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Breast cancers to be more aggressive in African-American women

A study of more than 2,200 women at the Kimmel Cancer Center at Jefferson in Philadelphia shows that African American women have more advanced breast cancer at the time of diagnosis than Caucasian women.

10 Jul 2007

Gene therapy offers promising approach to tackle pancreatic cancer

A molecularly engineered therapy selectively embeds a gene in pancreatic cancer that shrinks or eradicates tumors, inhibits metastasis, and prolongs survival with virtually no toxicity, researchers from The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center report in the July 9 edition of Cancer Cell.

10 Jul 2007

Bio-adhesive vaginal foam

Foamix Ltd. has announced that the Company has been selected to present at the 34th Annual Meeting of the Controlled Release Society.

10 Jul 2007

FDA designates Carbaglu for treatment of NAGS deficiency as a Fast Track product

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the USA has concluded that Carbaglu (carglumic acid) for treatment of N-acetylglutamate synthase (NAGS) deficiency meets the criteria for fast track designation.

10 Jul 2007

Wall Street Journal examines women's health initiative findings on HRT's effect on heart attack risk

The Wall Street Journal on Monday examined findings from the 15-year, $725 million NIH-sponsored Women's Health Initiative on hormone replacement therapy's effects on heart attack risk.

10 Jul 2007

El Salvador needs to take increased HIV/AIDS control efforts

Although health officials in El Salvador have launched an HIV testing campaign in the country, some advocates say that the country needs to take increased efforts to control the growing number of HIV cases in the country, Inter Press Service reports.

10 Jul 2007

Etravirine reduces HIV viral loads when taken with Prezista

The experimental antiretroviral drug etravirine, made by Johnson & Johnson subsidiary Tibotec Pharmaceuticals, greatly reduces HIV viral loads in people with a history of drug resistance when taken in combination with Tibotec's antiretroviral Prezista, according to two studies published Saturday in the journal The Lancet.

10 Jul 2007

Easing agonising deaths of terminally ill babies "tantamount to euthanasia"

A doctor in Scotland who gave a paralysing drug to two terminally ill babies, has told a General Medical Council (GMC) panel he felt the children were suffering.

10 Jul 2007

Use of sleeping pills in hospital leads to dependence for many seniors

A new study has produced some worrying results regarding the use of sleeping pills in the elderly.

10 Jul 2007

Drug costs cut in Norway following new rule on prescribing

Research in Norway has shown that there have been substantial savings in drug costs since the introduction of a regulation requiring doctors to prescribe the recommended first-line treatment for hypertension (high blood pressure).

9 Jul 2007

Antidepressants lower the risk of suicide attempt in adults with depression

All age groups of depressed patients who received selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors -- the most commonly prescribed antidepressant medication -- showed a significantly lower risk of suicide attempt when compared to those who did not receive antidepressant treatment.

9 Jul 2007

Olive-pomace oil slows down AIDS

Olive oil has become part of the fight against the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) - the cause of AIDS - thanks to the research carried out by the Bionat team, from the University of Granada, headed by Prof. Andres Garcia-Granados, senior lecturer in Organic Chemistry.

9 Jul 2007

New criteria for probable Alzheimer's disease

An international group of Alzheimer's disease (AD) experts have proposed new criteria for the reasearch diagnosis of the condition, as they argue the existing criteria are out of date due to unprecedented growth of scientific knowledge in the field. The proposal is put forward in a Position Paper published early Online and in the August edition of The Lancet Neurology.

9 Jul 2007

Roche and Alnylam form RNAi therapeutics alliance

Roche and the US-based biopharmaceutical company Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced today that they have entered into a major alliance in which Roche obtains a non-exclusive license to Alnylam's technology platform for developing RNAi (RNA interference) therapeutics.

9 Jul 2007

QRISK score more accurate than Framingham or ASSIGN for heart attacks

A new score for predicting the risk of heart disease gives a more accurate measure of how many UK adults are at risk of developing the disease and which adults are most likely to benefit from treatment.

9 Jul 2007

Leading-edge treatment for Crohn's disease at Pediatric Infusion Center

Seventeen-year-old Eliot Drieband explains what it's like to have Crohn's disease - a type of inflammatory bowel disease - in the same matter-of-fact way she describes preparing for an advanced placement exam, working on the school newspaper, starting an organ donor awareness club for teens and being a peer counselor for other kids facing chronic, life-altering illnesses.

9 Jul 2007

Include children in research to make breakthroughs in child medicine

Scientists will only make real breakthroughs in children's medicine if they include children in research programmes as well as adults, according to a leading paediatric expert.

9 Jul 2007

High-risk patients need improved guidance on heart attacks

Varying advice means patients at high-risk of having a heart attack are unclear about when symptoms are potentially life threatening and when they should call an ambulance, argue a group of heart specialists in this week's BMJ.

9 Jul 2007

Warning on Chikungunya virus

Fever, arthritis, and other symptoms occurring in people to who have recently traveled to islands in the Indian Ocean may signal infection with an imported virus called "chikungunya," reports a study in the May/June issue of the journal Medicine, published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, a part of Wolters Kluwer Health.

9 Jul 2007

Orlistat weight loss drug points to new cancer treatments

Based on their surprising discovery that an obesity drug can kill cancer cells, scientists at Wake Forest University School of Medicine have made a new finding about the drug's effects and are working to design more potent cancer treatments.

9 Jul 2007