratulated Rosemary Bryant - Australia’s Chief Nursing and Midwifery officer - on her appointment as President of the International Council of Nurses (ICN). Lee Thomas ANF Assistant Federal Secretary said Rosemary’s appointment was great news and an honour for Australian nurses. “Throughout her extensive and significant career, Rosemary Bryant has worked [...] |
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Patients With Moderate To Severe Periodontitis Need Evaluation For Heart Disease Risk Additional research is called for and patients with moderate to severe periodontitis should receive evaluation and possible treatment to reduce their risk of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (CVD), according to a special consensus paper by editors of The American Journal of Cardiology and Journal of Peridontology in the July 1, 2009 issue of The American Journal [...] |
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Is Midline Or Transverse Incision Better For Abdominal Surgery? An unusual study at the Department of Surgery at Heidelberg University Hospital examined for the first time whether the incision technique used in major abdominal surgery had an effect on the results. Neither physician nor patient knew what kind of incision had been made. The study of 200 patients showed that pain perception and the [...] |
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Safe And Successful Fertility Treatment Possible In Women With Cystic Fibrosis Women with cystic fibrosis can have fertility treatment to help them have babies without any long-term adverse effects on either themselves or their children, according to new research presented at the 25th annual meeting of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology in Amsterdam. Until relatively recently, cystic fibrosis (CF) was a death sentence and [...] |
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BVA Asks Defra To Abandon Separation Of Animal Health From Animal Welfare The British Veterinary Association (BVA) has called on Defra to abandon its plans for a new animal health body that will give responsibility for animal health to an independent board and leave responsibility for animal welfare with ministers. The BVA has also expressed deep concerns over the confusion caused by the new structure that could lead [...] |
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Salmonella And E. Coli Bacteria Found In Packets Of Shelled Nuts A recent study carried out by the Health Protection Agency and LACORS (Local Authorities Co-ordinators of Regulatory Services) has revealed the presence of Salmonella and E. coli bacteria in a small number of samples of ready-to-eat shelled nuts. Consumption of nuts has gone up, reflecting a growing preference for snacks that are both healthy and convenient. [...] |
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