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Research Roundup: Surgery and health costs; ACOs and independent doctors; Stroke's long-term effects; Improving low-income care

Archives of Surgery: Profile Of Inpatient Operating Room Procedures In U.S. Hospitals In 2007 - Understanding operating room (OR) procedures in the hospital "is critical in debates about how to improve the population's health while attempting to constrain growth in health care costs," write the authors of this study that provides an overview of inpatient operating room procedures in the U.S. from 1997 to 2007.

24 Dec 2010

Study shows vegetarian diet lowers blood, urine phosphorous levels

Phosphorous levels plummet in kidney disease patients who stick to a vegetarian diet, according to a study appearing in an upcoming issue of the Clinical Journal of the American Society Nephrology. The results suggest that eating vegetables rather than meat can help kidney disease patients avoid accumulating toxic levels of this mineral in their bodies.

24 Dec 2010

Today's opinions: Ariz. hospital and abortion; Wall Street Journal's issues with PolitiFact; Calif.'s anti-smoking success

St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center in Phoenix announced on Tuesday that it will continue to provide life-saving abortion care to patients even though it means losing its affiliation with the local Roman Catholic Diocese (12/23).

24 Dec 2010

Scientists pinpoint brain site where leptin hormone may trigger onset of puberty

UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers have pinpointed a tiny site in the brain where the hormone leptin may help trigger the onset of puberty.

23 Dec 2010

Preoperative cerebral oxygen saturation could be a risk marker for adverse cardiac surgery outcome

A study published in the January 2011 issue of Anesthesiology is one of the first to show that low preoperative cerebral oxygen saturation (ScO2) could be an important physiological risk marker for adverse outcome in cardiac surgery patients.

23 Dec 2010

NPSF creates new membership program for patient safety professionals

The National Patient Safety Foundation, a nonprofit specializing in advancing safe patient care, is creating a groundbreaking new membership program for patient safety professionals that will provide a unique opportunity for sharing of best practices and the unification of the growing patient safety community. New members can join the American Society of Professionals in Patient Safety at NPSF starting in January 2011.

23 Dec 2010

Earlier diagnosis in Cowden syndrome patients predisposed to breast and kidney cancer

Researchers at Cleveland Clinic's Genomic Medicine Institute have revealed multiple genetic discoveries that may permit easier diagnosis and disease management for Cowden syndrome patients who are predisposed to breast and kidney cancer.

23 Dec 2010

Columbia Asia opens new hospitals in India and Malaysia

Columbia Asia, a fast-growing hospital company with Pacific Northwest roots, has opened hospitals in two cities near New Delhi, India, and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

23 Dec 2010

Promising initial data from STABLE clinical trial for endovascular treatment of Type B aortic dissection

Study investigators reported positive steps in Cook Medical's efforts to gain FDA approval of the treatment assessed in the STABLE clinical trial, designed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of a proximal endograft and a distal uncovered stent for the endovascular treatment of Type B aortic dissection for purposes of seeking FDA approval. The findings were presented by Dr. Joseph Lombardi at the 37th annual VEITHsymposium.

23 Dec 2010

BioTime enters MTA with UC to make research-grade hES cell lines

BioTime, Inc. today announced a material transfer agreement (MTA) with the University of California (UC) system to make five research-grade human embryonic stem (hES) cell lines available to UC system researchers. These lines are genetically identical to a bank of GMP-compliant hES cell lines that will be made available to California-based researchers under a recent agreement between BioTime and the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM).

23 Dec 2010

Sequenom CMM authorizes SensiGene T21 LDT clinical validation study

Sequenom, Inc. today announced that the company's wholly-owned reference laboratory, the Sequenom Center for Molecular Medicine (Sequenom CMM), has authorized commencement of a pivotal clinical validation study. This validation study is designed to evaluate the clinical performance of the SensiGene T21 Laboratory Developed Test (LDT) for the detection of an overabundance in maternal blood of chromosome 21, which is associated with fetal chromosome 21 aneuploidy.

23 Dec 2010

Researchers find 37° C body temperature is warm enough to ward off fungal infection

Two researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University have found that our 98.6° F (37° C) body temperature strikes a perfect balance: warm enough to ward off fungal infection but not so hot that we need to eat nonstop to maintain our metabolism.

23 Dec 2010

Vatican issues communique to clarify Pope's statement on condoms

"The Vatican on Tuesday issued its most authoritative clarification on Pope Benedict XVI's recent remarks that condoms could sometimes be used for disease prevention, saying that the pope in no way justified their use to prevent pregnancy," the New York Times reports (Donadio, 12/21).

23 Dec 2010

Research: Arsenic trioxide may benefit individuals with connective brain tumors

Arsenic is usually thought of as a poison. Despite this, it has been used in medicine for over 2000 years, and the arsenic compound arsenic trioxide (ATO) is FDA approved for the treatment of acute promyelocytic leukemia.

23 Dec 2010

Certain drugs may block tumor host interactions but do not destroy cancer cells

A class of drugs thought to kill cancer cells may in fact block "cross talk" between the cancer cell and normal immune cells, resulting in reduced cancer growth and spread-a discovery that could significantly alter the way cancer drugs are evaluated in the future.

23 Dec 2010

Enrollment begins in Phase 2 trial of RegeneRx’s RGN-259 in dry eye associated with graft vs. host disease

RegeneRx Biopharmaceuticals, Inc. announced today that the first patient has been screened and is being enrolled in a Phase 2 clinical trial testing the Company's drug candidate RGN-259 in patients with dry eye associated with graft vs. host disease. The double-blind, placebo-controlled, investigator-sponsored trial is expected to enroll a total of 20 patients over the next several months, with data reported later in 2011. RGN-259 is a sterile, preservative-free topical eye drop formulation of the novel therapeutic peptide Thymosin beta 4, or Tβ4.

23 Dec 2010

Patients with over expression of P-Rex1 protein are more likely to develop cancer metastasis

Overexpression or hyperactivation of ErbB cell-surface receptors drives the growth of many breast cancers. Drugs, like Herceptin, that block the receptors' signals halt tumor progression in some patients.

23 Dec 2010

Amylin, Lilly submit BYETTA sNDA for type 2 diabetes

Amylin Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and Eli Lilly and Company today announced that a supplemental New Drug Application (sNDA) has been submitted to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the expanded use of BYETTA® (exenatide) injection as an add-on therapy to basal insulin, with or without metformin and/or a thiazolidinedione (TZD) in conjunction with diet and exercise for adults with type 2 diabetes who are not achieving adequate glycemic control.

23 Dec 2010

Researchers discover protein that suppresses melanoma progression

In a breakthrough that could lead to new treatments for patients with malignant melanoma, researchers from Mount Sinai School of Medicine have discovered that a particular protein suppresses the progression of melanoma through regulation of an oncogene, or gene responsible for cancer growth. The study is published in the December 23 issue of Nature.

23 Dec 2010

NCI grants U-M Cancer Center $10.7M for study of colorectal and pancreatic cancer

The University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center has received a five-year $10.7 million grant from the National Cancer Institute to study colorectal and pancreatic cancer.

23 Dec 2010

Medicine News and Research

Research Roundup: Surgery and health costs; ACOs and independent doctors; Stroke's long-term effects; Improving low-income care

Study shows vegetarian diet lowers blood, urine phosphorous levels

Today's opinions: Ariz. hospital and abortion; Wall Street Journal's issues with PolitiFact; Calif.'s anti-smoking success

Scientists pinpoint brain site where leptin hormone may trigger onset of puberty

Preoperative cerebral oxygen saturation could be a risk marker for adverse cardiac surgery outcome

NPSF creates new membership program for patient safety professionals

Earlier diagnosis in Cowden syndrome patients predisposed to breast and kidney cancer

Columbia Asia opens new hospitals in India and Malaysia

Promising initial data from STABLE clinical trial for endovascular treatment of Type B aortic dissection

BioTime enters MTA with UC to make research-grade hES cell lines

Sequenom CMM authorizes SensiGene T21 LDT clinical validation study

Researchers find 37° C body temperature is warm enough to ward off fungal infection

Vatican issues communique to clarify Pope's statement on condoms

Research: Arsenic trioxide may benefit individuals with connective brain tumors

Certain drugs may block tumor host interactions but do not destroy cancer cells

Enrollment begins in Phase 2 trial of RegeneRx’s RGN-259 in dry eye associated with graft vs. host disease

Patients with over expression of P-Rex1 protein are more likely to develop cancer metastasis

Amylin, Lilly submit BYETTA sNDA for type 2 diabetes

Researchers discover protein that suppresses melanoma progression

NCI grants U-M Cancer Center $10.7M for study of colorectal and pancreatic cancer

Industry Focus eBook - Cell & Gene Therapy (1st Edition) eBook

Bringing real-time analytics to downstream bioprocess monitoring

Designing fluidic architecture for scalable diagnostic platforms

Evaluating new approaches for rare disease genomics

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