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Lupus discovery may improve treatment

Researchers at Wake Forest University School of Medicine and the University of Virginia hope to reset part of the "epigenetic code" in lupus patients and thus improve treatment.

7 Nov 2005

Study proves the effectiveness of Vfend for the treatment of candidemia

Using Vfend (voriconazole) for the treatment of nonneutropenic patients with candidemia, an often-fatal hospital-acquired bloodstream infection, is as effective as a regimen of two older antifungals and carries fewer serious side effects than that regimen.

7 Nov 2005

Neurological and neuromuscular diseases raise risk of complications from flu

As another flu season approaches, patients with neurological and neuromuscular disease are especially vulnerable to respiratory failure caused by influenza.

3 Nov 2005

Nearly one-fourth of all dialysis patients have a close relative on dialysis

Researchers at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center, and others, report in the current online edition of the American Journal of Nephrology. The researchers suggest screening other relatives for undetected kidney disease.

3 Nov 2005

New way to generate genetically altered influenza virus

In the event of an influenza pandemic, the world's vaccine manufacturers will be in a race against time to forestall calamity.

1 Nov 2005

Bumetanide may help treat seizures in newborns

A diuretic drug called bumetanide may serendipitously help treat seizures in newborns, which are difficult to control with existing anticonvulsants, according to a study in the November Nature Medicine.

1 Nov 2005

New technique provides supplies of seed viruses to fight bird flu

Researchers in the U.S. believe that a new manufacturing method may allow large quantities of vaccine to quickly be deployed against a deadly bird flu pandemic.

1 Nov 2005

Pravastatin is highly effective in lowering the risk of heart attack

The cholesterol-lowering drug pravastatin is highly effective in lowering the risk of heart attack and other cardiovascular events in patients with diabetes and chronic kidney disease (CKD), reports a study in the December Journal of the American Society of Nephrology.

27 Oct 2005

Natural blood sugar level lowering compound could lead to new drugs to treat type 2 diabetes

A carbohydrate isolated from the liver lowers blood sugar levels after it is injected into diabetic rats, according to research carried out by a team of experts at the University of Virginia Health System (UVHS).

27 Oct 2005

Chiron initiates Phase I/II study of an investigational cell culture-derived influenza vaccine

Cell culture-derived influenza vaccine (commonly referred to as "flu cell culture" vaccine) represents the next generation of influenza vaccine, both for annual vaccine production and for long-term pandemic preparedness.

26 Oct 2005

As men grow older, bladder function can worsen and the prostate gland may be responsible

Their findings remind patients and their physicians that urination difficulties in men can be better cared for at early onset. Additionally, the study notes that as men age, the possibility increases that they will experience problems with urination.

25 Oct 2005

Canada province will seize children of drug addicts

Canadian province Alberta wants to be able to remove children from the homes of parents who recklessly abuse drugs or are involved in selling them.

24 Oct 2005

Hormone responsible for types of high blood pressure could also cause preeclampsia

Researchers at the University of Cincinnati (UC) Academic Health Center have found evidence of a hormone they say is responsible for certain types of high blood pressure (hypertension), and could also cause preeclampsia, a potentially dangerous condition that occurs during pregnancy.

17 Oct 2005

New genetic discovery may help explain why some people develop high blood pressure and others don't

It also gives new insight into how the kidneys govern the balance of salt in the body, a crucial task for regulating blood pressure. And, it reveals how a gene already linked to behavior and mental health can play a role in the body, as well as the brain.

17 Oct 2005

Nanobombs to eradicate cancer

University of Delaware researchers are opening a new front in the war on cancer, bringing to bear new nanotechnologies for cancer detection and treatment and introducing a unique nanobomb that can literally blow up breast cancer tumors.

13 Oct 2005

Incidence of end-stage renal disease is lower than previously estimated

Diabetic kidney disease is one of the most severe complications of type 1 diabetes, and diabetes is the most important cause of end-stage renal disease (ESRD; severely impaired kidney function, requiring dialysis) in industrialized countries, according to background information in the article. Data on patients' risk of developing ESRD are sparse.

11 Oct 2005

Obesity associated with a threefold increase in SCD1 expression in obese muscle

The gene encoding an enzyme that hinders muscle from burning fat manufactures three times more enzyme in the muscle of obese people than lean people, researchers from Duke University Medical Center and Louisiana State University have found. This causes the obese muscle tissue to both store more fat and burn less fat, the researchers said.

11 Oct 2005

Rates for new cases of kidney failure have stabilized

After 20 years of annual increases from 5 to 10 percent, rates for new cases of kidney failure have stabilized, according to new research from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK). At the same time, dramatic racial disparities persist.

11 Oct 2005

Tonsils reveal information that helps understand lupus

By snipping out and analyzing tiny samples of patients' tonsils, scientists have identified a key cellular checkpoint that is somehow bypassed in lupus patients, where harmful immune cells that normally are squelched by the body are mistakenly granted access.

9 Oct 2005

Obese Zucker rat model shares the symptoms of obesity with a growing number of Americans

A mutant rat that mimics a 400-pound human is helping scientists understand early vascular changes that make walking a pain for more than 2 million Americans.

9 Oct 2005