Calcium News and Research

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Calcium, the most abundant mineral in the body, is found in some foods, added to others, available as a dietary supplement, and present in some medicines (such as antacids). Calcium is required for muscle contraction, blood vessel expansion and contraction, secretion of hormones and enzymes, and transmitting impulses throughout the nervous system. The body strives to maintain constant concentrations of calcium in blood, muscle, and intercellular fluids, though less than <1% of total body calcium is needed to support these functions.

The remaining 99% of the body's calcium supply is stored in the bones and teeth where it supports their structure. Bone itself undergoes continuous remodeling, with constant resorption and deposition of calcium into new bone. The balance between bone resorption and deposition changes with age. Bone formation exceeds resorption in growing children, whereas in early and middle adulthood both processes are relatively equal. In aging adults, particularly among postmenopausal women, bone breakdown exceeds formation, resulting in bone loss that increases the risk of osteoporosis over time.

Essentialis receives patent for active component in DCCR product

Essentialis, Inc. announced today that the United States Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO) has issued U.S. Patent No. 7,799,777 entitled Salts of potassium ATP channel openers and uses thereof. The patent claims a novel composition of a polymorph of diazoxide choline, the active ingredient in the Essentialis lead product, DCCR. Essentialis has successfully completed phase 2b clinical trials with DCCR, showing a highly significant triglyceride reduction in dyslipidemic patients.

12 Oct 2010

$Osteoporosis Canada issues new guidelines to prevent fragility fractures$

Osteoporosis Canada issues new guidelines to prevent fragility fractures

Comprehensive new guidelines from the Osteoporosis Canada aimed at preventing fragility fractures in women and men over the age of 50 are published in CMAJ.

12 Oct 2010

Tips to keep bones strong

October 20 is World Osteoporosis Day. Most people know that osteoporosis is a condition that affects many older women. Though osteoporosis isn't as common in men -- because most men have naturally larger and stronger bones -- they can get it, too.

11 Oct 2010

BioSante presents update on LibiGel clinical study at NAMS Annual Meeting

BioSante Pharmaceuticals, Inc. presented a LibiGel clinical study update at the 21st Annual Meeting of The North American Menopause Society (NAMS) on October 8, 2010, with more than 1,000 experts and practitioners in menopause and women's health in attendance.

11 Oct 2010

FDA warns of harmful stimulant in Slimming Beauty capsules

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today advised consumers who have Slimming Beauty Bitter Orange Slimming Capsules not to use the product. FDA warns that Slimming Beauty Bitter Orange Slimming Capsules contain the active pharmaceutical ingredient sibutramine, a prescription-only drug which is a stimulant. Sibutramine is not listed on the product label and could harm consumers, especially those with cardiovascular conditions.

11 Oct 2010

Correcting vitamin D deficiency before orthopedic surgery improves patient outcome: Study

Almost 50 percent of patients undergoing orthopedic surgery have vitamin D deficiency that should be corrected before surgery to improve patient outcomes, based on a study by researchers at Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS) in New York City. Vitamin D is essential for bone healing and muscle function and is critical for a patient's recovery. The study appears in the October issue of The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery.

8 Oct 2010

Physicians should check fatty deposits around heart when evaluating heart problems: Researchers

Cardiac imaging researchers at Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute are recommending that physicians not overlook fatty deposits around the heart when evaluating patients for risk of major heart problems.

8 Oct 2010

Vitamin D deficiency may impact orthopaedic procedure outcomes

Forty-three percent of patients scheduled to undergo orthopaedic surgery have insufficient levels of vitamin D and two out of five of those patients had levels low enough to place them at risk for metabolic bone disease, according to a study published this month in the October 6th issue of the Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery (JBJS).

7 Oct 2010

Pioneer Surgical receives patent for nanOss technology

Pioneer Surgical Technology, Inc., a global medical device provider in orthopaedics, spine, and biologics, is proud to announce the United States Patent Office has reissued a patent further strengthening Pioneer's market position in nanocrystalline derived products used in orthopaedics.

6 Oct 2010

New hope for patients with brain injury

New neuroscience research by life scientists from UCLA and Australia may potentially help people who have lost their ability to remember due to brain injury or disease.

6 Oct 2010

Foot surgeons urge patients not to ignore foot pain

Unexplained foot fractures may be the first sign of osteoporosis, a bone thinning disease which affects over 28 million Americans and accounts for 1.5 million bone fractures a year.

6 Oct 2010

Medtronic launches new KYPHON Express Curette for scraping or scoring bone in the spine

Medtronic Inc. today announced the launch of the new KYPHON® Express™ Curette for scraping or scoring bone in the spine, including during treatment of vertebral compression fractures with minimally invasive KYPHON® Balloon Kyphoplasty.

6 Oct 2010

BioSante to present LibiGel clinical trial update at NAMS Annual Meeting

BioSante Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced that it will present a LibiGel clinical trial update at the 21st Annual Meeting of The North American Menopause Society (NAMS) being held from October 6-9, 2010 at the Sheraton Chicago Hotel & Towers in Chicago, Illinois.

5 Oct 2010

Research finds link between calcium and cancer

A protein that pumps calcium out of cells also moonlights as a signal to get massive quantities of the stuff to flow in, according to Johns Hopkins scientists. Their discovery of this surprisingly opposite function, reported Oct. 1 in Cell, highlights the link between calcium and cancer and holds the promise of a new therapeutic target for certain breast cancers.

5 Oct 2010

Merck to appeal against jury verdict in retrial of federal FOSAMAX case

Merck & Co., Inc. today said it will appeal a decision by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York that reduced the jury verdict from $8 million to $1.5 million but denied Merck's request for judgment in its favor or a new trial in the case of Boles v. Merck, a retrial of a federal FOSAMAX case.

5 Oct 2010

Neuro-Biotech introduces biomarker for progressive clinical investigation on Alzheimer's Disease

Neuro-Biotech Corporation introduces a Neuro-biomarker which is linked to a series of Neuro-Bio tests. This will permit to understand the science behind them and how they each will contribute to a progressive clinical investigation involving the input and output of the brain.

5 Oct 2010

Researchers find STIM1 protein inhibits voltage-operated calcium channels

A calcium sensing protein, STIM1, known to activate store-operated calcium channels has been found to also inhibit voltage-operated calcium channels, according to researchers at Temple University.

4 Oct 2010

Study shows low DRC level may increase risk for non-melanoma skin cancer

DNA repair capacity (DRC) measurements effectively identified individuals who were at high risk for non-melanoma skin cancer, and may be a useful method to evaluate the efficacy of preventive therapies, according to study results presented at the Third AACR Conference on the Science of Cancer Health Disparities.

3 Oct 2010

Osteoporosis common but underestimated in old men: Study

According to the latest research osteoporosis a diseases common in women that makes bones brittle and easily breakable with age also affects men. The study suggests that this debilitating condition is often overlooked in elderly Australian men.

3 Oct 2010

Intra-Cellular Therapies demonstrates ability of ITI-002 to improve motor and non-motor behaviors in PD

Intra-Cellular Therapies, Inc. today announced results from studies demonstrating the anti-Parkinson and other beneficial effects of ITI-002 (IC200214), the Company's novel and selective phosphodiesterase type I (PDE1) inhibitor.

1 Oct 2010