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Karolinska Institutet scientists discover new approach to treat type II diabetes

An international team of scientists, led from Karolinska Institutet in Sweden, have discovered an entirely new approach to the treatment of type II diabetes. The therapy involves the blockade of signalling by a protein known as VEGF-B and this prevents fat from accumulating in the 'wrong' places, such as in muscles and in the heart. As a result the cells within these tissues are once again able to respond to insulin.

27 Sep 2012

CeQur completes PaQ Insulin Delivery Device clinical study on type 2 diabetes

CeQur SA, a company focused on the development and commercialization of simple insulin delivery devices, announced the completion of a clinical study with the company's PaQ Insulin Delivery Device.

27 Sep 2012

Positive results from Sobi, Biogen Idec's rFIXFc Phase 3 trial on hemophilia B

Biogen Idec and Swedish Orphan Biovitrum (Sobi) today announced positive results from B-LONG, a clinical study that evaluated a new long-lasting clotting factor candidate in people with hemophilia B. Hemophilia B is a rare inherited disorder that impairs blood coagulation.

27 Sep 2012

Adult stem cells can prevent Alzheimer's disease

In the first study of its kind, researchers at Korea's leading university and the RNL Bio Stem Cell Technology Institute announced this week the results of a study that suggests an astounding possibility: adult stem cells may not only have a positive effect on those suffering from Alzheimer's disease, they can prevent the disease.

27 Sep 2012

NBSTRN develops new tool for newborn screening researchers

After one-and-a-half years of intense development, end-user testing, a successful pilot, and through a contract to the American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics (ACMG) from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, the Newborn Screening Translational Research Network (NBSTRN) Coordinating Center has developed a centralized, web-based virtual repository of newborn dried blood spots (DBS) as an indispensable tool for newborn screening researchers.

27 Sep 2012

CSL develops new drug candidate against type 2 diabetes

CSL Limited has developed a new drug candidate that is able to prevent the development of type 2 diabetes and reverse its progression in animal models of the disease.

27 Sep 2012

Tight-junction proteins could help pin down hemorrhagic transformation risk

Study findings suggest that measuring levels of tight-junction proteins in the blood of patients with stroke may help to gauge their risk for hemorrhagic transformation.

26 Sep 2012

Increasing doses of radium chloride effective, tolerated in prostate cancer

Radium chloride treatment has dose-dependent beneficial effects on health outcomes in patients with castration-resistant prostate cancer and bone metastases, report researchers.

26 Sep 2012

The ABC of terminal hemorrhage management

To best cope with terminal hemorrhage, at-risk patients should be identified by healthcare professionals while their families and caregivers are prepared, supported, and instructed to assure, be there for, and calm and comfort the patient as the event occurs, say researchers.

26 Sep 2012

Blood test for monitoring Huntington’s disease may be possible in future

Measuring blood levels of mutant huntingtin protein may provide an alternative approach of determining the onset of Huntington’s disease in known carriers, researchers report.

26 Sep 2012

NOXXON commences NOX-A12 Phase IIa trial in relapsed MM

NOXXON Pharma today announced the treatment of the first cohort of three multiple myeloma (MM) patients in a Phase IIa clinical trial of its anti-CXCL12/SDF-1 (CXC chemokine ligand 12 / Stromal Cell-Derived Factor-1) Spiegelmer NOX-A12.

26 Sep 2012

Researchers characterize brain's immune response to infiltrating metastases

Brain metastases are common secondary complications of other types of cancer, particularly lung, breast and skin cancer. The body's own immune response in the brain is rendered powerless in the fight against these metastases by inflammatory reactions. Researchers at the MedUni Vienna have now, for the first time, precisely characterised the brain's immune response to infiltrating metastases. This could pave the way to the development of new, less aggressive treatment options.

26 Sep 2012

Geographic information system software offers new way to study human remains

A common type of geographic mapping software offers a new way to study human remains. In a recent issue of the American Journal of Physical Anthropology, researchers describe how they used commercially available mapping software to identify features inside a human foot bone - a new way to study human skeletal variation.

26 Sep 2012

Researchers identify mechanism that appears to underlie non-familial form of Parkinson's

Researchers in the Taub Institute at Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC) have identified a mechanism that appears to underlie the common sporadic (non-familial) form of Parkinson's disease, the progressive movement disorder.

26 Sep 2012

New technique can manipulate and measure magnetic particles without contact

If you throw a ball underwater, you'll find that the smaller it is, the faster it moves: A larger cross-section greatly increases the water's resistance. Now, a team of MIT researchers has figured out a way to use this basic principle, on a microscopic scale, to carry out biomedical tests that could eventually lead to fast, compact and versatile medical-testing devices.

26 Sep 2012

Lonafarnib clinical trial for progeria has scientific roots in basic biology discoveries

The good news widely reported this morning of positive results from a clinical drug trial at Boston Children's Hospital for the previously "untreatable" rapid aging disorder in children known as progeria has its scientific roots in basic biology discoveries made in recent years.

26 Sep 2012

Ambulatory BP monitoring can accurately measure hypertension epidemic

A recently published editorial in the Journal of the American Society of Hypertension (JASH), "Ambulatory Blood Pressure Monitoring Should Be Included in the National Health and Nutritional Examination Survey (NHANES)," recognizes the importance of this national survey instrument but questions the efficiency of its diagnostic methods in assessing hypertension in the population.

26 Sep 2012

PsiOxus initiates ColoAd1 phase I/II trial in metastatic solid tumours

PsiOxus Therapeutics, Ltd. has treated the first patient in its phase I/II clinical trial of ColoAd1for the treatment of metastatic solid tumours.

26 Sep 2012

IV connectors can play a crucial role in protecting patients from infections and other complications

Medical devices known as IV connectors, through which intravenous medication and nutrition are provided to a patient, can play a crucial role in protecting patients from life-threatening infections and other complications. But some types of connectors are much more prone to dangerous complications, according to a recent poster presentation at an international meeting of oncology nurses, the 17th International Conference on Cancer Nursing, held Sept. 9-13 in Prague, Czech Republic.

26 Sep 2012

HPV-positive oropharyngeal cancer patients have more rapid and robust radiation-therapy response

UC Davis cancer researchers have discovered significant differences in radiation-therapy response among patients with oropharyngeal cancer depending on whether they carry the human papillomavirus (HPV), a common sexually transmitted virus. The findings, published online today in The Laryngoscope Journal, could lead to more individualized radiation treatment regimens, which for many patients with HPV could be shorter and potentially less toxic.

26 Sep 2012