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Ophthotech’s Fovista anti-PDGF combination therapy superior to Lucentis for wet AMD

Ophthotech Corporation today announced results from the first clinical trial to show statistically significant superior efficacy over Lucentis (ranibizumab) monotherapy for the treatment of neovascular age-related macular degeneration (wet AMD).

14 Jun 2012

Violence affects a child's quality and quantity of sleep

When violence shatters a child's world, the torment can continue into their sleep, according to researchers in Cleveland. The impact is measurable and affected by the severity of the violence, and the effects can last over time.

14 Jun 2012

Researchers use brain imaging to uncover susceptibility to psychological stress and trauma

Most people have intense emotional reactions to traumatizing events like road accidents or combat. But some suffer far longer, caught in the grip of long-term debilitating disorders such as Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Because doctors cannot predict who will develop these disorders, however, early or preventive intervention is not available. Now, a new project led by researchers at Tel Aviv University seeks to identify pre-traumatic subjects - those who are more susceptible to long-standing disorders if exposed to a traumatic incident.

14 Jun 2012

US Oncology Research, MMRF partner to participate in CoMMpass study

The Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation (MMRF) today announced an alliance with US Oncology Research to participate in the landmark CoMMpass (Relating Clinical Outcomes in MM to Personal Assessment of Genetic Profile) study sponsored by the MMRF.

14 Jun 2012

Human-derived stem cells can spontaneously form optic cups and retina

Human-derived stem cells can spontaneously form the tissue that develops into the part of the eye that allows us to see, according to a study published by Cell Press in the 5th anniversary issue of the journal Cell Stem Cell.

14 Jun 2012

LUHS opens new center to treat women with pelvic-floor disorders

Loyola University Health System (LUHS) will open a multidisciplinary center to treat women with pelvic-floor disorders beginning today, Wednesday, June 13.

14 Jun 2012

RNA-binding proteins accumulate in the brains of patients with AD

Researchers from Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) have identified a novel group of proteins that accumulate in the brains of patients with Alzheimer's disease. These findings, which appear online in the Journal of Neuroscience, may open up novel approaches to diagnose and stage the progression likelihood of the disease in Alzheimer patients.

14 Jun 2012

Mixed picture for pulse pressure effect on surgical outcomes

Two studies published in Anesthesia and Analgesia have muddied the water regarding the effect of preoperative pulse pressure on perioperative outcomes.

13 Jun 2012

Serum PFOA levels increase cardiovascular risk factors

Serum levels of perfluorooctanoic acid, which is found in Teflon and Gore-Tex, appear to be associated with cardiovascular disease risk, even at levels commonly found in the general population, Korean investigators have discovered.

13 Jun 2012

Investigational Insomnia Medicine from Merck improved patients’ ability to fall and stay asleep according to new phase III Data

Merck (NYSE: MRK), known as MSD outside the United States and Canada, today announced new data from two pivotal Phase III efficacy trials for suvorexant, the investigational medicine Merck is developing for the treatment of insomnia. In the studies, suvorexant significantly reduced the time it took patients to fall asleep and increased the time that patients stayed asleep as early as the first night and at the three-month time point compared to placebo. The investigational medicine met statistical significance for all primary endpoints except for one measurement at Month 3 in one of the trials. These late-breaking data were presented here today at SLEEP 2012, the 26th Annual Meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies.

13 Jun 2012

Significant increase in use of CT, MRI and PET imaging over the last two decades

Among six large integrated health care systems between 1996 and 2010 there was a substantial increase in the use of advanced diagnostic imaging, including approximately a tripling of the use of computed tomography and nearly a quadrupling of the use of magnetic resonance imaging, as well as a substantial increase in estimated radiation exposure, according to a study in the June 13 issue of JAMA.

13 Jun 2012

Compounds related to curcumin receive U.S. patent

A U.S patent issued today to the University of Rochester and two other entities for the use of compounds related to a popular spice in the fight against cancer, acne, baldness, and other medical conditions.

13 Jun 2012

Children of GBS meningitis continue to have substantial long-term morbidity

Parents of infants who survive bacterial meningitis caused by group B Streptococcus might have to live with the effects of the disease on their children long after they're discharged from the hospital. A new study in the journal Pediatrics finds that even though mortality rates of children infected with GBS meningitis have decreased in the past 25 years, just under half of children who survive the disease will suffer impairment as a result of the disease.

13 Jun 2012

New methods show signs of promise for successful IVF treatments

The success rate of in vitro fertilization (IVF) procedures still remains relatively low, at only around 30%. The high emotional, health and financial costs associated with having to undergo the procedure multiple times has driven the need to develop more efficient methods of assessing the development potential of embryos to ensure that only those with the highest potential are selected for IVF treatment.

13 Jun 2012

Gender disparity in compensation continue to exist in academic medicine

A survey of mid-career academic physician researchers finds that gender differences in salary exist, even after adjustment for differences in specialty, institutional characteristics, academic productivity, academic rank, work hours, and other factors, according to a study in the June 13 issue of JAMA.

13 Jun 2012

Millions suffer chronic food shortages in North Korea, U.N. report says

"Millions of North Koreans suffer chronic food shortages and dire health care ..., and there are no immediate signs of reforms to spur economic growth, the United Nations says" in a report released Thursday, Agence France-Presse reports.

13 Jun 2012

New combination therapy can help improve cure rates for neuroblastoma

An experimental treatment that combines intense chemotherapy with a radioactive isotope linked to synthesized neurotransmitter is being tested in newly diagnosed cases of high-risk neuroblastoma - a deadly, hard-to-cure childhood cancer.

13 Jun 2012

Researchers identify prognostic marker in chronic lymphocytic leukemia

Researchers have identified a prognostic marker in the most common form of chronic leukemia that can help to distinguish which patients should start treatment quickly from those who can safely delay treatment, perhaps for years.

13 Jun 2012

Telephone intervention improves medication adherence in patients with glaucoma

A telephone intervention trial was associated with improvement in glaucoma medication adherence in both the treatment group and the control group but, when the two groups were compared, interactive telephone calls and tailored print materials did not significantly improve adherence, according to a report of a randomized controlled clinical trial published Online First by Archives of Ophthalmology, a JAMA Network publication.

13 Jun 2012

Omega-3 probably does not reduce cognitive decline in older people

Older people who take omega-3 fish oil supplements are probably not reducing their chances of losing cognitive function, according to a new Cochrane systematic review.

13 Jun 2012