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Hospitals should expand quality control guidelines to improve surgical complications in older patients

The elderly are more vulnerable to problems after a major surgical procedure than younger patients, but a team of investigators using data from the American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (ACS NSQIP) suggest that one way to improve surgical results in this age group is to have hospitals expand their quality control guidelines to include more types of surgery-related complications.

17 Nov 2009

PPD, Janssen Pharmaceutica to develop therapeutic compounds for IBS and bacterial infections

PPD, Inc. today announced it has entered an agreement with Janssen Pharmaceutica N.V. to develop and commercialize two Phase II-ready therapeutic compounds, one to treat diarrhea-predominant irritable bowel syndrome (IBS-d) and the other to treat complicated skin and skin structure and respiratory infections.

17 Nov 2009

Antioxidant found in vegetables can protect cells from damage caused by infection and injury

Scientists at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine discovered that a dietary antioxidant found in such vegetables as broccoli and cauliflower protects cells from damage caused by chemicals generated during the body's inflammatory response to infection and injury. The finding has implications for such inflammation-based disorders as cystic fibrosis (CF), diabetes, heart disease, and neurodegeneration.

17 Nov 2009

ARCA biopharma provides financial and Gencaro NDA update

ARCA biopharma, Inc. today announced its planned next steps in response to the May 29, 2009 Complete Response Letter (CRL) from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for ARCA’s New Drug Application (NDA) seeking approval for GencaroTM (bucindolol hydrochloride) for the treatment of patients with chronic heart failure. Following receipt of the CRL, the Company and the FDA have held a series of meetings to discuss how best to address the requirements identified in the CRL.

17 Nov 2009

Los Angeles Times examines health care in Sierra Leone

The Los Angeles Times writes: "Sierra Leone is one of those nations where decades of foreign aid have failed to appreciably lift the fortunes of the people. The country is a charity case: 60% of its public spending comes from foreign governments and nonprofit organizations.

16 Nov 2009

Lack of hemophilia treatment in the developing world costing lives

When modern medicine finds a way to treat a medical condition, people often think that the problem is solved. But we also have to find ways to get that treatment into the hands of those who need it. For example, new research from North Carolina State University shows that much more needs to be done to help get existing treatment to hemophilia patients in the developing world, and that the current lack of treatment there is costing lives.

16 Nov 2009

Transcendental Meditation lowers rates of heart attack, stroke, and death

Patients with coronary heart disease who practiced the stress-reducing Transcendental Meditation® technique had nearly 50 percent lower rates of heart attack, stroke, and death compared to nonmeditating controls, according to the results of a first-ever study presented during the annual meeting of the American Heart Association in Orlando, Fla., on Nov.16, 2009.

16 Nov 2009

New faces of HIV/AIDS: A report

World AIDS Day 2009 will be marked with both grim and hopeful data: more than 25 million people have died of AIDS worldwide since 1981; 33 million are living with HIV/AIDS. While potent, effective medications have changed an HIV diagnosis from death sentence to manageable chronic illness in resource rich countries, global rates of infection still outstrip prevention and treatment capacity.

16 Nov 2009

RecordAF presents results of recently diagnosed and treated patients with atrial fibrillation

Results from the RecordAF registry (REgistry on Cardiac rhythm disORDers assessing the control of Atrial Fibrillation), presented today at the Scientific Sessions of the American Heart Association, show that in recently diagnosed and actively treated patients with atrial fibrillation (AF), a rhythm-control strategy provides better short term control of the arrhythmia versus a rate-control strategy but does not translate into a reduction in the occurrence of clinical events at 1 year.

16 Nov 2009

Low-cost, simple interventions could save 2.5 million child lives a year: World Vision

Almost a third of the children under age five who die each year could be saved if governments rebalance health spending to ensure low-cost, simple interventions such as safe water and hygiene, bed nets and basic maternal and newborn care, leading aid agency World Vision said today. Currently, 8.8 million children a year die before age five, most of preventable causes.

16 Nov 2009

New reversible blood thinner for angioplasty patients not superior over placebo

A new reversible blood thinner for angioplasty patients wasn't superior over placebo for its primary combined endpoint of heart attack, all-cause mortality and need for revascularization, but it reduced mortality and in-stent blood clots, researchers reported in a late-breaking clinical trial presentation at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2009.

16 Nov 2009

New reversible oral anti-platelet medication had fewer cardiac events in heart attack patients

Acutely ill heart attack patients who received both aspirin and a new reversible oral anti-platelet medication had fewer cardiac events than patients on aspirin and the most commonly used, irreversible anti-platelet drug, researchers reported in a late-breaking clinical trial presentation at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2009.

16 Nov 2009

Recent releases in Global Health

As a follow-up to a survey conducted in May 2009, this poll examines Americans' attitudes toward U.S. global health investments and priorities.

16 Nov 2009

NIDA awards $17 million to University of California to establish TMARC

Igor Grant, MD, professor of psychiatry at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, and colleagues have been awarded a $17 million grant from the National Institute on Drug Abuse to establish the Translational Methamphetamine AIDS Research Center (TMARC) at UC San Diego. Grant is director of the HIV Neurobehavioral Research Center (HNRC), a clinical research center designated and funded by the National Institute of Mental Health.

16 Nov 2009

Maternal mortality, abortion rates decline in former Soviet bloc

Over the last decade, the maternal mortality rate has dropped by 50 percent in some former Soviet bloc and Balkan countries, according to a U.N. Population Fund (UNFPA) report released Thursday, Agence France-Presse/France24 reports.

16 Nov 2009

New York Times examines impact of small, direct grants to boost development in Afghan village

The New York Times examines the use of small, direct grants to improve health and development in Afghanistan. The article focuses on efforts in "Jurm, a valley in the windswept mountainous province of Badakhshan, in the northeast," where small amounts of money - "often less than $100,000" - were given directly to villagers.

16 Nov 2009

Phase I clinical study for ETC-1002 commenced

Esperion Therapeutics, a privately held biotechnology company working to discover, develop and commercialize treatments for cardiovascular and metabolic diseases, today announced that the company has initiated a Phase I clinical study for ETC-1002, the company's novel small molecule compound designed to beneficially regulate the levels of plasma lipids and lipoproteins.

16 Nov 2009

Study confirms that people with severe mental disorders more at risk of dying from heart disease

A large new study confirms that people with severe mental disorders — such as schizophrenia or other psychotic disorders — are 25 percent to 40 percent more prone to die from heart disease than people without mental illness are.

13 Nov 2009

Vanderbilt University researchers study role of statins in reducing flu-related deaths

Vanderbilt University Medical Center researchers are studying statins, the class of drugs long associated with lowering cholesterol, as a way to reduce H1N1-related deaths.

13 Nov 2009

Mechanical ventilation damages lungs, says scientist

As more Canadians are diagnosed with H1N1 influenza infection, some will be admitted to hospital. The most severely affected may be treated in the intensive care unit (ICU) and placed on a mechanical ventilator to help them breathe while they recover from the infection.

13 Nov 2009

Mortality News and Research

Hospitals should expand quality control guidelines to improve surgical complications in older patients

PPD, Janssen Pharmaceutica to develop therapeutic compounds for IBS and bacterial infections

Antioxidant found in vegetables can protect cells from damage caused by infection and injury

ARCA biopharma provides financial and Gencaro NDA update

Los Angeles Times examines health care in Sierra Leone

Lack of hemophilia treatment in the developing world costing lives

Transcendental Meditation lowers rates of heart attack, stroke, and death

New faces of HIV/AIDS: A report

RecordAF presents results of recently diagnosed and treated patients with atrial fibrillation

Low-cost, simple interventions could save 2.5 million child lives a year: World Vision

New reversible blood thinner for angioplasty patients not superior over placebo

New reversible oral anti-platelet medication had fewer cardiac events in heart attack patients

Recent releases in Global Health

NIDA awards $17 million to University of California to establish TMARC

Maternal mortality, abortion rates decline in former Soviet bloc

New York Times examines impact of small, direct grants to boost development in Afghan village

Phase I clinical study for ETC-1002 commenced

Study confirms that people with severe mental disorders more at risk of dying from heart disease

Vanderbilt University researchers study role of statins in reducing flu-related deaths

Mechanical ventilation damages lungs, says scientist

Industry Focus eBook - Analytical Chemistry (2nd Edition) eBook

Bringing real-time analytics to downstream bioprocess monitoring

Designing fluidic architecture for scalable diagnostic platforms

Evaluating new approaches for rare disease genomics

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