Fibrosis News and Research

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Fibrosis is the growth of fibrous tissue.

Blood pressure drug reverses liver damage

British scientists have discovered that blood-pressure drugs can reverse the effects of early-stage liver failure in some patients.

1 Jun 2009

Blood-pressure medicine shown to reverse the effects of early-stage liver failure

Newcastle University researchers analysed a small clinical trial of losartan, a drug normally prescribed for hypertension, on 14 patients in Spain, who had Hepatitis C.

31 May 2009

Adult bone marrow stem cells injected into skeletal muscle can repair heart tissue

University at Buffalo researchers have demonstrated for the first time that injecting adult bone marrow stem cells into skeletal muscle can repair cardiac tissue, reversing heart failure.

28 May 2009

Aerosol delivery of antibiotics via nanoparticles

Aerosol delivery of antibiotics via nanoparticles may provide a means to improve drug delivery and increase patient compliance, thus reducing the severity of individual illnesses, the spread of epidemics, and possibly even retarding antibiotic resistance.

19 May 2009

Sodium channel-blocking agent shows promise as a potential treatment for cystic fibrosis

Cystic fibrosis patients may benefit from a new therapy that increases airway hydration, preventing the buildup of mucous, which is a key factor in the disease, according to researchers at Parion Sciences in Durham, N.C.

17 May 2009

Pirfenidone shows promise for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis

A large, well-controlled, multi-national clinical trial program has demonstrated the effectiveness and safety of what may become the first FDA-approved medicine for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, or IPF.

17 May 2009

FDA approves Creon (pancrelipase) - designed to help those with cystic fibrosis

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced that it has approved Creon (pancrelipase), a pancreatic enzyme replacement product designed to help patients with cystic fibrosis and others with exocrine pancreatic insufficiency (EPI) digest and absorb nutrients from foods.

7 May 2009

First molecular-level numerical study of gene therapy

In a recent issue of The Journal of Chemical Physics , published by the American Institute of Physics (AIP), a group of researchers at the University of California, Berkeley and Los Alamos National Laboratory describe the first comprehensive, molecular-level numerical study of gene therapy.

29 Apr 2009

Dendrimers as synthetic gene vectors

29 Apr 2009

Advances in cystic fibrosis genetic testing

San Juan Capistrano, CA and Chantilly, VA –Three reports describing advances in cystic fibrosis genetic testing appear in the May 2009 issue of The Journal of Molecular Diagnostics .

27 Apr 2009

Researchers discover key enzyme in the development of cardiac insufficiency

This enzyme is involved in the accumulation of fibrous tissues in the hearts of patients with chronic cardiac diseases and deterioration of heart functions.

26 Apr 2009

Fistula-related morbidity decreased by prompt treatment in Sierra Leone

Extent of fibrosis is the most profound factor in predicting surgical outcomes of genitourinary fistula repair, suggesting that prompt treatment could significantly improve survival.

26 Apr 2009

Double-lung transplants work better than single for long-term survival

Having both lungs replaced instead of just one is the single most important feature determining who lives longest after having a lung transplant, more than doubling an organ recipient's chances of extending their life by over a decade, a study by a team of transplant surgeons at Johns Hopkins shows.

22 Apr 2009

Low aerobic capacity linked to non-alcoholic fatty liver disease

Poor aerobic fitness is strongly associated with obesity and its consequent risks of heart disease, strokes and diabetes - now considered worldwide epidemics.

14 Apr 2009

MRI-based method holds promise for predicting treatment outcomes in patients with atrial fibrillation

University of Utah researchers have found that delayed-enhancement magnetic resonance imaging (DE-MRI) holds promise for predicting treatment outcomes and measuring disease progression for patients with atrial fibrillation (AF), a little known heart rhythm disorder that affects more than 3.5 million Americans and causes more than 66,000 deaths a year.

8 Apr 2009

Antibiotics could treat cystic fibrosis, other genetic diseases

By modifying the properties of the common antibiotic gentamicin, researchers at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology have developed what could become an effective treatment for many human genetic diseases, including cystic fibrosis (CF), Duchenne muscular dystrophy, Usher Syndrome and numerous cancers.

8 Apr 2009