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Decrease in manic symptoms severity influences prescribing decisions for bipolar mania

Decision Resources, one of the world's leading research and advisory firms for pharmaceutical and healthcare issues, finds that surveyed psychiatrists say that the decrease in severity of manic symptoms is the attribute that most influences their prescribing decisions in bipolar mania. Clinical data and the opinions of interviewed thought leaders indicate that Eli Lilly's Zyprexa (olanzapine) has advantages in this attribute over AstraZeneca/Astellas's Seroquel (quetiapine), the sales-leading agent in the bipolar disorder drug market.

13 Apr 2010

New research highlights adverse effects of air pollution on human reproduction

Exposure to an increased level of air pollutants, especially nitrogen dioxide, has been associated with lower likelihoods of successful pregnancy among women undergoing in vitro fertilization, according to a team of fertility researchers.

13 Apr 2010

More treatment doesn't mean better outcomes, studies show

USA Today reports that "doctors have long been rewarded for providing more care, though more isn't always better. Three recent studies show that a doctor's instincts are no match for hard science." The studies include one of 800 high blood pressure patients that found opening clogged arteries with stents didn't lower blood pressure and actually raised side effects.

13 Apr 2010

Genes influence chronic kidney disease risk: Research

A team of researchers from the United States and Europe has identified more than a dozen genes that may play a role in the etiology of common forms of kidney disease. The team, known as the CKDGen Consortium, examined common variations in DNA sequences in more than 65,000 individuals of European descent. Common variations in several genes were found to be more frequent among people with poor kidney function or chronic kidney disease than in those with normal kidney function.

13 Apr 2010

Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior awarded $14.9M for establishing new IPCN

The Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior at UCLA has been awarded $14.9 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds to establish a center dedicated to interdisciplinary research on the role of genetic and environmental factors in neuropsychiatric and behavioral disorders.

13 Apr 2010

College women more likely to be vaccinated against HPV if their mothers approve

College women were more likely to be vaccinated against human papillomavirus if their mothers communicated with them about sex and if they thought their mothers would approve of their getting vaccinated, according to new Dartmouth research in the May issue of Pediatrics (published online April 12).

13 Apr 2010

Link between IL-8, MIF gene polymorphisms and progression of atrophic gastritis and intestinal metaplasia

Atrophic gastritis and intestinal metaplasia are two important precursory lesions in the process of intestinal type gastric cancer. However, the precise mechanism of the progression of these two lesions is still unclear, a few studies have investigated the risk of host gene polymorphism on the atrophic gastritis and intestinal metaplasia, but all of them are limited by their one-time point screen.

13 Apr 2010

Health insurance customers in California, Mass. await decisions about premium increases

Thousands of worried Californians who buy individual insurance policies from Anthem Blue Cross will soon learn whether they face rate increases of up to 39% that were put on hold for two months amid a public outcry that helped revive national healthcare legislation.

13 Apr 2010

Gilead Sciences doses first patient in Quad Phase III clinical program

Gilead Sciences, Inc. today announced that it has dosed the first patient in the Phase III clinical program evaluating its investigational fixed-dose, single-tablet "Quad" regimen of elvitegravir, cobicistat (formerly GS 9350), emtricitabine and tenofovir disoproxil fumarate.

13 Apr 2010

Despite international guidelines, wide variations exist in breast cancer care

A global study of nearly 10,000 women with early breast cancer has found wide variations in how they were treated, despite international consensus on best practice, according to the May issue of the British Journal of Surgery.

13 Apr 2010

Dems defend health votes; GOP hoping for repeat of 1994 elections

Congressional Republicans are hoping Democrats suffer the same fate in 2010 as they did after President Clinton's failed health reform bid in 1994, The New York Times reports. "That fall, Republicans swept to power, capturing nine seats in the Senate and 52 in the House. … In many ways, the 1994 election has become the template both Republicans and Democrats are looking to as they set their strategies for the fall Congressional elections.

13 Apr 2010

e-MDs experiences 36.5% increase in organic sales

e-MDs, an industry leader in the development and implementation of electronic health records and practice management solutions, is proud to announce it has increased its total employee count by 36%, expanding most all departments with both entry level and senior positions. e-MDs has also experienced a 36.5% increase in organic sales alone since the beginning of 2010.

13 Apr 2010

Research article reports association of chronic upper GI symptoms with diabetes

There are several papers which report the association of GI symptoms with diabetes. Epidemiological data regarding the association of GI symptoms with diabetes are, however, inconsistent, and the reported frequency of upper and lower GI symptoms varies among different ethnic groups/populations.

13 Apr 2010

Researchers evaluate new treatment for coronary heart disease

Some patients with heart muscles seriously affected by coronary heart disease may soon be able to benefit from an innovative treatment.

13 Apr 2010

California hospital error data reveals fines, gaps in reporting

"California regulators have fined hospitals just over $1 million for failing to report incidents such as leaving a foreign object in a patient after a surgery or operating on the wrong person, according to data released to California Watch by the California Department of Public Health."

13 Apr 2010

Overcoming resistance - new options for the treatment of ovarian cancer

Research on the development of a new therapeutic agent for the treatment of particularly aggressive ovarian cancer has produced some very promising initial findings. In laboratory tests, scientists have succeeded in reducing the resistance of the tumour cells to a natural resistance mechanism with the help of a monoclonal antibody. The results of this project, which was funded by the Austrian Science Fund FWF, have just been published. The project also succeeded in establishing a hitherto unknown connection between so-called "natural killer cells" and the regulated death of cancer cells.

12 Apr 2010

RXi Pharmaceuticals, Mirna Therapeutics form microRNA research collaboration

RXi Pharmaceuticals Corporation, a biopharmaceutical company pursuing the development and commercialization of proprietary therapeutics based on RNA interference (RNAi), announced today that it has entered into a research collaboration with Mirna Therapeutics (Austin, TX), to determine the utility of combining RXi's proprietary rxRNA™ technology with Mirna's microRNA mimics as potential therapeutics in oncology. The parties will each contribute technology and resources to the collaboration to generate and evaluate novel microRNA compounds.

12 Apr 2010

COBRA subsidy extension Senate vote expected today

Congressional Quarterly: A 65 percent subsidy that helped laid-off Americans pay for their COBRA health insurance premiums expired March 31, just before the Congressional recess. Now, one of the first orders of business is voting on legislation that would extend that subsidy. "With 15 million Americans unemployed, some advocates for the jobless say Congress should not only be extending the COBRA subsidies but expanding them — either with more-generous subsidies or by changing the law to make more people eligible."

12 Apr 2010

More states coping with primary care shortage

In a major feature, The Tennessean reports that the "nation is short 16,663 primary care doctors, and by 2025 that number will reach nearly 140,000, according to the American Academy of Family Physicians."

12 Apr 2010

Diasorin migrates to Orange Business Services' Business VPN solution

Diasorin S.p.A., an international player in the market of in vitro diagnostics based in Saluggia (Vercelli, Italy), has migrated to Business VPN, a fully-managed, secure, global IP infrastructure from Orange Business Services connecting 12 locations in Europe, the Americas and Asia.

12 Apr 2010