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Avita Medical introduces ReCell Spray-On Skin for chronic leg ulcers

Avita Medical Ltd., the regenerative medicine company, announced today that it has launched ReCell Spray-On Skin for the treatment of chronic leg ulcers, a market estimated at over US$1 billion.

14 Oct 2011

Scientisits uncover evidence of powerful new cancer genetic networks

In findings with major implications for the genetics of cancer and human health, researchers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) and two other science teams in New York City and Rome have uncovered evidence of powerful new genetic networks and showed how it may work to drive cancer and normal development.

14 Oct 2011

Cord blood stem cells can repair cardiac muscle after heart attack

At least 20 million people survive heart attacks and strokes every year, according to World Health Organisation estimates, but many have poor life expectancy and require continual costly clinical care. The use of patient's own stem cells may repair heart attacks, although their benefit may be limited due to scarce availability and ageing. The researchers have found heart muscle-like cells grown using stem cells from human umbilical cord blood could help repair heart muscle cells damaged by a heart attack.

14 Oct 2011

GFAP protein levels can help identify HIE in newborns

Johns Hopkins researchers have discovered that increased blood levels of a protein specific to central nervous system cells that are vital to the brain's structure can help physicians identify newborns with brain injuries due to lack of oxygen.

14 Oct 2011

Researchers control itch without dulling morphine's pain-killing effects

Itching is one of the most prevalent side effects of powerful, pain-killing drugs like morphine, oxycodone and other opioids. The opiate-associated itch is so common that even women who get epidurals for labor pain often complain of itching. For many years, scientists have scratched their own heads about why drugs that so effectively suppress pain also induce itch.

14 Oct 2011

Continued access to hospital pharmacists increases patient safety and care

Making sure patients and their primary caregivers are ready for the return home is critical in the recovery process. So Gottlieb Memorial Hospital, part of Loyola University Health System, is adding an extra measure of patient safety and care by offering increased communication with inpatient pharmacists.

14 Oct 2011

Reducing medicine to economics makes mockery of doctor-patient bond

Physicians who once only grappled with learning the language of medicine must now also cope with a health care world that has turned hospitals into factories and reduced clinical encounters to economic transactions, two Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center physicians lament.

14 Oct 2011

One in six mobile phones in the UK is contaminated with fecal bacteria

One in six mobile phones in Britain is contaminated with faecal matter, according to new research released ahead of Global Handwashing Day.

14 Oct 2011

AMCs must make systematic changes to improve quality of life, productivity of their faculty

Academic medical centers (AMCs) must make systematic changes to improve quality of life—and thus productivity—of their faculty, according to a commentary that will appear in the October 12 issue of Science Translational Medicine.

14 Oct 2011

New technique stimulates stem cells after liver transplant to prevent rejection

Johns Hopkins researchers have developed a way to stimulate a rat's stem cells after a liver transplant as a means of preventing rejection of the new organ without the need for lifelong immunosuppressant drugs.

14 Oct 2011

Viewpoints: 'Moneyball' and health care; Daschle on diabetes treatment; Elton John and Sen. Nelson on paying for AIDS drugs

Billy Beane's data-driven strategies made him the talk of baseball, the king of the current box office and a highly visible advocate for evidence-based medicine. But Beane's teams have faded since their "Moneyball" heyday - and evidence-based medicine might not be the home run that some reformers hope it will be.

14 Oct 2011

Top-line results from POZEN's PA32540 Phase 3 trial on aspirin-associated gastric ulcers

POZEN Inc., a pharmaceutical company committed to transforming medicine that transforms lives, announced today top-line results from study 303, a Phase 3 trial designed to track the long-term safety of PA32540 in patients who are at risk for developing aspirin-associated gastric ulcers.

13 Oct 2011

Hydromorphone can be as effective as diacetylmorphine in treating heroin addiction

A clinical trial to test better treatment options for chronic heroin addiction is expected to begin in Vancouver at the end of this year. Led by researchers from Providence Health Care and the University of British Columbia, it's the only clinical trial of its kind in North America.

13 Oct 2011

UofL researchers to develop treatments for chlorine-induced lung injuries

Gary Hoyle, PhD, professor, University of Louisville School of Public Health and Information Sciences, will build on his research to develop an effective medical treatment to counteract chlorine-induced lung injuries caused by chemical accidents or acts of terrorism.

13 Oct 2011

Improved SNAP benefit levels more effective for children's health

Pediatric researchers from Boston Medical Center (BMC), in partnership with Children's HealthWatch investigators in Boston, Minneapolis, Little Rock, Philadelphia, and Baltimore, have found that higher benefit amounts in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program protected the health and well-being of very young, low-income children during a period of great financial hardship for many families in America.

13 Oct 2011

New insights into how adenovirus triggers an immune response

A Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine study could lead to improved gene therapies for conditions such as heart disease and cancer as well as more effective vaccines for tuberculosis, malaria and other diseases.

13 Oct 2011

Hospitalized patients with anemia may not always benefit from transfusion

University of Kentucky researchers, including lead author Samy Selim of the Division of Cardiovascular Medicine and the Saha Cardiovascular Research Center, have recently published a paper suggesting that transfusion may not always be the best treatment for hospitalized patients with anemia.

13 Oct 2011

Haiti uses 'peanut butter medicine' to battle malnutrition

CNN/Global Health Frontline News examines how "ready-to-use therapeutic foods" are being used in Haiti to help children with severe malnutrition. U.S. nonprofit organization Meds and Food for Kids makes "Medika Mamba, which means 'peanut butter medicine' in Creole. It's a ready-to-eat paste packed with nutritious ingredients that -- over a period of weeks -- gives a jolt to the system and puts children back on track," the news agency writes.

13 Oct 2011

U of U researchers receive NIH grant to uncover viral cause of MS

A team of investigators from the University of Utah has received a two-year, $275,000 grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to fund novel research that may help to uncover a viral cause for the most acute and severe form of multiple sclerosis.

13 Oct 2011

Narrow band imaging an equally effective alternative to chromoendoscopy for dysplasia

A new study from Spain finds that narrow band imaging appears to be a less time-consuming and equally effective alternative to chromoendoscopy for the detection of dysplasia (abnormal growths) in patients with long-standing inflammatory bowel disease.

13 Oct 2011