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Study reveals a possible way to reduce false alarms during early breast cancer screening

Early detection of breast cancer saves thousands of lives each year. But screening for breast cancer also produces false alarms, which can cause undue stress and costly medical bills. Now, a recent study using patient blood reveals a possible way to reduce the number of false alarms that arise during early screening. Researchers found a panel of proteins shed by breast cancer that are easily detected and can distinguish between real cancer and benign lumps.

27 Oct 2011

Simple blood test could quantify a smoker's lung toxicity and danger of heart disease

A simple blood test could someday quantify a smoker's lung toxicity and danger of heart disease, researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have found.

27 Oct 2011

Blood test can help assess severity of preeclampsia in pregnant woman

A blood test can help to assess whether a pregnant woman who suffers from pregnancy-induced hypertension, so-called preeclampsia, is at risk for an imminent delivery.

21 Oct 2011

A more accurate blood test to detect fetal Downs syndrome launched

Pregnant mothers in the U.S. who wish to know whether they're carrying a fetus with Down syndrome now have access to a commercial genetic blood test that has a 99 per cent accuracy rate.

20 Oct 2011

RCSI study: Alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency more prevalent in Ireland

Researchers from the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI), Beaumont Hospital, and Trinity College Dublin have conducted a study which has found that Ireland has one of the highest incidences in the world of a genetic condition that causes severe hereditary emphysema.

20 Oct 2011

Acute HCV screening strategy for HIV-infected individuals

Researchers at The Miriam Hospital demonstrated a practical strategy for regularly screening HIV-infected patients for acute hepatitis C virus infection (HCV), a "silent epidemic" that is rising undetected in this population and can lead to serious health complications.

19 Oct 2011

New DNA-based prenatal blood test can identify pregnancy with Down syndrome

A new DNA-based prenatal blood test that can strikingly reduce the number of risky diagnostic procedures needed to identify a pregnancy with Down syndrome is ready to be introduced into clinical practice.

18 Oct 2011

Gut bacteria shown to affect statin efficacy in some people

The team led by a Duke University scientist has identified three bile acids produced by gut bacteria that were evident in people who responded well to a common cholesterol-lowering drug called simvastatin. The finding, published Oct. 13, 2011, in PLoS One, demonstrates how gut bacteria can cause inherent differences in the way people digest, metabolize and benefit from substances such as drugs.

17 Oct 2011

Researchers identify gut bacteria bile acids linked to effectiveness of statin drugs in lowering cholesterol

Statins can be effective at lowering cholesterol, but they have a perplexing tendency to work for some people and not others. Gut bacteria may be the reason.

14 Oct 2011

Viewpoints: The value of testing for prostate cancer; rewards for transplant donors; Calif.'s medical marijuana problem

For men older than 50, a simple blood test to screen for prostate cancer is as much a part of annual physicals as weigh-ins and stethoscopes. The PSA test is painless, inexpensive and the only way to detect the disease -; the most common male cancer -; before symptoms turn up.

12 Oct 2011

PSA test for prostate cancer may confuse: Experts debate its continued use

According to new research the PSA test for prostate cancer does more harm than good. This week, the United States Preventive Services Task Force is expected to announce its recommendation against routine testing for blood levels of prostate-specific antigen, the protein that can be a signal of prostate cancer.

11 Oct 2011

AIT Laboratories introduces new suite of services for prescription compliance monitoring

Chronic pain affects an estimated 116 million adults in the U.S.—more than the number affected by heart disease, diabetes, and cancer combined, according to a recent report by the Institute of Medicine.

10 Oct 2011

Advocates prepare for battle on PSA testing; insurers review options

A day after a government panel said that healthy men should no longer get screened for prostate cancer, some doctors' groups and cancer patients' advocates began a campaign to convince the nation that the advice was misguided. Their hope is to copy the success of women's groups that successfully persuaded much of the country two years ago that it was a mistake for the same panel, the United States Preventive Services Task Force, to recommend against routine mammograms for women in their 40s.

10 Oct 2011

Preventive task force panel will urge men to skip prostate screening, reports say

The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force is scheduled to issue this recommendation on Tuesday, but advance press reports indicate the expert panel will urge the federal government to change its current position to recommend that men under age 75 forgo this widely used test.

7 Oct 2011

First Edition: October 7, 2011

In today's headlines, reports about what the Institute of Medicine recommends in terms of the criteria and methods the Department of Health and Human Services should follow in developing the health law's essential benefits package.

7 Oct 2011

Men need colon cancer screening earlier than women: Study

A new study finds that men are at a higher risk of colon cancer than women and should get their first colonoscopy to screen for the disease at age 45, five years earlier than the current recommendation.

28 Sep 2011

Researchers identify frequent SF3B1 gene mutation in myelodysplasia

A genomic study of chronic blood cancer - a precursor to leukaemia - has discovered gene mutations that could enable diagnosis using only a blood test, avoiding the need for an invasive and painful bone marrow biopsy.

27 Sep 2011

CoPlex, Hawthorn sign license agreement for hawAD14 Alzheimer's drug

CoPlex Therapeutics has signed an exclusive global license agreement with Hawthorn Pharmaceuticals to develop and commercialize hawAD14, a preclinical oral small molecule candidate for the treatment of Alzheimer's and other neurodegenerative diseases.

23 Sep 2011

Scientists discover 10 types of unique proteins in patients with stroke or heart attack

A simple blood test is all it could take to tell if you are going to have a heart attack or stroke. A team of international scientists have discovered more than 10 types of unique proteins which are commonly present in the blood of a person who recently suffered a stroke or heart attack.

22 Sep 2011

New blood test can help detect heart attacks

Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine researchers are reporting a possible new blood test to help diagnose heart attacks.

21 Sep 2011