Chronic News and Research

RSS

Yoga reduces back pain and fights depression

People with chronic low-back problems who do yoga also do better at overcoming pain and depression than people treated conventionally for back pain, a West Virginia University study funded by the National Institutes of Health shows.

5 Sep 2009

Researchers discover the causes for the severity of RSV illness

Approximately one-half of all infants are infected with the respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) during the first year of life, and almost all children have been infected at least once by the time they reach their second birthday. Researchers at West Virginia University have discovered what makes RSV such a severe and persistent illness.

4 Sep 2009

Medicare advantage rates could go up, while Part D 'exceeding expectations'

"Despite near-zero inflation and recessionary conditions, health insurers in 2010 face another year of double-digit increases in the charges they pay for hospital services, physicians, drugs, and other healthcare costs," U.S. News and World Report writes in a news column.

4 Sep 2009

Americans' health perceptions contradict national statistics

We think we’re healthier than we actually are, suggests a new survey from market research leader Mintel. Surveying Americans about their health, Mintel found people’s perceptions strongly contradict national statistics about obesity, illness and wellness.

4 Sep 2009

Positive impact on medication adherence through Aetna's care management program

Aetna announced today results of an analysis from the first half of 2009, demonstrating an average medication adherence of over 95 percent for its members taking Specialty medications. Disease states evaluated in Aetna’s analysis include: multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, HIV, Crohn's disease, Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension (PAH), psoriasis, Hepatitis C and asthma.

4 Sep 2009

FDA approves new xTAG Cystic Fibrosis 39 Kit v2 from Luminex

Luminex Corporation (NASDAQ: LMNX), the worldwide leader in multiplexed solutions, today announced that it has received 510(k) clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for a new cystic fibrosis (CF) test: the xTAG® Cystic Fibrosis 39 Kit v2.

From Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. 4 Sep 2009

Grant application guidelines released by The Center for Technology and Aging

The Center for Technology and Aging today released grant application guidelines for a $500,000 Medication Optimization Diffusion Grants Program. Up to six one-year grants will be made to organizations successfully proposing programs that directly benefit older adults. Four or five grants will focus on Californians, while one or two may benefit older adults in other regions of the U.S.

4 Sep 2009

Lessons for America: comparing health systems across Europe

Forbes published a package of articles and opinion pieces called "Public Vs. Private Health Care," which compares health care systems across Europe.

4 Sep 2009

First artificial heart implant successfully performed by a AUBMC medical team

A medical team at the American University of Beirut Medical Center (AUBMC) has successfully performed the first artificial heart implant in Lebanon, saving the life of a 37-year-old man suffering from terminal heart failure.

4 Sep 2009

Results of Phase 2 rheumatoid arthritis clinical trial announced

Array BioPharma Inc. (Nasdaq: ARRY) announced its preliminary analysis of results from a study examining ARRY-162, a small molecule MEK inhibitor, in a 12-week Phase 2 clinical trial with 201 patients.

4 Sep 2009

Type 2 diabetic people not consuming healthy diets

People with type 2 diabetes are not consuming sufficiently healthy diets and could benefit from ongoing nutritional education and counseling, according to a new study by researchers at Wake Forest University School of Medicine and colleagues.

4 Sep 2009

ROS in cells contributes to aging

With all the hype about beneficial antioxidants in everything from face cream to cereal bars, you'd think their targets---oxygen radicals---must be up to no good. It's true, the buildup of oxygen radicals and other reactive oxygen species (ROS) in cells contributes to aging and possibly to diseases such as cancer and Alzheimer's.

3 Sep 2009

China Sky One Medical submits application to perform clinical trials for two new generic drugs

China Sky One Medical, Inc. ("China Sky One Medical" or "the Company") (Nasdaq: CSKI), a leading fully integrated pharmaceutical company producing over-the-counter drugs in the People's Republic of China ("PRC"), today announced that the Company has finished the required research for two new generic drugs for eye treatment and submitted application to the State Food and Drug Administration (SFDA) in China to perform clinical trials.

3 Sep 2009

Reliable and relevant information needed to rein in the costs of federal health-care programs, says study

For economists and policy-makers to understand the true value of the costs and savings of preventive health programs for chronic disease, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) should incorporate long-term clinical outcomes data and look beyond the 10-year window when making cost estimates, says a team of University of Chicago researchers in today's issue of Health Affairs.

3 Sep 2009

Boston Scientific reports two-year data from SYNTAX clinical trial

Angiotech Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: ANPI, TSX: ANP) today announced that its corporate partner, Boston Scientific (NYSE: BSX), has reported two-year data from its SYNTAX clinical trial comparing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) using the Taxus(R) Express(R) Paclitaxel-Eluting Coronary Stent System to coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery.

3 Sep 2009

SAFLUTAN launched in United Kingdom and Spain

Merck Sharp & Dohme (MSD) has launched SAFLUTAN (tafluprost) in the United Kingdom and Spain, and additional launches in other countries are expected over the next several months, pending regulatory approvals, the Company said today.

3 Sep 2009

Medtronic's COPE-HCV clinical study commences

Medtronic, Inc., today reported the initiation and first enrollments of patients in COPE-HCV (COntinuous Interferon Delivery via the Medtronic Paradigm Pump Infusion System Clinical Evaluation for Chronic HCV), the company’s first-ever clinical study using an external pump infusion system to treat patients with the hepatitis C virus (HCV).

3 Sep 2009

Damprid's recommendations for tackling seasonal allergy

For America’s 60 million seasonal allergy sufferers, fall can be one of the most difficult times of year as ragweed begins to release its pollen into the air and mold and fungus spores increase due to the decay of leaves and other plants. Each ragweed plant produces one billion pollen grains per average season. This generally continues until the first frost, usually in October.

3 Sep 2009

Beijing Rain and Earth Technology to provide cheaper blood dialysis in China

RainEarth Inc. (OTC Bulletin Board: RNER; "the Company") announced that in the second quarter of 2009, the Xinhua News Agency publicized the creation of "Opinions of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council on Deepening the Reform of the Medical and Health Care System" ("Opinion").

3 Sep 2009

Study assesses protective capabilities of DNA vaccines against SIV

Inovio Biomedical Corporation, a leader in DNA vaccine design, development and delivery, announced today that data generated from a pre-clinical collaborative study by National Cancer Institute (NCI) and Inovio scientists were published in the scientific journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences in a paper entitled: “DNA vaccination in rhesus macaques induces potent immune responses and decreases acute and chronic viremia after SIVmac251 challenge.”

3 Sep 2009