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Interventional radiologists complete RDN human trial in patients with uncontrolled hypertension

Interventional radiologists have completed the first human randomized controlled trial of therapeutic renal denervation or RDN—a procedure that uses a catheter-based probe inserted into the renal artery that emits high-frequency energy to deactivate the nerves near the kidneys that are linked to high blood pressure.

29 Mar 2011

Diopsys launches new Vision Testing System to detect optic nerve disease

Diopsys, Inc. has launched the new Diopsys NOVA-DN VEP Vision Testing System to help optometrists and ophthalmologists detect optic nerve disease, including glaucoma and other neuro-visual disorders.

29 Mar 2011

Emory surgeons perform first hand transplant in college student

Transplant and reconstructive surgeons from Emory University Hospital announced today at a news conference that they have successfully performed a rare complete hand transplant on 21-year-old Linda Lu, a college student from Orlando, Fla. This is a first for the Atlanta Hospital.

29 Mar 2011

Study establishes strong link between nicotine and diabetes complications

Scientists today reported the first strong evidence implicating nicotine as the main culprit responsible for persistently elevated blood sugar levels - and the resulting increased risk of serious health complications - in people who have diabetes and smoke.

28 Mar 2011

New discovery may improve cochlear implants for deafness

University of Utah scientists used invisible infrared light to make rat heart cells contract and toadfish inner-ear cells send signals to the brain.

28 Mar 2011

Major breakthrough in brain signal processing

A team of Neuroscientists from NeuroCure Cluster of Excellence at Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin and Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas, have made a major breakthrough in understanding how signals are processed in the human brain.

28 Mar 2011

Researchers identify new mechanism underlying MS

Multiple sclerosis is a disabling autoimmune disease in which nerve fibers are attacked by the patient's own immune system. Researchers at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitaet in Munich have identified a new mechanism that contributes to nerve fiber damage - and shown that this damage can be reversed.

28 Mar 2011

Scientists discover how odors are detected and processed by brain

Researchers seeking to unravel the most ancient yet least understood of the five senses - smell - have discovered a previously unknown step in how odors are detected and processed by the brain.

28 Mar 2011

Diabetic smokers beware - Nicotine raises blood sugar: Study

U.S. researchers have found that nicotine in cigarettes may be responsible for serious complications in smokers with diabetes. They have shown that nicotine is strongly linked to persistently raised blood sugar levels among diabetics and scientists say they should make every effort to quit. There may also be implications for diabetics attempting to give up the habit who use nicotine-replacement therapy for extended periods.

27 Mar 2011

Mild decompression procedure for lumbar spinal stenosis leads to sustained improvements in pain

Patients treated for lumbar spinal stenosis (LSS) with the mild decompression procedure (an alternative to open spinal surgery for many patients), reported sustained improvements in pain and mobility at one year and had no serious adverse events occur, according to the first multi-center one-year post-study follow-up of this patient cohort.

25 Mar 2011

Early intervention and close follow-up can help prevent hearing loss in children

Early intervention and close follow-up are key to rehabilitating hearing loss in children, says Paul R. Kileny, Ph.D., director of the University of Michigan's Audiology and Electrophysiology program.

25 Mar 2011

HCG hormone therapy may benefit patients with intractable pain

Results from a small study of intractable pain patients being treated with the human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG) hormone reported that they had experienced pain free hours in the past month. These results were presented at a poster session at the American Academy of Pain Medicine's 27th Annual Meeting.

25 Mar 2011

New findings may make morphine a safer, more effective drug for chronic pain control

An orphan drug originally used for HIV treatment has been found to short-circuit the process that results in additional sensitivity and pain from opioid use. The study by researchers at the Indiana University School of Medicine is reported in the March 25, 2011 issue of Brain, Behavior and Immunity.

25 Mar 2011

BrainStorm provides review of recent accomplishments for shareholders, investors

BrainStorm Cell Therapeutics Inc., a leading developer of adult stem cell technologies and therapeutics, today provided a review of recent accomplishments for shareholders and investors.

25 Mar 2011

FDA approves Medtronic's Consulta and Syncra pacemaker systems

Medtronic, Inc. today announced that the U.S. Food & Drug Administration has approved its Consulta and Syncra cardiac resynchronization therapy-pacemaker systems.

25 Mar 2011

Merck & Co receives FDA approval for Zostavax vaccine to treat shingles

The Food and Drug Administration today approved the use of Zostavax, a live attenuated virus vaccine, for the prevention of shingles in individuals 50 to 59 years of age. Zostavax is already approved for use in individuals 60 years of age and older.

25 Mar 2011

Robotic surgery for prostate cancer safe over the long term

In the first study of its kind, urologists and biostatisticians at Henry Ford Hospital have found that robot-assisted surgery to remove cancerous prostate glands is safe over the long term, with a major complication rate of less than one percent.

24 Mar 2011

Imaging with voltage-sensitive dye captures real-time brain dynamics

The dye incorporates in the brain cells' membrane and changes fluorescence whenever these receive or send electrical signals. Hence, high resolution camera systems allow to simultaneously capture activities of millions of nerve cells across several square millimeters across the brain.

24 Mar 2011

Artificial disc replacement may provide better long-term results at reduced cost

When physical therapy and drugs fail to relieve back or neck pain, patients often turn to spinal fusion surgery as a last resort, but two new studies show that in certain situations, especially when several discs are involved, artificial disc replacement may give better long-term results at lower cost.

23 Mar 2011

Mayo Clinic receives $1 million gift for Lewy body dementia study

To help continue its internationally recognized work in Lewy body dementia, the Harry T. Mangurian, Jr., Foundation has awarded Mayo Clinic a $1 million gift, pledged over four years. Lewy body dementia, which combines aspects of both Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases, is the second most common form of dementia in the United States.

23 Mar 2011