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Penn Medicine-developed drug gets FDA orphan status for PNH treatment

A Penn Medicine-developed drug has received orphan status from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) this month for the treatment of paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria (PNH), a rare, life-threatening disease that causes anemia due to destruction of red blood cells and thrombosis.

28 Oct 2014

UCLA earns Get With The Guidelines-Stroke Gold-Plus Quality Achievement Award

he UCLA Comprehensive Stroke Center at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center has received the Get With The Guidelines-Stroke Gold-Plus Quality Achievement Award for implementing specific quality improvement measures outlined by the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association for the treatment of stroke patients.

28 Oct 2014

Generic aromatase inhibitors increase breast cancer treatment adherence by 50%

Although oral hormonal therapy is known to substantially reduce breast cancer recurrence in women with hormone receptor-positive tumors, about one-half of patients fail to take their medications as directed. A new study by Columbia University Medical Center researchers has found that the introduction of generic aromatase inhibitors (the most common type of hormone therapy), which are considerably less expensive than their brand name counterparts, increased treatment adherence by 50 percent.

28 Oct 2014

Research breakthroughs may pave way for new drugs to fight against parasitic worm infections

Recent breakthroughs may pave the way for vaccines and new drugs for those infected by parasitic helminths. These flatworms, including tapeworms that cause hydatid diseases and neurocysticercosis, liver flukes, and blood flukes (schistosomes), infect more than 300 million people and cause approximately four million disability-adjusted life years lost due to chronic illness and death each year.

28 Oct 2014

Influential colleagues convince doctors to try new therapies

Doctors are more likely to try a new therapy when they are persuaded to do so by an influential colleague, reports a new Northwestern University study whose findings on adopting innovations also have relevance for business, education and research.

28 Oct 2014

Ugandans lack knowledge about stroke

A study published in the journal International Scholarly Research Notices Stroke found that overall knowledge about stroke in Uganda was poor, although knowing what to do for a stroke – go to the hospital – was good.

28 Oct 2014

CHOP, Temple University to jointly investigate new methods for eradicating HIV

The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and Temple University have received a joint $4.3 million, four-year grant from the National Institute of Mental Health to investigate new methods to eradicate HIV that lurks in brain cells despite conventional antiviral treatments.

28 Oct 2014

Lowering 'bad' cholesterol may help prevent aortic valve disease, study finds

An international research team led by the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre and Lund University has provided new evidence that aortic valve disease may be preventable.

28 Oct 2014

New model of primary care could improve health of patients with type 2 diabetes

A new model of delivering primary care studied by Keck Medicine of the University of Southern California researchers has the potential to improve the health of patients with type 2 diabetes.

28 Oct 2014

New research suggests that TEM5 protein may be a good target for cancer therapy

Do blood vessels that feed tumors differ from other blood vessels? Fourteen years ago, experiments designed to answer that question led to the discovery of several genes that are more active in tumor-associated blood vessels than in normal blood vessels. New research now reveals the normal function of one of those genes and suggests it could be a good target for anticancer drug therapy.

28 Oct 2014

Covidien unveils new version of superDimension Navigation System software for diagnosis of lung cancer

Further underscoring its ongoing commitment to lung health, Covidien today unveiled a next-generation version of its superDimension™ Navigation System software. The updated software features a more intuitive interface that helps reduce time spent by physicians planning the procedure and enhances the visualization of the airways of the lung.

28 Oct 2014

Clementia initiates Phase 2 extension study of palovarotene in FOP patients

Clementia Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced today the initiation of a Phase 2 extension study of palovarotene in patients with fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva (FOP), a rare, severely disabling genetic disease characterized by painful, recurrent episodes of soft tissue swelling (flare-ups) and new abnormal bone formation.

27 Oct 2014

EMA's CHMP adopts final opinion on ARIAD Pharmaceuticals' Iclusig (ponatinib)

ARIAD Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced that the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use of the European Medicines Agency has adopted its final opinion on Iclusig (ponatinib) following the recommendations made by the Pharmacovigilance Risk Assessment Committee earlier this month.

27 Oct 2014

Working under hot sun causes health problems for sugarcane harvesters

Hard work under hot sun causes health problems for sugar cane workers in Costa Rica, such as headache, nausea, and renal dysfunction. The presence of symptoms is also expected to increase in line with ongoing climate changes, according to a dissertation from Umeå University.

27 Oct 2014

Two Ugandan medical librarians receive award for reporting on health information activities in Africa

Two medical librarians from Uganda, Dr Alison Kinengyere and Ms Glorias Asiimwe, respectively Chair and Secretary of UG-AHILA, (the local country chapter of the Association for Health Information and Libraries in Africa) yesterday received a prestigious award for their report on health information activities in their country.

27 Oct 2014

Understanding of genomic landscape of thyroid cancer

A new comprehensive analysis of thyroid cancer from The Cancer Genome Atlas Research Network has identified markers of aggressive tumors, which could allow for better targeting of appropriate treatments to individual patients.

27 Oct 2014

Researchers receive EPSRC grant to develop real-time diagnostic technique for dementia

A research team from Plymouth University, together with colleagues from Swansea University, has received funding of £1M from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council to develop an innovative, real-time diagnostic technique for dementia using wonder-material graphene.

27 Oct 2014

Engineered cells reveal changes associated with learning, memory and reward

Scientists have created cells with fluorescent dyes that change color in response to specific neurochemicals. By implanting these cells into living mammalian brains, they have shown how neurochemical signaling changes as a food reward drives learning, they report in Nature Methods online October 26.

27 Oct 2014

Digoxin drug may be adaptable for ALS treatment, study suggests

Digoxin, a medication used in the treatment of heart failure, may be adaptable for the treatment of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a progressive, paralyzing disease, suggests new research at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

27 Oct 2014

Study sheds light on why we remember some things and not others

Why do we remember some things and not others? In a unique imaging study, two Northwestern University researchers have discovered how neurons in the brain might allow some experiences to be remembered while others are forgotten. It turns out, if you want to remember something about your environment, you better involve your dendrites.

27 Oct 2014