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Novel prosthetic heart valve developed for treatment of mitral regurgitation

A team of researchers from the National University of Singapore (NUS) has developed a novel prosthetic heart valve, known as VeloX, which can be implanted through a small incision for the treatment of a serious heart valve disorder called mitral regurgitation. This is a condition in which the mitral valve on the left side of the heart does not close properly. The device is particularly beneficial to patients who are of high surgical risk or are unsuitable for existing clinical interventions.

6 Oct 2015

Vaccination against type 1 diabetes may soon be available to young children

A vaccination against type 1 diabetes will soon also be available to young children: the Pre-POINTearly vaccination study will involve children between the ages of six months and two years from across Germany who have a first-degree relative with type 1 diabetes.

6 Oct 2015

New regulations coming for biomedical researchers and social scientists using human subjects

The U.S. federal government is preparing to launch a set of sweeping new regulations that will have a major impact on how biomedical researchers and social scientists work. It will require researchers to change how they get ethics approval, how they collect informed consent from participants, and more.

6 Oct 2015

Anti-coagulant medications quickly resolve blood clots that could impair valve motion

Heart valve replacements made from tissue (bioprosthetic valves) have long been thought to be spared the complication of blood clot formation. Researchers have now found that about 15 percent of all bioprosthetic aortic heart valve patients develop blood clots on the leaflets affecting valve opening, regardless of whether the patient received the new valve via open-heart surgery or a minimally-invasive catheter procedure, a new study from the Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute shows.

6 Oct 2015

Sonic hedgehog gene maintains normal physiological state and repair process of adult lungs

The whimsically named sonic hedgehog gene, best known for controlling embryonic development, also maintains the normal physiological state and repair process of an adult healthy lung, if damaged, according to new research from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania published online this week in Nature in advance of the print edition.

6 Oct 2015

New smartphone-based device can reliably perform molecular diagnoses at low cost

NIBIB-funded researchers at the Massachusetts General Hospital have developed a smartphone-based device that can reliably carry out molecular diagnoses in under an hour for approximately two dollars per patient. The device could enable point-of-care cancer diagnostics in low- to middle-income or remote areas, which often have high rates of mortality from cancer due to missed opportunities for treatment.

6 Oct 2015

Understanding HCV disease progression rates among PWID

The Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is a chronic blood-borne viral infection that affects an estimated 160 million people, or 2-3% of the population world-wide. Alarmingly, chronic HCV infection accounts for one-quarter of the cases of cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). If HCV is left untreated, chronic liver disease will occur in 60-70% of the cases, cirrhosis in 5-20% of the cases, and 1-5% will die from decompensated cirrhosis or HCC.

6 Oct 2015

Georgia State University researcher receives $1.35 million federal grant to study effects of emulsifiers

Andrew Gewirtz, a professor in the Institute for Biomedical Sciences at Georgia State University, has received a four-year, $1.35 million federal grant to study how emulsifiers affect bacteria in the intestinal tract and cause chronic inflammatory diseases in the gut.

6 Oct 2015

Sexual activity causes physiological changes in the body that increase women's chances of getting pregnant

Research from Indiana University has found that sexual activity triggers physiological changes in the body that increase a woman's chances of getting pregnant, even outside the window of ovulation.

6 Oct 2015

Positive emotions may make your heart healthier

People with heart disease may benefit from maintaining positive emotions, according to health researchers. Over the course of five years the researchers tracked more than 1,000 patients with coronary heart disease. Patients who reported higher positive psychological states were more likely to be physically active, sleep better and take their heart medications and were also less likely to smoke, compared to patients with lower levels of positive states.

6 Oct 2015

Researchers design specialized catheter for fixing holes in the heart

Researchers from Boston Children's Hospital, the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University, Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences and the Karp Lab at Brigham and Women's Hospital have jointly designed a specialized catheter for fixing holes in the heart using a biodegradable adhesive and patch.

6 Oct 2015

Overall incidence of serious, highly drug-resistant group of bacteria relatively low in 2012-2013

The overall incidence in 2012-2013 was relatively low of a serious, highly drug-resistant group of bacteria (Carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae [CRE]) that are an important cause for health-care associated infections, according to a study published online by JAMA. Most CRE cases were associated with prior hospitalizations and discharge to long-term care settings.

6 Oct 2015

Novel technique may help women and their oncologists choose options for treating breast cancer

Biomedical engineers have demonstrated a proof-of-principle technique that could give women and their oncologists more personalized information to help them choose options for treating breast cancer.

6 Oct 2015

Targeting protein used by tumors to help detect food supplies could restrict cancerous cells' ability to grow

Oxford University researchers have identified a protein used by tumours to help them detect food supplies. Initial studies show that targeting the protein could restrict cancerous cells' ability to grow.

6 Oct 2015

Algorithm reduces PAH screening costs in systemic sclerosis patients

The Australian Scleroderma Interest Group has derived a screening algorithm for pulmonary arterial hypertension in patients with systemic sclerosis that saves costs by reducing the need for transthoracic echocardiography and right heart catheterisation.

5 Oct 2015

Pitt investigators to lead $15 million federal initiative to manage breathing disorder clinical trials

The University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health and School of Medicine investigators will be leading a $15 million, five-year federal initiative to manage national clinical trials aimed at developing new treatments for breathing disorders.

5 Oct 2015

Insulin sensitivity of main glucose storage sites in the body improve following gastric bypass surgery

Roux-en-Y, the most common type of gastric bypass surgery, can lead to remission of type 2 diabetes along with weight loss. A new study in the American Journal of Physiology—Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology examines why, finding that insulin sensitivity of the main glucose (sugar) storage sites in the body improve after gastric bypass surgery.

5 Oct 2015

Clinical data from spinal muscular atrophy program presented at 20th International WMS Congress

PTC Therapeutics, Inc., today announced that clinical data from the company's joint development program with Roche and the SMA Foundation in spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) were presented at the 20th International Congress of the World Muscle Society (WMS) in Brighton, U.K.

5 Oct 2015

Children with congenital heart disease and ADHD can benefit from stimulant medications

A new study finds that children with congenital heart disease and ADHD can take stimulant medications without fear of significant cardiovascular side effects.

5 Oct 2015

U.S 2nd Annual Obesity Summit: 35 major U.S. health societies see how they can treat obesity

Representatives from 35 major health and medical organizations including, the American Diabetes Association (ADA), American Medical Association (AMA), American Heart Association (AHA), American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS), and American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) convened for a second annual summit in Chicago to identify opportunities for collaboration in treating obesity. “The National Obesity Summit on the Provision of Care for the Obese Patient” was hosted by the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery (ASMBS).

4 Oct 2015

Blood News and Research

Novel prosthetic heart valve developed for treatment of mitral regurgitation

Vaccination against type 1 diabetes may soon be available to young children

New regulations coming for biomedical researchers and social scientists using human subjects

Anti-coagulant medications quickly resolve blood clots that could impair valve motion

Sonic hedgehog gene maintains normal physiological state and repair process of adult lungs

New smartphone-based device can reliably perform molecular diagnoses at low cost

Understanding HCV disease progression rates among PWID

Georgia State University researcher receives $1.35 million federal grant to study effects of emulsifiers

Sexual activity causes physiological changes in the body that increase women's chances of getting pregnant

Positive emotions may make your heart healthier

Researchers design specialized catheter for fixing holes in the heart

Overall incidence of serious, highly drug-resistant group of bacteria relatively low in 2012-2013

Novel technique may help women and their oncologists choose options for treating breast cancer

Targeting protein used by tumors to help detect food supplies could restrict cancerous cells' ability to grow

Algorithm reduces PAH screening costs in systemic sclerosis patients

Pitt investigators to lead $15 million federal initiative to manage breathing disorder clinical trials

Insulin sensitivity of main glucose storage sites in the body improve following gastric bypass surgery

Clinical data from spinal muscular atrophy program presented at 20th International WMS Congress

Children with congenital heart disease and ADHD can benefit from stimulant medications

U.S 2nd Annual Obesity Summit: 35 major U.S. health societies see how they can treat obesity

Improving healthcare sustainability through carbon data

Managing vibration in IVF laboratories

A New Approach to Preventing Bladder Cancer Recurrence

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