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The two sides of pain

"Pain is both a curse and a blessing", says Jürgen Sandkühler, Head of the Department of Neurophysiology at the Centre for Brain Research at the MedUni Vienna ahead of the international "Brain Awareness Week", being held from the 12th to the 16th of March. On the one hand, pain has an important protective function for humans.

14 Mar 2012

FDA approves Botox injections for overactive bladder

When you think of Botox injections, you probably think of getting rid of unwanted wrinkles around the eyes or forehead, but recently the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved using the injections to help patients with neurological conditions who suffer from incontinence, or an overactive bladder.

14 Mar 2012

Yoga can improve cognitive functioning and reduce depression in dementia caregivers

For every individual who's a victim of Alzheimer's - some 5.4 million persons in the United States alone - there's a related victim: the caregiver. Spouse, son, daughter, other relative or friend, the loneliness, exhaustion, fear and most of all stress and depression takes a toll.

14 Mar 2012

Modified Citrus Pectin binds and blocks harmful effects of Galectin-3

Galectin-3 sounds like a planet out of "Star Trek," but it can be much more ominous. Recently, distinguished integrative physician Isaac Eliaz, M.D., presented breakthrough research demonstrating that the protein Galectin-3 is an active biomarker for numerous life-threatening diseases. Even more importantly, Dr. Eliaz showed how Modified Citrus Pectin (MCP) binds and blocks Galectin-3 throughout the body.

14 Mar 2012

Red meat associated with increased risk of death, nuts become the preferred protein substitute

A major new study, "Red Meat Consumption and Mortality" concludes that red meat is associated with a thirteen percent increased risk of death and substitution of other healthy protein sources for red meat lowers mortality risk, with nuts being the top choice. Over half the nuts eaten in the US are peanuts and they have more protein than any other nut.

14 Mar 2012

FDA panel favors continued research on novel pain medicine

A panel of experts for the U.S. Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) this Monday recommended that the federal government should allow continued testing of an experimental class of pain drugs for arthritis, despite links to bone decay and joint failure.

13 Mar 2012

Inovio achieves strong T cell immune responses in PENNVAX-B Phase I HIV study

Inovio Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced today that it has achieved strong T cell immune responses in a Phase I clinical study of PENNVAX-B, its product for the treatment of the HIV subtype prevalent in North America and Europe, in HIV-positive subjects.

13 Mar 2012

Medivir initiates two new HPC3001 and HPC3011 phase III trials in HCV

MedivirAB a research based specialty pharmaceutical company focused on infectious diseases announces that its oral, once daily investigational protease inhibitor TMC435, developed by Janssen Pharmaceuticals for the treatment of Hepatitis C virus (HCV), has commenced patient dosing and started screening in two new phase III clinical trials, HPC3001 and HPC3011, respectively.

13 Mar 2012

Many children with Crohn's disease and IBD benefit from ImproveCareNow

Many children with Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis who received treatment through ImproveCareNow, a national quality improvement and research network, ceased to have symptoms and no longer needed to take steroids for disease management.

13 Mar 2012

Officials examine Medicaid coverage, quality in context of burgeoning costs

Growing demand for Medicaid services puts a burden on states as they wrestle with tight budgets and patient quality issues.

12 Mar 2012

Researchers unlock mystery of how an inflammatory molecule is produced in the body

Cedars-Sinai researchers have unlocked the mystery of how an inflammatory molecule is produced in the body, a discovery they say could lead to advances in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis, Type 2 diabetes and numerous other chronic diseases that affect tens of millions of people.

12 Mar 2012

BDSI announces postponement of ONSOLIS U.S. relaunch

BioDelivery Sciences International, Inc. today announced that the U.S. relaunch of ONSOLIS (fentanyl buccal soluble film) is being postponed until the product formulation can be modified to address two appearance issues raised by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) following a recent inspection of the Aveva manufacturing facility where ONSOLIS is produced.

12 Mar 2012

India plans to increase annual health care spending with aim of providing free care to citizens

"With its health-care system increasingly eclipsed by rivals, India has a plan to nearly double public spending on health over the next five years," a goal that would "lift annual spending on health to 2.5 percent of the country's economic output, from 1.4 percent," the Washington Post reports.

12 Mar 2012

Insulin and nutrition keep blood stem cells from differentiating into mature blood cells

UCLA stem cell researchers have shown that insulin and nutrition keep blood stem cells from differentiating into mature blood cells in Drosophila, the common fruit fly, a finding that has implications for studying inflammatory response and blood development in response to dietary changes in humans.

12 Mar 2012

FDA clears Aradigm IND for Pulmaquin Phase 3 clinical trial in non-cystic fibrosis BE

Aradigm Corporation today announced that the Company's Investigational New Drug Application (IND) to conduct a pivotal Phase 3 clinical trial of Pulmaquin (dual release ciprofloxacin for inhalation) in non-cystic fibrosis bronchiectasis (BE) has been cleared by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

12 Mar 2012

First Edition: March 12, 2012

Today's health policy headlines focus significant attention on key issues, dynamics and even personalities that will be in play when the Supreme Court takes up the health law later this month.

12 Mar 2012

InflammaGen to initiate Phase 2 study of new drug/delivery platform for shock

A 200-patient Phase 2 clinical pilot study will be initiated this month to test the efficacy and safety of a new use, and method of administering, an enzyme inhibitor for critically ill patients developed by University of California, San Diego Bioengineering Professor Geert Schmid-Sch-nbein. Conditions expected to qualify for the study include new-onset sepsis and septic shock, post-operative complications, and new-onset gastrointestinal bleeding.

12 Mar 2012

Researchers identify genetic signature for eosinophilic esophagitis

Researchers have identified a genetic signature for a severe, often painful food allergy – eosinophilic esophagitis – that could lead to improved diagnosis and treatment for children unable to eat a wide variety of foods.

12 Mar 2012

Circumcision may decrease risk of prostate cancer

A new analysis led by researchers at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center has found that circumcision before a male's first sexual intercourse may help protect against prostate cancer. Published early online in Cancer, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society, the study suggests that circumcision can hinder infection and inflammation that may lead to this malignancy.

12 Mar 2012

Estrogen-only form of menopausal hormone therapy may protect against breast cancer

Rowan T. Chlebowski, M.D., Ph.D., an LA BioMed investigator whose research activities have focused on breast cancer therapy and prevention, and chronic diseases impacting women's health, is co-author of a study that indicates that women who use the estrogen-only form of menopausal hormone therapy appear less likely to develop breast cancer in the longer term, according to new research which was recently published The Lancet Oncology.

12 Mar 2012