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Inorganic nitrate reduces rate of heart dysfunction caused by doxorubicin

Virginia Commonwealth University researchers have found that nutrient supplementation, like the kind that is found in leafy greens, spinach and lettuce, may reduce the damage to the heart caused by a powerful anti-cancer drug.

20 May 2011

Bitter cumin contains high levels of antioxidants and protects against DNA damage

Bitter cumin is used extensively in traditional medicine to treat a range of diseases from vitiligo to hyperglycemia. It is considered to be antiparasitic and antimicrobial and science has backed up claims of its use to reduce fever or as a painkiller. New research published in BioMedCentral's open access journal BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine shows that this humble spice also contains high levels of antioxidants.

20 May 2011

EMA CHMP recommends conditional marketing authorization of FAMPYRA

The Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use of the European Medicine Agency has recommended conditional marketing authorization of FAMPYRA (prolonged-release fampridine 10 mg tablets) for the improvement of walking in adult patients with multiple sclerosis with walking disability.

20 May 2011

Merck's VICTRELIS receives European CHMP positive opinion for treatment of chronic HCV genotype 1 infection

Merck, today announced that the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use of the European Medicines Agency has adopted a positive opinion under accelerated assessment recommending approval of the investigational medicine VICTRELIS (boceprevir) for the treatment of chronic hepatitis C virus genotype 1 infection, in combination with peginterferon alfa and ribavirin, in adult patients with compensated liver disease who are previously untreated or who have failed previous therapy.

20 May 2011

Indian wild plants offer hope against resistant infections

Cancer treatments often have the side effect of impairing the patient's immune system. This can result in life-threatening secondary infections from bacteria and fungi, especially since bacteria, like Staphylococcus aureus, are becoming multi-drug resistant.

20 May 2011

North Shore-LIJ implements new program to ensure safe radiation therapy

Radiation oncologists took a blow in a series of front-page newspaper stories published last year on injuries that occurred nationwide in the delivery of radiation treatment. Radiation oncologists at North Shore-LIJ Health System responded to the public charge with a series of steps that will ensure that patients are protected at all points in the treatment process.

20 May 2011

EMA CHMP issues positive opinion for marketing approval of BENLYSTA

GlaxoSmithKline and Human Genome Sciences, Inc. announced today that the European Medicines Agency's Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use has issued a positive opinion, recommending marketing authorisation for BENLYSTA (belimumab) as an add-on therapy in adult patients with active autoantibody-positive systemic lupus erythematosus, with a high degree of disease activity, despite standard therapy.

20 May 2011

Roundup: Private prison costs; GOP lawmakers in Wis. break with Governor on cuts to senior services

The conviction that private prisons save money helped drive more than 30 states to turn to them for housing inmates. But Arizona shows that popular wisdom might be wrong: Data there suggest that privately operated prisons can cost more to operate than state-run prisons — even though they often steer clear of the sickest, costliest inmates (Oppel, 5/18).

20 May 2011

Accovion establishes new subsidiary in the UK

As a European full-service Clinical Research Organization, Accovion supports local and global projects of all types and phases for the Pharmaceutical, Biotechnology and Medical Device industries.

20 May 2011

Berkeley Lab scientists reveal how protein-making machine bends without breaking

It sounds like hype from a late-night infomercial: It can twist and bend without breaking! And wait, there's more: It could someday help you fend off disease!

20 May 2011

International team identifies key protein in development of drug-resistant leukemia

Now an international team led by researchers at the University of California, San Francisco and joined by scientists of the Freiburg excellence cluster BIOSS - Centre for Biological Signalling Studies, has identified a protein called BCL6 which plays a key role in the development of drug-resistance in leukemia.

20 May 2011

Cholesterol drug may help treat mitochondrial diseases

A human drug that both prevents and cures kidney failure in mice sheds light on disabling human mitochondrial disorders, and may represent a potential treatment in people with such illnesses.

20 May 2011

Surgeon's choices and choice of surgeons influence hospital charges for spinal fusion surgery

Hospital charges for spinal fusion surgery in the upper spine vary considerably—with the surgeon's choice of spinal hardware being the largest source of variation, reports a study in the May 15 issue of Spine.

20 May 2011

Complementary and alternative health practices show promise for management of pain

A variety of complementary and alternative health practices —including meditation and relaxation techniques, manual therapies such as massage and spinal manipulation, meditative exercise forms such as yoga, Tai Chi, and ancient health practices such as acupuncture—show promise for contributing to the management of pain according to research presented at the Annual Scientific Meeting of the American Pain Society, www.ampainsoc.org.

20 May 2011

Bayer, Onyx to present Nexavar-chemotherapy combination Phase 2b trial data in breast cancer at ASCO 2011

Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and Onyx Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced results from a Phase 2b trial evaluating Nexavar® (sorafenib) tablets in patients with locally advanced or metastatic breast cancer previously treated with a bevacizumab-containing regimen, which showed that Nexavar was associated with statistically significant improvements in progression-free survival and time-to-progression.

20 May 2011

Naltrexone improves clinical, inflammatory activity in Crohn's disease patients

Naltrexone reduced inflammation in Crohn's patients in a research study at Penn State College of Medicine.

20 May 2011

Longer looks: Tough health care questions for GOP presidential contenders; Robotics help spike use of prostate treatment

For my money, the most interesting thing about Mitt Romney's health-care speech last week wasn't his struggle to defend Romneycare and distance it from Obamacare, but the largely hostile reception of the speech from the right.

20 May 2011

Viewpoints: Coburn on his dropout; Malpractice reform and states

For the past several months I have been meeting with a small group of senators from both parties, informally known as the Gang of Six, that was designed to force the idle — not gridlocked — Senate, and then the House and the president, to enact a long-term deficit-reduction package.

20 May 2011

Medical food resolves metabolic syndrome and cardiovascular risk factors

Researchers at the University of Florida and Metagenics Inc. today announced that a program consisting of a breakthrough medical food combined with a low-glycemic, Mediterranean-style diet is almost twice as effective as one of the best diets alone for lowering risk factors for cardiovascular disease, the leading cause of death in the U.S.

19 May 2011

PolyMedix's PMX-30063 compound mitigates ulcerative mucositis in pre-clinical studies

PolyMedix, Inc., a biotechnology company focused on developing new therapeutic drugs to treat patients with acute infectious diseases and cardiovascular disorders, announced today that its lead defensin-mimetic antibiotic compound, PMX-30063, when administered topically as an oral rinse, has shown activity against oral mucositis in an animal study.

19 May 2011

Medicine News and Research

Inorganic nitrate reduces rate of heart dysfunction caused by doxorubicin

Bitter cumin contains high levels of antioxidants and protects against DNA damage

EMA CHMP recommends conditional marketing authorization of FAMPYRA

Merck's VICTRELIS receives European CHMP positive opinion for treatment of chronic HCV genotype 1 infection

Indian wild plants offer hope against resistant infections

North Shore-LIJ implements new program to ensure safe radiation therapy

EMA CHMP issues positive opinion for marketing approval of BENLYSTA

Roundup: Private prison costs; GOP lawmakers in Wis. break with Governor on cuts to senior services

Accovion establishes new subsidiary in the UK

Berkeley Lab scientists reveal how protein-making machine bends without breaking

International team identifies key protein in development of drug-resistant leukemia

Cholesterol drug may help treat mitochondrial diseases

Surgeon's choices and choice of surgeons influence hospital charges for spinal fusion surgery

Complementary and alternative health practices show promise for management of pain

Bayer, Onyx to present Nexavar-chemotherapy combination Phase 2b trial data in breast cancer at ASCO 2011

Naltrexone improves clinical, inflammatory activity in Crohn's disease patients

Longer looks: Tough health care questions for GOP presidential contenders; Robotics help spike use of prostate treatment

Viewpoints: Coburn on his dropout; Malpractice reform and states

Medical food resolves metabolic syndrome and cardiovascular risk factors

PolyMedix's PMX-30063 compound mitigates ulcerative mucositis in pre-clinical studies

Achieving and maintaining ISO/IEC 27001 and BS 10012 certifications

Expanding research and clinical options for children with cancer

Examining how pain could play a direct protective role in the gut

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