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Researchers discover why people with sickle cell disease get milder cases of malaria

Researchers at Duke University Medical Center may finally have discovered why people with sickle cell disease get milder cases of malaria than individuals who have normal red blood cells.

16 Aug 2012

Cedars-Sinai's ICT-107 doubles median survival of patients with malignant brain tumor

An experimental immune-based therapy more than doubled median survival of patients diagnosed with the most aggressive malignant brain tumor, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center researchers reported in Cancer Immunology, Immunotherapy, published online Aug. 3.

16 Aug 2012

UCLA performs first transcatheter aortic valve replacement using new device

UCLA has performed its first transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR), using a new device approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to replace an aortic valve in a patient who was not a candidate for open-heart surgery. The procedure took place August 9th.

16 Aug 2012

Implanted cells' therapeutic properties depend on their shape

Tissue implants made of cells grown on a sponge-like scaffold have been shown in clinical trials to help heal arteries scarred by atherosclerosis and other vascular diseases. However, it has been unclear why some implants work better than others.

16 Aug 2012

Technion researchers build pancreatic tissue with insulin-secreting cells to treat diabetes

Technion researchers have built pancreatic tissue with insulin-secreting cells, surrounded by a three-dimensional network of blood vessels. The engineered tissue could pave the way for improved tissue transplants to treat diabetes.

16 Aug 2012

Yo-yo dieting does not negatively affect metabolism or ability to lose weight long term

Yo-yo dieting - the repetitive loss and regain of body weight, also called weight cycling - is prevalent in the Western world, affecting an estimated 10 percent to 40 percent of the population. The degree to which weight cycling may impact metabolism or thwart a person's ability to lose weight in the long run has been unclear - until now.

16 Aug 2012

Computer and web-based weight management programmes show promise against obesity

Computer and web-based weight management programmes may provide a cost effective way of addressing the growing problem of obesity, according to a team of seven researchers who undertook a Cochrane systematic review. The researchers, from Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island, USA, found that delivering weight loss or weight maintenance programmes online or by computer helped overweight and obese patients lose and/or maintain weight.

16 Aug 2012

Cancer patients with xerostomia can benefit from regenerative research

Biologists, surgical oncologists and regenerative medicine specialists from Rice University, the University of Delaware and the Christiana Care Health System in Wilmington, Del., have begun a four-year program aimed at using cells to grow whole salivary glands that can replace those destroyed by cancer radiation therapy.

16 Aug 2012

Viewpoints: Romney needs to explain his Medicare plan; Ryan plan would end Medicaid protections for spouses of nursing home patients'

Mr. Ryan's Path To Prosperity blueprint includes more than $700 billion in Medicare cuts over the next decade. Medicare would no longer function as an insurance program that directly pays medical bills for seniors. Instead, seniors would receive a fixed subsidy. The value of that subsidy almost certainly wouldn't keep up with health care costs, meaning seniors would pay more out of pocket. That might not play well in Boca Raton. Of course, Mr. Ryan's just the prospective V.P. What does the top of the ticket think?

16 Aug 2012

Tranexamic acid reduces bleeding in off-pump coronary bypass surgery

Patients undergoing off-pump coronary artery bypass grafting who are given a tranexamic acid infusion show a modest reduction in postoperative bleeding and blood transfusion relative to their placebo-treated peers, a clinical trial shows.

15 Aug 2012

Healthy lifestyle provides stroke prevention across hypertensive states

Maintaining a healthy lifestyle significantly decreases the risk for stroke in both men and women who differ in their hypertension status and use of antihypertensive drug treatments, a study shows.

15 Aug 2012

Blocking PHD2 oxygen sensor can render cancer treatments more effective

Researchers in Leuven (VIB/KU Leuven) have confirmed their hypothesis that normalizing blood vessels by blocking oxygen sensor PHD2 would make chemotherapy more effective.

15 Aug 2012

Online weight management programmes show promise

15 Aug 2012

NICE guidelines for diabetes prevention welcomed by EKF Diagnostics

EKF Diagnostics welcomes the recent release of a public health guidance document1 to prevent the development of type 2 diabetes in high risk individuals.

From EKF Diagnostics 15 Aug 2012

Study to test how osteopathic treatment helps patients with COPD

Researchers at Michigan State University are working to show how a noninvasive, drug-free form of hands-on medical care can help patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease improve their breathing.

15 Aug 2012

U of U researchers receive NIH grant to study cellular and molecular causes of blood clots

University of Utah Department of Medicine researchers have received $16 million from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to set up a translational research center to study the cellular and molecular causes of blood clots, a serious threat to millions of people who have diabetes, are obese or have other metabolic disorders.

15 Aug 2012

Mindfulness meditation prevents feelings of loneliness

Many elderly people spend their last years alone. Spouses pass and children scatter. But being lonely is much more than a silent house and a lack of companionship. Over time, loneliness not only takes a toll on the psyche but can have a serious physical impact as well.

15 Aug 2012

Combination of obatoclax and flavopiridol triggers multiple myeloma cell death

Researchers at Virginia Commonwealth University Massey Cancer Center are reporting promising results from laboratory and animal experiments involving a new combination therapy for multiple myeloma, the second most common form of blood cancer.

15 Aug 2012

CD4 T cells orchestrate inflammatory attack on the artery wall

Most people probably know that heart disease remains the nation's No. 1 killer. But what many may be surprised to learn is that cholesterol has a major accomplice in causing dangerous arterial plaque buildup that can trigger a heart attack. The culprit? Inflammatory cells produced by the immune system.

15 Aug 2012

Catechins may help reduce neurological complications linked to HIV

Current drug therapy for patients with HIV is unable to control the complete replication of the virus in the brain. The drugs therefore do not have any effect against the complications associated with neurocognitive impairment in patients with HIV. New research by Joseph Steiner and colleagues from Johns Hopkins University has discovered that a group of plant polyphenols known as catechins, which naturally occur in green tea and the seed of the cacao tree, may help in the prevention of these neurological complications.

15 Aug 2012