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Gilenya can reduce risk of disability progression in patients with RRMS

A new analysis demonstrated that Gilenya reduced the risk of disability progression in patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis, regardless of treatment history. This analysis of the phase III two-year FREEDOMS study is one of 11 abstracts on Gilenya being presented at the 63rd annual meeting of the American Academy of Neurology.

11 Apr 2011

Scientists identify new treatment to combat PFAPA syndrome in children

A preliminary study conducted by a team at the National Institutes of Health has identified a promising new treatment in children for the most common form of a rare disorder.

11 Apr 2011

Investigational drug effective for patients with obesity

An investigational combination of drugs already approved to treat obesity, migraine and epilepsy produced up to a 10 percent weight loss in obese individuals participating in a one-year clinical trial, according to researchers at Duke University Medical Center.

11 Apr 2011

New nonviral method to create cardiac cells

Johns Hopkins scientists have developed a simplified, cheaper, all-purpose method they say can be used by scientists around the globe to more safely turn blood cells into heart cells. The method is virus-free and produces heart cells that beat with nearly 100 percent efficiency, they claim.

11 Apr 2011

Louisville Chief of Cardiovascular Medicine earns APS' Walter B. Cannon Award

Heart failure affects roughly six million Americans, yet treatment consists of either a heart transplant or the insertion of mechanical devices that assist the heart. This is unacceptable to Roberto Bolli, MD, Chief of the Division of Cardiovascular Medicine at the University of Louisville in Louisville, Ky., which is why he is on a mission to make cardiac stem cell treatment an option for all who must cope with the limitations of a failing heart.

11 Apr 2011

New dengue test receives FDA marketing clearance

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today allowed marketing of the first test to help diagnose people with signs and symptoms of dengue fever or dengue hemorrhagic fever, a leading cause of illness and death in the tropics and subtropics.

11 Apr 2011

NCI, ASH, AMEH join to improve care for patients with AML

A workshop being held today will serve as the launch of a unique project that unites the American Society of Hematology, the Agrupaci-n Mexicana para el Estudio de la Hematolog-a, and the National Cancer Institute in pursuit of a common goal: improving the care of patients with acute myeloid leukemia.

11 Apr 2011

Opinions: Budget talks, foreign aid; making drugs more accessible to poor

"If the federal government shuts down at midnight on Friday - which seems likely unless negotiations take a sudden turn toward rationality - it will not be because of disagreements over spending. It will be because Republicans are refusing to budge on these ideological demands," argues a New York Times editorial, highlighting issues such as "foreign aid to countries that might use the money for abortion or family planning ... aid to the United Nations Population Fund, which supports family-planning services."

11 Apr 2011

New weight loss pill - combination of two existing drugs

According to the latest research on obesity treatments there is now a new weapon in the battle for weight loss. It combines two existing drugs that have resulted in twice as much weight loss as the only approved long-term anti-obesity medication.

10 Apr 2011

Malaria diagnosis made easy with smart phone app

Malaria kills nearly 1 million children a year, mostly in developing countries with little infrastructure and few resources. For the 9th Imagine Cup 2011 - a student contest sponsored by Microsoft, student entrants were asked to “imagine a world where technology helps solve the toughest problems.” Tristan Gibeau 25, a graduate computer engineering student at the University of Central Florida in Orlando and his team developed an ‘app’, LifeLens, to detect malaria.

10 Apr 2011

Increased levels of plasma renin activity protein may predict major cardiovascular event in high-risk patients

Increased levels of a protein that helps regulate the body's blood pressure may also predict a major cardiovascular event in high-risk patients, according to a study led by St. Michael's Hospital's cardiovascular surgeon Subodh Verma. Measuring the amount of the protein, known as plasma renin activity (PRA), in the blood stream may give doctors another tool to assess a patient's risk and help prevent a heart attack or stroke.

8 Apr 2011

Key regulator of fat cell development may provide a target for obesity and diabetes drugs

New research by scientists at The Scripps Research Institute and collaborating institutions has identified a key regulator of fat cell development that may provide a target for obesity and diabetes drugs.

8 Apr 2011

Seventh Sense Biosystems receives Edison Gold Medal Award for Touch Activated Phlebotomy technology

Seventh Sense Biosystems, Inc., an early stage, venture-backed company developing a new generation of health diagnostics products, announced today that its Touch Activated Phlebotomy™ (TAP) technology has received the Gold Medal Award from The Edison Awards™ in the Science and Medicine - Diagnostic Aids Segment. These annual awards recognize innovation, creativity and ingenuity.

8 Apr 2011

Amgen acquires Bergamo, expands operations in Brazil

Amgen, the world's largest biotechnology company, announced today the expansion of its operations in Brazil, including the acquisition of Bergamo, a privately-held Brazilian pharmaceutical company.

8 Apr 2011

FluCide nanoviricide drug reduces overall leukocytes in lung tissue of influenza model

NanoViricides, Inc. reports that post-infection treatment with its optimized FluCide drug candidates resulted in significant reduction in lung tissue presence of leukocytes, and in particular, that of eosinophils in a lethal influenza infection animal model.

8 Apr 2011

Experimental Biology 2011 to be held April 9-13 in Washington, D.C.

The meeting Experimental Biology 2011 (EB 2011) begins April 9 and runs through April 13 at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, D.C.

8 Apr 2011

Two new studies on Veterans Affairs health care system

As recently as the 1990s, the Veterans Affairs health care system had a subpar reputation for quality, but two new studies of standard quality metrics, both led by Amal Trivedi, assistant professor of community health at Brown University and a physician at the Providence VA Medical Center, show that the system that cares for more than 5 million patients has improved markedly in the last decade.

8 Apr 2011

T2 Biosystems' technology platform demonstrates ability to detect Candida organisms in whole blood samples

T2 Biosystems, Inc., a company developing next-generation diagnostic products, presented data today on the rapid and sensitive detection of five species of the fungal infection Candida at the Annual Meeting of the Mycoses Study Group in Philadelphia, PA.

8 Apr 2011

People with red eyes are considered sad, unhealthy and less attractive

Beauty is said to be in the eye of the beholder, but a new study reveals that the reverse is also true; unattractiveness is in the eye of the beheld. Research published in Ethology finds that people with bloodshot eyes are considered sadder, unhealthier and less attractive than people whose eye whites are untinted, a cue which is uniquely human.

8 Apr 2011

Loyola's HARRT program enhances emergency angioplasty times

The availability of an in-house, around-the-clock interventional cardiology team dramatically decreases the time it takes to restore blood flow to heart attack patients, according to data presented this week.

8 Apr 2011