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Drug combo could reduce risk of severe asthma attacks

Giving asthma patients on regular preventive drugs the same drugs to relieve the symptoms of their condition, rather than conventional reliever drugs, could reduce their risk of severe attacks and hospitalisations.

24 Aug 2006

Memory Pharmaceuticals achieves milestone for the treatment of neurological and psychiatric disorders

Memory Pharmaceuticals is to receive approximately $2.3M in funding from Roche in 2007.

17 Jul 2006

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients using beta-agonist inhalers are at risk

A new analysis that compares two common inhalers for patients suffering from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) finds that one reduces respiratory-related hospitalizations and respiratory deaths, but the other - which is prescribed in the majority of cases - increases respiratory deaths.

9 Jul 2006

Some common inhalers double death rate in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients

4 Jul 2006

New sleep medication Ramelteon shows less potential to foster abuse and dependence

As part of the effort to develop effective behavioral and medical sleep therapies, scientists consider the potential for dependence and abuse associated with prescription sleep drugs.

27 Jun 2006

Asthma sufferers reduce need for inhalers by breathing exercises

Scientists in Australia say that people with mild asthma benefit from exercises that focus on shallow breathing through the nose, as well as non-specific upper body exercises, and can reduce the need to use a bronchodilator inhaler by as much as 86 per cent.

6 Jun 2006

Spacers versus nebulisers for treatment of acute asthma

Two treatment methods for asthma attacks - spacers and nebulizers - are equally effective in staving off hospital admissions, a new review shows. However, at least for children, spacers mean shorter stays in emergency departments.

29 May 2006

Low affinity analogs of thyrotropin-releasing hormone are super-agonists

Chemical knockoffs resembling a key thyroid-related hormone are, in certain cases, more effective than the real thing at activating the target receptor.

16 May 2006

Usage and outcomes of primary androgen deprivation therapy for localized prostate cancer

In the online March 2006 version of Cancer, Dr. Kawakami and associates report from the CaPSURE database that primary androgen deprivation therapy (PADT) is used in 14% of prostate cancer (CaP) patients with reasonable outcomes at approximately 5 years follow-up.

11 Apr 2006

New guidelines for diagnosis and treatment of Parkinson disease

New guidelines developed by the American Academy of Neurology aim to educate physicians on the diagnosis and treatment of Parkinson disease and provide people with Parkinson disease an improved quality of life.

3 Apr 2006

New AF267B drug reverses key cognitive deficits, pathology in Alzheimer's

A new drug that enhances the activity of a key brain cell receptor involved in Alzheimer's disease (AD) reverses learning and memory deficits in mice engineered to have pathological hallmarks of the disease.

13 Mar 2006

Discovery of compound that reduces hallmark lesions of Alzheimer's disease in mice

Researchers at UC Irvine have found that a new compound not only relieves the cognitive symptoms of Alzheimer's disease, but also reduces the two types of brain lesions that are hallmarks of this devastating disease, thereby blocking its progression.

7 Mar 2006

Bristol-Myers Squibb and Otsuka Pharmaceutical announce availability of 2 mg Abilify (aripiprazole) tablet

Bristol-Myers Squibb Company and Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. today announced two newly available options of Abilify (aripiprazole) -- a 2 mg tablet strength and a nonrefrigerated oral solution (1 mg/mL).

7 Feb 2006

Women with endometriosis undergoing IVF benefit from treatment with GnRH agonists

The live birth rate per woman was significantly higher in women with endometriosis who received gonadotrophin releasing hormone (GnRH) agonist for three to six months before commencing in vitro fertilisation (IVF), compared to control groups.

25 Jan 2006

Fish oil shown to reduce airway inflammation caused by exercise-induced asthma

People suffering from exercise-induced asthma were able to reduce their symptoms below the threshold used to diagnose the disease by eating a diet supplemented with fish oil, according to new research findings from Indiana University reported in the January issue of the journal Chest.

10 Jan 2006

Warnings on popular asthma drug could damage drug giant

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is recommending new restrictions on the asthma drug Advair.

21 Nov 2005

Allergists help manage asthma better

Compared to patients receiving care from primary care physicians, asthma patients who are under the care of an allergist report fewer asthma control problems and less sever asthma symptoms, according to new research in the December 2005 Journal of Allergy & Clinical Immunology (JACI).

20 Nov 2005

Little evidence exists to support the widespread use of bronchodilators to treat children and adults with cystic fibrosis

"Recurrent wheeze and breathlessness are common in people with cystic fibrosis, and bronchodilators are commonly prescribed," according to lead author Clare Halfhide, M.D., of the Royal Liverpool Children's Hospital in England. "Despite their wide-scale and often long-term use, there is limited objective evidence about their efficacy in cystic fibrosis."

25 Oct 2005

Comprehensive home-based environmental intervention results in decreased asthma symptoms

Through efforts to limit exposure to environmental irritants, health workers and municipalities can cut illness generally among inner-city children with asthma and also the number of clinic visits for those young patients by at least 19 percent, a new study concludes. The cost can be as low as $1,469 per affected family.