Chronic News and Research

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Kareus announces start of KU-046 Phase I study in Alzheimer's

Kareus Therapeutics SA, the private biotechnology company focused on the development of novel therapeutics for the unmet treatment of age-related and chronic diseases, today announces the start of a Phase I clinical study following the Investigational New Drug (IND) approval from the US Food and Drug Administration for the development of KU-046, a first-in-class disease modifying new chemical entity discovered for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease using Kareus' proprietary bioenergetics and KARLECT platforms.

3 Jan 2013

Electroconvulsive therapy releases opiate-like substances

Researchers used electricity on certain regions in the brain of a patient with chronic, severe facial pain to release an opiate-like substance that's considered one of the body's most powerful painkillers.

3 Jan 2013

Johns Hopkins scientists uncover itch-specific nerve cells in skin

Johns Hopkins researchers have uncovered strong evidence that mice have a specific set of nerve cells that signal itch but not pain, a finding that may settle a decades-long debate about these sensations, and, if confirmed in humans, help in developing treatments for chronic itch, including itch caused by life-saving medications.

3 Jan 2013

Ineffective communication contributes to poor drug adherence

Even the best medicines in the world can be rendered ineffective if they are not taken as prescribed. The problem known as medication "non-adherence" is a major health issue in the United States, contributing to worse outcomes for people who have diabetes and other chronic diseases.

3 Jan 2013

Heart attack patients may benefit from mild to moderate sleep-disordered breathing

People who suffer from breathing disorders such as sleep apnea are usually at higher risk for cardiovascular disease. But an intriguing new study from Technion-Israel Institute of Technology scientists suggests that some heart attack patients with these conditions may actually benefit from mild to moderate sleep-disordered breathing.

3 Jan 2013

Insights into tissue-based T cells

US researchers have, for the first time, characterized T cells located in human tissues, rather than in the blood.

31 Dec 2012

Weight gain after adolescence has repercussions for hypertension

Individuals who gain weight in adulthood as well as those who are overweight in adolescence and adulthood are at increased risk for hypertension, research suggests.

31 Dec 2012

Extended sleep takes the pain out of mild chronic sleep loss

Increased sleep time and reduced sleepiness in mildly sleepy, but otherwise healthy, individuals increases alertness and in turn reduces pain sensitivity, US researchers have found.

28 Dec 2012

Antibiotics do not help lower-respiratory tract infections

The antibiotic amoxicillin fares no better at reducing symptoms in patients with lower-respiratory tract infections than a placebo drug, indicate data from a dozen European countries.

28 Dec 2012

Ulcerative colitis impairs work capacity

Patients with ulcerative colitis have higher rates of sick leave or disability pension than the general population, show findings published in Gastroenterology.

28 Dec 2012

Rhinosinusitis without nasal polyps ‘predisposes to psoriasis’

People who suffer from chronic rhinosinusitis without nasal polyps have around twice the risk for psoriasis as the general population, a Taiwanese study has found.

28 Dec 2012

Group health approved for PCORI research awards to study care for back pain

Group Health has been approved for two research awards from the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) to study ways to improve care for back pain and to connect patients with community resources. The projects are part of a portfolio of patient-centered comparative clinical effectiveness research that addresses PCORI's National Priorities for Research and Research Agenda.

28 Dec 2012

Protein in human blood platelets points to a new weapon against malaria

One of the world's most devastating diseases is malaria, responsible for at least a million deaths annually, despite global efforts to combat it. Researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, working with collaborators from Drexel University, The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, and Johns Hopkins University, have identified a protein in human blood platelets that points to a powerful new weapon against the disease. Their work was published in this months' issue of Cell Host and Microbe.

28 Dec 2012

Study reveals decline in cancer screening rates

The rate of people who seek preventive cancer screenings has fallen over the last ten years in the United States with wide variations between white-collar and blue-collar workers, according to a University of Miami Miller School of Medicine study published on December 27 in the open-access journal Frontiers in Cancer Epidemiology.

27 Dec 2012

Juxtapid receives FDA approval for treatment of rare cholesterol disorder

On Dec. 21, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Juxtapid (lomitapide) to reduce low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, total cholesterol, apolipoprotein B, and non-high-density lipoprotein (non-HDL) cholesterol in patients with homozygous familial hypercholesterolemia (HoFH). Juxtapid is intended for use in combination with a low fat diet and other lipid-lowering treatments.

27 Dec 2012

SVR associated with prolonged overall survival in patients with chronic HCV infection

Among patients with chronic hepatitis C virus infection and advanced hepatic fibrosis (development of excess fibrous connective tissue), sustained virological response (SVR) to interferon-based treatment was associated with a lower risk of all-cause mortality compared with patients without SVR, according to a study in the December 26 issue of JAMA.

26 Dec 2012

Cancer-associated inflammation boosts ADAR1 enzyme activity

An international team, headed by researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, has identified a key enzyme in the reprogramming process that promotes malignant stem cell cloning and the growth of chronic myeloid leukemia (CML), a cancer of the blood and marrow that experts say is increasing in prevalence.

25 Dec 2012

Children with chronic conditions use more resources at hospitals

Children with chronic conditions increasingly used more resources in a group of children's hospitals compared with patients without a chronic condition, according to a report that analyzed data from 28 U.S. children's hospitals between 2004 and 2009, and is being published Online First by Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, a JAMA Network publication.

25 Dec 2012

AMAG seeks FDA sNDA approval for Feraheme Injection

AMAG Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced that it has submitted a supplemental new drug application (sNDA) to the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for Feraheme (ferumoxytol) Injection for Intravenous (IV) use.

25 Dec 2012

Viewpoints: Playing chicken on entitlements; 'Getting serious' about mental illness; Hospital labs devastated by Sandy

This is no time for a Grand Bargain, because the Republican Party, as now constituted, is just not an entity with which the president can make a serious deal. If we're going to get a grip on our nation's problems - of which the budget deficit is a minor part - the power of the G.O.P.'s extremists, and their willingness to hold the economy hostage if they don't get their way, needs to be broken. And somehow I don't think that's going to happen in the next few days (Paul Krugman, 12/20).

21 Dec 2012