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FDA identifies promising steps to enhance safety of CT scans

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has been investigating reports that patients undergoing computed tomography (CT) brain perfusion scans were accidently exposed to excess radiation. The FDA found that when properly used, the CT scanners did not malfunction. Instead, it is likely that the improper use of the scanners resulted in these overdoses. However, the FDA has identified a series or promising steps to enhance the safety of these procedures. These steps could reduce the likelihood of radiation overexposure in the event of improper use of the CT scanners.

11 Nov 2010

German Genetic Diagnostics Act in need of amendment

Many aspects of the German Genetic Diagnostics Act (Gendiagnostikgesetz) are out of touch with the latest technology, almost impossible to implement in clinical practice, or even detrimental to the success of recognised screening tests, such as newborn screening. The Act, which came into force in February 2010, is in desperate need of amendment.

11 Nov 2010

Bed rest may not delay preterm births, says Frances Payne professor

Despite lack of evidence about bed rest's effectiveness, doctors annually prescribe it for roughly 1 million pregnant women to delay preterm births.

11 Nov 2010

New findings suggest serotonin may have anti-diabetic property

New findings by researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center suggest that serotonin a brain chemical known to help regulate emotion, mood and sleep might also have anti-diabetic properties.

11 Nov 2010

Portugal research groups awarded Gates Foundation grants

Two research groups in Portugal are to receive Grand Challenges Exploration Grants from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. One of these research teams is led by Miguel Prud-ncio, at the Instituto de Medicina Molecular (IMM), and the other by Miguel Soares, at the Instituto Gulbenkian de Ci-ncia (IGC) together with Henrique Silveira, at the Instituto de Higiene e Medicina Tropical (IHMT).

11 Nov 2010

New approach to sneak nerve-protective drug erythropoietin into blood-brain barrier

Scientists are reporting development of a long-sought method with the potential for getting medication through a biological barrier that surrounds the brain, where it may limit the brain damage caused by stroke. Their approach for sneaking the nerve-protective drug erythropoietin into the brain is medicine's version of the Trojan Horse ploy straight out of ancient Greek legend.

11 Nov 2010

Recommendations for safe and effective testing of artificial pancreas systems in real-life settings

Diabetes experts at a meeting convened by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) took the next step in advancing efforts toward the development of an artificial pancreas: putting forth clinical recommendations to ensure the safe and effective testing of artificial pancreas technology in real-life situations.

11 Nov 2010

Resistance exercise may promote better cardiovascular health

Resistance exercise (such as lifting weights) produces a different pattern of blood vessel responses than aerobic exercise, suggesting that it may have specific and important benefits for cardiovascular health, according to a study in the November issue of The Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, official research journal of the National Strength and Conditioning Association.

11 Nov 2010

NJIT expert to discuss history of sickle cell disease at NIH symposium

The history of sickle cell disease in the 20th century and its link to race is the focus of a Nov. 16, 2010 talk at a national symposium by NJIT Associate Professor Stephen Pemberton, PhD, an expert on the history of diseases. Pemberton will speak and join a panel discussion at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Bethesda, 100th anniversary symposium commemorating the discovery of sickle cell disease by Chicago physician James B. Herrick.

11 Nov 2010

ESC emphasizes simple measures for diabetic patients to slow-down CVD progression

Diabetics can face a five times increase in the risk of developing cardiovascular disease (CVD) than non-diabetics. This leads to a seven to ten year reduction in life expectancy and a higher probability of suffering a fatal heart attack. These sad statistics have prompted the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) to mark World Diabetes Day on 14 November 2010 by emphasising the simple measures that diabetes patients should adopt to slow-down the progression of CVD and greatly improve their quality of life.

11 Nov 2010

Cyclacel announces publication of sapacitabine in British Journal of Cancer

Cyclacel Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company developing oral therapies that target the various phases of cell cycle control for the treatment of cancer and other serious diseases, announced today publication of data demonstrating that its sapacitabine oral nucleoside analog works synergistically with histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitors to induce significant reductions in tumor cell growth in both in vitro and in vivo preclinical models.

11 Nov 2010

High cholesterol in midlife does not increase risk for Alzheimer's disease among women

High cholesterol levels in middle age do not appear to increase women's risk of developing Alzheimer's disease and other forms of dementia later in life, new Johns Hopkins-led research finds, despite a body of scientific evidence long suggesting a link between the two.

11 Nov 2010

Alnylam Pharmaceuticals presents ALN-VSP Phase I data for liver cancer at Chemotherapy Foundation Symposium

Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a leading RNAi therapeutics company, today presented additional interim data from its ongoing Phase I trial with ALN-VSP, a systemically delivered RNAi therapeutic for the treatment of advanced solid tumors with liver involvement. The data were presented at the Chemotherapy Foundation Symposium being held in New York City.

11 Nov 2010

Dana-Farber lends iPads to cancer patients to help them pass the time in clinic

Andrea Casella comes to Dana-Farber Cancer Institute every week for chemotherapy to treat her lung cancer. It's a full day. Recognizing that patients can spend hours in the clinic for treatment and tests, Dana-Farber has started lending iPads to patients like Casella to help them pass the time.

11 Nov 2010

Mother's poor nutrition during pregnancy affects offspring's ability to process medications

New research has found that a mother's poor nutrition during pregnancy and nursing can cause problems for her offspring's ability to process medications, even well into adulthood.

11 Nov 2010

New study sheds light on Immune Reconstitution Inflammatory Syndrome

Newly published research by scientists at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, part of the National Institutes of Health, sheds light on a poorly understood, acute illness called Immune Reconstitution Inflammatory Syndrome (IRIS) that develops in some HIV-infected individuals soon after they begin antiretroviral therapy.

11 Nov 2010

Scientists identify new way to drive dendritic cells from blood monocytes

Dendritic cells, known to be the prime movers of the body's immune response, are still notoriously difficult to study in humans. Samples, which come primarily from bone marrow or lymphoid tissue, are simply too difficult to obtain. But new research at Rockefeller University has shown scientists a way to study "authentic" dendritic cells from mouse monocytes, which are abundant in the blood, a much more accessible source in humans.

11 Nov 2010

Combination of antiviral drugs outperforms single-drug therapy in children with hepatitis C

Children with hepatitis C fare decidedly better with a supercharged combination of two antiviral drugs than with the usual and standard single-drug regimen, according to research led by investigators at the Johns Hopkins Children Center.

11 Nov 2010

Exhausted neurons die prematurely and trigger disease symptoms

We all know that living a stressful lifestyle can take its toll, making us age faster and making us more susceptible to the cold going around the office.

11 Nov 2010

Childhood asthma risk linked with prenatal paracetamol exposure depends on antioxidant genes in mother

Evidence suggesting that the risk of childhood asthma associated with prenatal paracetamol exposure may depend on antioxidant genes in the mother has been found by a team of UK scientists. The results of their study - which strengthens the argument for a causal link between paracetamol exposure in early life and later childhood asthma - are published online (10 November) in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology.

11 Nov 2010

Blood News and Research

FDA identifies promising steps to enhance safety of CT scans

German Genetic Diagnostics Act in need of amendment

Bed rest may not delay preterm births, says Frances Payne professor

New findings suggest serotonin may have anti-diabetic property

Portugal research groups awarded Gates Foundation grants

New approach to sneak nerve-protective drug erythropoietin into blood-brain barrier

Recommendations for safe and effective testing of artificial pancreas systems in real-life settings

Resistance exercise may promote better cardiovascular health

NJIT expert to discuss history of sickle cell disease at NIH symposium

ESC emphasizes simple measures for diabetic patients to slow-down CVD progression

Cyclacel announces publication of sapacitabine in British Journal of Cancer

High cholesterol in midlife does not increase risk for Alzheimer's disease among women

Alnylam Pharmaceuticals presents ALN-VSP Phase I data for liver cancer at Chemotherapy Foundation Symposium

Dana-Farber lends iPads to cancer patients to help them pass the time in clinic

Mother's poor nutrition during pregnancy affects offspring's ability to process medications

New study sheds light on Immune Reconstitution Inflammatory Syndrome

Scientists identify new way to drive dendritic cells from blood monocytes

Combination of antiviral drugs outperforms single-drug therapy in children with hepatitis C

Exhausted neurons die prematurely and trigger disease symptoms

Childhood asthma risk linked with prenatal paracetamol exposure depends on antioxidant genes in mother

Bringing real-time analytics to downstream bioprocess monitoring

Designing fluidic architecture for scalable diagnostic platforms

Evaluating new approaches for rare disease genomics

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