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Cannabis could be a potentially effective treatment for sickle cell disease pain

Cannabis appears to be a safe and potentially effective treatment for the chronic pain that afflicts people with sickle cell disease, according to a new clinical trial co-led by University of California, Irvine researcher Kalpna Gupta and Dr. Donald Abrams of UC San Francisco. The findings appear in JAMA Network Open.

17 Jul 2020

PCORI approves up to $50 million in funding for new projects to address COVID-19

The Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) Board of Governors today, building on its rapid response to the COVID-19 health crisis, approved allocating up to $50 million in additional funding for new projects in PCORI's COVID-19 funding opportunities, as well as enhancements to existing PCORI-funded studies.

23 Jun 2020

Cloning stem cells to develop treatments for Crohn's disease

For over a decade Wa Xian, research associate professor of biology and biochemistry at the University of Houston Stem Cell Center, has been perfecting technology for cloning stem cells. Now she is using it to take aim at pediatric Crohn's disease.

18 Jun 2020

Globally, 350 million could be at risk of severe COVID-19 and hospitalization

Now, a new study shows that one in five individuals is at risk of getting a severe case of COVID-19 due to the presence of underlying disease. The study appeared in the latest issue of The Lancet Global Health this week.

17 Jun 2020

Study provides genetic explanation behind the sex bias observed in certain diseases

Some diseases exhibit a clear sex bias, occurring more often, hitting harder or eliciting different symptoms in men or women.

12 May 2020

Higher prevalence of anxiety disorders in youth with chronic medical conditions

Youth who report one of the seven chronic medical conditions (CMCs), including asthma, congenital heart disease, diabetes, epilepsy, inflammatory bowel disease, juvenile idiopathic arthritis, and sickle cell disease, are often diagnosed with an anxiety disorder.

4 May 2020

Rice University wins prestigious grant to develop new therapies for sickle cell disease

A Rice University lab has won a prestigious National Institutes of Health grant to pursue gene-editing research it hopes will lead to a cure for sickle cell disease (SCD).

25 Apr 2020

Exploring mechanisms of resistance to HIV in people with sickle cell disease

Analysis supports reports that sickle cell disease causes lower HIV infection rate, but cell studies did not reveal a mechanism.

8 Apr 2020

Study underscores the need for more precise rare disease definitions

Some diseases are like black swans. They occur so rarely that many physicians never encounter them in their clinical practice, complicating efforts to treat them.

5 Feb 2020

Certain enzymes implicated in diseases like cancer also destroy each other

Like motley bandits, certain enzymes implicated in cancer and other diseases also annihilate each other. A new study reveals details of their mutual foils in the hopes that these behaviors can be leveraged to fight the enzymes' disease potential.

20 Jan 2020

Enzymes that cannibalize each other and promote cancer

A new study to be published this week in the journal The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences in the week of January 20, 2020. shows that certain human enzymes play dual roles in health and disease. Not only do they promote the occurrence of cancer and some other illnesses, they also eliminate one another rather like cannibals. The researchers hope this behaviour can be exploited to prevent these enzymes from causing human disease.

20 Jan 2020

Effort to control opioids in an ER leaves some sickle cell patients in pain

India Hardy has lived with pain since she was a toddler — ranging from dull persistent aches to acute flare-ups that interrupt the flow of her normal life.

6 Jan 2020

Common immune cell linked to failure of checkpoint inhibitors in lung cancer patients

For many lung cancer patients, the best treatment options involve checkpoint inhibitors. These drugs unleash a patient's immune system against their disease and can yield dramatic results, even in advanced cancers.

19 Dec 2019

Fresh red blood cell transfusions are no more beneficial than older ones to critically ill children

A new study led by the Sainte-Justine University Hospital Centre and the University of Montreal, along with the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, has found that transfusions using fresh red blood cells--cells that have spent seven days or less in storage--are no more beneficial than older red blood cells in reducing the risk of organ failure or death in critically ill children.

10 Dec 2019

Identifying the type of pain in adults with sickle cell disease may help improve treatment

Identifying the type of pain an adult with sickle cell disease experiences may be useful in improving treatment, according to a new study by researchers at Yale Cancer Center and Smilow Cancer Hospital.

8 Dec 2019

New tool can rapidly reveal unintended changes made by CRISPR-directed gene editing

Amidst rising hopes for using CRISPR gene editing tools to repair deadly mutations linked to conditions like cystic fibrosis and sickle cell disease, a new study in the Nature journal Communications Biology describes a new innovation that could accelerate this work by rapidly revealing unintended and potentially harmful changes introduced by a gene editing process.

6 Dec 2019

Prenatal screening for hemoglobinopathies different in OBGYN practices and family medicine

Sickle cell disease is one of the most common inherited red blood cell disorders, yet many are not aware of their carrier status (Treadwell, J Nat Med Assoc, 2006), which can lead to confusion around pregnancy and newborn diagnosis.

5 Dec 2019

Pharma’s take on the Pelosi drug-pricing bill: Fair warning or fearmongering?

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's flagship proposal to curb prescription drug prices, the "Lower Drug Costs Now Act" - H.R. 3 - could come up for a vote in the chamber this month.

5 Dec 2019

A major step toward preventing GvHD in patients receiving bone marrow transplants

A drug used for rheumatoid arthritis has moved a step closer to FDA approval for a desperately needed new use.

4 Dec 2019

New project could mark a pivotal advancement in therapies to address male sterility

Researchers from the University of Georgia, Emory University School of Medicine and the University of Pittsburgh have received a $2.9 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to test a novel method of producing viable sperm cells from skin cells.

3 Dec 2019