Blood News and Research

RSS

Enrollment closed early in Cubist Pharmaceuticals' ecallantide Phase 2 program

Cubist Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced the early closing of enrollment in its ecallantide Phase 2 program. Ecallantide, in development as therapy to reduce bleeding in on-pump cardiac surgery, is now known as CB-500,929. After a regularly scheduled review meeting, the Data Safety Monitoring Board (DSMB) contacted the company to recommend a temporary suspension in enrollment in one of the CB-500,929 trials, CONSERV-2.

3 Dec 2009

ARC workers protest that unfair labor practices can endanger donor and blood safety issues

Teamsters who work at American Red Cross (ARC) Blood Services facilities in Philadelphia went on strike this morning to protest unfair labor practices and problems with working conditions at these facilities that could imperil the safety of donors and the integrity of the blood supply, not to mention the wellbeing of employees.

3 Dec 2009

Tripep receives approval to extend ChronVac-C study

Today Tripep (STO:TPEP) received the approval from the Swedish Medical Products Agency and the local ethical committee to give three patients in the highest dose group in the ChronVac-C® study one additional treatment with the therapeutic vaccine.

3 Dec 2009

Financial aspects of cancer treatment reduces compliance

New data being released today by the Association of Oncology Social Work (AOSW) demonstrate the extraordinary financial hardships that often complicate or compromise a patient’s battle against cancer. Sixty-three percent of oncology social workers surveyed said that financial issues reduce patients’ compliance with their cancer treatment – even though that treatment is key to their recovery. Forty percent of patients reported depleting their savings, while almost 30% reported dealing with bill collectors.

3 Dec 2009

Body needs fasting periods to stay healthy

A body that is provided with food too often gets caught up in the maelstrom of a lack of exercise, obesity and ultimately diabetes. The trigger is a molecular switch that is controlled by insulin, a new study by scientists from ETH Zurich has revealed.

3 Dec 2009

Study: Stem cells from donor bone marrow may help repair heart damage

Adult stem cells may help repair heart tissue damaged by heart attack according to the findings of a new study to be published in the December 8 issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. Results from the Phase I study show stem cells from donor bone marrow appear to help heart attack patients recover better by growing new blood vessels to bring more oxygen to the heart

3 Dec 2009

New study suggests e-cigarettes can help alleviate nicotine cravings and improve general health

A groundbreaking new survey into the electronic cigarette, smokers' health and smoking cessation, carried out by NJOY retailers E Cigarette Direct and analysed by tobacco harm reduction scientists, has shown encouraging results.

3 Dec 2009

Smoking cessation efforts attracted mixed results in Ohio's Appalachian region

In the Appalachian region of the country — where smoking rates are high, tobacco is often a cash crop and income and education levels are low — a smoking cessation effort led by non-medical professionals was successful in the short term, but quit rates trailed off in the long term.

3 Dec 2009

Breast Cancer Fund: Congress must enforce BPA ban in food and beverage containers

In the wake of the first evidence that American babies are born contaminated with a plastics chemical linked to birth defects and breast cancer, Congress must act immediately to protect infants and mothers.

3 Dec 2009

Interactive video presentation on corset trunkplasty surgery

Alexander P. Moya, M.D., Director of the Center for Weight Loss Body Contouring and Assistant Director of the Geisinger Center for Aesthetics and Cosmetic Surgery at Geisinger Medical Center (GMC), will deliver an interactive video presentation on his corset trunkplasty surgery in April 2010. This presentation will be made to a group of board-certified plastic surgeons at the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery's annual Aesthetic Meeting in Washington, D.C.

3 Dec 2009

Despite declining smoking rates, U.S. obesity rates continue to rise

If obesity trends continue, the negative effect on the health of the U.S. population will overtake the benefits gained from declining smoking rates, according to a study by U-M and Harvard researchers published today in the New England Journal of Medicine.

3 Dec 2009

Lung disease linked to the use of contaminated well water in a CPAP machine

Many people rely on continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) machines as a safe and effective treatment for sleep apnea. But a new case report describes a rare complication—a lingering inflammatory disease of the lungs, apparently related to the use of contaminated well water in a CPAP machine. The report appears in the December Southern Medical Journal, official journal of the Southern Medical Association.

3 Dec 2009

Study: Affluent people more likely to undergo bowel cancer screening than deprived counterparts

Affluent people are 50 per cent more likely to take part in bowel cancer screening than their deprived counterparts, according to a study published in the British Journal of Cancer (BJC).

3 Dec 2009

Lunasin may have important health benefits, two new studies report

Two new University of Illinois studies report that lunasin, a soy peptide often discarded in the waste streams of soy-processing plants, may have important health benefits that include fighting leukemia and blocking the inflammation that accompanies such chronic health conditions as diabetes, heart disease, and stroke.

3 Dec 2009

NHLBI awards new federal grant to improve the quality of stored transfusion blood

A new, $2.8 million, four-year federal grant will support researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and their collaborators at Wake Forest University as they study why the quality of stored transfusion blood degrades over time and how to address the problem.

3 Dec 2009

NHLBI approves award of 13 contracts to improve asthma control

The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) of the National Institutes of Health has approved the award of 13 contracts to local organizations across the country to develop, implement, and test science-based approaches to improve asthma control using evidence-based national guidelines for diagnosing and managing asthma.

3 Dec 2009

AclarusDx Alzheimer’s test now available as RUO product

ExonHit Therapeutics is pleased to announce that AclarusDx™ Alzheimer’s test (formerly known as EHT Dx21), its blood-based test for the detection of Alzheimer’s disease (AD), is now available as a Research Use Only (RUO) product for pharmaceutical companies and leading academic centers conducting clinical trials in Alzheimer’s disease.

3 Dec 2009

Dementia patients with certain changes in their brain's white matter more likely to be apathetic

Dementia patients with a certain type of changes in their brain's white matter are more likely to be apathetic than those who do not have these changes, reveals a patient study carried out by the Sahlgrenska Academy and Sahlgrenska University Hospital.

3 Dec 2009

Waterpipe tobacco smoking as deadly as cigarette smoking

Smoking tobacco through a waterpipe exposes the user to the same toxicants - carbon monoxide and nicotine - as puffing on a cigarette, which could lead to nicotine addiction and heart disease, according to a study led by a Virginia Commonwealth University researcher published in the December issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.

3 Dec 2009

Research study compares genetic make-up of humans and primates

In spite of their genetic similarity to humans, chimpanzees and great apes have maximum lifespans that rarely exceed 50 years. The difference, explains USC Davis School of Gerontology Professor Caleb Finch, is that as humans evolved genes that enabled them to better adjust to levels of infection and inflammation and to the high cholesterol levels of their meat rich diets.

3 Dec 2009