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Anti-obesity drug Contrave may get another chance to prove itself

With rise obesity around the world there should have been a number of drugs to combat it. The reality is different. There are no safe and effective drugs in the market at present.

22 Sep 2011

Acetylon initiates ACY-1215 Phase 1-2a clinical trial for multiple myeloma

Acetylon Pharmaceuticals today announced the initiation of patient treatments in a three-part Phase 1-2a clinical trial of ACY-1215, an oral Class II histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitor, in adults with relapsed and relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma.

22 Sep 2011

Critics complain about changes in mental health coverage in Iowa, Ariz.

Under Iowa's new Medicaid rule, psychiatric patients can fill only 15 days' worth of medications at a time. In Arizona, state officials say the mental health system has weathered deep cuts, but advocates see harm from the move.

22 Sep 2011

Virginia G. Piper, TGen and Scottsdale Healthcare begin AP26113 Phase 1 study in NSCLC

Patients at Virginia G. Piper Cancer Center Clinical Trials are the first in the nation to participate in a clinical trial to determine the safety, tolerability and preliminary activity of an investigational drug that targets cell-signaling proteins associated with the most common form of lung cancer, as well as other forms of cancer such as lymphomas and neuroblastoma.

22 Sep 2011

Humour therapy as effective as antipsychotic drugs in managing agitation in dementia patients

Humour therapy is as effective as widely used antipsychotic drugs in managing agitation in patients with dementia - and avoids serious drug side effects, a new study shows.

22 Sep 2011

Molecular pathways could play important role in fight against obesity and diabetes

Researchers at the Joslin Diabetes Center have identified for the first time two molecular pathways that are critical to activating a type of "good" fat found in the body, a discovery that could play an important role in the fight against obesity and diabetes.

22 Sep 2011

Methylphenidate drug may induce arousal from general anesthesia

Administration of the commonly used stimulant drug methylphenidate (Ritalin) was able to speed recovery from general anesthesia in an animal study conducted at Massachusetts General Hospital.

22 Sep 2011

First epidemiological study on the prevention of Alzheimer's disease

Researchers at the Douglas Mental Health University Institute, in Montreal, Quebec, are about to launch the first epidemiological study on the prevention of Alzheimer's disease.

22 Sep 2011

Scientists discover new genetic mutation for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

A team led by scientists from Johns Hopkins and the National Institutes of Health has discovered a new genetic mutation for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and a related disease called frontotemporal dementia (FTD) that appears to account for more than a third of all inherited cases of these diseases.

22 Sep 2011

Ariel Pharmaceuticals in-licenses AP-1531 from BTG for acute migraine attacks

Ariel Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a private, specialty pharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of products for acute central nervous system (CNS) diseases and trauma, announced today that it has in-licensed its lead product, AP-1531, for the treatment of acute migraine attacks, from the specialist healthcare company BTG International Ltd.

22 Sep 2011

Peptide receptor radiolabeled therapy shows promise against neuroendocrine tumors

According to new Dutch research featured in the September issue of The Journal of Nuclear Medicine, a peptide receptor radiolabeled therapy (PRRT), [177Lu-DOTA0,Tyr3]Octreotate (177Lu-octreotate), is effective not only in decreasing tumor size but also in reducing the severity of side effects that often accompany a cancer diagnosis.

22 Sep 2011

Three Johns Hopkins scientists receive NIH Director's New Innovator Awards

A pioneer in the field of epigenetics who has been spearheading the use of genome-wide technology for epigenetics research, a researcher who has revealed a weakness in the tuberculosis bacterium that makes it more susceptible to antibiotics, and a scientist who seeks to revolutionize new methods for toxicological testing to improve human health and reduce animal testing have received Director's Awards from the National Institutes of Health.

22 Sep 2011

NIH to honor IGB faculty member with innovator award

Douglas A. Mitchell, IGB faculty member in the Mining Microbial Genomes for Novel Antibiotics research theme and assistant professor in the Department of Chemistry, is a recipient of the 2011 National Institutes of Health Director's New Innovator Award. The award recognizes bold ideas from some of the nation's most promising new scientists.

22 Sep 2011

Viewpoints: Progressives relish fight for 'shared sacrifice;' Desmond Tutu seeks to renew battle against HIV

To get our books in order, Obama would raise taxes on the rich while gaining savings by ending the wars abroad and reducing Medicare and Medicaid's unnecessarily high payments to drug companies. Republicans rise in defense of tax cuts for the wealthy and insist that deficit reduction come solely from cuts in Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid and other "entitlements." The president stands for shared sacrifice; the Republicans for sheltering the privileged few. Progressives will have no problem standing with the president in this fight.

22 Sep 2011

Test to properly diagnose fever in children needed 'desperately'

"[F]ar too many children in Kenya and other African countries continue to suffer unnecessarily each year due to the misdiagnosis of fever, which contributes to the deaths of nearly three million children of less than five years of age from malaria and pneumonia," Willis Akhwale, head of Kenya's Department of Disease Prevention and Control in the Ministry of Public Health and Sanitation, writes in a Daily Nation opinion piece.

21 Sep 2011

Big monthly premium hikes likely next year for Medicare Rx plans

Although monthly premiums will go down next year for Medicare prescription drug coverage on average, seniors in the most popular plans will see sizable jumps - notably a 14 percent hike for the 4.7 million in United Healthcare's plans, a new study says.

21 Sep 2011

Long-term immunosuppressants improve survival for lupus patients with ESKD

Researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University have shown that close supervision by rheumatologists and the use of immunosuppressant drugs improve the survival of lupus patients with end-stage kidney disease—a finding that could reverse long-standing clinical practice.

21 Sep 2011

New FDA-approved antiviral drugs offer treatment hope for hepatitis C

The Methodist Hospital in Houston is excited to share significant news for patients who need treatment for hepatitis C genotype 1, a viral infection that causes liver inflammation that can lead to diminished liver function or symptoms for liver failure.

21 Sep 2011

Study reveals possible new treatment targets for diffuse intrinsic pontine gliomas

Study led by St. Jude Children's Research Hospital scientists points to possible new treatment targets for diffuse intrinsic pontine gliomas; may tip the scales in the current debate about tumor biopsies.

21 Sep 2011

Positive data from InVivo's biomaterial scaffold implant preclinical study on acute SCI

InVivo Therapeutics Holdings Corp., a company focused on the development of groundbreaking technologies for the treatment of spinal cord injuries (SCI), today announced that in a rodent contusion model of SCI the Company's proprietary biopolymer scaffold showed positive preliminary data that indicate a therapeutic effect.

21 Sep 2011