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Doctors more reluctant to start their patients on insulin

Doctors are more reluctant to start their patients on insulin than the patients are themselves, according to a new study led by researchers at St. Michael's Hospital.

3 Apr 2012

Moderate caloric intake may reduce risk of obesity in low-birth weight offspring

Babies who are born small have a tendency to put on weight during childhood and adolescence if allowed free access to calories. However, a new animal model study at UCLA found when small babies were placed on a diet of moderately regulated calories during infancy, the propensity of becoming obese decreased.

3 Apr 2012

NutraGene introduces first ever commercial type 2 diabetes genetic test

With the launch of the country's first ever commercial genetic test for type 2 diabetes, Indians will now have access to clinically relevant and cost effective genetic risk assessment services. NutraGene, a Delhi based genomics company that launched the tests believes that its type 2 diabetes genetic test will provide physicians an effective tool in assessing the risk of diabetes in the Indian population and will help in implementing personalized prevention and management strategies.

3 Apr 2012

Transgenic mice to visualize metastasis and inflammation

One of the major routes of tumor cell dissemination to form metastasis at distant organs in the body is the lymphatic system. To study this process, still poorly understood, and to gain information on which tumors prefer this route for dissemination and how to block it, researchers of the Spanish National Cancer Research Center, led by researcher Sagrario Ortega, have created transgenic mice in which, for the first time, the growth of the lymphatic vessels can be visualized in the whole animal, by a light-emitting reaction, as tumor progresses and forms metastasis.

3 Apr 2012

Researchers discover regulation and functional significance of acute phase response during pneumonia

Researchers at Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) have discovered the regulation and functional significance of the acute phase response during a lung infection. The findings, which will be published in the May edition of the Journal of Clinical Investigation, demonstrate that the liver responds in order to increase defenses in the blood that prevent localized infections from spreading throughout the body.

3 Apr 2012

Underage female drinkers at increased risk of fatal car crashes

Underage female drinkers have been at a growing risk of fatal car crashes in recent years -- so much that they've caught up with their male counterparts, according to a study in the May issue of the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs.

3 Apr 2012

Positive outcome from AiCuris’ Letermovir phase 2b trial on HCMV infections

AiCuris announced today that data on the positive outcome of Letermovir (AIC246) tested in a phase 2b trial in transplant patients will be disclosed at several international meetings on behalf of the AIC246 study team.

3 Apr 2012

Scientists discover new serine protease: NSP4

Neutrophil granulocytes comprise important defences for the immune system. When pathogenic bacteria penetrate the body, they are the first on the scene to mobilise other immune cells via signal molecules, thereby containing the risk. To this end, they release serine proteases - enzymes that cut up other proteins to activate signal molecules. Scientists at the Max Planck Institute of Neurobiology in Martinsried have now discovered a new serine protease: neutrophil serine protease 4, or NSP4.

3 Apr 2012

AFMR to honor Einstein clinical scientist with Outstanding Investigator Award

Meredith Hawkins, M.D., professor of medicine and director of the Global Diabetes Initiative at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University, will receive the American Federation for Medical Research's (AFMR) highest honor for medical research, the Outstanding Investigator Award.

3 Apr 2012

FDA clears Fenwal's TPE on the Amicus separator

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has cleared Fenwal to market a therapeutic plasma exchange protocol for the company's Amicus separator, Fenwal announced today.

3 Apr 2012

Fizzy drinks may raise risk of heart disease later in life

About 2,000 12-year-olds took part in the investigation by the University's Westmead Millennium Institute for Medical Research. The scientists found that the children who drank one or more soft drinks each day had narrower arteries in the back of their eyes - a factor associated with increased risk of heart disease and high blood pressure. It is the first study to show that soft drinks and carbohydrates in childhood are linked to narrower retinal vessels.

2 Apr 2012

Blood test for early detection of Alzheimer’s disease

Soon researchers may be able to detect signs of Alzheimer's disease before symptoms appear by a simple blood test. Currently, biological tests to diagnose Alzheimer's use invasive and costly procedures including brain imaging and spinal punctures.

2 Apr 2012

Successful aneurysm treatment may not improve quality of life

Patients with unruptured brain aneurysms have significant reductions in several areas of quality of life—especially physical functioning, reports a study in the April issue of Neurosurgery, official journal of the Congress of Neurological Surgeons. The journal is published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, a part of Wolters Kluwer Health.

2 Apr 2012

Targeting inflammatory pathways may lead to new therapies

Scientists at Fox Chase Cancer Center have uncovered more details about how defects in components of the machinery that makes new proteins can lead to blood and other cancers.

2 Apr 2012

Blocking PRC2 protein may help protect against AML

Scientists at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory have identified a candidate drug target for treating acute myeloid leukemia, a white blood cell cancer that proliferates out of control in the bone marrow.

2 Apr 2012

Leicester Kidney Exercise Team shortlisted for BMJ award

A team of researchers from the University of Leicester, Leicester's Hospitals and the University of Loughborough are in the running for a prestigious medical award.

2 Apr 2012

ACAAI/AAAAI publish position statement in support of ATS guideline on Aerocrine's FeNO test

Aerocrine AB announces that a nine-member council representing both prestigious asthma societies, the American Academy and the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (ACAAI and AAAAI), have published a position statement in support of the clinical practice guideline on Aerocrine's FeNO test as published by the ATS.

2 Apr 2012

Therakos introduces Lighting Up Lives campaign for patients with immune diseases

Therakos, Inc., a pioneer in the development of an innovative immune modulation therapy called extracorporeal photopheresis (ECP), today launched Lighting Up Lives, a 25-year anniversary campaign and year-long global initiative that honours the lives of patients with serious immune diseases impacted by ECP, as well as the healthcare professionals, caregivers and treatment centres that support them every step of the way.

2 Apr 2012

Allowing the heart to rest can reverse structural changes in myocytes after heart failure

Structural changes in heart muscle cells after heart failure can be reversed by allowing the heart to rest, according to research at Imperial College London. Findings from a study in rats published today in the European Journal of Heart Failure show that the condition's effects on heart muscle cells are not permanent, as has generally been thought. The discovery could open the door to new treatment strategies.

2 Apr 2012

RNA binding motif protein 20 regulates titin splicing

Cardiomyopathy comprises a deterioration of the heart muscle that affects the organ's ability to efficiently pump blood through the body. Previously researchers have tied forms of the disease to the alternative splicing of titin, a giant protein that determines the structure and biomechanical properties of the heart, but the molecular mechanism remained unknown.

2 Apr 2012