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Concentric Medical announces treatment of first stroke patient with Merci Retriever

Concentric Medical, Inc., the global leader in devices for clot removal in acute ischemic stroke patients, today announced the treatment of the first patient in Japan with the Merci Retriever. The Merci Retriever is a catheter-based medical device that stroke centers use to remove blood clots from the brains of patients suffering an acute ischemic stroke.

21 Jul 2010

First Edition: July 21, 2010

Today's headlines include news regarding specific examples of what could happen at the state level if Congress doesn't extend enhanced federal Medicaid funding.

21 Jul 2010

First hospital in U.S. to use portable heart/lung machine

The Methodist Hospital is the first in the U.S. to use a portable heart/lung machine to move critically ill patients easily and safely to different areas of the hospital for medical tests or from outlying hospitals to the medical center for specialized treatment. Recently approved for use in the U.S. by the FDA, the device has been used in Europe since 2008 with excellent results.

21 Jul 2010

Study: Americans with stand-alone vision insurance plans more likely to receive annual eye examination

According to a new study conducted for the National Association of Vision Care Plans by an independent research firm, health care consumers who participate in full service, stand-alone vision insurance plans are two times (33.3 percent) more likely to receive an annual comprehensive eye examination than those consumers that have vision care coverage "bundled" with their major medical plan (16.3 percent).

21 Jul 2010

Study finds sepsis 10 times more common and lethal than heart attacks, blood clots

New research from The Methodist Hospital in Houston shows that sepsis is 10 times more common and more lethal than other more well-known surgical complications including heart attacks and blood clots. These results, published today in the Archives of General Surgery, show a greater need for sepsis awareness and early recognition during and after surgery.

21 Jul 2010

ATLIS 2010 shows gap in patient-physician dialogue that may negatively impact patients' quality of life

Results from the landmark AIDS Treatment for Life International Survey, a multi-country survey of more than 2,000 people living with HIV/AIDS, revealed a significant gap in patient-physician dialogue about critical health-related conditions that may negatively impact patients' overall long-term health, quality of life, and treatment outcomes.

21 Jul 2010

Major turning point in antiepileptic drug testing, development

New York University researchers revealed that data from previously completed withdrawal to monotherapy studies for antiepileptic drugs provide a valid control for future studies, obviating the need for placebo/pseudo-placebo trials to demonstrate the efficacy of these drugs as monotherapy. Results of this study are now available online in Epilepsia, a journal published by Wiley-Blackwell on behalf of the International League Against Epilepsy.

21 Jul 2010

UMDNJ identifies direct link between phthalates in plastics and inflammation in newborns

Researchers at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ) have identified a direct link between phthalates, the substances that make plastics more pliable and durable, and inflammation in newborns - and are encouraging more limited use of the plasticizers. Their paper, "Inflammatory Effects of Phthalates in Neonatal Neutrophils," appears in the August 2010 edition of the journal Pediatric Research.

21 Jul 2010

Depressive symptoms in patients with HCV infection overlooked

Researchers from Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Finland (the NORDynamIC project group) have observed that depressive symptoms in patients with hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection are commonly overlooked in routine clinical interviews, and that treatment-induced depression compromises the outcome of HCV therapy. A second U.S. study found that patients with chronic infection had lower (work) productivity and incurred higher medical benefit costs than those without HCV.

21 Jul 2010

Scientists identify key genes for Silk Road disease

Scientists have identified key genes responsible for a severe inflammatory disease that has spread along the old silk trading routes from the Far East to the edge of Europe.University of Manchester researchers, working as part of a large international consortium, have revealed some of the genetic mutations that lead to Behçet's disease. The group's findings are published in Nature Genetics.

21 Jul 2010

La Jolla Institute forms partnership to investigate potential new therapy for sickle cell disease

Researchers from the La Jolla Institute for Allergy & Immunology have joined forces with the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston and Washington University in St. Louis to investigate a potential new therapy for sickle cell disease, a severe and chronic illness affecting more than 70,000 Americans and several million people worldwide.

21 Jul 2010

University of Texas scientist creates promising HIV vaccine candidate

The Abzyme Research Foundation announces today that Dr. Sudhir Paul, a scientist at University of Texas Houston Medical School, has identified an important immunological deficiency in HIV-infected patients and has created a promising HIV vaccine candidate that rectifies the deficiency. The discoveries were presented on July 19th and 20th, 2010 at the XVII International AIDS Society Conference in Vienna, Austria.

21 Jul 2010

Endovenous laser treatment can painlessly remove varicose, spider veins

Up until approximately a decade ago, vein stripping was the only means of eradicating unsightly varicose veins. This method involved making an incision in the leg, and using a hooked wire to pull the affected vein out of the body. The invasiveness of vein stripping often resulted in an overnight hospital stay and considerable restriction of physical activity for up to a month. However, since the laser surgery method first became FDA approved ten years ago, it has come a long way in allowing for more convenient, painless and rapid removal of problematic veins. One particular organization, the Renaissance Laser and Vein Institute, has become a beacon of successful laser treatment for phlebitis sufferers in Los Angeles and Southern California.

21 Jul 2010

Genentech disappointed with FDA ODAC's recommendation against Avastin

Genentech, Inc., a member of the Roche Group, announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee (ODAC) voted 12 to one that use of Avastin® (bevacizumab) in combination with paclitaxel for previously untreated (first-line) advanced HER2-negative breast cancer be removed from Avastin's U.S. label.

21 Jul 2010

Polyfluoroalkyl chemicals linked to ADHD in children

A new study led by a team of Boston University School of Public Health researchers suggests a link between polyfluoroalkyl chemicals (PFCs), industrial compounds which are widely used in many consumer products, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in children.

21 Jul 2010

Natural, needle-free vaccination against malaria

If mice are administered an antibiotic for three days and are simultaneously infected with malaria, no parasites appear in the blood and life-threatening disease is averted. In addition, the animals treated in this manner also develop robust, long-term immunity against subsequent infections. This discovery was made by the team headed by Dr. Steffen Borrmann from the Department of Infectious Diseases at Heidelberg University Hospital in cooperation with Dr. Kai Matuschewski of the Max Planck Institute for Infection Biology in Berlin. The scientists think that safe and affordable prophylaxis with antibiotics in residents of areas with high malaria transmission has the potential to be used as a natural "needle-free" vaccination against malaria.

21 Jul 2010

CHLA receives $410,000 grant for 'first in childhood leukemia' multi-site study

J. Eric Bubbers, PhD, of the Saban Research Institute at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles, has received a $410,000 grant from Phase One Foundation. The award will fund a "first in childhood leukemia" multi-site study in children with relapsed or refractory acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL) or acute myelogenous leukemia (AML). Dr. Bubbers is the administrative director of Therapeutic Advances in Childhood Leukemia and Lymphoma (TACL), an academic research consortium consisting of 33 member institutions in four countries.

21 Jul 2010

GCSF administration can reduce side effects of cancer neurobastoma in children

Children given a hormone growth factor alongside chemotherapy for the aggressive cancer neuroblastoma are less likely to suffer a potentially deadly side-effect, according to a major international study published today (Tuesday) in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.

21 Jul 2010

HIV – Rising menace

Nevirapine is considered to be an effective drug that can prevent HIV infection in babies born to mothers with HIV. However a new study shows that only about half of babies born to mothers with HIV receive the drug. The study appeared in the July 21 HIV/AIDS themed issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

20 Jul 2010

ARUP announces new version of Septin 9 methylated DNA test

ARUP Laboratories, a leading national clinical and anatomic pathology reference laboratory and a leader in innovative laboratory research and development, today announced it is offering the Septin 9 methylated DNA test, a new blood-based colorectal cancer screening method. While ARUP is not the first laboratory to offer this test, this new version, developed and validated independently by ARUP, is clinically proven to detect a higher proportion of colorectal cancers than Septin 9 tests developed by other companies.

20 Jul 2010