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Tips to prevent a hangover

Dr. Andrew Yacht, director of the division of general medicine and vice chair of medicine for education at Maimonides Medical Center in New York City said, “Alcohol clearly causes hangovers, but why it causes hangovers isn’t very well understood…Part of the suspected cause is dehydration and an electrolyte and hormonal imbalance. Some of the symptoms may be caused by low blood sugar. Or, it may be that the direct toxic effects of alcohol are causing the symptoms.”

2 Jan 2011

Flu worries continue

As number of cases of flu rise in the UK, Health Secretary Andrew Lansley is under pressure to strengthen the flu vaccination campaign. He reinstated a public health “Catch It, Bin It, Kill It” advertising campaign after he was warned by government advisers of the need to improve immunization rates which are at their lowest this winter for many years. It had been discontinued despite helping educate the public to adopt good hygiene habits during last year’s H1N1 swine flu epidemic at a cost of just £609,000. There were 12 more deaths in the last week from flu, bringing the total this winter to 39, the Health Protection Agency (HPA) said today. Thirty-six were killed by H1N1 swine flu, which is the most virulent of the two main flu strains currently circulating. The others died after contracting Influenza B, the other strain. All except one of the 39 were under 65 and four were under five.

2 Jan 2011

Mediterranean diet helps more than one chronic condition

In a study that was published in the Oct 13, 2001 issue of Diabetes Care, authors had reported that Mediterranean diet can reduce the risk of developing diabetes significantly. Those on this diet were 52 percent less likely to develop diabetes, compared with those who adhered least to the diet. Salas-Salvadó J. of Universitat Rovira i Virgili in Reus, Spain and colleagues compared two groups of subjects following two Mediterranean diets, one with nuts at 30 grams per day and the other with olive oil at 1 liter per week, with those on a low-fat diet.

2 Jan 2011

Team care to help multiple chronic conditions

According to a new study patients with multiple chronic diseases like diabetes mellitus and heart disease are at higher risk of depression that can render medication ineffective. Lead researcher Dr. Wayne J. Katon and colleagues at University of Washington in the study found that patients who received care from nurses who worked with patients and physicians to manage the care for depression and diabetes and heart disease had better outcomes. The study was published in the Dec 30, 2010 issue of New England Journal of Medicine.

2 Jan 2011

World’s first organ donor dies at 79

On December 23, 1954, Dr. Joseph Murray performed the world’s first kidney transplant removing a kidney from Ronald Herrick and implanting it in his identical twin Richard. Years later, Murray shared a Nobel Prize for his groundbreaking work. For the Herrick twins, the results were more immediate and personal. Richard lived for about eight more years because of Ronald’s donation.

30 Dec 2010

Heart researchers find no evidence of toxicity in Longevinex

It was Paracelsus, the Renaissance physician who first said "the dose makes the poison." So, you can drink too much wine, or ingest too much resveratrol, but in an unprecedented study, heart researchers report they couldn't find a toxic dose for Longevinex-, a resveratrol-based dietary supplement.

30 Dec 2010

Researchers to identify gene variants that cause ischemic stroke

Researchers from the University of Maryland School of Medicine are coordinating an international team of scientists working to identify genes or gene variants that may make a person more likely to have a particular type of stroke called an ischemic stroke.

30 Dec 2010

Clinical Data closes sale of genetic, pharmacogenomic testing and biomarker development business

Clinical Data, Inc. today announced that the Company has closed the sale of its genetic and pharmacogenomic testing and biomarker development business to Transgenomic, Inc. for $15.5 million. The sale completes Clinical Data's transformation into a pharmaceutical company with a deep product pipeline, including two promising late-stage compounds, the most advanced of which is vilazodone, a new treatment in development for Major Depressive Disorder.

30 Dec 2010

New study reports close association between obesity and fibromyalgia

Afflicting up to 5 percent of the U.S. population, mostly women, fibromyalgia is characterized by widespread pain and range of function problems. A new study in The Journal of Pain reports there is close association between obesity and disability in fibromyalgia patients.

29 Dec 2010

Experimental device for obstructive sleep apnea

Obstructive sleep apnea, a dangerous sleep disorder that affects millions of Americans may have found a cure. The disease commonly manifested as snoring but leading to tremendous sleep deprivation can be severely debilitating. Sleep deprivation may lead to car crashes, accidents, high blood pressure, heart attack, stroke, and diabetes.

29 Dec 2010

Merck confirms plans for developing vernakalant drug for atrial fibrillation

Cardiome Pharma Corp. today announced that it has been advised by its partner, Merck, that the current review of vernakalant is complete, and that Merck has informed Cardiome of its next steps in clinical development for vernakalant beginning in 2011.

29 Dec 2010

Florida Hospital, Sanford-Burnham and Takeda enter obesity research collaboration

Florida Hospital, Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute (Sanford-Burnham), and Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited (Takeda)(TSE: 4502), announced today that they have signed a research agreement to form a collaboration to discover and evaluate new therapeutic approaches to obesity, a growing worldwide health problem. The partnership aligns complementary strengths in biomedical research, clinical research and drug development to identify and validate obesity- related biomarkers and new peripheral molecular targets of mutual interest.

29 Dec 2010

Top weight-loss behaviors

Losing weight and saving money are the top New Year's resolutions expected to vex Americans this year, experts say.

29 Dec 2010

Patients unresponsive to anti-anemia drug have higher risk of cardiovascular disease, death

Patients with diabetes, kidney disease and anemia who don't respond to treatment with an anti-anemia drug have a higher risk of cardiovascular disease or death, researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have found.

28 Dec 2010

Fried fish consumption linked to high stroke rates: Study

Researchers from Emory University (Atlanta, Georgia), the University of Alabama (Birmingham, Alabama), and Boston University (Boston, University) have found that omega-3 fatty acids contained in fish has “favourable effects on platelet aggregation, blood pressure, lipid profile, endothelial function, and ischemic stroke risk.” The team led by Dr. Fadi Nahab decided to look into the racial and geographical aspects of preparing and eating fish and its effects.

28 Dec 2010

Alcohol worries

Festival season usually means excessive and binge drinking leading to accidents and other health concerns say experts. With the outrage of anti-alcohol groups laws may be tightened but many experts feel that it is not the alcohol that needs to be focused on but the people who over-indulge.

28 Dec 2010

HeartWare seeks FDA PMA approval for HeartWare Ventricular Assist System

HeartWare International, Inc. today announced that it has submitted a Pre-Market Approval (PMA) application to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the HeartWare® Ventricular Assist System as a bridge to heart transplantation for patients with end-stage heart failure.

28 Dec 2010

Turns mortal heart attacks into non-mortal heart attacks -- NIH study

Three weeks of oral resveratrol or Longevinex- ingestion prior to an induced heart attack returned microRNA activity close to their pre-event levels in excised animal hearts. Among thousands of microRNA's studied, just six were attributed to exerting the majority of the gene-switching effects measured in the animal heart study - four microRNA optimally regulated by Longevinex- and two optimally by plain resveratrol.

28 Dec 2010

Researchers receive $6.78 million NIH grant for community-based study on heart disease

Researchers at the Methodist DeBakey Heart & Vascular Center in Houston were recently awarded a $6.78 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to extend a 23-year-old large-scale, community-based study of heart disease.

27 Dec 2010

Flu infection rates double in a week

Figures reveal that the rates of flu infection in the UK have more than doubled in the last week. Number of cases has risen to 87.1 per 100,000 people, from 32.8 in the previous week, according to the Royal College of GPs. Reports also reveal that school-age children from England and Wales are particularly affected. Ages five to 14 are highest affected followed by those under four, then people aged 15 to 44. Considering all age groups rates almost tripled in the South in one week, from 36 per 100,000 to 93.4. In the North, the rate was 55.5, up from 15.7, and was 94.9 in the central England region, up from 37.9.

27 Dec 2010