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ViroPharma receives positive European CHMP opinion for Buccolam to treat acute seizures

ViroPharma Incorporated today announced that the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) of the European Medicines Agency (EMA) has adopted a positive opinion recommending approval of a Pediatric Use Marketing Authorization (PUMA) for Buccolam, for treatment of prolonged, acute, convulsive seizures in infants, toddlers, children and adolescents, from 3 months to less than 18 years.

24 Jun 2011

SweetSpot registers Diabetes Device Data Transfer service as MDDS with FDA

SweetSpot Diabetes Care, Inc. has registered their Diabetes Device Data Transfer service as a Medical Device Data System (MDDS) with the FDA the Company announced today, while attending the 71st Annual American Diabetes Association Scientific Sessions meeting in San Diego, CA.

24 Jun 2011

Ashoka and Boehringer Ingelheim initiative to promote health

The social entrepreneurial organization Ashoka and pharmaceutical company Boehringer Ingelheim on Tuesday announced they are launching a three-year global initiative aimed at "promoting healthy individuals, families and communities by identifying and supporting the most promising solutions to challenging health problems," according to an Ashoka press release.

24 Jun 2011

Evolutionary-management strategies to limit spread of drug-resistant diseases

In the war between drugs and drug-resistant diseases, is the current strategy for medicating patients giving many drug-resistant diseases a big competitive advantage?, asks a research paper that will be published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

24 Jun 2011

Hedging tool for farmers needs safeguards

Writing in the Center for Global Development's "Views From The Center" blog about the creation of a hedging tool by the World Bank and J.P. Morgan to help protect farmers from volatile food prices in developing countries, CGD Vice President for Corporate Affairs Todd Moss says that having safeguards in place to "prevent speculation or abuse" and "credible private sector partners will be essential" to the program's success.

24 Jun 2011

Small 'antifreeze' molecules more effective in protecting proteins than larger ones

Scientists have made an important step forward in their understanding of cryoprotectants - compounds that act as natural 'antifreeze' to protect drugs, food and tissues stored at sub-zero temperatures.

24 Jun 2011

Project to explore aspects of music for cochlear implant users

Researchers from the University of Southampton are investigating how to help deaf people, who have received a cochlear implant, to get more enjoyment from music.

24 Jun 2011

Genetics may fuel women's prejudice against male strangers during menstrual cycle

Women's bias against male strangers increases when women are fertile, suggesting prejudice may be partly fueled by genetics, according to a study by Michigan State University psychology researchers.

24 Jun 2011

Congo's cholera outbreak spreads to crowded capital city

Three cases of cholera have been confirmed in the Democratic Republic of Congo capital of Kinshasa, "home to at least 9 million people, many of whom live in cramped, unsanitary conditions," Reuters reports.

24 Jun 2011

Groups join forces to research new diarrheal therapies

The Center for World Health and Medicine, the University of Missouri-St. Louis Medicinal Chemistry Group, and the Institute for One World Health have joined forces "to develop safe and effective anti-diarrhea drugs …

24 Jun 2011

RIKEN researchers reveal mechanism for stress-induced epigenetic change

Researchers at RIKEN have uncovered a mechanism by which the effects of stress in the fly species Drosophila are inherited epigenetically over many generations through changes to the structure of chromatin, the material that makes up the cell nucleus.

24 Jun 2011

CHW interventions linked to increased rates of mammography screening

Education, referrals, support and other interventions by community health workers improve rates of screening mammography in the United States - especially in medical and urban settings and among women whose race and ethnicity is similar to that of the community health workers serving them.

24 Jun 2011

Tensions rise in bipartisan debt-ceiling negotiations

Both Democrats and Republicans appear to be increasingly entrenched on key issues, including changes to entitlement programs like Medicare. Meanwhile, the Congressional Budget Office issued a daunting report, warning that the national debt will exceed the size of the national economy by 2021.

24 Jun 2011

New strategy to prevent amputations

Blood vessels and supporting cells appear to be pivotal partners in repairing nerves ravaged by diabetic neuropathy, and nurturing their partnership with nerve cells might make the difference between success and failure in experimental efforts to regrow damaged nerves, Johns Hopkins researchers report in a new study.

24 Jun 2011

Scientists uncover new therapeutic target for Huntington's disease

UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers have identified compounds that appear to inhibit a signaling pathway in Huntington's disease, a finding that may eventually lead to a potential drug therapy to help slow the progression of degenerative nerve disorders.

24 Jun 2011

Scientists assess phytoremediation potential in 86 plant species

Formaldehyde is a major contaminant of indoor air, originating from particle board, carpet, window coverings, paper products, tobacco smoke, and other sources. Indoor volatile organic compounds (VOCs) such as formaldehyde can contribute to allergies, asthma, headaches, and a condition known as ''sick building syndrome".

24 Jun 2011

Governments should consider social impacts of austerity measures, U.N. report says

In the wake of the 2008-09 financial crisis, many country's governments could be undermining economic recovery by implementing austerity measures such as cuts in spending on health, education and other social programs, which "threaten to turn back decades of social progress, block new job creation and derail efforts to eradicate poverty" in both developed and developing nations, according to a United Nations report published Wednesday, Reuters reports.

24 Jun 2011

Birth defects more prevalent in mountaintop coal mining areas

Birth defects are significantly more common in areas of mountaintop coal mining and are on the rise as the practice becomes more common, according to a study by researchers at Washington State University and West Virginia University.

24 Jun 2011

Study traces precursor of deadly esophageal cancers to leftover embryonic cells

The ultimate source of some cancers is embryonic cells. Research published in the June 24th Cell, a Cell Press publication, traces the precursor of deadly esophageal cancers to leftover embryonic cells found in all adults.

24 Jun 2011

Growth-braking tumor-suppressor gene slows growth of childhood brain tumors

Johns Hopkins researchers have found a likely explanation for the slow growth of the most common childhood brain tumor, pilocytic astrocytoma. Using tests on a new cell-based model of the tumor, they concluded that the initial process of tumor formation switches on a growth-braking tumor-suppressor gene, in a process similar to that seen in skin moles.

24 Jun 2011