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CARMAT signs agreement with Edwards Lifesciences for total artificial heart

CARMAT, the designer and developer of the world's most advanced artificial heart, today announced that it has signed an agreement with Edwards Lifesciences, the global leader in the science of heart valves and hemodynamic monitoring. According to this agreement, CARMAT will be using the Carpentier-Edwards' biological heart valves in its artificial heart.

8 Nov 2010

FDA announces reclassification for Full Field Digital Mammography Systems

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today announced that it is easing the pathway to market for mammography systems that produce computerized X-ray images of the entire breast.

8 Nov 2010

Screening heavy smokers for lung cancer reduces chance of death, federal study finds

The Boston Globe: "Screening heavy smokers with sophisticated medical scanners modestly reduced their chance of dying from lung cancer, according to a federal study released yesterday that provides the first convincing evidence that testing could reduce the toll from the leading cause of cancer deaths. The preliminary findings from the National Cancer Institute were based on a gold-standard study that randomly assigned 53,000 current or former smokers without symptoms to be screened with a CT scanner or standard chest X-ray.

8 Nov 2010

New findings could help scientists devise optimal therapies for Friedreich's ataxia

Scripps Research Institute scientists have taken a step closer to understanding the cause of Friedreich's ataxia, a debilitating neurological condition that affects tens of thousands of people worldwide, and so far has no cure.

8 Nov 2010

Hydroxychloroquine may reduce cardiac neonatal lupus in subsequent pregnancies: Research

Women with anti-SSA/Ro antibodies and a previous child who has heart block a condition where the electrical signal that makes the heart beat is damaged may potentially decrease their risk of delivering another child with life threatening heart disease by taking hydroxychloroquine (Plaquenil), according to research presented this week at the American College of Rheumatology Annual Scientific Meeting in Atlanta.

8 Nov 2010

ST Cardio Technologies receives $244,479 QTDP Program grant to develop Z6 Cardiac Stimulator

ST Cardio Technologies, an innovative developer of products utilized in the diagnosis and treatment of heart arrhythmias, announced today that it has been awarded a grant of $244,479 under the Qualifying Therapeutic Discovery Project (QTDP) Program. The company's grant is related to the development and clinical evaluation of the Z6 Cardiac Stimulator. The amount awarded to ST Cardio Technologies represents the maximum award for a grant under this program.

8 Nov 2010

Statin drugs do not benefit pediatric lupus patients

Lupus puts children at higher risk for coronary artery disease when they become adults, but routinely using statins doesn't provide enough benefit to warrant their regular use in children and adolescents, according to the largest study of pediatric lupus patients to date.

8 Nov 2010

Chronic lower back pain may be linked to axial spondyloarthritis: Research

Chronic lower back pain may be linked to a recently defined form of inflammatory arthritis known as axial spondyloarthritis, according to research presented this week at the American College of Rheumatology Annual Scientific Meeting in Atlanta.

8 Nov 2010

InNexus receives $116,760 cash grant under QTDP program to develop DXL anti-cancer antibodies

InNexus Biotechnology Inc. a leading drug development company commercializing the next generation of antibodies based on its groundbreaking Dynamic Cross Linking (DXL) technology, today announced it has been awarded a cash grant by the U.S. government totaling $116,760 for projects related to the Company's development of DXL anti-cancer antibodies.

8 Nov 2010

Research Roundup: Basing insurance on results, not cost; Americans skeptical of public health efforts; seniors' comprehensive care

Copayment Reductions Generate Greater Medication Adherence In Targeted Patients. As health care costs have increased, some patients have sought to save money by cutting down on their medications.

8 Nov 2010

Resveratrol in grapes may help fight severe malaria: Study

A compound found in the skin of grapes and used to make red wine may help fight severe malaria, raising hopes of finding a new adjunctive therapy against an illness that kills an estimated 1 million people a year, according to a study presented today at The American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene 59th Annual Meeting.

8 Nov 2010

Skin to blood transformation in the lab

In a new study scientists have successfully transformed human skin cells into blood without first being sent through a primordial, stem-cell-like state. The findings were published online in the journal Nature. Earlier work has shown that fibroblast cells from mouse skin, treated with the right cocktail of chemicals, can be transformed into neurons and heart muscle. This is a first with human cells.

7 Nov 2010

Sudden epilepsy death explained

Sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP) is a condition that kills about 150 Australians a year. Now researchers have discovered the reasons behind such deaths. The study was conducted by scientists at the Centenary Institute at the University of Sydney who looked at blood samples taken from epilepsy suffers who had died suddenly and found that there were genetic faults in the heart and brain.

7 Nov 2010

Fast food restaurants to display calorie counts

As Australia reels under the weight of obesity and related diseases one of the first steps towards prevention could be forcing fast food restaurants to display kilojoule counts on their menus said NSW Premier Kristina Keneally.

7 Nov 2010

Americans sicker but live longer than the English: Study

According to a new study in the journal Demographics, and elderly American is not quite as healthy as his English counterpart, but does live just as long, if not longer. The study found that Americans aged 55 to 64 and 70 to 80 had higher rates of chronic diseases than same-aged English people, but they died at about the same rate. Americans aged 65 and older could be sicker than their English peers but lived longer.

5 Nov 2010

Abiomed second quarter revenue increases 17% to $23.4 million

Abiomed, Inc., a leading provider of breakthrough heart support technologies, today reported second quarter fiscal 2011 revenue of $23.4 million, up 17% compared to the same period of fiscal 2010.

4 Nov 2010

Higher-quality medical care in the U.S. than in England, says study

Older Americans are less healthy than their English counterparts, but they live as long or even longer than their English peers, according to a new study by researchers from the RAND Corporation and the Institute for Fiscal Studies in London.

4 Nov 2010

CaPre drug candidate effective in managing impaired glucose tolerance

Neptune Technologies & Bioressources Inc. subsidiary Acasti Pharma Inc. reports preclinical results showing that its leading drug candidate CaPre, performed significantly better than the currently marketed drug, Lovaza, at managing impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) a serious pre-diabetic state associated with increased risk of diabetes and heart disease.

4 Nov 2010

Athersys secures three Therapeutic Discovery Project grants

Athersys, Inc. announced today that it has secured three Therapeutic Discovery Project grants as part of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010. These grants were awarded related to Athersys' development of MultiStem® for the treatment of acute myocardial infarction (AMI), also known as heart attack, and other forms of cardiovascular disease, as well as for the treatment of multiple diseases causing acute tissue damage and chronic inflammation.

4 Nov 2010

Stereotaxis receives $1.5 million in grants under QTDP program

Stereotaxis, Inc. announced today that it has been awarded $1.5 million in grants under the Qualifying Therapeutic Discovery Project Program that was enacted under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010.

4 Nov 2010