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Heart disease patients' skin cells may help test long QT syndrome

Skin cells from a patient with an inherited heart disease were the seeds of a stem cell experiment that could help researchers test specific treatments for the disease, known as long QT syndrome. The research results appear in the January 16 issue of the journal Nature.

18 Jan 2011

New way to halt lung inflammation

Acute inflammation of the lung is a poorly recognized human disease that develops in surprising and unexpected ways. The acute lung injury (ALI) or adult respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is a vital new concern for soldiers, but it can develop in anyone during a systemic infection, after severe trauma, as a result of bone fracture, following severe burns and in many other ways as well-- the initial cause may have nothing apparent to do with the lung itself.

18 Jan 2011

Research: Adults with ADHD are more likely to develop degenerative dementia

Adults who suffer from attention-deficit and hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are more than three times as likely to develop a common form of degenerative dementia than those without, according to research in the January issue of the European Journal of Neurology.

18 Jan 2011

Clinical studies by expert HIV clinicians suggest that HIV-TRePS may have clinical and economic benefits

Two multinational clinical studies indicate that the RDI’s system for predicting how HIV and AIDS patients will respond to different drugs could be a useful tool with potential clinical and economic benefits. The studies, published in the January issue of AIDS Patient Care and STDs, involved highly experienced physicians in the USA, Canada and Italy who used the system to help them select the optimum combination of HIV drugs for patients whose therapy was failing.

18 Jan 2011

OMJPI, Sanford-Burnham enter agreement to discover compounds for Alzheimer's disease, psychiatric disorders

Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute has entered into a collaboration with Ortho-McNeil-Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc., to discover compounds for Alzheimer's disease and major psychiatric disorders.

18 Jan 2011

Opinions: U.S. HIV funding; Global fund accountability; World food supply

President Barack Obama's Global Health Initiative is "pitting AIDS against other diseases by making investments in new areas of global health contingent on flat funding for efforts to fight the HIV epidemic," HIV/AIDS advocate and Yale College student Gregg Gonsalves writes in a Washington Post opinion piece.

18 Jan 2011

Scientists identify new way of attacking breast cancer stem cells

Scientists at the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center have identified a potential new way of attacking breast cancer stem cells, the small number of cells in a tumor that fuel its growth and spread.

18 Jan 2011

Antibiotics with blood pressure medications may cause hypotension

Mixing commonly used antibiotics with common blood pressure medications may cause hypotension and induce shock in older patients, requiring hospitalization, according to a study published in CMAJ.

18 Jan 2011

Study finds miRNAs inhibits prostate cancer metastasis

A small slice of RNA inhibits prostate cancer metastasis by suppressing a surface protein commonly found on prostate cancer stem cells. A research team led by scientists at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center reported today in an advance online publication at Nature Medicine.

18 Jan 2011

New magnetic pill system can serve as drug delivery tool in patients with cancer, diabetes

A new magnetic pill system developed by Brown University researchers could solve the problem by safely holding a pill in place in the intestine wherever it needs to be.

18 Jan 2011

Researchers find kidney-specific gene defects may increase risk of heart failure

Scientists have identified the first DNA sequence variant common in the population that is not only associated with an increased risk of heart failure, but appears to play a role in causing it.

18 Jan 2011

Pharmacists can help patients to manage their medication and stop smoking

Consulting a pharmacist, or other healthcare professional, when quitting smoking boosts a patient's chance of long-term success from three per cent to 30 per cent.

17 Jan 2011

Diamyd commences NP2 Enkephalin Phase II trial to reduce cancer pain

Diamyd has dosed the first subject in a Phase II clinical trial in the United States evaluating the ability of the candidate drug NP2 Enkephalin to reduce cancer pain.

17 Jan 2011

Inflammation “master switch” found: Study

According to the latest medical discovery a protein that acts as a “master switch” has been found to determine whether certain white blood cells will boost or dampen inflammation. This may open new avenues in rheumatoid arthritis research. Rheumatoid arthritis or RA is an inflammatory disease that causes severe progressive crippling of the joints.

17 Jan 2011

Painkillers and heart attack risk

A new study has shown that taking certain commonly used painkillers for long periods or in high doses increases the risk of heart attacks or strokes. The study comes from researchers from Bern University and is published in the British Medical Journal.

16 Jan 2011

Home dialysis as effective as hospital dialysis for patients with kidney transplant failure

Patients who must return to dialysis after a kidney transplant failure survive just as well on home dialysis as hospital dialysis, but few choose that option, according to new research by Dr. Jeffrey Perl, a nephrologist at St. Michael's Hospital.

14 Jan 2011

Study: Health advocacy groups don't always disclose drug company funding

The researchers noted that since these lobbying organizations often urge greater access to new drugs and treatments, these contributions should be made public.

14 Jan 2011

Research roundup: Racial disparities in cancer and other care, nursing home closures, extending drugmakers' exclusivity

Journal of the National Cancer Institute: Projections Of The Cost Of Cancer Care In The United States: 2010-2020 - "By combining cancer prevalence with average annual costs of cancer care by phase of care and tumor site for 13 cancers in men and 16 cancers in women" and "all cancer sites combined," the authors project there will be just over 18 million cancer survivors in 2020 compared to 13.8 million survivors in 2010.

14 Jan 2011

Cancer Research UK and CRT select 4 research groups to unravel role of cancer stem cells

Cancer Research UK and its commercial arm Cancer Research Technology (CRT), have established a team of scientists with expertise in cancer stem cell research to identify new targets to detect, monitor and treat cancer.

14 Jan 2011

Collaborative Drug Discovery receives additional grant for TB drug research

Collaborative Drug Discovery, Inc. (CDD) today announced that the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has extended its previous grant to CDD to create a novel database to spark collaborative efforts to discover more effective drugs against tuberculosis (TB). The TB bacillus infects approximately one third of the world's population and the disease kills over 1.5 million people every year.

14 Jan 2011