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Oral afatinib significantly improves progression-free survival in patients with head and neck cancer

The tyrosine kinase inhibitor afatinib significantly improved progression-free survival compared to methotrexate in patients with recurrent or metastatic squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck after failure of platinum-based chemotherapy, the results of a phase III trial show.

29 Sep 2014

Northwestern scientists develop first animal model for ALS dementia

The first animal model for ALS dementia, a form of ALS that also damages the brain, has been developed by Northwestern Medicine- scientists. The advance will allow researchers to directly see the brains of living mice, under anesthesia, at the microscopic level. This will allow direct monitoring of test drugs to determine if they work.

25 Sep 2014

Understanding ways to treat, cure eosinophilic gastritis

Investigators at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center have published the first study to extensively characterize eosinophilic gastritis (EG).

24 Sep 2014

RT alone effective in decreasing dysphagia in patients with advanced esophageal cancer

Radiation therapy (RT) alone is as effective in decreasing swallowing complications experienced by advanced esophageal cancer patients as RT combined with chemotherapy, thus allowing patients to forgo chemotherapy, according to research presented today at the American Society for Radiation Oncology's 56th Annual Meeting.

16 Sep 2014

Vaccine for Chagas disease expected to be available within the next three years

The medical development has been tested in animal models, where it was observed that the disease stopped in 80 percent of cases; physicians expect similar results from a human control group.

29 Aug 2014

Efforts to prevent prescription drug misuse among adults need to consider peers, not peer pressure

Current efforts to prevent prescription drug misuse among young adults need to consider peers - but not peer pressure - according to a Purdue University study.

18 Aug 2014

New therapeutic strategy to combat common genetic risk factor for ALS, FTD

A team of researchers at Mayo Clinic and The Scripps Research Institute in Florida have developed a new therapeutic strategy to combat the most common genetic risk factor for the neurodegenerative disorders amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS or Lou Gehrig's disease) and frontotemporal dementia (FTD).

15 Aug 2014

Researchers examine why older adults are at risk for malnutrition

More than half of older adults who visit emergency departments are either malnourished or at risk for malnutrition, but not because of lack of access to health care, critical illness or dementia.

13 Aug 2014

Scientists use nanowires to monitor and influence cellular activity

No longer just fantastical fodder for sci-fi buffs, cyborg technology is bringing us tangible progress toward real-life electronic skin, prosthetics and ultraflexible circuits.

12 Aug 2014

Idera collaborates with TMA to advance new potential treatment approach for myositis

Idera Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company developing nucleic acid therapeutics for patients with cancer and rare diseases, and The Myositis Association (TMA), the only nonprofit organization dedicated to solely serving all patients with inflammatory myopathies, today announced a collaboration to advance a new potential treatment approach for polymyositis and dermatomyositis known as Toll-like receptor (TLR) antagonism.

7 Aug 2014

Children's favorite foods can pose choking hazards

Most parents never dream that their children's favorite foods can pose choking hazards. It happened to Landon Jones when he was 15 months old. He was walking around eating a handful of nuts when a cashew became lodged in his bronchi (wind passage to his lung) causing wheezing and coughing.

30 Jul 2014

Researchers confirm for the first time that achalasia is autoimmune in origin

Achalasia is a rare disease - it affects 1 in 100,000 people - characterized by a loss of nerve cells in the esophageal wall.

29 Jul 2014

Study: Dietary elimination is successful method of treatment for adults with EoE

Dietary elimination is a successful method of treatment for adults with eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE), according to a new study1 in Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology, the official clinical practice journal of the American Gastroenterological Association.

21 Jul 2014

Scientists identify genes that may help predict steroid responsiveness in people with EoE

Results from a clinical trial show that high doses of the corticosteroid fluticasone propionate safely and effectively induce remission in many people with eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE), a chronic inflammatory disease of the esophagus characterized by high levels of white blood cells called eosinophils.

19 Jul 2014

New research opens up potential new therapeutic targets for hard-to-treat food allergy

New research in Nature Genetics identifies a novel genetic and molecular pathway in the esophagus that causes eosinophillic esophagitis (EoE), opening up potential new therapeutic strategies for an enigmatic and hard-to-treat food allergy.

14 Jul 2014

LINX Reflux Management System safe for patients suffering from GERD, shows new data

Torax Medical today announced the release of new data from two leading U.S. medical centers that further establishes the LINX Reflux Management System as a safe and effective procedure for patients suffering from gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD).

1 Jul 2014

Fireworks, public transportation, construction sites can induce hearing loss

Summer sounds include much more than crickets chirping. Outdoor concerts, parades, 4th of July fireworks, public transportation and construction sites all have one thing in common.

19 Jun 2014

GPM Pediatrics physician addresses potential health risks in kiddie pools

Michael Gabriel of GPM Pediatrics, a Brooklyn Pediatric Center, discusses an article posted on JC Online that discusses the potential health risks that lurk in kiddie pools.

12 Jun 2014

CSIC researchers use TGD technique to visualize sensory perception of ice cream

Changes in coldness, creaminess or texture that we experience in the mouth while we are eating an ice cream can be visualised on a screen using coloured curves.

5 Jun 2014

Discontinuing statins in patients with advanced illnesses improves quality of life

People in the late stages of cancer and other terminal illnesses are not only unharmed by discontinuing statins for cholesterol management, they may benefit, according to a study presented Friday by researchers at Duke Medicine representing a national research network.

31 May 2014