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DRIVE4COPD initiative aims to raise awareness of COPD

In just four months since its launch, DRIVE4COPD has already encouraged more than 100,000 people to be screened to see if they may be at risk for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. The country's newest health initiative that aims to raise awareness of COPD in the hopes that people will talk to their doctor and get diagnosed instead of suffering in silence. Currently, half of the estimated 24 million Americans who may have COPD remain undiagnosed and untreated, and most are not diagnosed until they have lost half their lung function.

11 Jun 2010

Phase II study results of riociguat for CTEPH and PAH published online

Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced that the study "Riociguat for chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension and pulmonary arterial hypertension: a phase II study" was published online this week by the European Respiratory Journal. Results of this study to assess the safety, tolerability and the feasibility of individual dose titration of riociguat were previously presented at the 2009 International Conference of the American Thoracic Society.

11 Jun 2010

Boston Scientific announces event schedule at 17th Cardiostim World Congress

Boston Scientific Corporation today announced the schedule of the Company's key events and sponsored research at the 17th Cardiostim World Congress, June 16 – 19 in Nice, France.

11 Jun 2010

Trevena's scientists present research data on GPCR biased ligands at two scientific conferences

Trevena Inc., a leader in the discovery of G-protein coupled receptor biased ligands, today announced that its scientists are presenting research data at two scientific conferences. These oral presentations highlight Trevena's research demonstrating that ligand bias at the angiotensin II type I receptor translates into differentiable and beneficial cardiovascular pharmacology in vivo.

11 Jun 2010

Zargis Medical signs exclusive license agreement with Boston-based Stethographics

Zargis Medical Corp., a majority-owned subsidiary of Speedus Corp., today announced that it has entered into an agreement with Boston-based Stethographics, Inc. providing an exclusive license to patented, FDA-cleared Stethographics lung sounds analysis technology that automatically identifies clinically significant respiratory sounds.

11 Jun 2010

Study on health disparities and sexual orientation

A recent study conducted by Northeastern University's Institute on Urban Health Research found a significant number of health disparities in Massachusetts between heterosexual adults and gay, lesbian and bisexual adults.

11 Jun 2010

New study to use genetic 'chips' for examining DNA from over 20,000 heart disease patients

New research at the University of Leicester will use the latest genetic techniques to examine DNA from over 20,000 patients with heart disease.

11 Jun 2010

Anoxia-induced suspended animation helps survive hypothermia

How is it that some people who apparently freeze to death, with no heart rate or respiration for extended periods, can be brought back to life with no long-term negative health consequences? New findings from the laboratory of cell biologist Mark B. Roth, Ph.D., of Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, may help explain the mechanics behind this widely documented phenomenon.

11 Jun 2010

Cellular response plays a key role in wound healing

Researchers from the University of Illinois at Chicago have discovered that an unexpected cellular response plays an important role in breaking down and inhibiting the formation of excess scar tissue in wound healing.

11 Jun 2010

PPMD to fund two promising research initiatives in Duchenne muscular dystrophy

Patricia A. Furlong, Founding President and CEO of Parent Project Muscular Dystrophy (PPMD), the largest non-profit organization in the United States focused on finding a cure for Duchenne muscular dystrophy (Duchenne), announced today that PPMD will be funding two critical, promising research initiatives in Duchenne.

11 Jun 2010

Hypertension linked to severity of bipolar disorders

Nearly half of patients hospitalized with bipolar disorder may suffer from hypertension, and the younger a person is diagnosed with the psychiatric condition the more likely they are to develop high blood pressure, according to a recent Michigan State University study.

11 Jun 2010

FDA advisory committee recommends approval of Novartis' FTY720 for relapsing MS

Today, an advisory committee of the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recommended approval of FTY720 (fingolimod) for the treatment of patients with relapsing multiple sclerosis, the most common form of the disease. The FDA has the option of seeking the advice of one of its advisory committees as it reviews and decides whether to approve a new treatment. The committee voted unanimously that FTY720 demonstrated substantial efficacy in treating relapsing remitting MS and that safety of the proposed 0.5 mg dose justified approval.

11 Jun 2010

Young adult men more vulnerable to heart breaks: Study

A new study published in the international Journal of Health and Social Behaviour has shown that a bad or broken relationship affects men more than women contrary to popular belief.

10 Jun 2010

Remote monitoring and nurse case management combined improve health of Medicare beneficiaries with CHF

Chronic heart failure (CHF) is one of the most common causes of hospitalization for elderly Americans, and is also one of the nation's most costly conditions to treat.

10 Jun 2010

22 Midwest facilities named Centers of Excellence in accelerated partial breast irradiation

Twenty-two facilities in the Midwest have been named Centers of Excellence in accelerated partial breast irradiation (APBI) for their use of the SAVI® applicator, an advanced therapy for breast cancer as part of breast conservation therapy. The SAVI applicator can provide important advantages for women with early-stage breast cancer.

10 Jun 2010

Misinterpretation of genetic information may undermine efforts to promote behavioral changes for disease prevention

Does knowing that genes are partly responsible for your health condition mean you are less likely to be motivated to find out about the benefits of behavioral changes? According to Dr. Suzanne O'Neill from the National Human Genome Research Institute/National Institutes of Health, and her colleagues, people on the whole are still interested in how health habits affect disease risk.

10 Jun 2010

Allopurinol exhibits potential benefits for CKD patients

A drug commonly used to treat gout may help maintain kidney disease patients' health, according to an analysis appearing in an upcoming issue of the Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology (CJASN). The research is the first to show that allopurinol treatment in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) decreases inflammation, slows the progression of kidney disease, and reduces patients' risk of experiencing a cardiovascular event or being hospitalized.

10 Jun 2010

AACN endorses scientific statement on prevention of TdP

The American Association of Critical-Care Nurses recently endorsed "Prevention of Torsades de Pointes in Hospital Settings," a scientific statement from the American Heart Association, Dallas, and American College of Cardiology Foundation, Washington, D.C.

10 Jun 2010

Caregiver's guide on avoiding life-threatening swallowing problems

That's the message of Drs. Roya Sayadi and Joel Herskowitz. They are a wife-husband team from Natick, Massachusetts, who are spreading the word that swallowing problems are everywhere - and they can be deadly!

10 Jun 2010

Researchers differentiate human stem cells to become heart cells with cardiomyopathy

Researchers at Mount Sinai School of Medicine have for the first time differentiated human stem cells to become heart cells with cardiomyopathy, a condition in which the heart muscle cells are abnormal. The discovery will allow scientists to learn how those heart cells become diseased and from there, they can begin developing drug therapies to stop the disease from occurring or progressing. The study is published in the June 9th issue of Nature.

10 Jun 2010