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Study confirms inappropriate use of pain medication among the chronic pain population

A study published in the August issue of the peer-reviewed journal Population Health Management revealed that the majority of patients prescribed opioids for chronic pain were unlikely to be taking their medicine in a manner consistent with their prescribed regimen. In the study, titled "Inappropriate Drug Use in the Chronic Pain Population," 938,586 urine toxicology tests conducted on over 500,000 patients prescribed chronic opioid therapy were analyzed using proprietary and state of the art screening methods offered by Ameritox(R).

27 Aug 2009

CardioMEMS raises $22.1M to fund clinical trial of its heart failure pressure measurement system

CardioMEMS, Inc., a medical technology company that has developed and is commercializing proprietary wireless sensing and communication technology for the human body, today announced the completion of a $22.1M financing. The financing provides the company with additional capital to fund the company's CHAMPION clinical trial.

27 Aug 2009

Amateur boxing leads to increased levels of brain damage markers in spinal fluid

A blood test can now be used to detect brain damage in amateur boxers. Deterioration of nerve cells seems to occur even after a two-month break from boxing. This is shown in a new study from the Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Sweden.

27 Aug 2009

Inventor of the SPIDER Limb Positioner wins a $10,000 Manning Innovation Award

Calgary biomed engineer Brent King is to win a $10,000 Manning Innovation Award for inventing a unique device to accurately and securely position a surgical patient's limb.

27 Aug 2009

Significant drop in prevalence of rheumatoid vasculitis between 2000 and 2001

Researchers at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health examined records of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients from the national Veterans Health Administration (VHA) system to determine the prevalence of rheumatoid vasculitis (RV) in this population. The study found a downward trend in the number of RA patients who go on to develop RV, with a significant drop of 53% among inpatients and 31% among outpatients between 2000 and 2001.

27 Aug 2009

High DHA levels aid in learning and mental development of school children

Getting ready for the start of a new school year traditionally means shopping trips for crisp, new clothes and backpacks bursting with fresh school supplies. But how do you prepare your child mentally and physically for the demands of hectic schedules and endless homework? It's easy for children, be it primary graders or teenagers, to anticipate the beginning of class with both excitement and some anxiety. These stress factors can quickly turn to feelings of being overwhelmed and frustrated as schoolwork and activities intensify.

27 Aug 2009

Prevention and eradication of FVIII antibodies could improve hemophilia treatment

Octapharma AG is leading an international initiative focused on confronting the major risk associated with hemophilia A therapy - anti-factor VIII (FVIII) antibodies, also known as inhibitors. This initiative, combined with Octapharma's efforts to pursue the first recombinant FVIII therapy produced from a human cell line, could dramatically impact the treatment of an estimated one in every 5,000 to 10,000 men born with hemophilia A worldwide.

27 Aug 2009

Sen. Edward M. Kennedy -- health care champion -- dies

Sen. Edward M. Kennedy had a hand in nearly every piece of health care legislation that moved through Congress during his eight-term Senate tenure. He died Tuesday night of brain cancer at age 77.

27 Aug 2009

Angiotensin arrests lung tumor growth by inhibiting blood vessel formation

In new animal research done by investigators at Wake Forest University School of Medicine, scientists have discovered a treatment effective in mice at blocking the growth and shrinking the size of lung cancer tumors, one of the leading causes of cancer death in the world.

27 Aug 2009

US Department of Health funds a project to enhance the quality of care to women of color suffering from HIV/AIDS

Dr. S. Vincent Grasso, a member of the Stevens Healthcare Information Technology Management Advisory Board and Seminar Leader for the Stevens Healthcare Educational Partnership (SHEP), will act as technical lead, solution provider and systems integrator within a nation-wide initiative to enhance the quality of care to women of color suffering from HIV/AIDS. The US Department of Health and Human Services is the funding agency for the project, which will be implemented in urban centers across America.

27 Aug 2009

Scientists discover a new way for preventing liver metastases

Scientists in Switzerland have discovered a way to block the growth of human colon cancer cells, preventing the disease from reaching advanced stages and the development of liver metastases. The research, published today in EMBO Molecular Medicine, shows that blocking the so-called Hedgehog-GLI pathway can prevent the growth of tumours, metastatic lesions and cancer stem cells, the cells thought to lie at the root of cancer growth.

27 Aug 2009

New technique for diabetes treatment may be in the offing

An exploration of the molecular links between insulin resistance and inflammation may have revealed a novel target for diabetes treatment, say scientists at the John G. Rangos Sr. Research Center, Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC. Their findings were published earlier this month in the online version of Diabetes, one of the journals of the American Diabetes Association.

27 Aug 2009

Invasive front dominant expression of LNγ2 and LNβ3 and active MMP7 play a key role in biliary tract cancer

Despite recent advances in diagnosis and treatment, the prognosis of patients with biliary tract cancer is still poor. Elucidating the biological characteristics of these carcinomas has become necessary to improve the prognosis of patients and to devise better treatment strategies. A recent study report that invasive front dominant expression of LNγ2 and LNβ3 and active MMP7 play a key role in the progression of biliary tract cancer.

26 Aug 2009

Patients with Phenylketonuria face increased risk of developing severe neurological complications

Genetic researchers at Children's Memorial Hospital, Chicago, are aggressively identifying adult patients who suffer from the genetic disorder, Phenylketonuria (PKU), and are presenting those findings at the 11th International Congress of Inborn Errors of Metabolism in San Diego, August 29 through September 2.

26 Aug 2009

More than half of women with ovarian cancer face delay in diagnosis

Many women with ovarian cancer can go undiagnosed for months because their symptoms are not always being investigated promptly, warn researchers at the University of Bristol in a study published on bmj.com today.

26 Aug 2009

Lack of imagination and aversion to commercial risk are the biggest threats to Australia’s medical innovation

Australia could be a world leader in medical innovation but commercial risk aversion and parochialism are holding the industry back, a leading venture capitalist will argue at a public lecture and debate at the University of New South Wales next week (Monday, 31 August).

26 Aug 2009

Wednesday's round up of state health stories

State health news coverage includes political vandalism in Colorado, health-related bills in Maine, Medicaid cuts in Maryland and a dismissed medical malpractice lawsuit in Florida.

26 Aug 2009

New president elected for the Foundation for Informed Medical Decision Making non-profit organization

Michael J. Barry, MD, of Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, has been named the new president of the Foundation for Informed Medical Decision Making, the non-profit organization in Boston that has pioneered the creation and use of high quality audio-visual decision aids to enhance patient involvement in their own medical decisions.

26 Aug 2009

Herbalscience research throws light on causes of allergic rhinitis

Most people might think of nettle as simply a common and aggressive weed that can sting and cause skin irritation. But nettle has also been used for hundreds of years to treat seasonal allergies and other inflammatory diseases, although the precise nature of its anti-inflammatory effect was unknown. Now, scientists with HerbalScience have identified specific bioactives in nettle leaf extracts that inhibit in vitro receptors and enzymes known to be key in generating symptoms of allergic rhinitis, or hay fever.

26 Aug 2009

Optimum Lightpath chosen as telecommunications provider by Medical Arts Radiology

Optimum Lightpath(SM), a market leader in Ethernet-based communication solutions for New York metropolitan area businesses, today announced that Medical Arts Radiology, one of the largest medical imaging groups in Long Island, has selected Optimum Lightpath as its telecommunications provider.

26 Aug 2009

Medicine News and Research

Study confirms inappropriate use of pain medication among the chronic pain population

CardioMEMS raises $22.1M to fund clinical trial of its heart failure pressure measurement system

Amateur boxing leads to increased levels of brain damage markers in spinal fluid

Inventor of the SPIDER Limb Positioner wins a $10,000 Manning Innovation Award

Significant drop in prevalence of rheumatoid vasculitis between 2000 and 2001

High DHA levels aid in learning and mental development of school children

Prevention and eradication of FVIII antibodies could improve hemophilia treatment

Sen. Edward M. Kennedy -- health care champion -- dies

Angiotensin arrests lung tumor growth by inhibiting blood vessel formation

US Department of Health funds a project to enhance the quality of care to women of color suffering from HIV/AIDS

Scientists discover a new way for preventing liver metastases

New technique for diabetes treatment may be in the offing

Invasive front dominant expression of LNγ2 and LNβ3 and active MMP7 play a key role in biliary tract cancer

Patients with Phenylketonuria face increased risk of developing severe neurological complications

More than half of women with ovarian cancer face delay in diagnosis

Lack of imagination and aversion to commercial risk are the biggest threats to Australia’s medical innovation

Wednesday's round up of state health stories

New president elected for the Foundation for Informed Medical Decision Making non-profit organization

Herbalscience research throws light on causes of allergic rhinitis

Optimum Lightpath chosen as telecommunications provider by Medical Arts Radiology

Everything there is to know about biosimilars eBook

Designing fluidic architecture for scalable diagnostic platforms

Evaluating new approaches for rare disease genomics

Expanding access to NMR with the Fourier 80 Duo

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