Medicine News and Research

RSS

Hayfever: time we moved exams to the winter?

Crucial exams take place during adolescence in most societies, which can have a major impact on an individual’s career trajectory. In a Guest Editorial appearing in the August issue of Expert Review of Respiratory Medicine, a team of UK experts review the evidence of the disease burden associated with hayfever and summarize recent evidence suggesting that poorly controlled hayfever can adversely impact on exam performance.

5 Aug 2010

Healing Touch helps to restore normal energy balance

Greenwich Hospital surgical, labor and delivery, and oncology patients are among those who have received a healing boost through a form of energy therapy known as Healing Touch.The hospital, known for its reputation of service excellence, is among a growing number of medical facilities utilizing Healing Touch, which is a gentle, noninvasive therapy shown to facilitate the relaxation response to enhance the healing process. Research shows that, in addition to inducing a deep sense of calm and relaxation, Healing Touch helps to reduce pain, decrease anxiety, promote sleep and improve an overall sense of well-being.

5 Aug 2010

Researchers map malaria parasite P vivax; Nearly 3B people at risk of infection in 2009

A new evidence-based map estimates that in 2009 2.85 billion people lived "at risk of infection" with the malaria parasite Plasmodium vivax, BMJ News reports. As described in a study, published Tuesday in PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, P vivax "is more widespread and potentially represents a greater burden on human health in some parts of the world than P falciparum, the species usually associated with the greatest mortality and morbidity," BMJ News writes (Moszynski, 8/3).

5 Aug 2010

Nature News examines how scientists, farmers are working to meet the growing demand for artemisinin

"From bust to boom to bust again: artemisinin, the key ingredient of front-line antimalarial drugs, is entering the third chapter of its turbulent history," Nature News writes in an article that examines the challenges scientists and farmers are facing as they attempt to keep up with the growing demand for the compound just as a "$343-million initiative starts to battle malaria through hugely subsidized medicines."

5 Aug 2010

Study finds proximal prayer may help another person's healing

Findings reported today from a new international study of healing prayer suggest that prayer for another person's healing just might help especially if the one praying is physically near the person being prayed for.Candy Gunther Brown, an associate professor in the Department of Religious Studies at Indiana University Bloomington, led the study of "proximal intercessory prayer" for healing. It is available online today and will be published in the September 2010 issue of the Southern Medical Journal.

5 Aug 2010

Scientists analyze new technique to quickly identify particular asthma subtypes

For many people afflicted by asthma, treatment can be a frustrating and time-consuming experience. After their initial diagnosis, asthmatics find themselves caught in a trial and error process that can last for months, as doctors gradually escalate their medications to treat their condition effectively with minimal side effects. And until the right medicine and dosage are found, patients continue to suffer attacks that strike without warning and can leave them struggling for breath for hours or even days.

5 Aug 2010

Amputation can be prevented when patients are treated by podiatric physicians: Study

Amputation, one of the most devastating and costly consequences of diabetes, can be prevented when patients are treated by podiatric physicians. That's the finding of a national, large-scale study co-authored by Dr. James Wrobel, DPM, MS, Associate Professor of Medicine at Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science.

5 Aug 2010

Alnylam second-quarter revenues increase to $26.6 million

Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a leading RNAi therapeutics company, today reported its consolidated financial results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2010, and company highlights.

5 Aug 2010

Shire proposes acquisition of Movetis for fully diluted equity purchase price of EUR428 million

Shire plc, the global specialty biopharmaceutical company, announces that a Luxembourg incorporated wholly-owned subsidiary of Shire plc will launch a voluntary public takeover offer for all the shares in Movetis NV, the Belgium-based European specialty gastrointestinal (GI) company. Movetis is listed on Euronext and focuses on discovering, developing and commercializing innovative treatments for GI conditions with a high unmet medical need.

5 Aug 2010

Scientists identify tiny RNA molecule that increases blood stem cells

Investigators have identified a new mechanism that controls the number of hematopoietic stem cells - cells that give rise to all blood and immune system cells. In a report in the online Early Edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers from Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and the Harvard Stem Cell Institute identify a tiny RNA molecule that increases the number of these blood stem cells, an advance that may improve treatment of blood system cancers.

5 Aug 2010

Ferroportin levels are strong predictors of propensity for breast cancer recurrence: Study

A new study by researchers at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center (WFUBMC) may soon help to spare some women with breast cancer from having to undergo invasive and toxic treatments for their disease.

5 Aug 2010

Excess maternal weight gain predicts high birth weight: Research

Expectant mothers who gain large amounts of weight tend to give birth to heavier infants who are at higher risk for obesity later in life. But it's never been proven that this tendency results from the weight gain itself, rather than genetic or other factors that mother and baby share. A large population-based study from Children's Hospital Boston, looking at two or more pregnancies in the same mother, now provides evidence that excess maternal weight gain is a strong, independent predictor of high birth weight.

5 Aug 2010

Sigma-Aldrich, NHLBI and BU collaborate in atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease research

Sigma-Aldrich® today announced it has entered into an agreement with the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) of the National Institutes of Health, and Boston University (BU) to develop methods to measure several potential biomarkers of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (CVD) using plasma samples from the NHLBI's Framingham Heart Study (FHS), one of the most prestigious clinical studies in medicine. Funding for the project is provided by the NHLBI to Sigma-Aldrich under a research subaward agreement with BU.

5 Aug 2010

Long-term exposure to valproate leads to bone loss: Study

Scientists are reporting a possible explanation for the bone loss that may occur following long-term use of a medicine widely used to treat epilepsy, bipolar disorder, and other conditions. The drug, valproate, appears to reduce the formation of two key proteins important for bone strength, they said. Their study, which offers a solution to a long-standing mystery, appears in ACS' monthly Journal of Proteome Research.

5 Aug 2010

Certain human leukemias can be treated by targeting stem-cell microRNAs: Research

Hematopoietic stem cells provide the body with a constant supply of blood cells, including the red blood cells that deliver oxygen and the white blood cells that make up the immune system. Hematopoietic-or blood-stem cells must also make more copies of themselves to ensure that they are present in adequate numbers to provide blood throughout a person's lifetime, which means they need to strike a delicate balance between self-renewal and development into mature blood-cell lineages. Perturb that balance, and the result can be diseases such as leukemia and anemia.

5 Aug 2010

Scientist invents new approach to boost body's response to vaccinations

As the medical community searches for better vaccines and ways to deliver them, a University of Rochester scientist believes he has discovered a new approach to boosting the body's response to vaccinations.Richard P. Phipps, Ph.D., found that the same molecules used in drugs that treat diabetes also stimulate B cells in the immune system, pushing them to make antibodies for protection against invading microorganisms.

5 Aug 2010

RTI Biologics second-quarter worldwide revenues in sports medicine increase 14%

RTI Biologics Inc., a leading processor of orthopedic and other biologic implants, reported operating results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2010.

5 Aug 2010

Tips for healthy eating at college

For college students, the campus dining hall offers a tantalizing feast: ice-cream sundaes every night, thirty varieties of cereal and a limitless supply of french fries."It's like a smorgasborg on a cruise ship," said Cynthia Bulik, PhD, director of the Eating Disorders Program at the UNC School of Medicine. All-you-can-eat dining halls, along with changes in exercise habits, have been blamed for the "freshman 15," in which first-year students gain weight.

5 Aug 2010

Scientists develop laser probe for early detection of oral cancer

UC Davis researchers have developed a laser probe for the early detection of oral cancer. A trial with human subjects shows that the device could also be used during surgery to locate the edges of a tumor.

5 Aug 2010

Detection of Alzheimer's before symptoms occur

Research is on to detect the dreaded Alzheimer's disease even before any symptoms occur. In a newly proposed diagnostic criteria developed by experts from the National Institute on Aging and the Alzheimer's Association three stages of the disease viz. pre-clinical Alzheimer's, mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's dementia are described.

4 Aug 2010