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WHO releases new report on spinal cord injury

As many as 500 000 people suffer a spinal cord injury each year. People with spinal cord injuries are 2 to 5 times more likely to die prematurely, with worse survival rates in low- and middle-income countries. The new WHO report, "International perspectives on spinal cord injuries", summarizes the best available evidence on the causes, prevention, care and lived experience of people with spinal cord injury.

2 Dec 2013

New biomarkers to improve diagnostics of prostate cancer

New biomarkers will improve diagnostics of endemic diseases in future, such as prostate cancer. Their mission: to recognize the tumor earlier and classify it more precisely - thereby helping avoid unnecessary operations.

2 Dec 2013

Soldiers who suffer blast-induced MTBI exhibit long-term brain differences

Using a special type of magnetic resonance imaging, researchers have found that soldiers who suffered mild traumatic brain injury induced by blast exposure exhibit long-term brain differences, according to a study being presented today at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America.

2 Dec 2013

HeartWare International acquires CircuLite

HeartWare International, Inc., a leading innovator of less invasive, miniaturized circulatory support technologies that are revolutionizing the treatment of advanced heart failure, today announced that it has acquired CircuLite, Inc. – developer of the SYNERGY Circulatory Support System, designed to treat less sick, ambulatory, chronic heart failure patients who are not yet inotrope-dependent.

1 Dec 2013

People with CFS to benefit from Griffith’s National Centre for Neuroimmunology and Emerging Diseases

People living with chronic fatigue are set to benefit with the opening next week (Dec 2), of the National Centre for Neuroimmunology and Emerging Diseases at Griffith University.

30 Nov 2013

Garden-Gateway believes chronic sufferers can cope with holiday stress

The holidays are a time of high stress for all of us. This is especially true for the many Californians who suffer from chronic illness or disease. It's well documented that stress can aggravate a wide range of chronic ailments, both physical and psychological, such as back pain, cancer, PTSD or immune system deficiency.

30 Nov 2013

Osiris: CMS releases proposed ruling for reimbursement of skin substitutes in hospital outpatient setting

Osiris Therapeutics, Inc., the leading stem cell company focused on developing and marketing products in orthopedics, sports medicine and wound care, announced today that, on November 27, 2013, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services released their proposed ruling for the reimbursement of skin substitutes in the hospital outpatient setting. CMS decided to package the reimbursement for products used in advanced wound care with the related surgical procedure into a two-tier system.

30 Nov 2013

Study brings effective hepatitis C cure closer to reality

Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute have determined the most detailed picture yet of a crucial part of the hepatitis C virus, which the virus uses to infect liver cells. The new data reveal unexpected structural features of this protein and should greatly speed efforts to make an effective hepatitis C vaccine.

29 Nov 2013

Poor oral hygiene, excess sugar consumption linked to heart disease

The association between poor oral health and increased risk of cardiovascular disease should make the reduction of sugars such as those contained in junk food, particularly fizzy drinks, an important health policy target, say experts writing in the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine.

28 Nov 2013

Diagnosing colonic polyps: an interview with Dr. Haili Wang, Metabolomic Technologies Inc. (MTI)

Colorectal cancer is a leading cause of death in North America, but it is preventable if found at the colonic polyp stage. Currently, only 39% of colorectal cancer cases in the US are diagnosed at an early and treatable stage.

28 Nov 2013

Walk-in clinics staffed by nurses can reduce health care costs, says URI professor

People who don't have health insurance are often forced to seek treatment at hospital emergency rooms for colds, body aches and other routine illnesses. Those visits cost patients, hospitals and taxpayers millions of dollars every year.

28 Nov 2013

Pediatric dermatologists offer tips for treating skin ailments

As parents across the Chicago area prepare to take that perfect holiday photo to send to family and friends, they may want to consider more than just getting their kids to smile and look at the camera.

28 Nov 2013

Cedars-Sinai researchers design new procedure to treat stem cell-related corneal blindness

Researchers in the Cedars-Sinai Regenerative Medicine Institute have designed and tested a novel, minute-long procedure to prepare human amniotic membrane for use as a scaffold for specialized stem cells that may be used to treat some corneal diseases.

27 Nov 2013

Scientists find possible new treatment for people with spinal cord injuries

Scientists may have found a new treatment that can help people with spinal cord injuries walk better. The research is published in the November 27, 2013, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

27 Nov 2013

Call for greater beta blocker use in COPD

Researchers say that stubbornly low rates of beta-blocker prescribing in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease could be contributing toward increased mortality in these patients following myocardial infarction.

27 Nov 2013

Mass urbanisation brings great health risks in China’s major cities

At the third plenum held earlier this month, the Chinese government announced reforms to further drive urbanisation in China. After already experiencing the largest human migration in history, what are the public health consequences of this mass movement from rural towns to cities?

27 Nov 2013

FDA grants Orphan Drug Designation to CMC Contrast's CMC-001 MRI contrast media

CMC Contrast AB, a privately owned drug development company that is developing a targeted contrast agent for Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), announced today that Orphan Drug Designation has been granted by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for its liver specific contrast agent CMC-001.

27 Nov 2013

African Americans have double the risk of end-stage renal disease compared to white Americans

In the United States, African Americans have approximately twice the risk of end-stage renal disease compared to white Americans, despite a similar prevalence in earlier stages of chronic kidney disease. A large study co-authored by George Washington University researcher Dominic Raj, M.D., identifies factors that mediate differences in the progression of chronic kidney disease between black patients and white patients, as well as among black patients, in order to reduce the excess burden of end-stage renal disease and its complications in black patients.

27 Nov 2013

FDA accepts Purdue Pharma's Targiniq ER Tablets CII NDA for review

Purdue Pharma L.P. today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has accepted for review a New Drug Application for Targiniq ER (oxycodone HCl/naloxone HCl controlled-release) Tablets CII, for the management of chronic pain.

27 Nov 2013

Icahn School of Medicine receives $2.7M to investigate narrow pathway targeted immune therapy

The National Institutes of Health has awarded a research team at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai $2.7 million to study systemic treatments for patients with moderate to severe atopic dermatitis (AD), also known as eczema.

26 Nov 2013