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Virtual heart surgery helps plan child's surgery

Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology, collaborating with pediatric cardiologists and surgeons at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, have developed a tool for virtual surgery that allows heart surgeons to view the predicted effects of different surgical approaches.

10 Aug 2009

New hope for sufferers of alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency

Researchers at the University of Massachusetts Medical School and the University of Florida in Gainesville have safely given new, functional genes to patients with a hereditary defect that can lead to fatal lung and liver diseases, according to clinical trial findings slated to appear this week in the online early edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science.

10 Aug 2009

Discovery of gene that may play a role in the development of type 1 diabetes

Scientists at Stanford University have identified a gene that may play a role in the development of type 1 diabetes, an autoimmune disease in which the immune system attacks the body's insulin-producing cells. Insulin, a hormone produced by cells of the pancreas, helps the body to absorb sugars found in food and to maintain blood sugar at appropriate levels.

10 Aug 2009

Discovery of gene linked to maturity-onset diabetes of the young

Researchers at the Joslin Diabetes Center have linked another gene to a rare form of diabetes, a finding that could prove beneficial to those with the more common type 2 diabetes.

10 Aug 2009

Fainting may point to more serious, underlying cardiovascular condition

For those who suffer from fainting spells, the mysterious episodes can be quite scary. Far too often, fainting is chalked up to stress or other mental health issues. However, medical experts at Rush University Medical Center say that reoccurring fainting spells, also known as syncope, could be an important symptom that can point to a more serious, underlying cardiovascular condition.

10 Aug 2009

Ministrokes predict memory problems, strokes predict non-memory problems

Areas of brain damage seen on brain scans and originally thought to be related to stroke may help doctors predict a person’s risk of memory problems in old age, according to research published in the August 11, 2009, print issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

10 Aug 2009

Gtx, Inc. reports Q2 2009 results

GTx, Inc. (Nasdaq: GTXI) today reported financial results for the second quarter of 2009. The net loss for the second quarter and six months ended June 30, 2009 was $11.3 million and $22.6 million, respectively, compared with a net loss of $13.2 million and $26.0 million for the same periods in 2008. At June 30, 2009 GTx had cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments of $68.9 million.

10 Aug 2009

New online tool to help nurses prevent the 10 "Never Events"

Elsevier, a world leader in healthcare and medical publishing and online solutions, today announced the availability of a new online tool within Mosby's Nursing Consult designed to help nurses prevent the 10 "Never Events" identified by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) in an October 2008 fact sheet.

10 Aug 2009

Electronic health records cut cardiac deaths by 73 percent

An innovative program that cut cardiac deaths by 73 percent by linking coronary artery disease patients and teams of pharmacists, nurses, primary care doctors, and cardiologists with an electronic health record also kept the patients healthy two years after they left the program by keeping them in touch with their care givers electronically, according to a randomized study by Kaiser Permanente published in The American Journal of Managed Care this month.

9 Aug 2009

NIH stimulus funding supports Emory - grants to advance research, create jobs, support students

At least 50 research projects so far, supported by more than $10 million in stimulus grants from the National Institutes of Health, are expected to lead to new discoveries at Emory University that will improve medical treatment, create new jobs, and provide additional educational opportunities for students. Emory has received half of all the NIH ARRA grants awarded to Georgia academic institutions thus far.

9 Aug 2009

Defendants in $10.9 million Medicare fraud HIV infusion scheme sentenced to 63 months in prison

Miami physician Keith Russell, 65, and physician's assistant Jorge Luis Pacheco, 50, were each sentenced to 97 months in prison, and physician's assistant Eda Marietta Milanes, 43, was sentenced to 63 months in prison, for their roles in fraud schemes that involved billing Medicare for $10,903,509 worth of unnecessary HIV infusion treatments, Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Criminal Division; Acting U.S. Attorney Jeffrey H. Sloman of the Southern District of Florida; and Daniel R. Levinson, Inspector General of the Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) announced today.

9 Aug 2009

Fumbled hospital discharges can lead to medical errors

Poor communication of the outcomes of medical tests whose results are pending at the time of a patient's hospital discharge is common and can lead to serious medical errors in post-hospitalization medical treatment.

7 Aug 2009

More insulin-producing cells from a single transcription factor switch

Researchers have found a way in mice to convert another type of pancreas cell into the critical insulin-producing beta cells that are lost in those with type I diabetes. The secret ingredient is a single transcription factor, according to the report in the August 7th issue of Cell, a Cell Press journal.

7 Aug 2009

Changes in mtDNA can cause premature ageing

The normal ageing process has long been linked to problems with cell respiration, the process through which the cells extract energy from nutrients. Researchers at the Swedish medical university Karolinska Institutet have now shown how certain proteins that are synthesised in the cellular mitochondria - popularly known as the cells' power plants - become unstable and disintegrate, which in turn can impair cell respiration and cause premature ageing.

7 Aug 2009

Soliris (Eculizumab) granted orphan drug designation in Europe and U.S. for atypical hemolytic uremic syndrome

Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has announced today that Soliris® (eculizumab), its first-in-class complement inhibitor, has been granted Orphan Medicinal Product Designation by the European Commission for the treatment of patients with atypical Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome (aHUS). AHUS is an ultra-rare, inherited, and life-threatening complement-inhibitor deficiency disease that often progresses to end-stage kidney disease or failure. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration granted orphan drug designation to Soliris for the same indication in May 2009. Soliris is not approved for the treatment of patients with aHUS.

6 Aug 2009

Complex, eight-hour open procedure removes life-threatening blood clots from 17-year-old's lungs

After visiting the emergency room with fainting spells and shortness of breath, a 17-year-old Morningside Heights boy was diagnosed with rare, life-threatening blood clots blocking his pulmonary arteries. To address the problem, surgeons at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital successfully performed a pulmonary thromboendartectomy (PTE) surgery -- reportedly, the first time it has been performed on a child in the New York City area.

6 Aug 2009

Botanicals do not have an effect on hot flashes or on cognitive function in menopausal women

Two studies conducted by researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago and Northwestern University have found that commonly used botanicals do not have an effect on hot flashes or on cognitive function in menopausal women.

6 Aug 2009

Discovery of common trigger in cancer and normal stem cell reproduction

Researchers at Stanford University School of Medicine have discovered, for the first time, a common molecular pathway that is used by both normal stem cells and cancer stem cells when they reproduce themselves.

6 Aug 2009

Thermogenesis expands collaboration with Celling Technologies

ThermoGenesis has announced an expanded collaboration with Celling Technologies, a subsidiary of SpineSmith, LLC, related to the Company's bone marrow products, MXP(TM) MarrowXpress(TM) and Res-Q(TM) 60 BMC. Celling is a leading distributor of orthopedic products, based in Texas.

6 Aug 2009

Psoriasis sufferers at risk for other medical conditions

Emerging research reveals that people with psoriasis are at risk for developing other serious medical conditions including heart disease, diabetes and obesity. According to a new study by the National Psoriasis Foundation, of 5,000 people with psoriasis, nearly two-thirds report having at least one other critical health problem.

6 Aug 2009