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Cyclophosphamide may be a possible therapy for scleroderma

A drug that suppresses the immune system and reduces inflammation has been shown to be effective in treating lung disease associated with the devastating connective tissue disease scleroderma, according to results presented at the American Thoracic Society International Conference on May 23.

24 May 2005

No serious health risk for commuters on London's Underground

Commuters and workers on the London’s Tube network, gearing up for another potentially suffocating summer below ground, can at least take some comfort from research in Occupational and Environmental Medicine.

17 May 2005

Significant non-coronary findings found during heart CT scans point to importance of trained radiologists

A significant percentage of patients undergoing targeted CT of the heart have abnormalities outside the coronary arteries, some of which could be life threatening, and as a result need the experience of trained radiologists to interpret them, say researchers from the University of Michigan Cardiovascular Center in Ann Arbor.

16 May 2005

First DNA-based blood test to help detect cystic fibrosis

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the first DNA-based blood test to help detect cystic fibrosis. The Tag-It Cystic Fibrosis Kit directly analyzes human DNA to find genetic variations indicative of the disease. The test will be used to help diagnose cystic fibrosis in children and to identify adults who are "carriers" of the gene variations.

10 May 2005

New technology and treatments for heart and lung patients drive revisions

The process for prioritizing heart and lung transplant candidates and determining the treatments they receive while awaiting donor organs is under review by the International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation (ISHLT) during its Annual Meeting and Scientific Session this week in Philadelphia.

7 Apr 2005

New technology to help heart and lung patients awaiting transplants

Promising new technology may extend the life of a failing organ for patients suffering from heart or lung disease while they wait for a donor organ. The use of stem cells may eliminate the need for a transplant and even eradicate heart disease in patients.

6 Apr 2005

Pneumonia jab now available for over 65s in UK

People over 65 in the UK are to be offered a routine jab to help protect against diseases, including pneumonia, meningitis and septicaemia. Two in 1,000 over-65s are admitted to hospital with pneumococcal pneumonia each year and the infection can cause serious diseases.

5 Apr 2005

First evidence that preeclampsia can leave a persistent and potentially fatal imprint in the pulmonary circulation of the fetus

Children born of mothers who had preeclampsia during their pregnancy are more likely to have pulmonary hypertension than similar children born from normal pregnancies, according to a study conducted in Bolivia by Swiss and Bolivian researchers.

4 Apr 2005

Asthma patients' immune systems respond differently with allergies

Researchers from the University of Chihuahua in Mexico report that immune systems of patients with asthma responded differently to a common laboratory challenge, depending on whether their white blood cells had been obtained during a time when they were suffering from common season allergic rhinitis or when they were free of such allergic symptoms.

3 Apr 2005

Asian Flu threat underestimated

Dr. Keiji Fukuda an expert at the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention is warning that the incident of the particularly lethal variation of influenza in Southeast Asia is probably far greater than has been reported so far.

21 Mar 2005

Intervention with once-daily budesonide reduces long-term risk and frequency of severe asthma-related events

New data indicated that earlier intervention with once-daily budesonide, an inhaled corticosteroid delivered by dry powder inhaler to children with mild persistent asthma, significantly reduced the long-term risk and frequency of severe asthma-related events as well as the need for other inhaled medication.

21 Mar 2005

Cure for heart disease very close despite poor funding

Doctors at Barts and The London NHS Trust are hoping a four-year research programme in stem cell research will bring them closer to finding a miracle cure for heart disease, but are struggling to raise the money. The programme will involve 600 patients.

7 Mar 2005

Inflammation is a strong risk factor for cardiovascular disease among rheumatoid arthritis patients

Mayo Clinic epidemiologists have found that the systemic inflammation characterizing rheumatoid arthritis may be to blame for the increased risk of cardiovascular death in patients with the disease.

3 Mar 2005

Clinical trial of newest technology to treat thoracic aortic aneurysms

A clinical trial is underway at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania (HUP) to study the safety and effectiveness of an endovascular medical device to treat life-threatening thoracic aortic aneurysms. Ronald Fairman, MD, Chief of Vascular Surgery at HUP, is leading the study at Penn and is one of 35 principal investigators in North America to participate in this landmark trial.

16 Feb 2005

Alvesco now available for asthma sufferers in the United Kingdom

Altana AG has announced that Alvesco (Ciclesonide), a novel inhaled corticosteroid (ICS) for the treatment of adults (18+ years) suffering from persistent asthma is now available for the first time in the United Kingdom (UK).

17 Jan 2005

Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis study points to survival as key endpoint in future actimmune studies

InterMune, Inc. today announced that CHEST, the journal of the American College of Chest Physicians, published an important analysis of variables that measure clinical outcomes in patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), a deadly and debilitating lung disease.

10 Jan 2005

Angioplasty may replace bypass for more patients who are also receiving a new heart valve

The death rate during combination surgery to bypass clogged coronary arteries and simultaneously replace a heart valve in very sick patients can be as high as one in five, but a review of records of very sick patients who underwent balloon angioplasty, followed by heart valve replacement surgery, found only one death among 26 patients.

4 Jan 2005

£2.5 million to support further research into gene therapy for cystic fibrosis

The funding commitment was made in the Genetics White Paper, 'Our Inheritance, Our Future: Realising the potential of genetics in the NHS' and will help to ensure that those with cystic fibrosis benefit as soon as possible from the latest advances in genetic knowledge and technologies.

4 Jan 2005

Millennium Pharmaceuticals discovers protein biomarkers that could play a role in the early detection of rheumatoid arthritis

Researchers at Millennium Pharmaceuticals today announced the discovery of a panel of protein biomarkers that could play a role in the early detection, prognosis and monitoring of rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

14 Dec 2004

New advances in sickle cell disease

Excruciating pain episodes, recurrent pneumonias, strokes, severe infections, chronic hemolytic anemia, and secondary pulmonary hypertension are common complications of sickle cell disease, a life-threatening inherited defect in blood that causes normally disc-shaped red blood cells to take on a sickle shape.

6 Dec 2004