Chronic News and Research

RSS

Avoiding sun may increase risk of vitamin D deficiency in light-skinned people

Light-skinned people who avoid the sun are twice as likely to suffer from vitamin D deficiency as those who do not, according to a study of nearly 6,000 people by researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine.

4 Nov 2011

NEJM publishes 'The 2010 Dietary Guidelines -- The Best Recipe for Health?'

USDA's interest protects that of Industry -- not the American public, conclude leading researchers Water C. Willett, MD, PhD, and David S. Ludwig, MD, PhD in their article, "The 2010 Dietary Guidelines -- The Best Recipe for Health?" published in the prestigious peer-reviewed The New England Journal of Medicine.

4 Nov 2011

Scientists discover neurons responsible for light-induced arousal response

Bright light arouses us. Bright light makes it easier to stay awake. Very bright light not only arouses us but is known to have antidepressant effects. Conversely, dark rooms can make us sleepy. It's the reason some people use masks to make sure light doesn't wake them while they sleep.

4 Nov 2011

Escitalopram reduces pain severity, interference in opioid-dependent patients

In what is believed to be the first study of its kind to demonstrate an association between the antidepressant escitalopram and improved general pain, researchers from Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM), have found that opioid-dependent patients treated with escitalopram experienced meaningful reductions in pain severity and pain interference during the first three months of therapy.

4 Nov 2011

Penn research group receives NCI grant to establish BETRNet

A research group at the Perelman School of Medicine of the University of Pennsylvania, led by John Lynch, MD, PhD, assistant professor of Medicine in the Division of Gastroenterology, has received a National Cancer Institute (NCI) grant to establish a Barrett's esophagus translational research network (BETRNet) with Columbia University and the Mayo Clinic.

4 Nov 2011

Merck’s cholesterol lowering drug gets FDA panel’s vote

A health advisors’ panel have unanimously backed the use of Merck & Co's cholesterol-lowering drug Vytorin for preventing stroke and other heart problems in patients with chronic kidney disease, but only in those patients not yet on dialysis. The panel voted 16-0 during a meeting today in Silver Spring, Maryland.

3 Nov 2011

Savient third quarter net loss decreases to $27.4 million

Savient Pharmaceuticals, Inc. reported financial results for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2011, which reflect the Company's continuing investment in the U.S. launch of KRYSTEXXA (pegloticase). Savient ended the quarter with $202.7 million in cash and short-term investments, a decrease of $37.6 million for the quarter.

3 Nov 2011

CMS issues J-code for Savient's KRYSTEXXA

Savient Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has assigned a product-specific billing code, or J-code, for KRYSTEXXA (pegloticase), which is used for the treatment of chronic gout in adult patients refractory to conventional therapy.

3 Nov 2011

USC Professor receives NSF's new Innovation Corps award

Last month, for the first time in 11 years, USC Associate Professor Ellis Meng found herself raising her hand and asking questions in the classroom - not answering them.

3 Nov 2011

ARIAD reports net income of $13.9 million for third quarter 2011

ARIAD Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today reported financial results for the third quarter of 2011 and provided an update on its corporate developments.

3 Nov 2011

FDA EMDAC votes to recommend approval of Merck's VYTORIN for pre-dialysis CKD

Merck, known as MSD outside the United States and Canada, announced today that the Endocrinologic and Metabolic Drugs Advisory Committee of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) unanimously voted to recommend approval of Merck's VYTORIN (ezetimibe/simvastatin) for use in patients with pre-dialysis chronic kidney disease.

3 Nov 2011

Increasing TR2/TR4 expression can lead to higher fetal hemoglobin levels in sickle cell patients

A University of Michigan Health System laboratory study reveals a key trigger for producing normal red blood cells that could lead to a new treatment for those with sickle cell disease.

3 Nov 2011

Budget experts focus on health costs

Four well-known budget gurus testified Tuesday in a public super committee hearing, telling the panel they should raise revenues and overhaul expensive federal health programs in order to develop a budget compromise that will meet the $1.2 trillion, 10-year mandate.

3 Nov 2011

Study: Melanoma survivors more likely to have new cancers

Melanoma skin cancer survivors are much more likely than the general population to have future new cases of invasive melanomas and other cancers, says a national study led by UAMS' Appathurai Balamurugan, M.D., M.P.H.

3 Nov 2011

Long-term care insurance gets boost from federal workers

In September, the Office of Personnel Management announced that it had added 45,000 people to its long-term care insurance rolls - a 20 percent jump after a three-month enrollment period. It's the largest long-term care plan in the country, with 297,000 enrollees - all government employees or their families. The surge is notable because long-term care insurance has attracted so few new customers in recent years, even though an estimated 15 million people will need long-term services by 2020.

3 Nov 2011

Eliminating senescent cells could prevent or delay onset of age-related disorders

Researchers at Mayo Clinic have shown that eliminating cells that accumulate with age could prevent or delay the onset of age-related disorders and disabilities. The study, performed in mouse models, provides the first evidence that these "deadbeat" cells could contribute to aging and suggests a way to help people stay healthier as they age.

3 Nov 2011

Galectin Therapeutics forms Liver Fibrosis Clinical Trials Advisory Board

Galectin Therapeutics Inc., the leader in developing carbohydrate-based therapeutic compounds to inhibit galectin receptors, today announced the formation of its Liver Fibrosis Clinical Trials Advisory Board comprised of key opinion leaders from Emory Hospital and School of Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard School of Medicine, University of Michigan Hospital and School of Medicine, Mount Sinai Hospital and School of Medicine, and University of Wisconsin Hospital and School of Medicine.

3 Nov 2011

Allergy shots are cost-effective and deliver relief in weeks

Allergy shots, an age-old treatment for allergy sufferers, are getting a shot in the arm from new research. This proven therapy saves money; accelerated schedules deliver relief in weeks, rather than months; and alternative methods are on the horizon, according to allergists at the annual scientific meeting of the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology in Boston, Nov 3-8.

3 Nov 2011

Replacing short auto trips with bicycle trips would yield major health benefits

Cutting out short auto trips and replacing them with mass transit and active transport would yield major health benefits, according to a study just published in the scientific journal Environmental Health Perspectives.

3 Nov 2011

Ivacaftor drug improves lung function in people with cystic fibrosis

A new study has confirmed that the drug, ivacaftor (VX-770), significantly improves lung function in some people with cystic fibrosis (CF). The results of the phase III clinical trial study, "A CFTR Potentiator in Patients with Cystic Fibrosis and the G551D Mutation," led by Bonnie W. Ramsey, MD of Seattle Children's Research Institute and the University of Washington, were published today in the New England Journal of Medicine.

3 Nov 2011