Quality Control News and Research

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Deadly 1918 Spanish flue virus has been reconstructed and characterized

This research, reported in this week's issue of Science, is part of a larger research initiative being led by Adolfo Garcia-Sastre, PhD, Professor of Microbiology and Peter Palese, PhD, Professor and Chairman of Microbiology at Mount Sinai School of Medicine.

5 Oct 2005

Discovery may significantly advance the treatment of cancers and infectious diseases

Current treatments frequently achieve only limited results with these types of diseases, which affect hundreds of thousands of Canadians.

29 Aug 2005

New knowledge into the molecular mechanisms involved in tumor growth

Scientists at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have identified a molecular protein's critical role in cell division and growth.

26 Aug 2005

Important breast cancer discovery

Scientists at the McGill University Health Centre (MUHC) have made an important discovery that will advance our understanding of how the female hormone estrogen causes growth of breast cancer cells. The research, in collaboration with scientists at the Institut de Recherches Cliniques de Montreal (IRCM) identifies 153 genes that respond to estrogen and one in particular that can be used to halt the growth of breast cancer cells.

10 Aug 2005

Breastfeeding lowers mothers stress

Moms, want to lower stress? Try breastfeeding. New research from the McGill-affiliated Douglas Hospital Research Centre in Montreal shows mothers who breastfeed respond less to stressful situations than those who bottle-feed their children. These findings suggest these mothers may be better able to care for their children.

7 Aug 2005

Less than 1 percent of health plan members are actually diagnosed with alcoholism or related disorders

Less than 1 percent of health plan members are actually diagnosed with alcoholism or related disorders, according to data from a national performance measurement project released today in New York City at the American Medical Association Media Briefing, Alcohol Dependence: From Science to Solutions.

24 Jul 2005

Women beware of black cohosh, red clover and ginseng!

Women who take soy or herbal supplements, such as black cohosh, red clover and ginseng, should do so with care, says a Cornell University expert affiliated with the Program on Breast Cancer and Environmental Risk Factors (BCERF) at Cornell, the land-grant institution of New York state.

13 Jul 2005

Discovery of protein deficit that causes drug toxicity

Mayo Clinic researchers have discovered an inherited structural mechanism that can make drugs for some diseases toxic for some patients.

11 Jul 2005

CSIRO hyperspectral imaging software can be used by pharmaceutical companies for production line quality assurance

New CSIRO imaging software means consumers could be confident their tablets contain exactly what their packaging says.

21 Jun 2005

New cardiovascular drug derived from Dan Shen (Saliva miltiorrhiza)

Through a large number of clinical trials over the past 3 years, researchers from the CAS Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica (SIMM) have developed a new cardiovascular drug with a definite effective component extracted from Dan Shen (Saliva miltiorrhiza), a medicinal herb widely used in China.

21 Jun 2005

Computer program that enhances the diagnostic accuracy of positron emission tomography (PET)

German scientists developed a computer program that enhances the diagnostic accuracy of positron emission tomography (PET) scans with Alzheimer's patients, opening the door for earlier treatment of this progressive brain disorder. Details of their findings were provided at the Society of Nuclear Medicine's 52nd Annual Meeting in Toronto.

20 Jun 2005

Study finds better long-term outcomes when surgeons place a bypass graft to all the territories of the heart that have significantly blocked arteries

Pointing out that not all coronary artery bypass operations are performed the same way or have equivalent outcomes, cardiothoracic surgeons at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center have found that patients who have blockages of multiple coronary arteries and undergo "complete revascularization" - grafting of arteries to restore blood flow to all affected territories of the heart - have consistently better long-term survival rates than those who have "incomplete revascularization."

20 Jun 2005

Scientists shed new light on how protein Ro creates RNA quality control system for cells

A report by Yale scientists in the journal Cell sheds new light on how the protein Ro, a major autoantigen in patients with autoimmune disease, recognizes misfolded RNAs, creating a RNA quality control system for cells.

1 Jun 2005

Revalidation must have public confidence, says BMA

Whatever system of revalidation is chosen for doctors, the British Medical Association (BMA) believes it must have the confidence of the public, best achieved through a transparent professionally-led process. To succeed, says the BMA, revalidation must be seen to promote high standards, detect poor practice and have strategies for improving a doctor's performance where this is needed.

20 May 2005

Right-to-life case doctors backed by British Government

The British Government has directly intervened in a right-to-life case being heard at the Court of Appeal with a message to judges that giving patients the right to demand life-prolonging treatment would have "very serious implications" for the National Health Service (NHS).

18 May 2005

Chronic stress can be harmful - to your health and also to your brain

Chronic stress can be harmful - to your health and also to your brain, according to researchers at the Douglas Hospital Research Center. Their findings, published in a recent issue of Psychoneuroendocrinology, show increased stress hormones lead to memory impairment in the elderly and learning difficulties in young adults.

17 May 2005

6,000 UK breast screenings to be reviewed because of concerns

Women who had breast cancer screening at a hospital in Essex are to have their records reviewed after "inconsistencies" were found.

4 May 2005

Ensuring patient safety at fertility clinics

In the years since the birth of the first ‘test-tube’ baby in 1978, in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) has grown to become an accepted mainstream medical technique, with more than 25,000 treatments carried out every year.

23 Apr 2005

International internet drug ring shattered

Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Administrator Karen P. Tandy has announced the results of Operation “Cyber Chase”, a year-long Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) investigation that targeted international Internet pharmaceutical traffickers operating in the United States, India, Asia, Europe and the Caribbean. These e-traffickers distributed drugs world-wide using “rogue” Internet pharmacies.

23 Apr 2005

Missing samples of deadly flu strain now found

World Health Organization (WHO) officials say that all but one of the deadly flu virus samples mistakenly sent to labs outside the United States have been destroyed.

20 Apr 2005