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CRP levels vary between ethnically-diverse populations: Study

C-reactive protein (CRP) levels vary between ethnically-diverse populations, and are only partly due to known differences in heart risk among these groups.A single risk level of CRP at 2 mg/L may over or under estimate the need for statin medication in different ethnic groups, especially if other risk factors are not considered.

29 Sep 2010

Researchers discover new diagnostic test for prostate cancer

Researchers in England say they have discovered a set of biomarkers that can distinguish prostate cancer from benign prostate disease and healthy tissue with 90 percent accuracy.

From Oxford Gene Technology 29 Sep 2010

New disposable, microfluidic PDMS device for identification of advanced breast cancer

A new disposable device based on advances in microfluidics may help identify advanced breast cancer patients who are candidates for therapy with the drug trastuzumab (Herceptin). The device is described in the American Institute of Physics' journal Biomicrofluidics.

29 Sep 2010

Researchers identify biomarkers for mesothelioma and pancreatic cancer

Using a novel aptamer-based proteomics array technology, researchers and collaborators have identified biomarkers and protein signatures that are hallmarks of cancer at an early stage for two of the most aggressive and deadly forms of cancer, pancreatic and mesothelioma.

29 Sep 2010

NCI awards A&G $1.2M Phase II SBIR grant for development of breast cancer drug candidate

A&G Pharmaceutical announced today that it has received $1.2 million in Phase II Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) funding from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) for the program, "Novel Targeted Therapy for Breast Cancer," focused on the development of a neutralizing therapeutic antibody against a novel cancer-associated protein, GP88.

29 Sep 2010

PolyMedix begins PMX-30063 Phase 2 clinical trial for bacterial infections

PolyMedix, Inc., an emerging biotechnology company focused on developing new therapeutic drugs to treat acute cardiovascular disorders and infectious diseases, has initiated a Phase 2 clinical trial in Canada with its novel defensin-mimetic antibiotic, PMX-30063.

28 Sep 2010

NIH Stroke Scale helps to predict mortality risk in hospitalized stroke patients

A new study finds a risk model developed using Get With The Guidelines-Stroke data is a practical bedside tool that can identify patients at the highest risk for dying when hospitalized after a stroke.

28 Sep 2010

Routine, short bouts of exercise can increase fitness levels

Trying to get fit but can't work it into your daily schedule? Incorporating even relatively short bouts of exercise into a daily commute appears to deliver significant rewards, according to a new study from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

28 Sep 2010

Government of Canada invests to speed up implementation of EMR systems

Canadian physicians and nurse practitioners will benefit from a $500 million investment made by the Government of Canada in Budget 2010, announced Richard Alvarez, President and CEO of Canada Health Infoway (Infoway).

28 Sep 2010

Bayer’s new oral contraceptive receives FDA approval

Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceuticals Inc. today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved a new oral contraceptive, Beyaz (drospirenone / ethinyl estradiol / levomefolate calcium tablets and levomefolate calcium tablets).

28 Sep 2010

Study: Genetic ancestry has no influence on how African-Americans with asthma respond to medication

Genetic ancestry has no discernible influence on how African American patients with asthma respond to medication, according to a Henry Ford Hospital study.

28 Sep 2010

New study shows peripheral nerves regenerate themselves after injury

Unlike nerves of the spinal cord, the peripheral nerves that connect our limbs and organs to the central nervous system have an astonishing ability to regenerate themselves after injury. Now, a new report in the October 1st issue of Cell, a Cell Press publication, offers new insight into how that healing process works.

28 Sep 2010

IAVI investigators awarded grant to examine antibodies that neutralize HIV virus

A team of investigators headed by International AIDS Vaccine Initiative Investigator Pascal Poignard has been awarded a major grant from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases of the US National Institutes of Health to investigate the biological mechanisms underlying the generation of broadly neutralizing antibodies by HIV positive individuals.

28 Sep 2010

Community health centers help those without insurance

In 2001, a Charleston, W.Va., a hospital and three community health centers set up a Community Access Program to help give low-income residents a primary health care system in the hopes of lowering emergency room care. The program has enrolled 5,000 people and "cut their hospital use in half," the Charleston Gazette reports.

28 Sep 2010

DecImmune Therapeutics receives funds to improve ischemia reperfusion injury outcomes

DecImmune Therapeutics announced today that it has received a $1 million equity investment from Astellas Venture Management and has additionally been awarded $2.2 million in Phase II SBIR funding from the National Institutes of Health.

28 Sep 2010

Celiac disease on the rise in adults: Study

According to a new study published Monday in the Annals of Medicine, cases of intestinal disorder known as Celiac disease are on the rise with many adults developing the disease.

28 Sep 2010

Scientists find Alzheimer's Disease reduces human brain cancer growth

Scientists at the Roskamp Institute in Sarasota, Florida, have shown that mice that naturally develop Alzheimer's are able to ward off the growth of brain cancer. In a series of experiments published in the Journal of Neuroscience, they showed that mice that spontaneously develop Alzheimer's Disease are able to dramatically reduce the growth of a human brain cancer.

28 Sep 2010

OrSense introduces NBM200 system for anemia screening, hemorrhage detection

OrSense Ltd., developer of monitors for non-invasive measurements of various blood parameters, introduced at the Global Forum of Maternal and Infant Health, at Barcelona, Spain, NBM200, a non-invasive hemoglobin measurement system for anemia screening and hemorrhage detection. The Company presented results showing that Hb measurements obtained by the NBM200 showed accurate performance compared with invasive point of care devices.

27 Sep 2010

Study finds increasing number of elderly people are prone to celiac diseases

Working to solve the puzzle of when people develop celiac disease has led researchers from the University of Maryland School of Medicine Center for Celiac Research to some surprising findings. They have found that the autoimmune disorder is on the rise with evidence of increasing cases in the elderly.

27 Sep 2010

MediciNova receives FDA approval to proceed with initial trial of ibudilast

MediciNova Inc, a biopharmaceutical company publicly traded on the NASDAQ Global Market and the Hercules Market of the Osaka Securities Exchange (Code Number:4875), today reported FDA's approval to proceed with an initial trial of the company's neurological drug candidate, ibudilast (MN-166/AV411), as a potential new pharmacotherapy for methamphetamine addiction.

27 Sep 2010