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Aspirin reduces the risk of breast cancer

According to a new British report, taking drugs such as Aspirin can reduce the risk of breast cancer by as much as 20 percent.

10 Mar 2008

Risks of long-term hormone therapy continue to outweigh benefits

New results from the Women's Health Initiative (WHI) confirm that the health risks of long-term use of combination (estrogen plus progestin) hormone therapy in healthy, postmenopausal women persist even a few years after stopping the drugs and clearly outweigh the benefits.

6 Mar 2008

Curing cancer with natural products - a case for shamans and herb women?

Not at all, for many chemotherapies to fight cancer applied in modern medicine are natural products or were developed on the basis of natural substances. Thus, taxanes used in prostate and breast cancer treatment are made from yew trees. The popular periwinkle plant, which grows along the ground of many front yards, is the source of vinca alkaloids that are effective, for example, against malignant lymphomas. The modern anti-cancer drugs topotecan and irinotecan are derived from a constituent of the Chinese Happy Tree.

6 Mar 2008

Researchers discover molecular pathway in blood vessels that controls blood pressure and vascular function

University of Iowa researchers have identified a molecular pathway in blood vessels that controls blood pressure and vascular function and may help explain why certain drugs for type II diabetes also appear to lower patients' blood pressure.

6 Mar 2008

New potential drug target for atherosclerosis

A nuclear receptor protein, known for controlling the ability of cells to burn fat, also exerts powerful anti-inflammatory effects in arteries, suppressing atherosclerosis in mice prone to developing the harmful plaques, according to new research by scientists at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies and the Harvard School of Public Health.

6 Mar 2008

Folic acid consumption before and during pregnancy

Taking a folic acid pill a day — a simple measure to prevent severe birth defects — is under-promoted in the media, under-recommended by health care providers and underused by women of childbearing age, according to a new review of studies.

6 Mar 2008

Rimonabant weight-loss drug might fight alcoholic fatty liver

The cannabinoid receptors best known for delivering the psychological effects of marijuana also explain the connection between chronic alcohol use and a buildup of fat in the liver, according to a report in the March issue of Cell Metabolism, a publication of Cell Press.

6 Mar 2008

Cancer risk slightly higher for women in discontinued hormone treatment trial

A follow up study of participants in the Women's Health Initiative (WHI) clinical trial led by a University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill researcher has found that women who were taking the combined hormone therapy of estrogen plus progestin may have an increased risk of cancer since the intervention was stopped, compared to participants in the trial's placebo group.

6 Mar 2008

Arsenic aids tumor imaging when joined to cancer-homing drug

Arsenic linked to a drug that binds to the blood vessels of cancerous tumors provides a powerful imaging agent that could one day allow physicians to detect hard-to-find tumors and more closely monitor cancer's response to therapy, researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have found.

6 Mar 2008

Biomagnets could be used to destroy cancer

Researchers in the UK have developed a method to strengthen bacteria-produced magnets or biomagnets that can be guided to tumours and destroy cancer cells.

5 Mar 2008

Watery pools in bone marrow key to psoriatic arthritic damage

Researchers have learned more about how a leading drug prevents certain types of arthritis from eating away at bone, according to a study published in the March edition of the Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases.

4 Mar 2008

Experimental cancer drug MI-219 promising in preclinical studies

Researchers have long searched for a novel cancer drug that activates a certain protein to kill tumor cells.

4 Mar 2008

Cell proteins could offer a future drug target against weight gain

Two cell proteins that relax the gut and help accommodate a big meal have been identified by UCL (University College London) scientists.

4 Mar 2008

Cause of depression and anxiety unknown not chemical

The theory that depression is caused by a chemical imbalance is often presented in the media as fact even though there is little scientific evidence to support it, according to a new study co-authored by a Florida State University visiting lecturer.

4 Mar 2008

Researchers working to curb impulsivity in children with ADHD

Central Michigan University researchers are one step closer to helping children with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder improve their self-control.

4 Mar 2008

Abuse of prescription medications linked to drug abuse among college students

College students who take frequently abused medications without a prescription appear to have a higher risk for drug abuse than those who use such therapies for medical reasons, according to a report in the March issue of Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

4 Mar 2008

Guidelines for von Willebrand disease diagnosis and management

The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) of the National Institutes of Health today issued the first clinical guidelines in the United States for the diagnosis and management of von Willebrand Disease (VWD), the most common inherited bleeding disorder.

4 Mar 2008

Genetic variations increase risk of anxiety disorders

Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) researchers - in collaboration with scientists at the University of California at San Diego and Yale University - have discovered perhaps the strongest evidence yet linking variation in a particular gene with anxiety-related traits.

4 Mar 2008

FDA approves Aloxi injection for prevention of postoperative nausea and vomiting

Eisai Corporation of North America, its U.S. subsidiary, MGI PHARMA, INC., and Helsinn Healthcare SA today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Aloxi (palonosetron hydrochloride) injection for the prevention of postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV) for up to 24 hours following surgery.

4 Mar 2008