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QF-CMV test helps predict transplant recipients at increased risk of CMV disease after surgery

New international guidelines published in the journal Transplantation reinforce the use of a new type of blood test to assess cytomegalovirus (CMV) risk in solid organ transplant recipients (i.e. transplant recipients). This blood test, QuantiFERON®-CMV (QF-CMV), is the first commercially-available blood test to allow physicians to monitor a person's risk of CMV disease. Most commonly used in the transplant setting, QF-CMV may predict which transplant recipients are at increased risk of CMV disease after transplant surgery.

23 Apr 2010

Additional training may benefit physicians who interpret screening mammograms

A multi-site study led by an Oregon Health & Science University Knight Cancer Institute researcher has identified set criteria that could be used to help identify physicians who might benefit from additional training in interpreting screening mammograms.

23 Apr 2010

New blood test to determine patients at low risk for rejection of transplanted hearts

After his heart transplant in 2005, Ramon Llenado underwent a biopsy every week, then every month, then every three months. Most heart transplant patients face a lifetime of these invasive tests, which involve snipping out tiny pieces of heart to check for possible organ rejection.

23 Apr 2010

Patients more likely to change diet with written plan combined with counseling calls

Combining telephone counseling calls with a daily written diet plan increases a person's success in improving fruit and vegetables consumption, according to research published in Preventive Medicine.

23 Apr 2010

Researchers take major step to predict adverse drug reactions using genetic information

In a new study, researchers at Mount Sinai School of Medicine have taken a major step toward the ability to predict adverse drug reactions, using genetic, cellular, and clinical information to learn why some medicines cause heart arrhythmias in patients. Published in the April 20 issue of the journal Science Signaling, the new framework described in the study could potentially be applied to the study of medications that treat other diseases and disorders such as epilepsy and autism.

23 Apr 2010

Research associates diabetes with atrial fibrillation

As the U.S. population keeps aging and gaining weight, diabetes is becoming increasingly common. Some research has associated diabetes with the most common kind of chronically irregular heartbeat, called atrial fibrillation, which can raise the risk for stroke and death. But results of past studies of diabetes and atrial fibrillation have conflicted.

23 Apr 2010

UIC College of Dentistry awarded $10M federal grant to upgrade research facilities

The University of Illinois at Chicago College of Dentistry has received a $10 million federal grant to transform its research facilities into a state-of-the-art clinical and translational research center.

23 Apr 2010

Techniques to protect organs during bypass surgery impair autoregulation, increase risk of stroke: Study

The standard practice of cooling and then rewarming a patient to prevent organ damage during cardiac bypass surgery may impair the body's mechanism that controls blood flow to the brain, potentially increasing the patient's risk of stroke, new research from Johns Hopkins suggests.

23 Apr 2010

Interesting heart rate dynamics in premature infants

A normal healthy heart beats at a variable rate with extraordinarily complex fluctuations across a wide range of time scales. Reduced complexity of heart rate has both clinical and dynamical significance - it may provide warning of impending illness, or clues about the dynamics of the heart's pacemaking system.

23 Apr 2010

Nicotine poisoning linked to weight gain

A new study links nicotine poisoning with weight gain, and concludes tha active smokers, not only those who stop, put on more weight than non-smokers. After four years of analysis in the University of Navarra, those who put on least weight were those who had never smoked.

23 Apr 2010

PCFT helps in effectively targeting cytotoxic antifolates to tumors: Study

Scientists at the Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute in Detroit today presented a poster at the American Association for Cancer Research's 101st Annual Meeting 2010 that details their novel study of molecules that use a tumor's acidic microenvironment to help them tailor chemotherapeutic agents to kill the tumor.

23 Apr 2010

21% of Americans want no changes to health care legislation: CHPPR survey

Less than a quarter of Americans want no changes to the health care legislation signed into law by the president last month but there may be more common ground with other Americans than many think, according to the latest national survey by researchers from Indiana University's Center for Health Policy and Professionalism Research.

23 Apr 2010

Geron scientists highlight importance of telomerase inhibitor, GRN163L at AACR 2010

Geron Corporation today announced five presentations by Geron scientists and collaborators on the company's telomerase inhibitor, imetelstat sodium, including the drug's activity against cancer stem cells, at the 101st American Association for Cancer Research annual meeting held in Washington D.C.

23 Apr 2010

Potential new early cancer detection method using engineered gold nanoparticles

University of Missouri School of Medicine scientists explain a potentially new early cancer detection and treatment method using nanoparticles created at MU in an article published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The article illustrates how engineered gold nanoparticles tied to a cancer-specific receptor could be targeted to tumor cells to treat prostate, breast or lung cancers in humans.

23 Apr 2010

Study describes relationship between gene expression and intelligence in WS patients

Although genetics is the most significant known determinant of human intelligence, how specific genes affect intelligence remains largely unknown. A multi-institution team led by a University of Utah USTAR researcher has found that the brain gene STX1A plays a significant role in the level of intelligence displayed by patients with Williams Syndrome.

23 Apr 2010

World's smallest and lightest microscope for telemedicine applications

Aydogan Ozcan, whose invention of a novel lensless imaging technology for use in telemedicine could radically transform global health care, has now taken his work a step further ― or tinier: The UCLA engineer has created a miniature microscope, the world's smallest and lightest for telemedicine applications.

23 Apr 2010

Better diagnostics in prostate cancer needed

A flurry of confusing research about the benefits of PSA testing has left many men and their physicians reticent to use a test that may be life-saving, says a panel of prostate cancer experts. The experts who gathered on Capitol Hill in Washington on Tuesday agreed that PSA testing, while not cancer-specific, is one of the best available tools for early detection of a cancer that kills 27,000 American men each year.

23 Apr 2010

Treating OSA in truck drivers lowers healthcare costs and disability rates: Study

For commercial motor vehicle drivers with obstructive sleep apnea, effective treatment lowers healthcare costs and disability rates, reports a study in the May Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, official publication of the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine.

23 Apr 2010

Researchers produce stem cells from eggs of aging mice for regenerative medicine

Researchers at NYU Langone Medical Center have created stem cells from the eggs of aging mice that could be used for reproductive purposes and regenerative medicine. The study, published in April issue of Aging Cell, found that even though the eggs from older females were slightly less efficient at making stem cells than those from younger females, the capacity to create stem cells was sustained.

23 Apr 2010

Hospital for Special Care launches ALS Clinical Trials Unit at Neuromuscular Center

Hospital for Special Care announced today the launch of the region's first Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) Clinical Trials Unit at its Neuromuscular Center. The new unit will be headed by Jinsy A. Andrews, M.D., a physician researcher recruited from Columbia University. Dr. Andrews, Director of Research & Clinical Trials Unit, Hospital for Special Care, specializes in neuromuscular research and will facilitate the hospital's first clinical trial for ALS upon her arrival.

23 Apr 2010

Medicine News and Research

QF-CMV test helps predict transplant recipients at increased risk of CMV disease after surgery

Additional training may benefit physicians who interpret screening mammograms

New blood test to determine patients at low risk for rejection of transplanted hearts

Patients more likely to change diet with written plan combined with counseling calls

Researchers take major step to predict adverse drug reactions using genetic information

Research associates diabetes with atrial fibrillation

UIC College of Dentistry awarded $10M federal grant to upgrade research facilities

Techniques to protect organs during bypass surgery impair autoregulation, increase risk of stroke: Study

Interesting heart rate dynamics in premature infants

Nicotine poisoning linked to weight gain

PCFT helps in effectively targeting cytotoxic antifolates to tumors: Study

21% of Americans want no changes to health care legislation: CHPPR survey

Geron scientists highlight importance of telomerase inhibitor, GRN163L at AACR 2010

Potential new early cancer detection method using engineered gold nanoparticles

Study describes relationship between gene expression and intelligence in WS patients

World's smallest and lightest microscope for telemedicine applications

Better diagnostics in prostate cancer needed

Treating OSA in truck drivers lowers healthcare costs and disability rates: Study

Researchers produce stem cells from eggs of aging mice for regenerative medicine

Hospital for Special Care launches ALS Clinical Trials Unit at Neuromuscular Center

Everything there is to know about biosimilars 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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