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Microfluidics chips for simplifying medical imaging biomarkers of disease

A collaboration between scientists at UCLA, Caltech, Stanford, Siemens and Fluidigm have developed a new technology using integrated microfluidics chips for simplifying, lowering the cost and diversifying the types of molecules used to image the biology of disease with the medical imaging technology, Positron Emission Tomography (PET).

15 Dec 2005

Stem cells provide new way to sneak drugs into brain

One of the great challenges for treating Parkinson's diseases and other neurodegenerative disorders is getting medicine to the right place in the brain.

15 Dec 2005

Aromatase inhibitors may slow growth of lung cancer

A few years ago researchers discovered that, much like breast tumors, some lung tumors also thrive on estrogen. Now a medical student conducting research on a Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) fellowship and colleagues have managed to stop the growth of human lung cancer cells in mice with a class of breast cancer drugs called aromatase inhibitors.

15 Dec 2005

New cell findings have implications for cancer, immune disorders

It all started 5 years ago when a University of Calgary neuroscientist sent blood from a patient with a neurological disorder to the laboratory of Dr. Marvin Fritzler, professor of medicine / biochemistry & molecular biology at the University of Calgary Faculty of Medicine.

15 Dec 2005

Canada's first prescription drug atlas maps billions in spending

Researchers at the University of British Columbia Centre for Health Services and Policy Research have developed a comprehensive portrait of pharmaceutical spending in Canada -- more than $20 billion by the end of 2005 -- and assembled the results into a first-of-its-kind atlas.

15 Dec 2005

Cholesterol levels down overall

Total cholesterol levels have decreased in middle-aged to older adults but are rising among younger adults, according to a survey reported in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association.

15 Dec 2005

Dramatic changes in new CPR guidelines will simplify lifesaving measures

New emergency care guidelines include dramatic changes to CPR and emphasis on chest compressions, according to the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada, co-author of the 2005 Guidelines for Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) and Emergency Cardiovascular Care (ECC).

15 Dec 2005

Scientists working to protect us against avian and pandemic flu

The expression 'prevention is better than a cure' is a truism when it comes to vaccine research. European scientists in various EU-funded projects are hard at work developing new vaccines, treatments and diagnostic tools against some of the deadliest and most virulent viruses, including strains of avian flu.

15 Dec 2005

Hydrogels to potentially make chemotherapy and tissue regeneration more convenient and safe

Scientists at the Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (IBN) have invented an injectable and biodegradable gel that can deliver drugs at targeted sites or act as a scaffold for tissue repair.

15 Dec 2005

Companies warned about shonky bird flu remedies

The appearance of so-called bird flu remedies which have hit the market in the U.S. have prompted the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to issue warnings to nine companies.

14 Dec 2005

Heart drug designed for U.S. blacks a cheaper option

According to researchers a new heart-failure drug designed especially for blacks could reduce the amount it costs to treat the disease by as much as 34 percent.

14 Dec 2005

Pfizer to fund independent trial on Celebrex and heart risks

Drug company Pfizer Inc., the maker of Celebrex, will pay for an international study of 20,000 people.

14 Dec 2005

Gene mapping project promises new targeted cancer therapies

Government researchers in the United States have this week launched a pilot project to find all the little genetic changes that cause cancer in the hope it will lead to a whole new world of targeted cancer therapy.

14 Dec 2005

Eye cell implants improve lives of Parkinson's sufferers

U.S. researchers say that people with Parkinson's disease showed a marked improvement after surgeons implanted in their brains chemical-producing cells taken from the eye of a dead donor.

14 Dec 2005

Fat surrounding internal thoracic artery of humans produces a factor which can relax the artery

A team of McMaster researchers has discovered that fat tissue surrounding thoracic arteries may be beneficial in patients undergoing coronary bypass surgery.

13 Dec 2005

Chlamydia loves lipid droplets

Invasive bacterial pathogens, the Chlamydiae know us very, very well. The Chlamydiae learned to parasitize eukaryotic cells half a billion years ago by reprogramming cellular functions from within.

13 Dec 2005

Perimenopause critical for preventing heart disease and osteoporosis

Research in monkeys suggests that the perimenopause - the five to 10 years before a woman's menopause - is a critical time for preventing heart disease and osteoporosis.

13 Dec 2005

NHS under pressure to provide new breast cancer drugs

The National Health Service in the UK is being put under considerable pressure by Cancer charities to widen access to a promising new class of breast cancer drug as new evidence suggests the latest treatment is far superior to Tamoxifen, the long established premier drug for women with the early stage of the disease.

12 Dec 2005

ASEAN stockpiles bird flu drug in Malaysia

The Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), which is presently meeting in Kuala Lumpur, has agreed this week to create a stockpile of antiviral drugs to combat the deadly spread of bird flu throughout the region.

12 Dec 2005

Germany must take action against secondhand smoke

Tobacco smoke in enclosed spaces is not simply a nuisance: it is a threat to health with fatal consequences. This is the conclusion reached by the German Cancer Research Center (Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum, DKFZ) in its latest publication.

12 Dec 2005