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FDA approves Omnaris, new hay fever drug

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has announced the approval of Omnaris (ciclesonide) nasal spray, a new drug for the treatment of nasal symptoms associated with seasonal and perennial allergic rhinitis, commonly known as hay fever, in adults and children 12 years of age and older.

23 Oct 2006

Functionalization of individual ultra-short single-walled carbon nanotubes

While most research aimed at developing carbon nanotubes as tumor-targeting drug and imaging agent delivery vehicles has focused on full-length nanotubes, Lon Wilson, Ph.D., and his colleagues at Rice University have been working with ultra-short nanotubes that cells appear to take up more efficiently than their longer counterparts.

23 Oct 2006

Genomic test decides which drug is best for cancers

Scientists at Duke University, North Carolina have developed a panel of tests which are able to analyze a cancerous tumor and then decide which chemotherapy will most efficiently attack the cancer.

23 Oct 2006

Zimbabwean Government to Delay enrollment of additional HIV-positive people in drug treatment program

The Zimbabwean government has announced that it will postpone enrolling additional HIV-positive people to its antiretroviral treatment program following reports that its drug supply could run out by December, PlusNews reports.

22 Oct 2006

Clinton Foundation trains HIV-positive people in Lesotho to assist medical workers

The Clinton Foundation's HIV/AIDS Initiative has trained 10 HIV-positive people in Lesotho to help doctors, nurses and pharmacists cope with treating people with HIV/AIDS in a country with a severe shortage of health workers, South Africa's Independent Online reports.

22 Oct 2006

Scientists discover how brain turns on system designed to protect nerve cells from toxic "free radicals"

Scientists at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute report they have found how the brain turns on a system designed to protect its nerve cells from toxic "free radicals," a waste product of cell metabolism that has been implicated in some degenerative brain diseases, heart attacks, strokes, cancer, and aging.

20 Oct 2006

CCR5 receptor discovery could help fight against tuberculosis, HIV

A key aspect of how the body kicks the immune system into action against tuberculosis is revealed in research published today.

20 Oct 2006

Gene called Kibra plays an important role in memory

Researchers at the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen) have announced the discovery of a gene that plays a significant role in memory performance in humans.

20 Oct 2006

Important first step towards designing new therapies for shingles

A team of scientists at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), one of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), has identified a human protein that helps varicella-zoster virus, the cause of chickenpox and shingles, spread from cell to cell within the body.

20 Oct 2006

Researchers discover new method of mapping how bacteria spread within the body

Researchers at the University of Cambridge have discovered a new, more accurate, method of mapping how bacteria spread within the body, a breakthrough that could lead to more effective treatments and prevention of certain bacterial infections.

20 Oct 2006

New Purdue biochip may speed drug development

Purdue University researchers have developed a biochip that measures the electrical activities of cells and is capable of obtaining 60 times more data in just one reading than is possible with current technology.

20 Oct 2006

Antiretroviral drug discounts should be extended for countries classified as 'middle-income'

Pricing antiretroviral drugs and other "lifesaving" medications based on a country's gross national income per capita "seems particularly arbitrary -- and even cruel" -- given that HIV-positive people often have incomes "well below what might be considered a country's 'average' income," Jorge Saavedra Lopez.

19 Oct 2006

Fight against HIV/AIDS in Africa should focus more on blood safety

A renewed focus on unsafe blood transfusions and used syringes is needed to combat the spread of HIV in sub-Saharan Africa, Ambassador Mark Dybul -- who serves as the U.S. global AIDS coordinator and administers the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief -- said on Wednesday during a visit to Zambia, Reuters reports.

19 Oct 2006

Africa's HIV/AIDS epidemic could fuel deaths from XDR-TB

Africa's HIV/AIDS epidemic could fuel deaths from XDR-TB -- tuberculosis that is resistant to first- and second-line drugs -- which has resulted in the deaths of least 74 people in South Africa since January 2005, World Health Organization officials said on Tuesday, Reuters reports (McGregor, Reuters, 10/17).

19 Oct 2006

HIV in China spreading beyond high-risk groups

HIV in China has spread beyond high-risk groups -- such as injection drug users, commercial sex workers and men who have sex with men -- a senior health official said recently, Reuters reports (Lyn, Reuters, 10/17).

19 Oct 2006

New treatment option gives hope to victims of head and neck cancers

More than 640,000 people worldwide are diagnosed with head and neck cancer each year, and more than 350,000 die from the disease annually.

19 Oct 2006

Adverse drug events means 700,000 end up in emergency departments

According to a recently released study every year, as many as 700,000 people end up in hospital emergency departments because they experience an adverse drug effect, and 117,000 of those have to be hospitalized.

19 Oct 2006

Benefits of breast cancer screening questionable

Danish researchers are claiming that the benefits of breast cancer screening are questionable and that mammograms can lead to women being given unnecessary and harmful treatment.

18 Oct 2006

FDA approves Taxotere for head and neck cancers

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) today approved Taxotere (docetaxel) Injection Concentrate for use in combination with cisplatin and fluorouracil prior to radiotherapy for the treatment of patients with inoperable, locally advanced squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (SCCHN).

18 Oct 2006

700,000 adverse drug events in the U.S. each year lead to ER visits

Each year, an estimated 700,000 persons experience adverse drug events that lead to emergency department visits, according to a study in the October 18 issue of JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association.

17 Oct 2006