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International consortium of researchers genetically characterise Spanish Fanconi anaemia patients

A consortium of thirty-two researchers worldwide, led by Dr Jordi Surrallés, professor of the Department of Genetics and Microbiology at Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB) and member of the Centre for Biomedical Network Research on Rare Diseases (CIBERER), genetically and clinically characterised almost all Spanish patients suffering from Franconi anaemia, a rare disease affecting one in every 500,000 persons and which is characterised by severe anaemia in children, congenital malformations and a high predisposition to cancer.

3 Mar 2011

Children with ASD can benefit from interactive computer program

Children with autism spectrum disorders are better able to recognize faces, facial expressions and emotions with the help of an interactive computer program called FaceSay, according to newly published research from psychologists at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

3 Mar 2011

IBM announces new Patient Empowerment System

Today IBM announced the next evolution of the patient portal, significantly expanding the types of information, alerts, recommendations and interactive coaching healthcare providers can offer to their patients online.

3 Mar 2011

New breakthrough in immunological research

Immunological research at the University of Haifa, Israel, has made a new breakthrough, revealing a critical component in the "decision-making" process of white blood cells that play a role in the healing process from bacterial inflammation.

3 Mar 2011

U-M scientists identify potential target to treat aggressive prostate cancer

Researchers at the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center have identified a potential target to treat an aggressive type of prostate cancer. The target, a gene called SPINK1, could be to prostate cancer what HER2 has become for breast cancer.

3 Mar 2011

Corporations brace for health law gains and losses

Two corporations offer very different views of how changes resulting from the health overhaul will impact their bottom lines.

3 Mar 2011

ITI, Takeda collaborate to develop and commercialize PDE1 inhibitors for schizophrenia

Intra-Cellular Therapies, Inc. ("ITI") and Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited, today announced that they have entered into an exclusive collaboration to develop and commercialize selective phosphodiesterase type 1 (PDE1) inhibitors, discovered by ITI, for the treatment of cognitive impairment associated with schizophrenia. This agreement is targeted worldwide, but ITI has retained the option to co-promote with Takeda in the United States.

3 Mar 2011

Genetic variants determine severity of HCV-related graft disease and antiviral treatment response

German researchers have found a significant association of IL28B genotypes to interferon-based antiviral treatment outcome, and to graft inflammation caused by hepatitis C virus (HCV). The study determined that the presence of G-allele serves as a marker for severe HCV-induced graft inflammation, as well as a predictor for unsuccessful treatment.

3 Mar 2011

FADD protein discovery can lead to better cancer and autoimmune disease drugs

Reporting in Nature, scientists from Thomas Jefferson University have determined that a single protein called FADD controls multiple cell death pathways, a discovery that could lead to better, more targeted autoimmune disease and cancer drugs.

3 Mar 2011

Turmeric may be 'the right spice' to fight colon cancer

Turmeric, a bright yellow spice from south Asia belonging to the ginger family, is the main ingredient in curries - and ancient wisdom suggests that it's also good for your health. Taking this wisdom to the laboratory, Tel Aviv University researchers have discovered that turmeric's active ingredient called curcumin amplifies the therapeutic activity of highly toxic anti-inflammatory drugs used to fight colon cancer when used at high doses.

3 Mar 2011

Scientists provide new insight into mechanisms controlling programmed cell death pathways

Work led by St. Jude Children's Research Hospital investigators provides fresh insight into mechanisms controlling programmed cell death pathways and offers new targets in the fight against cancer and virus-infected cells

3 Mar 2011

Protein serum amyloid A could be a potential diagnostic biomarker for lung cancer

Scientists are reporting discovery of a protein in the blood of lung cancer patients that could be used in a test for the disease - difficult to diagnose in its earliest and most treatable stages - and to develop drugs that stop lung cancer from spreading. Their study appears in ACS's Journal of Proteome Research.

3 Mar 2011

CDC report shows 58% decline in bloodstream infections in U.S. hospital ICUs

A report released yesterday by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows that central line-associated bloodstream infections declined by 58 percent in U.S. hospital intensive care units.

3 Mar 2011

Breast Health Center receives three-year accreditation from NAPBC

The Breast Health Center at Women & Infants Hospital of Rhode Island recently earned a three-year accreditation from the National Accreditation Program for Breast Centers.

3 Mar 2011

Tobacco smoking leads to less activity in the 'executive center' of brain

Tobacco smoking is the leading preventable cause of death and disease in the U.S., with more than 400,000 deaths each year attributable to smoking or its consequences. And yet teens still smoke. Indeed, smoking usually begins in the teen years, and approximately 80 percent of adult smokers became hooked by the time they were 18. Meanwhile, teens who don't take up smoking usually never do.

3 Mar 2011

Study: Men who consume non-steroidals more likely to have erectile dysfunction

Men who take non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs three times a day for more than three months are 2.4 times more likely to have erectile dysfunction compared to men who do not take those drugs regularly, according to a Kaiser Permanente study published online in The Journal of Urology.

3 Mar 2011

Women smokers over 50 at increased risk of breast cancer

Compared to women who had never smoked, breast cancer risk increased by nine percent among former smokers and by 16 percent among current smokers according to research by Karen Margolis, MD, a senior clinical investigator with the HealthPartners Research Foundation and her collaborators in a study that was published today in the British Medical Journal.

3 Mar 2011

Promising new way to lower cholesterol production

A promising new way to inhibit cholesterol production in the body has been discovered, one that may yield treatments as effective as existing medications but with fewer side-effects.

3 Mar 2011

New study: Lower potassium levels may help explain racial disparity in type 2 diabetes

Lower potassium levels in the blood may help explain why African-Americans are twice as likely to be diagnosed with type 2 diabetes as whites, according to a new study by Johns Hopkins researchers.

3 Mar 2011

Governors seek more help with Medicaid costs

At a Capitol Hill hearing Tuesday, GOP governors reiterated complaints about the fiscal pressures imposed by Medicaid and said President Barack Obama's recent flexibility proposal would not address the burden created by the health law's Medicaid requirements. But Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick, the only Democrat to testify, saw the event as "an opportunity" rather than "an inquisition."

2 Mar 2011