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Experimental treatment for sickle cell disease enters Phase 3 clinical trials

An experimental treatment for sickle cell disease developed at the Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute has entered Phase 3 clinical trials, David I. Meyer, PhD, LA BioMed president and CEO announced today.

26 Jul 2010

Pneumonia, diarrhea, and malaria cause death of 6 million of world's poorest children

A Johns Hopkins University scientist, whose team of researchers recently identified pneumonia, diarrhea, and malaria as the primary causes of death of 6 million of the world's poorest children, today called on leaders in donor and developing nations to take action to address the terrible death toll.

23 Jul 2010

New drug to treat chronic pain in SCD patients

A University of Minnesota Medical School research team led by Kalpna Gupta, Ph.D., has discovered that cannibinoids offer a novel approach to ease the chronic and acute pain caused by sickle cell disease.Using a mouse model of SCD, Gupta and University of Minnesota colleagues studied the pain mechanisms by observing animals that exhibited both musculoskeletal pain and temperature sensitivity, symptoms similarly experienced by humans with SCD. The team compared two classifications of drugs in their ability to manage pain sensed by the animals, the traditionally prescribed classification of drugs, opioids, with a new therapeutic approach, cannabinoids, a synthetic compound based on marijuana derivatives. Currently, the only approved treatment for management of severe pain in SCD is opioids.

23 Jul 2010

NT-020 nutrients promote adult neural stem cell growth in aged rats: Researchers

A combination of nutrients called NT-020 promoted adult neural stem cell proliferation in aged rats and boosted their memory performance, reported University of South Florida researchers studying natural therapeutic approaches to promoting the health of neurons in the aging brain.

21 Jul 2010

La Jolla Institute forms partnership to investigate potential new therapy for sickle cell disease

Researchers from the La Jolla Institute for Allergy & Immunology have joined forces with the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston and Washington University in St. Louis to investigate a potential new therapy for sickle cell disease, a severe and chronic illness affecting more than 70,000 Americans and several million people worldwide.

21 Jul 2010

Researchers discover genetic explanation for non-diabetic kidney disease in African-Americans

Kidney disease is a growing public health problem, with approximately half a million individuals in the United States requiring dialysis treatments to replace the function of their failed kidneys. The problem is particularly acute among African-Americans, whose rates of kidney disease are four times higher than those of European Americans.

20 Jul 2010

Two patents issued for GlycoMimetics lead drug candidate, related compounds

GlycoMimetics, Inc., a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing a new class of glycobiology-based therapies for a broad range of indications, today announced that the U. S. Patent and Trademark Office has issued two patents covering the company's lead drug candidate and related compounds. One patent, US number 7,728,117, specifically covers GMI-1070, the Company's drug candidate now in clinical trials of patients with vaso-occlusive crisis of sickle cell disease. The second patent, US number 7,741,312, contains claims covering a family of molecules that includes and extends beyond GMI-1070.

15 Jul 2010

Phase 2 clinical trial of GMI-1070 for treatment of vaso-occlusive crisis of sickle cell disease initiated

GlycoMimetics, Inc., a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing a new class of glycobiology-based therapies for a broad range of indications, today announced the commencement of a Phase 2 clinical trial of GMI-1070 for treatment of vaso-occlusive crisis of sickle cell disease. The company also announced that GMI-1070 has received Fast Track designation from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

25 Jun 2010

Risk, incidence of VTE differs between races

A new study of 1,960 White-Americans and 368 Black-Americans with objectively diagnosed venous thromboembolism (VTE) showed that, compared to Whites, Blacks had a significantly higher proportion with pulmonary embolism (PE), including idiopathic PE among Black women, and a significantly higher proportion of Blacks with VTE were women (71% vs 61% for Whites) The study is published today in the American Journal of Hematology.

24 Jun 2010

NHLBI funds nine research grants to determine safety and efficacy of red blood cell transfusions

The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, part of the National Institutes of Health, is funding nine research grants to determine if the safety and efficacy of red blood cell transfusions vary depending on how long the cells have been stored. One of the grants supports the first large, multi-center, randomized clinical trial to compare outcomes in heart surgery patients who receive transfusions of red blood cells that have been stored for shorter or longer amounts of time.

22 Jun 2010

Constipation prophylaxis in sickle cell patients needs increased attention

Not all patients with sickle cell disease receive laxatives after being treated with narcotics, despite recommendations from a collaborative panel of pediatric experts. These are the findings from a Nationwide Children's Hospital study examining patients from 29 pediatric hospitals, and appearing in Pediatric Blood & Cancer.

17 Jun 2010

Children get MRI tests for reasons unrelated to benign anomalies: Study

Pediatricians whose patients undergo "routine" brain MRIs need a plan to deal with findings that commonly reveal unexpected-but-benign anomalies that are unlikely to cause any problem, reports a research team led by Johns Hopkins Children's Center investigators.

14 Jun 2010

NHLBI stops trial evaluating new approach to reduce risk of recurrent stroke in children with sickle cell anemia

The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) has stopped a clinical trial evaluating a new approach to reduce the risk of recurrent stroke in children with sickle cell anemia and iron overload because of evidence that the new treatment was unlikely to prove better than the existing treatment.

5 Jun 2010

Unsatisfactory interactions with physicians affect sickle cell disease patients' trust in medical profession

Faculty at the Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of Bioethics have published a study that shows, among adults with sickle cell disease, that unsatisfactory interactions with health-care providers in the past affect their trust in the medical profession more broadly.

5 Jun 2010

Two-day workshop on sickle cell trait

Scientists from across the nation will gather June 3-4 to discuss what is known about sickle cell trait and the potential health implications related to this genetic blood condition. "Framing the Research Agenda for Sickle Cell Trait" will examine the ethical, legal, social, and public health impacts of the blood condition.

3 Jun 2010

Cortex first-quarter net income increases to $0.08 per share

Cortex Pharmaceuticals, Inc. reported net income of approximately $5,596,000, or $0.08 per share for the quarter ended March 31, 2010 compared with a net loss of $3,168,000, or $0.07 per share for the corresponding prior year period, with the difference reflecting revenues from the Company's March 2010 transaction with Biovail Laboratories International SRL (Biovail).

17 May 2010

27-year-old sickle cell disease patient undergoes multiple joint replacement surgery

Fortis Hospitals Mulund, Mumbai, performed a multiple joint replacement surgery on a 27 year old young Nigerian patient. Rebacca underwent a hip and a shoulder replacement surgery by Dr. Sachin Bhonsle, Consultant Orthopedic Surgeon, after years of suffering in pain and immobility.

13 May 2010

Adult patients with sickle cell disease may develop cognitive problems: Study

Sickle cell disease may affect brain function in adults who have few or mild complications of the inherited blood disease, according to results of the first study to examine cognitive functioning in adults with sickle cell disease.

12 May 2010

New measurement technique can lead to better treatment strategies for malaria and sickle-cell disease

Thanks to an interdisciplinary team of researchers, scientists now have a more complete understanding of one of the human body's most vital structures: the red blood cell.

7 May 2010

Study finds standard heel-stick test ineffective in identifying CMV infection in babies

A national study involving a UT Southwestern Medical Center neonatologist and pediatric infectious diseases specialist suggests that a screening test routinely performed in newborns is not very good at identifying cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection, a leading cause of hearing loss in children.

4 May 2010