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UCSD scientists discover steroid hormone that inhibits brain inflammation

Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have discovered a steroid hormone that inhibits inflammation in the brain. The findings, to be published in the May 13 issue of the journal Cell, have implications for understanding the exaggerated inflammatory responses that are characteristic features of numerous neurodegenerative diseases.

13 May 2011

Gene manipulation can improve survival rates during sepsis infection

Sepsis is a major killer in hospital intensive care units. Researchers at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine have found that manipulating a genetic factor that can launch or throttle the body's defenses can improve survival rates during bacterial infection.

13 May 2011

TFAH applauds HHS for new strategic approach to prevent viral hepatitis

The Trust for America's Health applauds the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for unveiling a new strategic approach to dealing with the silent epidemic of viral hepatitis today.

13 May 2011

New circumcision treatment can reduce HIV

Promising study results published in the May issue of JAIDS show that a novel medical device has the potential to revolutionize how male circumcision services are offered in countries hardest hit by the HIV epidemic.

13 May 2011

Study offers hints to why Parkinson's so selectively harms dopamine-producing cells

New data offer hints to why Parkinson's disease so selectively harms brain cells that produce the chemical dopamine, say researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

13 May 2011

ACP wins excellence award for health care publishing

The American College of Physicians (ACP) is pleased to announce that ACP Internist, ACP Hospitalist, and ACP InternistWeekly have won awards for excellence in publishing.

13 May 2011

Longer looks: Conservatives vs. liberals on Medicare - who's winning?

What you really need to know is that Tuesday was a great day in court for supporters of the Care Act and a very tough one for its opponents. That dynamic could easily change within the next six weeks or so when the 11th Circuit, the 6th Circuit, and the 3rd Circuit also hold their oral arguments on Care Act appeals. Either way, we are one step closer to the end of all of this, and you can bet that the justices were paying attention up the road a bit from Richmond.

13 May 2011

Scientists uncover gene responsible for Adams-Oliver Syndrome

Scientists at King's College London have, for the first time, uncovered a gene responsible for Adams-Oliver Syndrome, a condition which can cause birth defects of the heart, limbs, or blood vessels.

13 May 2011

Study provides evidence that adult planarians harbor pluripotent stem cells

A single adult cell from one of the most impressive masters of regeneration in the animal kingdom - the planarian - is all it takes to build a completely functional new worm, researchers have learned. The study provides the first hard evidence that adult planarians harbor pluripotent stem cells - cells capable of producing the diverse range of tissue types necessary to build a complete animal.

13 May 2011

ACR to honor UCLA cancer researcher with Gold Medal for radiology work

Dr. Lawrence W. Bassett, a nationally renowned expert with more than 35 years experience in breast imaging, has been chosen to receive the Gold Medal by the American College of Radiology, the organization's highest honor given for distinguished and extraordinary service in the field of radiology.

13 May 2011

Viewpoints: Romney on his health plan; Enthoven, Aaron on Medicare reforms; WSJ on 'millionaire' retirees

Health care is more than just one-sixth of the American economy. It is a source of well-being for individuals and families. We are blessed with much that is good in American health care. But we have taken a turn for the worse with ObamaCare, with its high taxes and vastly expanded federal control over our lives. I believe the better course is to empower the states to determine their own health care futures.

13 May 2011

Liver cells made in the lab using skin cells: Study

In a medical breakthrough, researchers have been able to convert skin cells into liver cells. This could one day eliminate the need for organ transplants, they say.

12 May 2011

First Edition: May 12, 2011

Today's headlines include reports about the upcoming speech by GOP presidential hopeful Mitt Romney, during which he is expected to confront what many say is his main vulnerability: his home state's health reform.

12 May 2011

McGill research team finds distinct disease-causing mutations and saves baby girl

About two years ago, Dr. Philippe Gros, a McGill University professor in the Department of Biochemistry and a Principal Investigator in thd McGill Life Sciences Complex, described a mouse mutant that was immunodeficient and hypersensitive to the Bacille Calmette-Gu-rin (BCG) vaccine and to tuberculosis (TB).

12 May 2011

$100,000 needed to analyze '$1,000' genetic data

Advances in technology have almost lifted the curtain on the long-awaited era of the "$1,000 genome" - a time when all the genes that make up a person can be deciphered for about that amount - compared to nearly $1 million a few years ago.

12 May 2011

Researchers help explain why smart drugs are not effective in some cancer patients

Some of the most effective and expensive cancer drugs, dubbed "smart drugs" for their ability to stop tumors by targeting key drivers of cancer cell growth, are not effective in some patients. In two related studies, Yale School of Medicine researchers examined one such driver, the EGF receptor, and found that a decoy receptor might be limiting the amount of drug that gets to the intended target.

12 May 2011

Health Canada approves EMEND IV formulation to prevent chemotherapy-induced nausea, vomiting

Today Merck announced that Health Canada has approved the new intravenous formulation of EMEND IV. Used in combination with a 5-HT3 antagonist class of antiemetics and dexamethasone, fosaprepitant dimeglumine is indicated for the prevention of acute and delayed nausea and vomiting due to highly emetogenic cancer chemotherapy.

12 May 2011

Prostrate cancer patients can benefit from new MRI-ultrasound fusion

Targeted biopsy, a major advance in prostate cancer diagnostics, was detailed by a UCLA team in the current issue of Urologic Oncology. The new technology fuses MRI with real-time 3D ultrasound, providing an exacting method to obtain biopsy specimens from suspicious areas in the prostate.

12 May 2011

Atox Bio completes AB103 phase 1 study in severe bacterial infections and sepsis

Atox Bio Inc. today announced that it successfully completed a phase 1 clinical study of AB103, a novel therapy for the treatment of severe bacterial infections and sepsis.

12 May 2011

Losartan therapy improves muscle injury regeneration and prevents disuse atrophy

Using geriatric mice, a Johns Hopkins research team has shown that losartan, a commonly used blood pressure drug, not only improves regeneration of injured muscle but also protects against its wasting away from inactivity.

12 May 2011