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New findings on role of diet on breast cancer risk

How you eat may be just as important as how much you eat, if mice studies are any clue. Cancer researchers have long studied the role of diet on breast cancer risk, but results to date have been mixed.

4 Aug 2009

FDA approves Livalo (pitavastatin), a new cholesterol-lowering drug

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved the 4 milligram maximum dose of Livalo (pitavastatin), a drug intended to improve blood cholesterol levels in persons with elevated or abnormal blood cholesterol levels.

3 Aug 2009

Dysport, an anti-wrinkle alternative to Botox

The new anti-wrinkle facial filler Dysport, which could be used as an alternative to Botox, noticeably reduced frown lines between the eyes, according to users and independent reviewers in a study involving plastic surgeons at UT Southwestern Medical Center.

3 Aug 2009

Friendship influences eating behavior, particularly when friends are overweight

A new study of childhood obesity in the United States has found that some social factors, such as the presence of friends, may put overweight youths at greater risk of overeating.

3 Aug 2009

Regular yoga practice associated with mindful eating

Regular yoga practice is associated with mindful eating, and people who eat mindfully are less likely to be obese, according to a study led by researchers at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.

3 Aug 2009

After-school programs are an important contributor to children's physical activity

Children's after-school activities often consist of sedentary behavior such as watching television, but after-school programs that offer physical activity and healthy snacks could be the best place for children's health.

3 Aug 2009

AFP examines debate over H1N1 spending, resource allocation

There is concern that as developed countries store away antivirals, face masks and vaccines to protect against the H1N1 (swine) flu virus, poor countries are being left empty handed. "Some critics say the spending is so imbalanced that it amounts to health apartheid, protecting rich countries against H1N1 but leaving poor nations to fend for themselves," the news service writes, adding, "Others argue gargantuan sums are being spent on a disease that is no more lethal than seasonal flu, which is grotesquely disproportionate when thousands die each day of less media-friendly diseases."

3 Aug 2009

Tiny device to 'sniff out' disease, heart attacks, poison and environmental pollution

Like the sensitive seismographs that can pick up tremors of impending earthquakes long before they strike, a similar invention from Tel Aviv University researchers may change the face of molecular biology.

3 Aug 2009

Tanzania drug audit; WFP might suspend flights; acute HIV; HIV/AIDS in China

Global Fund audit reveals expired, missing drugs in Tanzania, funding shortfall may ground some WFP flights transporting aid workers, UNAIDS China Coordinator reflects on HIV/AIDS in China present, future.

3 Aug 2009

Nigeria, UNICEF launch first national child health week

UNICEF Executive Director Ann Veneman, who visited Nigeria to launch the country's first ever National Child Health Week, said an unacceptably high number of children in the country are dying from preventable diseases, and she called on Nigerian government officials to provide integrated healthcare, Xinhua reports (8/3).

3 Aug 2009

Washington Post examines health toll of Congo conflict

The Washington Post examines the devastating toll the conflict in the Congo has had on the health of the country's displaced civilians, as told through the death of a 36-year-old farmer, who succumbed to typhoid fever far away from the home he abandoned.

3 Aug 2009

Neural correlates of impaired cognitive-behavioral flexibility in anorexia nervosa

Anorexic patients drastically reduce food intake and are often not capable of changing their behavior. This can lead to life-threatening weight loss. Using MRI technology, scientists at Heidelberg University Hospital have discovered for the first time processes in brain metabolism that explain this disturbed eating behavior.

3 Aug 2009

Hillary Clinton embarks on African tour

"U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton heads this week on a seven-nation tour of Africa aiming to prove U.S. commitment to the continent after the administration's early focus elsewhere," AFP/ABS-CBN News reports.

3 Aug 2009

FDA approves Avastin plus interferon-alfa for people with metastatic renal cell carcinoma

Genentech, Inc. today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Avastin (bevacizumab) plus interferon-alfa for people with metastatic renal cell carcinoma, the most common type of kidney cancer. According to the American Cancer Society, kidney cancer is the eighth most commonly diagnosed cancer in the United States. In 2009, approximately 13,000 Americans will die from the disease.

3 Aug 2009

US FDA approves Lipsovir for cold sores

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has now approved Lipsovir, i.e. granted Medivir's New Drug Application (NDA) for the use of acyclovir and hydrocortisone for early treatment of recurrent cold sores to decreases the risk of cold sores, and to shorten the healing time for those cold sores which are not prevented.

3 Aug 2009

FDA approves Invega Sustenna for schizophrenia

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved Invega Sustenna (paliperidone palmitate) extended-release injectable suspension for the acute and maintenance treatment of schizophrenia in adults.

2 Aug 2009

FDA approves Onglyza (saxagliptin) for type 2 diabetes

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved Onglyza (saxagliptin), a once-daily tablet to treat Type 2 diabetes in adults. The medication is intended to be used with diet and exercise to control high blood sugar levels.

2 Aug 2009

Tarceva shown to extend survival in advanced non-small cell lung cancer when used after initial chemo

OSI Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has announced further results from the Phase III SATURN study showing that Tarceva® (erlotinib) extended the survival of patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) when used as single agent, maintenance therapy in patients who did not progress following first-line treatment with platinum-based chemotherapy.

2 Aug 2009

U.S. spending on alternative therapies has increased 25 percent in last decade

"While Americans may complain about the high cost of health care, they're still willing to shell out roughly $34 billion a year out-of-pocket on alternative therapies that aren't covered by insurance, a new study shows," USA Today reports.

31 Jul 2009

Common food additive lecithin may help control blood lipids and reduce disease risk

Scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have identified a substance in the liver that helps process fat and glucose. That substance is a component of the common food additive lecithin, and researchers speculate it may one day be possible to use lecithin products to control blood lipids and reduce risk for diabetes, hypertension or cardiovascular disease using treatments delivered in food rather than medication.

31 Jul 2009