Blood News and Research

RSS

HIV testing remains important amid push for expanded treatment in Africa

"With a needle puncture on your finger and a drop of blood, the magic of modern science can give you a rapid HIV test in seconds, and so, knowing your status, you are better able to negotiate the rocky road of surviving HIV where timely detection is key," Farai Sevenzo, a columnist and filmmaker, writes in this BBC News opinion piece, part of a series from African journalists.

16 Dec 2011

Patients need less blood after surgery than is widely thought

Patients need less blood after surgery than is widely thought. A new study comparing two plans for giving blood transfusions following surgery showed no ill effects from postponing transfusion until patients develop signs of anemia or their hemoglobin concentration falls below 8 g/dL.

16 Dec 2011

Gates Foundation, Grand Challenges to develop new diagnostics for tropical diseases

Grand Challenges Canada and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation have teamed up on an unprecedented global effort to discover and develop affordable, easy-to-use tools to help developing country health workers rapidly diagnose diseases in rural communities. The expected result: more timely and appropriate treatment of illnesses in poor countries, potentially saving countless lives.

16 Dec 2011

Study unveils mechanisms behind neurological effects of penitrem A

The mould fungus Penicillium crustosum occurs relatively frequently in food and animal fodder stored in temperate conditions. This mould produces powerful neurotoxins, for example penitrem A, which causes symptoms that are difficult to distinguish from those of other neurological diseases.

16 Dec 2011

Evidence-based interventions to reduce newborn and maternal mortality

Some 56 evidence-based interventions will sharply reduce the 358,000 women who still die each year during pregnancy and childbirth and the 7.6 million children who die before the age of 5, according to a massive three-year global study.

16 Dec 2011

Cancer-causing potential of fetal exposure to carcinogens can vary substantially

The cancer-causing potential of fetal exposure to carcinogens can vary substantially, a recent study suggests, causing different types of problems much later in life depending on the stage of pregnancy when the fetus is exposed.

16 Dec 2011

Scientists discover gene that causes Weaver syndrome

Scientists have found a gene that causes Weaver syndrome, a rare genetic disorder that typically causes large size at birth, tall stature, developmental delay during childhood, and intellectual disability.

16 Dec 2011

Critical Diagnostics receives FDA clearance for Presage ST2 Assay

Critical Diagnostics, a U.S.-based biomarker company focused on cardiovascular diseases, announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has cleared the company's Presage ST2 Assay for use as an aid in assessing the prognosis of patients diagnosed with chronic heart failure.

16 Dec 2011

Scientists uncover critical genetic mutation in patients with MDS

Scientists have uncovered a critical genetic mutation in some patients with myelodysplastic syndromes - a group of blood cancers that can progress to a fatal form of leukemia.

16 Dec 2011

Study evaluates use of leukocyte and platelet-rich fibrin biomaterial in heart patients

Cardiac patients that take anticoagulant medications and need a tooth extraction face an increased risk of bleeding that must be addressed by the treating clinician. Therefore, a protocol for heart patients is needed that will avoid significant bleeding after dental extractions without suspending anticoagulant therapy.

15 Dec 2011

Lab results change in consistent ways during the course of Kawasaki disease

Children with Kawasaki disease show a pattern of changing laboratory test results as the disease runs its course, according to a study in the December issue of The Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal.

15 Dec 2011

More than half of older patients with anemia do not need transfusions after hip surgery

More than half of the older, anemic patients in a New England Journal of Medicine study did not need blood transfusions as they recovered from hip surgery, according to new research co-authored by University of Maryland School of Medicine scientists.

15 Dec 2011

Cereblon protein now holds hope in fight against multiple myeloma

Research on the same protein that was a primary mediator of the birth defects caused by thalidomide now holds hope in the battle against multiple myeloma, say Mayo Clinic researchers who presented results of several clinical trials at the 53nd annual meeting of the American Society of Hematology Dec. 10-13 in San Diego.

15 Dec 2011

Simple online calculator can tackle pancreatic and bowel cancer

A simple online calculator could offer family GPs a powerful new tool in tackling two of the most deadly forms of cancer, say researchers.

15 Dec 2011

First mobile safety lab for South African patients with AIDS and TB

The first mobile safety laboratory to operate under Biosafety Level 3 has been in use in South Africa since May 2011. As development of the Fraunhofer Institute for Biomedical Engineering in St. Ingbert, this special truck is used for testing and advising patients with AIDS and tuberculosis. The mobile laboratory can save patients' lives in remote areas because it cuts the waiting time between diagnosis and the start of treatment to just one day.

15 Dec 2011

M. pneumoniae CARDS toxin plays a critical role in asthma

Five years ago, microbiologists at The University of Texas Health Science Center San Antonio discovered the toxin produced by a common respiratory bacterial pathogen, Mycoplasma pneumoniae. Joel Baseman, Ph.D., who led the discovery, said at the time that the toxin's presence in humans could be causing as many as 40 percent of all asthma cases.

15 Dec 2011

First Total Artificial Heart implant performed at NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia

Surgeons at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center performed the first Total Artificial Heart implant in the New York City area to replace a patient's dying heart.

15 Dec 2011

Half of all stillbirths result from pregnancy disorders, placental conditions

Half of all stillbirths result from pregnancy disorders and conditions affecting the placenta, according to results reported by a National Institutes of Health research network established to find the causes of stillbirth as well as ways to prevent or reduce its occurrence.

15 Dec 2011

Isis announces addition of three new drug development candidates

Isis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced today that it has added three new drugs to its development pipeline, ISIS-APOARx, ISIS-DGAT2Rx and ISIS-FVIIRx.

15 Dec 2011

Fast Forward, Lineagen to fund clinical development and validation of blood-based assay for MS

Lineagen, Inc., an innovative molecular diagnostics company focused on complex, genetically linked disorders, and Fast Forward, LLC, a nonprofit subsidiary of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, today announced an alliance to fund the clinical development and validation of a blood-based assay for multiple sclerosis.

15 Dec 2011