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Ovation Pharmaceuticals advances development pipeline with new phase III epilepsy study

OVATION Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced the initiation of a pivotal Phase III clinical trial evaluating clobazam, a unique 1,5 benzodiazapine with significant anticonvulsant properties, as adjunctive treatment for patients with Lennox-Gastaut syndrome (LGS), one of the most severe forms of childhood epilepsy that frequently persists into adulthood.

5 Sep 2007

Perindopril - indapamide drug combo cuts death rate in type 2 diabetes

The largest-ever study of treatments for type 2 diabetes has shown that a combination of two blood pressure lowering drugs reduced the risk of death, as well as the risks of heart and kidney disease.

5 Sep 2007

Lower blood pressure to manage type 2 diabetes

A small reduction in blood pressure produced a significant benefit in the largest study ever done on the treatment of patients with type 2 diabetes, presented on Sunday in Vienna at the European Society of Cardiology Congress, and published online in the Lancet the same day.

5 Sep 2007

Revlimid receives approval in Switzerland for treatment of multiple myeloma

Celgene International Sarl has announced that it's oral cancer drug, Revlimid (lenalidomide) has been granted approval by the Swiss Agency for Therapeutic Products (Swissmedic) for use in combination with dexamethasone as a treatment for patients with multiple myeloma who have received at least one prior therapy.

5 Sep 2007

Blood pressure pill offers diabetics a longer life

A team of Australian researchers say a once-a-day pill to lower blood pressure should be given routinely to people with diabetes to prevent heart disease, strokes and other medical complications.

5 Sep 2007

Patients with depression may not recover their heart rate variability following heart attack

Patients with depression appear to have an impaired ability to recover their heart rate variability following acute coronary syndromes such as heart attack, a factor that could increase their risk of coronary death, according to a report in the September issue of Archives of General Psychiatry, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

4 Sep 2007

Urgent need for better understanding of bipolar disease in children and adolescents

The number of visits to a doctor's office that resulted in a diagnosis of bipolar disorder in children and adolescents has increased by 40 times over the last decade, reported researchers funded in part by the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

4 Sep 2007

Lowering homocysteine with B-vitamins does not reduce cardiovascular risk

Secondary prevention with homocysteine-lowering B-vitamins does not reduce risk of death or major cardiovascular events, according to the WENBIT study.

3 Sep 2007

Blood pressure drugs cut death rate in diabetes

The largest-ever study of treatments for diabetes has shown that a fixed combination of two blood pressure lowering drugs reduces the risk of death, as well as the risks of heart and kidney disease. Results from the ADVANCE (Action in Diabetes and Vascular Disease) Study were presented today at the European Society of Cardiology Congress 2007 in Vienna.

2 Sep 2007

The first clinically available oral direct renin inhibitor shows promise in heart failure

Drugs that block a hormonal cascade, known as the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system (RAAS), help patients with heart failure. Direct renin inhibitors (DRIs) block the RAAS at its first and rate-limiting step.

2 Sep 2007

Inhaling nitric oxide helps transplant success

Administering inhaled nitric oxide (NO) during surgery helps protect liver transplant patients from organ failure, according to a new study from researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB).

30 Aug 2007

Flaxseed for hot flashes

Data from a new Mayo Clinic study suggest that dietary therapy using flaxseed can decrease hot flashes in postmenopausal women who do not take estrogen.

30 Aug 2007

Pycnogenol reduces perimenopausal symptoms

A study to be published in an upcoming edition of the Scandinavian Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology reveals that Pycnogenol (pic-noj-en-all), pine bark extract from the French maritime pine tree, reduces "climacteric symptoms" such as hot flashes, depression, panic attacks, cholesterol and other common symptoms associated with women entering menopause transition.

29 Aug 2007

Dapoxetine for the treatment of premature ejaculation.

Premature ejaculation (PE) is defined as “persistent or recurrent onset of orgasm and ejaculation with minimal sexual stimulation before, on, or shortly after penetration and before the person wishes it.”

29 Aug 2007

Early heart treatment can reverse damage

University of Minnesota researchers have discovered that treating people who have early cardiovascular abnormalities, but show no symptoms of cardiovascular disease, can slow progression and even reverse damage to the heart and blood vessels.

28 Aug 2007

Nasal spray effective for most severe kind of headache

A nasal spray is safe and effective at rapidly treating cluster headaches, which are considered to be the most painful kind of headache with few treatment options, according to a study published in the August 28, 2007, issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

28 Aug 2007

Avastin approved in Europe for advanced lung cancer

Avastin (bevacizumab), Roche's innovative anti-cancer drug, was approved today in Europe for the first-line treatment of patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), in combination with platinum-based chemotherapy.

26 Aug 2007

Study looks at salsalate for type 2 diabetes

The University of Illinois at Chicago is one of 16 sites in the United States taking part in the first large-scale study to test a promising approach to lowering blood glucose levels in adults with type 2 diabetes.

24 Aug 2007

Inhaling nitric oxide helps heal liver transplant recipients

A new report from a team of researchers at the University of Washington, Seattle, and the University of Alabama at Birmingham indicates that one of the main complications of liver transplantation can be treated very simply by allowing the transplant recipients to inhale nitric oxide (NO) during the operation in which they received their new liver.

24 Aug 2007

Risperdal approved for psychiatric conditions in children and adolescents

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved Risperdal (risperidone) for the treatment of schizophrenia in adolescents, ages 13 to 17, and for the short-term treatment of manic or mixed episodes of bipolar I disorder in children and adolescents ages 10 to 17.

24 Aug 2007