Blood News and Research

RSS

Safer bone marrow transplants

If a team of American scientists are right, bone marrow transplants may become safer and more available to people in need of donations. In a new research paper appearing in the February 2010 print edition of the Journal of Leukocyte Biology (http://www.jleukbio.org), they explain how an anti-inflammatory agent called "ATL146e" may significantly improve the likelihood of success for bone marrow transplants by preventing or halting the progression of graft-versus-host disease, a complication of bone marrow transplants in which the donor marrow attacks the host. Although very rare, graft-versus-host disease can also occur after blood transfusions.

2 Feb 2010

Minimally invasive living donor liver retrieval for pediatric transplant

NewYork-Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital is the only medical center in the United States to offer minimally invasive liver donation for pediatric transplantation. Surgeons use a laparoscopic technique to remove a section of liver from a living donor for implantation in a pediatric patient -- typically a parent donating to their child. The innovative approach promises dramatically improved recovery for the donor.

2 Feb 2010

Decreased release of neurotransmitter acetylcholine contributes to heart failure

Scientists at the Robarts Research Institute at The University of Western Ontario, working in collaboration with researchers in Brazil, have used a unique genetically-modified mouse line to reveal a previously unidentified mechanism contributing to heart failure.

2 Feb 2010

Cardiac catheterization: A groundbreaking tool in the field of cardiology

Cardiac catheterizations have been a groundbreaking tool in the field of cardiology. This procedure offers a minimally invasive means for obtaining important information about the heart and its blood vessels, while also providing a less invasive treatment for certain heart conditions.

2 Feb 2010

Tubing-Free Insulin Pump System improves glycemic control in diabetic patients

Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences and The Endocrine Group researchers have concluded that the OmniPod® Insulin Management System significantly improved blood glucose control in diabetes patients who previously received insulin through multiple daily injections. The retrospective study results were published in the latest issue of Infusystems USA, in a study titled, 'Clinical Experience with a Tubing-Free Insulin Pump System.'

2 Feb 2010

Findings could lead to new therapeutic strategies for obesity

Peptides that target blood vessels in fat and cause them to go into programmed cell death (termed apoptosis) could become a model for future weight-loss therapies, say University of Cincinnati (UC) researchers.

2 Feb 2010

Cardiac arrest sudden death: The seven warning signs

As Americans look to keep their fitness resolutions and increase their physical activity, Dr. Bing Liem, cardiologist and electrophysiologist at El Camino Hospital in Mountain View, Calif., is hoping to raise awareness of a critical but rare heart condition: congenital malformations of the heart or vascular system, which is to blame for the majority of sudden cardiac deaths in athletes under the age of 40.

2 Feb 2010

New therapeutic made from tobacco plants shown to arrest West Nile virus infection

A new therapeutic made from tobacco plants has been shown to arrest West Nile virus infection, according to a new study by Arizona State University scientist Qiang Chen and his colleagues.

2 Feb 2010

President's fiscal year 2011 budget: FDA requests $4.03 billion for promoting and protecting public health

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is requesting $4.03 billion to promote and protect public health as part of the President's fiscal year 2011 budget - a 23 percent increase over the agency's current $3.28 billion budget.

2 Feb 2010

ADT can worsen heart risk factors and may increase the risk of heart attack

Androgen-deprivation therapy (ADT), commonly used to treat prostate cancer, can worsen heart risk factors and may increase the risk of heart attack and/or cardiac death, although the relationship between ADT and heart attack or cardiac death has not been definitively established, according to a science advisory published in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association and CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians.

2 Feb 2010

Loyola surgeon performs complicated laparoscopic procedure

Mild cases of diverticulitis can be treated with changes in diet, rest and antibiotics. However, Bunch's condition was more serious and the chances of recurrences were high. Her doctors at Loyola University Health System said her best option would be surgery to remove the inflamed section of colon.

2 Feb 2010

Scientists develop potential new treatment against ovarian cancer

Scientists at Georgia Tech and the Ovarian Cancer Institute have further developed a potential new treatment against cancer that uses magnetic nanoparticles to attach to cancer cells, removing them from the body.

2 Feb 2010

GMC designated as NMDP collection site to collect bone marrow from willing donors

Geisinger Medical Center (GMC) was recently designated a National Marrow Donation Program (NMDP) collection site, becoming the only site in the region to collect bone marrow or blood stem cells from willing donors.

2 Feb 2010

NYBC urges people to donate blood

New York Blood Center (NYBC), serving New York City, Long Island, the Hudson Valley, and New Jersey, calls upon people of diverse backgrounds to please donate blood. The need for blood is constant.

2 Feb 2010

Positive results from Phosphagenics' TPM Phase 1B clinical study for transdermal delivery of oxycodone

Phosphagenics Limited today announced positive results from a Phase 1B clinical study using the Company’s patented TPM™ (Targeted Penetration Matrix) for the transdermal delivery of oxycodone. The results of the successful trial demonstrate that daily application of a TPM™ patch delivers therapeutic levels of oxycodone into the blood stream in a reproducible, consistent and sustained manner.

2 Feb 2010

FDA and PATH collaborate to advance pneumococcal vaccine development for children

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) today announced a collaboration with PATH to advance development of a vaccine to protect children against diseases caused by Streptococcus pneumoniae (pneumococcus), especially pneumonia.

2 Feb 2010

Memory loss or decline in thinking abilities may indicate higher risk of stroke

People who experience memory loss or a decline in their thinking abilities may be at higher risk of stroke, regardless of whether they have been diagnosed with dementia, according to a new study published in the February 2, 2010, print issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

2 Feb 2010

MSU scientist discovers the process that causes retinal cells to die

Scientists have long known that high blood sugar levels from diabetes damage blood vessels in the eye, but they didn't know why or how. Now a Michigan State University scientist has discovered the process that causes retinal cells to die, which could lead to new treatments that halt the damage.

2 Feb 2010

FDA approves neurostimulation treatment for heart failure

The FDA recently approved the first study of neurostimulation as a treatment for heart failure, a chronic disease that affects nearly six million Americans and is the leading cause of hospitalization in America.

2 Feb 2010

Study could help in developing therapeutic strategies for Chikungunya virus infection

A study published online on February 1 in the Journal of Experimental Medicine (www.jem.org) shows that antiviral proteins called type I interferons (IFNs) are needed to fend off infection with an exotic mosquito-borne virus called Chikungunya virus.

2 Feb 2010