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Rapid test to identify patients not responding to painkiller tramadol

French researchers have found a way to identify quickly the 5-10% of patients in whom the commonly used painkiller, tramadol, does not work effectively. A simple blood test can produce a result within a few hours, enabling doctors to switch a non-responding patient on to another painkiller, such as morphine, which will be able to work in these patients.

11 Jun 2012

Simple blood test can quickly identify 'poor metabolisers'

11 Jun 2012

Plasma levels of tau appear to be a strong predictor for AD

A study by researchers at the Banner Sun Health Research Institute suggests that plasma levels of tau, a protein formed in the brain, appears to be a biomarker and a strong predictor for Alzheimer's disease.

7 Jun 2012

Better diagnosis of breast cancer could come from simple blood test

Scientists have discovered that a simple blood test could lead to better diagnosis and treatment for early-stage breast cancer patients, according to an Article published Online First in The Lancet Oncology.

6 Jun 2012

MBC receives $50,000 FABC grant to further research into blood donor safety

Memorial Blood Centers (MBC), a national leader in transfusion medicine, today announced the receipt of a $50,000 grant from The Foundation for America's Blood Centers (FABC) that will further research into blood donor safety.

6 Jun 2012

Novel assay accurately detects trisomy 21 or 18 from maternal blood samples

Current screening strategies for Down syndrome, caused by fetal trisomy 21 (T21), and Edwards syndrome, caused by fetal trisomy 18 (T18), have false positive rates of 2 to 3%, and false negative rates of 5% or higher. Positive screening results must be confirmed by amniocentesis or chorionic villus sampling, which carry a fetal loss rate of approximately 1 in 300 procedures. Now an international, multicenter cohort study finds that a genetic test to screen for trisomy 21 or 18 from a maternal blood sample is almost 100% accurate.

6 Jun 2012

Researchers identify predictive biomarker for Parkinson's disease

Because there is currently no laboratory test that can diagnose Parkinson's disease, it is practically impossible to detect those individuals who are in the earliest stages of the disease. As a result, Parkinson's disease can only be diagnosed by a clinical neurological examination based on findings suggestive of the disease.

5 Jun 2012

High levels of antibody molecule linked to increased rates of death from all diseases

Mayo Clinic researchers have identified an immune system deficiency whose presence shows someone is up to four times likelier to die than a person without it. The glitch involves an antibody molecule called a free light chain; people whose immune systems produce too much of the molecule are far more likely to die of a life-threatening illness such as cancer, diabetes and cardiac and respiratory disease than those whose bodies make normal levels. The study is published in the June issue of Mayo Clinic Proceedings.

4 Jun 2012

Simple blood test can detect genetic faults in patients with cancer

A simple and cost-effective blood test could be used to monitor how a patient is responding to treatment and detect genetic faults in their cancer as they happen, according to a Cancer Research UK study.

31 May 2012

For many prostate cancer patients, new guidance is confusing

The recommendation that fewer men get screened for the disease goes against what many people believe should be appropriate, NPR reports.

30 May 2012

Secreted vesicles play role in spread of cancer

Cancer researchers have known for well over a century that different tumor types spread only to specific, preferred organs. But no one has been able to determine the mechanisms of organ specific metastasis, the so-called "soil and seed" theory of 1889. New details that could help shed light on this hypothesis have been provided by a team of researchers from Weill Cornell Medical College, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, and their collaborators, proposing a new mechanism controlling cancer metastasis that offers fresh diagnostic and treatment potential.

29 May 2012

Study reveals why people develop life-threatening drug allergies

A research team led by the University of Melbourne and Monash University, Australia, has discovered why people can develop life-threatening allergies after receiving treatment for conditions such as epilepsy and AIDS.

25 May 2012

Federal task force recommends dropping routine prostate cancer test

The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force finds scant evidence that the PSA blood test saves lives and instead says unneeded treatment leads to serious problems, including impotence and incontinence.

23 May 2012

Article examines reasons why people are so reluctant to give up PSA test

The uproar that began last year when the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force stated that doctors should no longer offer regular prostate-cancer tests to healthy men continued this week when the task force released their final report. Overall, they stuck to their guns, stating that a blood test commonly used to screen for prostate cancer, the PSA test, causes more harm than good - it leads men to receive unnecessary, and sometimes even dangerous, treatments.

23 May 2012

First Edition: May 22, 2012

Today's headlines include reports about a lawsuit brought by Catholic organizations against the Obama administration's contraception coverage rule and a new recommendation on PSA screening by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force.

22 May 2012

New optical microscope sees individual blood cells as they flow inside the body

Blood tests convey vital medical information, but the sight of a needle often causes anxiety and results take time. A new device developed by a team of researchers in Israel, however, can reveal much the same information as traditional blood test in real-time, simply by shining a light through the skin.

21 May 2012

Prostate Cancer Risk Calculator offers men ‘individual risk assessment’

Men worried about prostate cancer have a new online resource, freely available, to help them assess their risk. The multi-step Prostate Cancer Risk Calculator, www.prostatecancer-riskcalculator.com*, has been created by the founders of the European Randomized Study of Screening for Prostate Cancer (ERSPC).

18 May 2012