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Removing barriers to the distribution of life-saving vaccines

Barriers to the distribution of life saving vaccines in low income countries can and should be overcome, say experts in this week's issue of the BMJ.

4 Apr 2008

Healthcare providers who discuss intimate piercings earn patients' trust

On April 2, 2008, UC San Diego Medical Center-Hillcrest celebrated the opening of an expanded Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) designed for the 24-hour specialized care of premature infants and newborns with complications.

4 Apr 2008

Enzyme complex could be key to new cancer treatments

Penn State scientists are the first to observe in living cells a key step in the creation of adenine and guanine, two of the four building blocks that comprise DNA.

4 Apr 2008

New nano-engineered gel inhibits for spinal cord injury

A spinal cord injury often leads to permanent paralysis and loss of sensation below the site of the injury because the damaged nerve fibers can't regenerate.

3 Apr 2008

Fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography to help determine whether cognitive impairment will lead to Alzheimer's

With nearly 10 million baby boomers at risk for developing Alzheimer's disease, researchers are taking a closer look at a condition known as mild cognitive impairment.

3 Apr 2008

New insight into the menopause

Insight into why females of some species undergo menopause while others do not has proven elusive despite an understanding of the biological mechanisms behind the change.

1 Apr 2008

New genetic clues to diabetes

An international team that included scientists from the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), today reported it has identified six more genetic variants involved in type 2 diabetes, boosting to 16 the total number of genetic risk factors associated with increased risk of the disease.

1 Apr 2008

Disappointing resuts for pimecrolimus, investigational anti-restenosis drug

A new medication that researchers had hoped would reduce the risk of arterial renarrowing after stenting has turned in a disappointing performance in a multicenter clinical trial, but the multi-reservoir stent that was used to deliver the drug is still considered promising.

1 Apr 2008

Study shows Actos prevented progression of atherosclerotic plaque volume in patients

New data from a clinical trial using intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) technology found that in patients living with type 2 diabetes, ACTOS (pioglitazone HCl) reduced the atherosclerotic burden in the coronary arteries compared to glimepiride, and prevented progression compared to baseline.

1 Apr 2008

New genetic clues to diabetes

31 Mar 2008

Virtual telemicroscope awarded patent

After nearly ten years of research and development, scientists at SUNY Downstate Medical Center in Brooklyn and Peking University in Beijing were awarded a United States patent for their virtual telemicroscope.

31 Mar 2008

New method for cancer screening

Ongoing research at Missouri University of Science and Technology has uncovered a new method for the early detection of cancer with the potential to save millions of lives.

31 Mar 2008

University of Kentucky physician revolutionizes gene research

A dramatic new study published in the most recent issue of Nature questions some of the mechanisms underlying a new class of drugs based on Nobel Prize-winning work designed to fight diseases ranging from macular degeneration to diabetes.

28 Mar 2008

Researchers urge ethics guidelines for human-genome research

A global team of legal, scientific and ethics experts have put forward eight key recommendations to establish much needed guidelines for conducting human-genome sequencing research.

28 Mar 2008

FDA makes recommendations on medical devices that treat blocked heart arteries

U.S. Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Andrew C. von Eschenbach has announced that the agency has issued draft guidelines to aid the development, testing and manufacture of coronary drug-eluting stents, devices used to treat blocked heart arteries.

28 Mar 2008

Dental chair a possible source of neurotoxic mercury waste

Mercury is a large component of dental fillings, but it is not believed to pose immediate health risks in that form.

28 Mar 2008

Anticancer siRNA therapy advances, thanks to nanoparticles

Small pieces of nucleic acid, known as siRNAs (short interfering RNAs), can turn off the production of specific proteins, a property that makes them one of the more promising new classes of anticancer drugs in development. Indeed, at least two siRNA-based anticancer therapies, both delivered to tumors in nanoparticles, have begun human clinical trials. Now, three new reports highlight the progress that researchers are making in developing broadly applicable, nanoparticle-enabled siRNA anticancer therapeutics.

28 Mar 2008

Astrotechnology brings nanoparticle probes into sharper focus

While pondering the challenges of distinguishing one nanosize probe image from another in a mass of hundreds or thousands of nanoprobes, two investigators at Emory University and the Georgia Institute of Technology made an interesting observation. The tiny, clustered dots of light looked a lot like a starry sky on a clear night.

27 Mar 2008

Spit in a cup to replace needle pricks

One day soon patients may spit in a cup, instead of bracing for a needle prick, when being tested for cancer, heart disease or diabetes.

26 Mar 2008

U.S will have a severe shortage of nurses soon

The United States health care system needs to brace for a severe shortage of nurses, according to findings by Peter Buerhaus, Ph.D., of Vanderbilt University School of Nursing, Douglas Staiger, Ph.D., from Dartmouth University, and David Auerbach, Ph.D., of the Congressional Budget Office.

26 Mar 2008