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Study suggests epoD; microtubule-stabilizing drugs may treat neurodegenerative diseases

Finding a drug that can cross the blood-brain barrier is the bane of drug development for Alzheimer's disease and other neurological disorders of the brain. A new Penn study, published this week in the Journal of Neuroscience, has found and tested in an animal model of Alzheimer's disease a class of drug that is able to enter the brain, where it stabilizes degenerating neurons and improves memory and learning.

19 Oct 2010

Researchers identify new mechanism that could help develop effective chemotherapy drug

Information on proteins is critical for understanding how cells function in health and disease. But while regular proteins are easy to extract and study, it is far more difficult to gather information about membrane proteins, which are responsible for exchanging elements essential to our health, like copper, between a cell and its surrounding tissues.

19 Oct 2010

Dopamine behind mens susceptibility to alcoholism

Alcohol is one of the most commonly abused substances, and men are up to twice as likely to develop alcoholism as women. Until now, the underlying biology contributing to this difference in vulnerability has remained unclear.

19 Oct 2010

Researchers report breakthrough studies in liver cell transplantation

Two research teams from the Okayama University Graduate School of Medicine (Okayama, Japan) have reported breakthrough studies in liver cell transplantation.

19 Oct 2010

New clinical trial to treat brain cancer launched

Cancer Research UK and Cancer Research Technology the charity's development and commercialisation arm together with immatics biotechnologies have launched the first clinical trial of a promising cancer vaccine to treat glioblastoma, one of the most common forms of brain cancer.

19 Oct 2010

biOasis receives final report on Collaborative Research project from UBC

biOasis Technologies Inc. has received a final report detailing results achieved within the Collaborative Research project with The University of British Columbia (UBC) that was announced by the Company on June 2, 2009.

19 Oct 2010

TV alcohol advertising ‘watershed’ called for in the UK

Protestors in Britain have called for a ‘watershed’ for alcohol advertising on TV amid claims that millions of children watched the ads during live World Cup games. Alcohol Concern UK says that children as young as four watched alcohol ads from brands such as Stella Artois, Magners, Fosters, Carling and WKD during the World Cup.

18 Oct 2010

Tylenol batch recalled due to strange smell

Johnson and Johnson’s (J&J) commonly used over-the-counter painkiller Tylenol has been recalled again in some batches because of complaints of a musty or moldy odor in the product. The company is facing a U.S. congressional probe of quality control lapses in the past as well. The drugs recalled to date include the painkiller Motrin and allergy treatment Benadryl as well as this batch of 100,000 bottles of Tylenol.

18 Oct 2010

Discovery may aid in developing new psoriasis therapies

Scientists at the University of Michigan Heath System and their collaborators have found four new DNA “hotspots” that may one day help guide new treatments for psoriasis, one of the most common autoimmune diseases in the country.

18 Oct 2010

CMS could save billions by changing payment, delivery methods

Experts examine ways to change care delivery and payment at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services while seniors prepare for the Medicare open enrollment period.

18 Oct 2010

Statins reduce risk of colon and rectal cancers: Study

A systematic review of the medical literature supports the hypothesis that statins, cholesterol‐lowering drugs used to prevent cardiac problems, are associated with reduced risk of colon and rectal cancers. A comprehensive analysis by investigators at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, included 22 scientific studies with more than 2.5 million combined participants.

18 Oct 2010

Studies explore impact of upper GI conditions on sleep

The impact of upper GI conditions, like gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) and functional dyspepsia, on sleep—and treatments aimed at providing relief to heartburn/acid reflux patients who suffer from disordered sleep—were explored in three new studies related to sleep dysfunction presented today at the American College of Gastroenterology's (ACG) 75th Annual Scientific meeting in San Antonio, Texas.

18 Oct 2010

Sequella to develop SQ109 further with EDCTP, LMU, and TB experts in PanACEA

Sequella, Inc., a clinical-stage company focused on commercializing novel drugs for treatment of life-threatening infectious diseases, announced it has signed an agreement with the Ludwig-Maximilians-University (LMU) of Munich to coordinate a European Union grant for Phase 2 clinical trials of SQ109 in adult pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) in seven sites in Africa.

18 Oct 2010

Hyperion's HPN-100 granted FDA Fast Track Designation for urea cycle disorders

Hyperion Therapeutics, Inc. announced today that its investigational compound glycerol phenylbutyrate (HPN-100) has been granted Fast Track Designation by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as adjunctive therapy for the chronic management of urea cycle disorders. Hyperion recently completed its phase III trial which was conducted under a Special Protocol Assessment (SPA) agreement with the FDA. The Company plans to announce results from that trial later this year.

18 Oct 2010

FDA grants fast track designation for Aastrom's CLI cell therapy development program

Aastrom Biosciences, Inc., a leading developer of expanded autologous cellular therapies for the treatment of severe cardiovascular diseases, today announced that the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) has granted fast track designation for the company's critical limb ischemia (CLI) cell therapy development program. Aastrom plans to initiate Phase 3 clinical testing of its treatment for CLI in early 2011.

18 Oct 2010

First Edition: October 18, 2010

Today's news includes continuing coverage of the run-up to the mid-term elections and how health reform is playing in the discourse.

18 Oct 2010

Tips to understand health benefits during open enrollment

Consumers spend an average of 10 hours researching a new car, but only one hour or less reviewing their health benefit options in open enrollment season which begins this fall for millions of Americans.

18 Oct 2010

South Florida physician publishes unique cookbook for weight loss

South Florida physician, author, and weight-loss expert Sanford Siegal, D.O., M.D., has published a unique cookbook that enables anyone who follows almost any calorie-controlled weight-loss or weight-maintenance diet to combine 120 recipes into a nearly unlimited number of calorie-specific meals.

18 Oct 2010

Researchers to develop technologies that can mask horrid taste of children's medicines

A spoonful of sugar is the traditional way to help medicines 'go down'. But getting young children to take foul-tasting medicines - even if their lives depend on it - requires more than a bit of added sweetener. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), each year over eight million children die of diseases that could be avoided if essential medicines were available in appropriate formulations for children.

18 Oct 2010

Phase III study influences WHO to change guidelines for HIV-infected women receiving nevirapine

Findings from a study, which appear in the Oct. 14, 2010 New England Journal of Medicine, helped influence the World Health Organization (WHO) to change its guidelines this year for the treatment of HIV-infected women who receive a single dose of the antiretroviral drug nevirapine to prevent HIV transmission to their babies.

18 Oct 2010