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Older drugs may be better than newly approved ones

It is a common belief that drugs given the okay by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) are safer and more effective than they have to be to win approval, according to a new study. Especially in the first few years after a drug becomes available, researchers note, there are still questions about how well it will work and whether it will have any serious side effects warn experts. For example FDA-approved painkiller Vioxx was pulled off the market in 2004 after longer-term evidence showed that it may increase the risk of heart attack and stroke.

13 Sep 2011

New drug combination may treat two aggressive cancers

Researchers at Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH) have identified a new combination of targeted therapies that, together, may treat two aggressive tumor types that until now have not had effective treatments. These findings are published in Cancer Cell on September 13, 2011.

13 Sep 2011

ADI releases World Alzheimer Report 2011

The World Alzheimer Report 2011, released today by Alzheimer's Disease International (ADI), shows that there are interventions that are effective in the early stages of Alzheimer's disease, some of which may be more effective when started earlier, and that there is a strong economic argument in favor of earlier diagnosis and timely intervention.

13 Sep 2011

Researchers use MRI and PET/CT to assess safety, efficacy of heart drug dalcetrapib

Researchers from Mount Sinai School of Medicine have for the first time used several imaging techniques to prove the efficacy of a promising new treatment for atherosclerosis—the build-up of plaque in artery walls that can lead to a heart attack.

13 Sep 2011

UC Berkeley scientists offer treatment hope for patients with tinnitus

Neuroscientists at the University of California, Berkeley, are offering hope to the 10 percent of the population who suffer from tinnitus - a constant, often high-pitched ringing or buzzing in the ears that can be annoying and even maddening, and has no cure.

13 Sep 2011

Researchers identify new type of potential anticancer drug

Researchers at Emory University School of Medicine have identified a new type of potential anticancer drug. The compound, named FOBISIN, targets 14-3-3 proteins, important for the runaway growth of cancer cells.

13 Sep 2011

AHF rolls out new national television ad campaign to address national AIDS drug crisis

As part of its ongoing advocacy effort to spur President Obama and his administration to address the growing national AIDS drug crisis, AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) is rolling out a new national television ad campaign headlined 'President Obama: Whose Side Are You On?'

13 Sep 2011

People with high cholesterol more likely to develop Alzheimer's disease

People with high cholesterol may have a higher risk of developing Alzheimer's disease, according to a study published in the September 13, 2011, issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

13 Sep 2011

Government funding crisis in Swaziland disrupts supply of HIV/AIDS supplies

"An acute government funding crisis in Swaziland, Africa's last absolute monarchy, is disrupting supplies of HIV/AIDS drugs and hampering the fight against the virus in the country with the world's highest infection rate, Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) said Friday," Reuters reports.

12 Sep 2011

UB transgenic mouse model of Timothy Syndrome improves understanding of autism

The first transgenic mouse model of a rare and severe type of autism called Timothy Syndrome is improving the scientific understanding of autism spectrum disorder in general and may help researchers design more targeted interventions and treatments.

12 Sep 2011

Transcendental Meditation practice reduces health care costs

According to a study published this week in the September/October 2011 issue of the American Journal of Health Promotion, people with consistently high health care costs experienced a 28 percent cumulative decrease in physician fees after an average of five years practicing the stress-reducing Transcendental Meditation technique compared with their baseline.

12 Sep 2011

Alchemia initiates HA-Irinotecan Phase II clinical study in SCLC

Alchemia Limited, today announced the initiation of recruitment for a Phase II clinical study of its lead cancer drug HA-Irinotecan in Small Cell Lung Cancer (SCLC). Two patients have received their first doses of therapy. This investigator sponsored trial is being conducted at Monash Cancer Centre, Southern Health and Peninsula Oncology Centre in Melbourne, Victoria.

12 Sep 2011

Drug use among young adults on the rise in U.S.

Nearly one in 10 Americans report regularly using illegal drugs, including marijuana, cocaine, heroin, hallucinogens, inhalants or prescription drugs used recreationally, according to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health made public today. The survey, sponsored by the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), collects the data from interviews with 67,500 randomly selected people 12 years or older.

12 Sep 2011

FDA advisory panel suggests warning for bisphosphonates but does not specify wording

Two independent advisory panels to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Friday recommended increasing the cautionary language on the product labels of bone-building drugs taken by more than five million women in the United States. They did not however mention the exact words of the safety warnings and did not recommend limiting use of the drugs to a proposed five years. About 11 percent of women 55 and older take the drugs to prevent bone fractures.

12 Sep 2011

IBN scientists harness ultrasmall peptides to repair spinal disc damage

New ultrasmall peptides that can be used as building blocks for a wide range of regenerative applications such as spinal disc replacement and cartilage repair have been developed by scientists at the Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (IBN), the world's first bioengineering and nanotechnology research institute. These peptides spontaneously assemble in water to form hydrogels, which resemble collagen, a major component of connective tissues found in cartilage, ligaments, tendons, bone and skin.

12 Sep 2011

Chronic pain gene discovered

Scientists have found the gene responsible for chronic pain. It said that this could lead to drugs for treating long-lasting back pain.

12 Sep 2011

Crocus plant to provide a tumor killing “smart bomb”

According to the latest research, a drug derived from plant extracts could wipe out tumors in a single treatment with minimal side effects. Scientists have turned a chemical found in crocuses into a ‘smart bomb’ that targets cancerous tumors. The advantage is that healthy tissue is unharmed, reducing the odds of debilitating side effects. And unlike other side effect-free drugs, it is able to kill off more than one type of the disease, including breast, prostate, lung and bowel cancer. Potentially, all solid tumours could be vulnerable to drugs developed this way, meaning it could be used against all but blood cancers.

12 Sep 2011

USC team produces world's first high-resolution images of α7 neuroreceptor

For the first time, USC scientists have mapped out a neuroreceptor. This scientific breakthrough promises to revolutionize the engineering of drugs used to treat ailments such as Alzheimer's disease and schizophrenia.

12 Sep 2011

ASTMH annual meeting to explore latest research on infectious diseases

The 60th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (ASTMH) -- the largest of its kind in the world -- will bring together in one place global experts who are battling a wide range of bacteria, viruses, parasites and other pathogens that each year kill or sicken hundreds of millions of people.

12 Sep 2011

InteRNA, Silence partner to develop novel microRNA therapeutics for cancer

Silence Therapeutics plc, a leading global RNA interference (RNAi) therapeutics company, and InteRNA Technologies B.V., a biopharmaceutical company developing pathway targeted microRNA-based therapeutics for cancer, today announce that they have entered into an agreement to develop novel microRNA therapeutics for the treatment of cancer.

12 Sep 2011