Blood News and Research

RSS

A stem cell type supposed to be crucial for angiogenesis and cancer growth does not exist?

It is widely believed that tumor angiogenesis and cancer growth critically depend on circulating endothelial precursor cells, mobilized from the bone marrow. The recent study from researchers at the University of Helsinki, Finland, and Stanford University, US, now suggests that a stem cell type supposed to be crucial for blood vessel formation and cancer growth does not actually exist.

22 Apr 2008

Simple saliva test gives speedy heart attack diagnosis

Scientists in the U.S. have developed a simple saliva test which will quickly show if a person is having or about to have a heart attack.

22 Apr 2008

Vitamin D protects women from breast cancer

The connection between vitamin D levels and certain forms of cancer has been suspected for some time but now German researchers have come up with clear proof of the link.

21 Apr 2008

Life expectancy of a significant segment of the U.S. population is declining or at best stagnating

One of the major aims of the U.S. health system is improving the health of all people, particularly those segments of the population at greater risk of health disparities. In fact, overall life expectancy in the U.S. increased more than seven years for men and more than six years for women between 1960 and 2000.

21 Apr 2008

Stroke pilot study results to be announced at University of Leicester

Preliminary results from a major multi-centre UK pilot trial into Stroke are to be announced at the University of Leicester on 22 April.

21 Apr 2008

South Carolina House to consider bill that would eliminate requirement to inform school officials of students' HIV-positive status

The South Carolina House this week is scheduled to consider a bill (SB 970) that would eliminate a state law that requires the Department of Health and Environmental Control to notify school district superintendents and nurses if students test HIV-positive, the Columbia State reports.

21 Apr 2008

Chemotherapy causes delayed severe neural damage

Cancer treatment with chemotherapeutic agents is often associated with delayed adverse neurological consequences - an occurrence often referred to as "chemobrain" - that may compromise the quality of life of a proportion of cancer survivors.

21 Apr 2008

Developmental changes during the teenage years raise men's heart disease risk

Normal developmental changes during the teenage years leave young adult men at higher risk of heart disease than their female counterparts, researchers report in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association.

21 Apr 2008

Children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder should undergo heart tests before treatment with stimulant drugs

Children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) should get careful cardiac evaluation and monitoring - including an electrocardiogram (ECG) - before treatment with stimulant drugs, a new American Heart Association statement recommends.

21 Apr 2008

CocoaVia dark chocolate bars lower cholesterol and systolic blood pressure

The results of a University of Illinois study have demonstrated an effective way to lower cholesterol levels - by eating chocolate bars.

21 Apr 2008

First comprehensive look at treatment practices for nonepileptic seizures

A new nationwide clinician survey provides the first comprehensive look at what is community care or 'treatment as usual' for nonepileptic seizures (NES), laying the groundwork for clinical trials aimed at identifying effective treatments for this neuropsychiatric disorder.

21 Apr 2008

Researchers describe key molecule responsible for the immature state of the tumor vasculature

Immune therapies are considered very promising in cancer medicine: Tumor-fighting immune cells are supposed to invade tumor tissue and eliminate cancer cells right there. Although this works well in the test tube, clinical application often fails because immune cells are unable to get into the tumor tissue from the bloodstream in sufficient numbers.

21 Apr 2008

Discovery of fundamental mechanism of how tumour cells communicate

A new fundamental mechanism of how tumour cells communicate has just been discovered by the team of Dr. Janusz Rak at the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre (MUHC) in collaboration with Dr Guha from the University of Toronto.

21 Apr 2008

FDA mechanical heart technology - HeartMate II

Heart assist devices are surgically implanted mechanical pumps that help the heart's ventricle do its work of pumping blood to the rest of the body.

21 Apr 2008

Mending tendons without surgery

James McGillicuddy was not getting good news. Three years after arriving at Stanford as one of the nation's top high school football recruits, he'd been stuck on the sidelines the entire time by a torn tendon that, even with two surgeries, just wouldn't stay fixed. More surgery would not help, his doctors told him, but they did have one last option to offer him.

21 Apr 2008

British volunteers needed to help bring cure for cancer closer

Researchers, who are in the process of developing a blood test that may diagnose breast cancer up to four years earlier than a mammogram, need the help of thousands of people living in the East Midlands.

21 Apr 2008

Raptor Pharmaceuticals initiates phase IIa clinical study for Convivia

Raptor Pharmaceuticals Corp. has announced that its clinical development subsidiary, Bennu Pharmaceuticals Inc. , has initiated the Company's first clinical-stage program after dosing the first cohort in a Phase IIa study of oral 4-methylpyrazole ("4-MP") in subjects with ALDH2 deficiency, or ethanol intolerance, as the initial development stage of its Convivia program.

21 Apr 2008

Peripheral arterial disease linked to too little vitamin D

According to the results of the latest research peripheral arterial disease (PAD) may be linked to low levels of vitamin D.

21 Apr 2008

Genentech updates on phase III study of Avastin plus chemo in first-line, advanced, non-squamous, non-small cell lung cancer

Genentech, Inc. has announced an update for the previously reported Roche-sponsored international Phase III clinical study (AVAiL) of Avastin (bevacizumab) in combination with gemcitabine and cisplatin chemotherapy, in patients with advanced, non-squamous, non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

21 Apr 2008

Is there convincing biological or behavioral evidence linking vitamin D deficiency to brain dysfunction?

In a definitive critical review, scientists at Children's Hospital & Research Center Oakland ask whether there is convincing biological or behavioral evidence linking vitamin D deficiency to brain dysfunction.

21 Apr 2008