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FDA says cough and cold products used irresponsibly with children

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the United States says it is concerned that cough and cold products sold over the counter (OTC) are being irresponsibly used particularly with children under the age of two.

20 Aug 2007

Proteins involved in fragile X syndrome identified

The interplay of two proteins that bind to messenger RNA, a molecule that mediates translation of the information encoded in genes into proteins, triggers the appearance of fragile X-associated tremor/ataxia syndrome (FTAX), a late-life disorder associated with the gene that causes fragile X syndrome in children, said researchers from Baylor College of Medicine in Houston and Emory University School of Medicine in a report that appears today in the journal Neuron.

17 Aug 2007

Relapse from antidepressant medication may be lack of response to medication in the first place

A new study by Rhode Island Hospital researchers indicates that a relapse during antidepressant continuation treatment may be due to a relapse in patients who were not true drug responders.

17 Aug 2007

Reactivating a critical gene lost in kidney cancer reduces tumor growth

Researchers at Mayo Clinic Jacksonville, have found that a key gene is often silenced in clear cell renal cell carcinoma, the most common type of kidney cancer, and when they restored that gene in human kidney cancer cells in culture and animal experiments, tumors stopped growing and many disappeared.

17 Aug 2007

Prophylactic cranial irradiation in small cell lung cancer significantly increases survival

Prophylactic cranial irradiation after chemotherapy significantly reduces the risk of brain metastasis and doubles one-year survival in small-cell lung cancer (SCLC), according to the results of the multicenter phase III randomized EORTC trial 08993-22993, published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

17 Aug 2007

Organ-transplant drug may help fight lupus

A compound related to a drug used in humans to prevent organ-transplant rejection attacks a key biochemical process in the faulty immune cells of lupus-prone mice, suggesting a possible new approach to combating the disease, UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers have found.

17 Aug 2007

PET MPI provides a more accurate "picture" of coronary obstruction

Physicians need to know how badly heart vessels are blocked before they can decide how to treat patients at risk of having a heart attack.

17 Aug 2007

Scientists discover new mechanism for viral replication

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have identified a new strategy that Kaposi's Sarcoma Associated Herpesvirus (KSHV) uses to dupe infected cells into replicating its viral genome.

17 Aug 2007

Breakthrough pain medication

Cancer patients frequently experience two types of pain: persistent and breakthrough.

17 Aug 2007

Sirtuin protein instrumental in fat production and metabolism

A new Joslin Diabetes Center-led study has identified a protein found in fat cells that may play a major role in how fat is produced and stored, offering a new target for treatments to prevent obesity and reduce the risk for type 2 diabetes.

17 Aug 2007

New method to detect infection in prosthetic joints

A team of Mayo Clinic researchers has discovered a new, more accurate diagnostic test to detect infection of prosthetic joints, potentially leading to better treatment options and patient outcomes.

17 Aug 2007

Low levels of key protein may indicate pancreatic cancer risk

A protein that dwindles in response to obesity and a sedentary lifestyle may one day help doctors predict which people are at increased risk for pancreatic cancer, new research by Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and collaborating scientists indicates.

17 Aug 2007

Researchers discover how a protein modulates the inflammatory response in acute respiratory distress syndrome

Researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine have discovered how a protein modulates the inflammatory response in sudden, life-threatening lung failure.

17 Aug 2007

Air pollution linked to poor lung function growth in children

Children who are chronically exposed to higher levels of air pollution show marked deficiencies in lung growth and function, and not just short-term breathing problems, according to researchers in Mexico.

17 Aug 2007

Free distribution of insecticide-treated mosquito nets can save lives

Malaria is still responsible for over a million deaths every year, even though it has been known for some years that sleeping under an insecticide-treated net (ITN) greatly reduces the chance of being bitten by the mosquitoes which carry the disease.

17 Aug 2007

First biomarker discovered that predicts prostate cancer outcome

Mayo Clinic researchers have identified the first immune molecule that appears to play a role in prostate cancer development and in predicting cancer recurrence and progression after surgery.

17 Aug 2007

FDA approves updated labeling for Warfarin (Coumadin)

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has announced the approval of updated labeling for the widely used blood-thinning drug, Coumadin, to explain that people's genetic makeup may influence how they respond to the drug.

17 Aug 2007

Women with a history of gestational diabetes may have higher risk of developing pancreatic cancer

Pregnancies in Jerusalem in the 1960s and 1970s may hold vital clues about how pancreatic cancer and diabetes are linked.

17 Aug 2007

Ambulatory oxygen rarely a benefit in COPD patients without resting hypoxemia

Prescribing ambulatory oxygen in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) improves exercise performance, but not the quality of their daily life unless they have resting hypoxemia, according to researchers in Toronto.

17 Aug 2007

Age-related macular degeneration patient receives investigational eye drops

An 88-year-old man at The Methodist Hospital in Houston is one of two patients in the world today to receive an investigational eye drop that may restore sight for those suffering from neovascular (wet) age-related macular degeneration, a major cause of central visual loss and one of the leading causes of blindness in people over 60 in the United States.

17 Aug 2007