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FDA approves Voluven for blood loss post surgery

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved Voluven, an intravenous solution that prevents and treats a dangerous loss of blood volume, a condition that sometimes occurs during and after surgery.

28 Dec 2007

Cardiac stem cell therapy research

Since the year 2000, much has been learned about the potential for using transplanted cells in therapeutic efforts to treat varieties of cardiac disorders.

28 Dec 2007

Bevacizumab found to improve survival for patients with advanced breast cancer

Inhibiting the growth of blood vessels that supply tumors slows the progression of metastatic breast cancer according to results of a large clinical trial of Avastin, an anti-angiogenic therapy.

28 Dec 2007

Cancer stem cells may be at the root of brain tumors

Stem cells -- popularly known as a source of biological rejuvenation -- may play harmful roles in the body, specifically in the growth and spread of cancer. Amongst the wildly dividing cells of a tumor, scientists have located cancer stem cells.

27 Dec 2007

Medical myths laid to rest

New research from the United States has revealed that a number of commonly-held medical beliefs are in fact just medical myths.

27 Dec 2007

Chocoholics beware!

The prestigious British medical journal The Lancet has warned that dark chocolate may not be as good for us as we would like to think.

27 Dec 2007

Microchip blood test detects cancers earlier

A new blood test which uses microchip technology may offer doctors the opportunity to detect cancers earlier and also monitor cancer treatment.

20 Dec 2007

Seniors who walk regularly lower their risk for dementia

Seniors who walk regularly and also do other forms of moderate exercise are protecting themselves against a certain form of dementia.

20 Dec 2007

Vitamin B-12 function may be diminished by excessive folate

In a study of adults aged 20 and over, researchers at Tufts University showed that homocysteine and methylmalonic acid are at much higher levels in individuals who have a combination of vitamin B12 deficiency and high blood folate levels than in individuals who are also vitamin B12 deficient but have normal folate levels.

20 Dec 2007

The blood-brain barrier: A misunderstood key to finding life-saving cures to brain disease

An international team of scientists that includes a Saint Louis University researcher suggest several strategies to propel research for treatments of brain diseases that include multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer's disease, obesity and stroke in the January issue of the Lancet Neurology.

20 Dec 2007

Study examines computed tomographic pulmonary angiography for diagnosing blood clots in the lung

New research indicates that a diagnostic strategy using computed tomographic pulmonary angiography (CTPA) may be a safe alternative to conventional lungs scans (known as ventilation-perfusion scans) for excluding the diagnosis of pulmonary embolism (blood clots in the lung vessels), although CTPA may detect more clots, according to a study in the current issue of JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association.

20 Dec 2007

Chronic fatigue syndrome - new research may help diagnosis

One of the most difficult things for people suffering from Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) is that many believe the condition to be a psychological, not physical affliction.

20 Dec 2007

A new brain imaging study identifies 'brain signature' for cigarette cravings

A new brain imaging study by researchers in the Abramson Cancer Center of the University of Pennsylvania shows that cigarette cravings in smokers who are deprived of nicotine are linked with increased activation in specific regions of the brain.

20 Dec 2007

Hardening of the arteries - mutant gene identified as culprit

A genetic mutation expands lesions in the aorta and promotes coronary atherosclerosis, more commonly known as hardening of the arteries, according to a study by Yale School of Medicine in Cell Metabolism.

20 Dec 2007

Link between chronic kidney disease and hypoxia

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have discovered how low-oxygen conditions can worsen chronic kidney disease (CKD).

20 Dec 2007

Robotic-assisted visceral arterial aneurysm surgery

Surgeons at the University of Illinois Medical Center at Chicago have performed a landmark robotic-assisted minimally invasive surgery to remove a renal arterial aneurysm and reconstruct the artery using a graft from a vein in the patient's leg.

20 Dec 2007

New treatment option offers hope to multiple myeloma patients

Patients diagnosed with multiple myeloma, an often deadly bone marrow cancer, rarely live more than three years after diagnosis if treated with conventional chemotherapy or even some of the newer drug therapies.

20 Dec 2007

Depletion of antioxidant glutathione linked to Parkinson's in mice

Scientists at the Buck Institute have shown that mice suffering from a depletion of the antioxidant glutathione in dopamine-producing neurons developed nerve damage and symptoms associated with Parkinson's disease (PD) in humans.

20 Dec 2007

Laser procedure may treat vasa previa

A University of South Florida fetal surgeon at Tampa General Hospital successfully treated in utero a rare but potentially devastating condition in which placental blood vessels block the birth canal and can rupture during labor, leaving the baby without vital blood and oxygen.

20 Dec 2007

Study looks at prevalence of "false-positive" catheterization laboratory activation for patients with suspected STEMI

Physicians caring for patients suspected of having a heart attack may trigger "false-positive" activation of the cardiac catheterization laboratory based on test results suggestive of a heart attack, according to a study in the December 19 issue of JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association.

20 Dec 2007