Drugs News and Research

RSS

Finding how water channels - aquaporins - open and close may lead to new drugs

Living organisms are dependent on being able to adjust the water content in their cells. This is achieved by regulating the flow of water through the cell membrane.

12 Dec 2005

Hospitals a good place to catch bird flu

While U.S. officials continue to urge states and businesses to get ready for an outbreak of serious disease, issuing checklists of preparations, and Congress battles with funding a federal plan before the end of the year, a report has been released that declares that because most U.S. hospitals do not follow good hygiene practices

12 Dec 2005

Is the FDA too influenced by big pharma?

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) historically sound reputation could be in jeopardy due to it's possibly too close relationship with the major pharmaceutical companies.

12 Dec 2005

Bird flu would cause serious recession in the U.S.

According to the latest estimates a bird flu pandemic could cost the U.S. economy between $500 billion and $675 billion, and cause a serious recession.

11 Dec 2005

White House tests bird flu drill as death toll reaches 70

White House staff have carried out a set of tests to assess its preparedness for what they warn is an inevitable bird flu pandemic.

11 Dec 2005

Hospital "super super bug" stronger than MRSA

According to reports eleven patients at a British hospital have acquired a superbug said to be stronger than MRSA.

11 Dec 2005

Cancer road map shows how cancer spreads

Scientists at Cornell University in New York have discovered how cancer spreads from a primary site to other places in the body.

11 Dec 2005

Disaster or pandemic - U.S. needs to get real!

According to a report by the organization Trust for America's Health (TFAH), hospitals in the U.S. are not properly prepared to handle patients who would arrive after a disaster or a pandemic.

7 Dec 2005

COX-2 inhibitors may not be as safe as originally thought

There is no evidence to back up claims that the new generation of anti-inflammatory drugs (COX-2 inhibitors) are less harmful to the stomach lining than many traditional anti-inflammatory drugs, concludes a study in the British Medical Journal.

7 Dec 2005

Short-term use of painkiller drugs does not increase the risk of heart attack

Short-term use of painkiller drugs in the same family as ibuprofen does not increase the risk of having a heart attack.

7 Dec 2005

Buttock injections do not provide proper dose

Women may not be getting the most out of vaccines and other injections, according to a study presented at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA).

7 Dec 2005

Risedronate prevents bone loss and periodontal disease

Drugs that reverse and prevent bone loss due to osteoporosis also significantly ward off periodontal disease, according to a graduate of the Case Western Reserve University School of Dental Medicine who reports in the current Menopause journal article, "Periodontal Assessments of Postmenopausal Women Receiving Risedronate."

7 Dec 2005

Liver plays crucial role in iron metabolism

A new study in the December Cell Metabolism reveals an unexpected connection between a tumor suppressor gene in the liver and the normally careful control over the amount of iron absorbed from the diet.

7 Dec 2005

New anti-clotting treatment

Volunteers at the Jack and Linda Gill Heart Institute at the University of Kentucky were the first ever to receive a new anti-clotting therapy.

7 Dec 2005

New cancer detection method

University of Florida researchers say they are a step closer to a technique to easily detect a wide variety of cancers before symptoms become apparent.

7 Dec 2005

Transport mechanisms for serotonin

Researchers at The Forsyth Institute have discovered that the transport mechanisms for serotonin - the chemical substance involved in transmitting signals between neurons, and which has a role in anxiety and mood disorders - play a key role in determining where organs are positioned in the body during embryonic development.

7 Dec 2005

Garvan scientists explain stress and sickness

Garvan Institute scientists have discovered how a hormone, known as neuropeptide Y (NPY), can prevent our immune system functioning properly, paving the way for two new major opportunities for therapeutic intervention.

7 Dec 2005

Physicians slow to prescribe newer heart drugs

An analysis of the treatment received by more than 100,000 heart patients has shown that physicians' prescription practices for drugs proven effective for treating heart disease has shown steady improvement over the past three years, cardiologists at the Duke Clinical Research Institute (DCRI) have concluded.

7 Dec 2005

Local health officials don't rate U.S. government bird flu plans

Health officials in the U.S. have predicted, in the event of a bird flu pandemic, businesses and government can expect 40 percent of their employees to be absent during it's peak.

6 Dec 2005

Cancer cell resistance to chemotherapy drugs - mechanism discovered

Technion-Israel Institute of Technology researchers have discovered new mechanisms developed by cancer cells to become resistant to various chemotherapy drugs.

6 Dec 2005