Pancreas News and Research

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The pancreas is a gland organ in the digestive and endocrine system of vertebrates. It is both an endocrine gland producing several important hormones, including insulin, glucagon, and somatostatin, as well as an exocrine gland, secreting pancreatic juice containing digestive enzymes that pass to the small intestine. These enzymes help in the further breakdown of the carbohydrates, protein, and fat in the chyme.

Researchers demonstrate how insulin prepares cells for glucose uptake

Using high-resolution microscopy, researchers at the National Institutes of Health have shown how insulin prompts fat cells to take in glucose in a rat model. The findings were reported in the Sept. 8 issue of the journal Cell Metabolism.

9 Sep 2010

Protagen AG announces € 10.0 Million for second round of finance totaling

Protagen AG, a specialist for in-vitro diagnostics and GMP-compliant protein analysis announced today a second round of finance totalling a volume of € 10.0 Million.

7 Sep 2010

Edwards uses his hands after double hand transplant at Jewish Hospital Hand Care Center

Dr. Richard "Rich" Edwards got a look at his new hands for the first time today when all the bandages were removed so doctors could evaluate how the hands are doing. A team of surgeons from Kleinert Kutz and Associates and the University of Louisville performed a double hand transplant on the Oklahoma resident during a 17 ½ hour surgical procedure beginning August 24 at the Jewish Hospital Hand Care Center.

30 Aug 2010

Coke employees protest cancellation of employee health benefits without prior notification

Striking Coke employees and supporters will converge on the Sounders game at Qwest field on Saturday to inform fans about Coke's attack on employee health care. Coke cancelled health care for 500 of its employees without prior notification, after employees went on strike over the Company's refusal to bargain in good faith.

27 Aug 2010

Vitamin D may be effective in preventing allergies in patients cystic fibrosis, asthma

Vitamin D may be an effective therapy to treat and even prevent allergy to a common mold that can cause severe complications for patients with cystic fibrosis and asthma.

26 Aug 2010

MRI and MR spectroscopy determine internal fat distribution: Study

Why is it that some people lose weight and body fat when they exercise and eat less and others don't. German researchers say MRI and magnetic resonance (MR) spectroscopy can provide the answer and help predict who will benefit from lifestyle changes.

25 Aug 2010

Water soluble extract of cinnamon reduces diabetes and heart disease risk

A study led by U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) chemist Richard Anderson suggests that a water soluble extract of cinnamon, which contains antioxidative compounds, could help reduce risk factors associated with diabetes and heart disease.

25 Aug 2010

Washington's adult smoking rate drops to 14.8%, but smokeless tobacco use is on the rise

New survey results show Washington's adult smoking rate has dropped to a new low of 14.8 percent. That's down from 15.3 percent the previous year. Washington now has the third lowest smoking rate in the nation—the state's best ranking since measuring across all 50 states started in 1995. Despite these gains, people from low income and lower educational backgrounds continue to smoke at higher rates. Smokeless tobacco use, including products like chew, is also on the rise among people who already smoke.

20 Aug 2010

Cancer patients may live longer with palliative and hospice care services: Study

A new study released by the New England Journal of Medicine found that among patients with non-small-cell lung cancer, those who received palliative care lived, on average, almost two months longer than those who received standard care. Researchers also found that the patients receiving palliative care reported a higher quality of life through the final course of their illness.

20 Aug 2010

Research reveals possibility to convert one stem type to another without genetic modification

Scientists have reprogrammed stem cells from a key organ in the immune system in a development that could have implications for tissue regeneration.

19 Aug 2010

JDRF announces key step on road to artificial pancreas

JDRF announced today another important step on the road to the development of an artificial pancreas - an automated system to better manage the blood sugar of people with type 1 diabetes - with the establishment of a research program to speed the development of faster-acting insulin.

17 Aug 2010

Study examines impact of microvascular decompression surgery for type 2 diabetes

A team of Allegheny General Hospital (AGH) physicians led by neurosurgical pioneer Peter Jannetta, MD, has made an important new discovery linking the central nervous system to the onset and progression of type 2 diabetes mellitus.Reporting today in the journal Surgical Neurology International, Dr. Jannetta and his colleagues present evidence from a prospective clinical trial that vascular compression of a section of the brain called the medulla oblongata is a factor in some patients with type 2 diabetes and that microvascular decompression surgery (MVD) may be an effective treatment for the condition.

13 Aug 2010

Study offers clues to potential treatments for preserving, restoring insulin-producing cells

In type 1 diabetes, the body relentlessly attacks and destroys its own insulin-producing pancreatic beta cells. But a study by Joslin Diabetes Center scientists now has firmly established that some of these cells endure for many decades in a small group of people with the disease—offering clues to potential treatments for preserving and even restoring the crucial cell population.

12 Aug 2010

Stanford Hospital & Clinics establishes Kidney and Pancreas Transplant Clinic at Salinas Valley Memorial

The partnership between Salinas Valley Memorial Healthcare System and Stanford Hospital & Clinics has added another facet of care, bringing world-class organ transplant care to patients on the Central Coast. Stanford's Adult Kidney and Pancreas Transplant Program will begin seeing patients at Salinas Valley Memorial's Ryan Ranch facility.

11 Aug 2010

UCSF researchers discover new technology purifying special types of stem cells

UCSF researchers are reporting the first success in very rapidly purifying one type of embryonic stem cell from a mix of many different types of embryonic stem cells in the culture dish. The technique, which avoids the need to genetically alter the cells to distinguish them, is a key advance, the researchers say, for obtaining the appropriate cells for repairing specific damaged tissues.

7 Aug 2010

Salamander research findings bring scientists closer to future regenerative therapies

Tissue regeneration in salamanders and newts seems like it should be the stuff of science fiction. But it happens routinely. Why can't we mammals just re-grow a limb or churn out a few new heart muscle cells as needed? New research suggests there might be a very good reason: Restricting our cells' ability to pop in and out of the cell cycle at will - a prerequisite for the cell division necessary to make new tissue - reduces the chances that they'll run amok and form potentially deadly cancers.

6 Aug 2010

Repligen total revenue for first-quarter fiscal 2011 increases 39% to $7.01 million

Repligen Corporation today reported results for the first quarter of fiscal year 2011, ended June 30, 2010. Total revenue for the first quarter was $7,010,000 compared to total revenue of $5,061,000 for the first quarter of fiscal year 2010, an increase of $1,949,000 or 39%. Bioprocessing product revenue for the first quarter was $4,269,000 compared to $2,473,000 for the first quarter of fiscal 2010, an increase of $1,796,000 or 73%.

5 Aug 2010

Pregnancy weight gain liked to childhood obesity: Study

Women who gain excessive weight during pregnancy have a greater chance their babies will be born too big. Scientists are trying to find whether this relationship of gaining too much weight by mother and baby is genetic and can predispose the child to be obese later in life.

4 Aug 2010

Accuray receives Shonin approval to market CyberKnife G4 Robotic Radiosurgery System

Accuray Incorporated, a global leader in the field of radiosurgery, announced today it received Shonin approval from the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare to market the CyberKnife G4 Robotic Radiosurgery System to treat tumors non-invasively anywhere in the body, inclusive of head and neck. The System will be marketed in Japan as the "CyberKnife Radiosurgery System."

3 Aug 2010

Pancreas surgery specialist performs 1,000th Whipple procedure

Pancreas surgery specialist Charles J. Yeo, M.D., Samuel D. Gross Professor and Chair, Department of Surgery at Jefferson Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University, and Co-Director of the Pancreatic, Biliary Tract and Related Cancer Center at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, recently performed his 1,000th Whipple procedure (pancreaticoduodenectomy). Only one other surgeon in the United States has reached this milestone for this procedure. That surgeon is John Cameron, M.D., Professor, Department of Surgery at The Johns Hopkins Hospital.

30 Jul 2010