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Discovery suggests location of genes for breast density, a strong risk factor for breast cancer

Studying the DNA of 889 people, gene hunters at the Mayo Clinic and H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Centers have identified a region on chromosome 5p that is significantly associated with dense breast tissue, a known risk factor for breast cancer.

2 Sep 2007

3,000 kidney transplants performed at NYP/Weill Cornell

More than 3,000 lives have been saved through the kidney transplant program at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center and its medical partner The Rogosin Institute.

2 Sep 2007

The burden of diabetes in heart disease in Europe

Diabetes is becoming one of the major health problems in the European and US populations. It is frequently associated with overweight, hypertension and high serum cholesterol levels, representing a dangerous combination of risk factors for the development of heart and vascular diseases.

2 Sep 2007

Risk stratification in acute heart failure

Hospitalization for acute heart failure is the most relevant burden for the health systems in both Europe and North America. Despite its dramatic impact on patient survival, quality of life and health costs, relatively few studies have been conducted in patients with this clinical condition in order to identify effective therapeutic strategies able to improve not only symptoms but also patient survival.

2 Sep 2007

Long term follow up of additional Swedish registry data does not indicate an increased

Four years of follow up including additional patients in the Swedish Coronary angiography and angioplasty registry (SCAAR) does no longer indicate any increased mortality in patients treated with drug eluting stents compared to patients treated with bare metal stents.

2 Sep 2007

Blood pressure drugs cut death rate in diabetes

The largest-ever study of treatments for diabetes has shown that a fixed combination of two blood pressure lowering drugs reduces the risk of death, as well as the risks of heart and kidney disease. Results from the ADVANCE (Action in Diabetes and Vascular Disease) Study were presented today at the European Society of Cardiology Congress 2007 in Vienna.

2 Sep 2007

Clinical reality of coronary prevention in Europe : A comparison

Dr Kornelia Kotseva, Consultant Cardiologist and the Project Manager for the EUROASPIRE III survey commented "despite the increase in prophylactic drug therapy, the majority of coronary patients in Europe have still not achieved the blood pressure target and two out of five are not achieving the total cholesterol goal".

2 Sep 2007

Efficacy of non-invasive ventilation in patients with acute cardiogenic pulmonary oede

Acute cardiogenic pulmonary oedema, or "fluid on the lung", is a common, extremely distressing and often fatal condition that is a major consumer of health care resources. The aim of the 3CPO trial was to establish whether high-pressure oxygen, given by a simple facemask, could help reduce the death rate in patients with this condition.

2 Sep 2007

Does physical activity provide a molecular key to longevity?

Fitness and physical exercise are among the most neglected means to improve prognosis. They are the healthiest cardiovascular intervention. Even cardiologists focus on pharmacological treatment and evaluate classical risk factors without asking about daily exercise or objective measures of physical capacity. It is surprising considering the strong data that underscores the survival benefit of regular exercise training.

2 Sep 2007

Ultrasound to seal punctured lungs

A stretcher races through the entrance of a busy hospital. The car-accident victim lies on top and grimaces in pain. While surface injuries look gruesome, the real medical danger is invisible - internal organ damage caused by being crushed against the steering wheel.

30 Aug 2007

Small animal imaging facility is big boon to research

When powerful magnets line up the body's protons before radiofrequency waves can grab their attention away, it's called spin physics.

30 Aug 2007

New evidence links discontinuation of statin therapy to increased death rates in stroke survivors

Patients who stop taking cholesterol-lowering drugs within a year of surviving a stroke had a two-fold increased risk of death, researchers reported in Stroke: Journal of the American Heart Association.

30 Aug 2007

Pancreatic cancer fights off immune attack

Scientists of the German Cancer Research Center (Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum) and the Heidelberg University Hospitals have discovered that pancreatic cancer attracts regulatory T cells, which suppress the activity of immune cells.

30 Aug 2007

Discovery of novel cause of iron overload in patients with thalassemia

According to the study, thalassemia patients overproduce a protein called GDF15, which suppresses the production of a liver protein, hepcidin, which in turn leads to an increase in the uptake of dietary iron in the gut.

30 Aug 2007

Inhaling nitric oxide helps transplant success

Administering inhaled nitric oxide (NO) during surgery helps protect liver transplant patients from organ failure, according to a new study from researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB).

30 Aug 2007

Microfluidic chambers advance the science of growing neurons

Researchers at the University of Illinois have developed a method for culturing mammalian neurons in chambers not much larger than the neurons themselves.

30 Aug 2007

Protein on the surface of platelets plays a key role in cancer-induced platelet aggregation

Scientists have provided new details about how cancer cells spread by surrounding themselves with platelets – the blood cells needed for blood clotting.

30 Aug 2007

FDA approves Somatuline Depot to treat acromegaly

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved Somatuline Depot (lanreotide acetate injection) for the treatment of acromegaly, a rare and potentially life threatening disease in adults caused by abnormal secretion of growth hormone (GH), commonly from a benign tumor located in the pituitary gland located in the brain.

30 Aug 2007

New anti-cancer drug made from corn lillies kills brain tumor stem cells

A drug that shuts down a critical cell-signaling pathway in the most common and aggressive type of adult brain cancer successfully kills cancer stem cells thought to fuel tumor growth and help cancers evade drug and radiation therapy, a Johns Hopkins study shows.

30 Aug 2007

COPD can no longer be judged as only a disease of the lungs

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) can no longer be judged as only a disease of the lungs, say authors of a Viewpoint in this week's COPD special edition of The Lancet.

30 Aug 2007