Vascular News and Research

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New treatment option for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis

Patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) may have a new treatment option, according to researchers in Japan.

20 May 2008

Nanoparticle-induced heating boosts antitumor radiation therapy

Radiation therapy is a time-honored and effective component of modern cancer therapy, but its ultimate utility is limited by the fact that some cancer cells are resistant to ionizing radiation.

20 May 2008

Erection problems may signal serious heart disease

Erectile dysfunction is always a matter of the heart, but new research shows that more than romance is at stake. Two new studies of men with type 2 diabetes found that erectile dysfunction (ED) was a powerful early warning sign for serious heart disease, including heart attack and death.

19 May 2008

Study finds new generation of drug-coated stent benefits heart patients

A two-year study comparing a new generation drug-coated stent, XIENCE, with a currently used drug eluting stent, TAXUS, has found that the XIENCE stent had superior benefits in more than 1,000 patients and is better at keeping the arteries of chest pain patients clear of blood clots.

15 May 2008

Childhood and adolescent obesity impacts cardiac health

Study findings presented at the May 2008 Pediatric Academic Societies and Asian Society for Pediatric Research Joint Meeting indicate that childhood and adolescent obesity negatively impacts vascular endothelial function, which relates to cardiac health.

11 May 2008

New clues into how preeclampsia may surface in some pregnancies

The COMT gene - known already for its role in schizophrenia - has been found to play a role in preeclampsia, according to a report in the advance on-line issue of Nature.

11 May 2008

U.S. Patent Office allows another significant VNUS patent

VNUS Medical Technologies, Inc. today announced that the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office has decided to allow a second continuation patent application related to the patents in the VNUS patent infringement lawsuit against suppliers of endovenous laser products. This comes on the heels of the Patent Office's decision last month to allow VNUS a separate patent application, also filed as a continuation of one of the patents in the lawsuit.

9 May 2008

Cytopia announces novel anti-cancer drug development collaboration

Cytopia Limited today announced that it has entered into an anti-cancer drug discovery and development collaboration with Cancer Therapeutics CRC Pty Ltd. This agreement leverages Cytopia's early stage drug discovery pipeline of kinase inhibitors, a class of targeted therapeutics that is one of the fastest growing segments of the cancer drug market.

9 May 2008

Study finds darapladib lowers biomarker for cardiovascular problems

Despite widespread use of cholesterol-lowering drugs, a significant number of cardiac patients continue to suffer heart attacks and stroke. Researchers theorize that high levels of an enzyme found in coronary plaques may be to blame, by making plaques more likely to rupture and block blood flow. The drug darapladib may offer a way to fight that risk, according to new research led by the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine.

8 May 2008

Obesity can increase dementia risk by up to 80 per cent - people who are underweight also face an elevated risk

Being obese can increase the risk of Alzheimer's Disease by as much as 80 per cent, according to a study in the May issue of the UK-based journal Obesity Reviews.

7 May 2008

Folic acid, B vitamins not linked to reduced risk of cardiovascular events in high-risk women

Women at high-risk of cardiovascular disease who took a daily supplement of folic acid and vitamin B6 and B12 for seven years did not have an overall reduced rate of cardiovascular events, despite a significant lowering of homocysteine levels, according to a study in the May 7 issue of JAMA, the Journal of the American Medical Association.

6 May 2008

New laser treatment for vocal-cord cancer

An innovative laser treatment for early vocal-cord cancer, developed at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), successfully restores patients' voices without radiotherapy or traditional surgery, which can permanently damage vocal quality.

6 May 2008

Autonomous robot surgery a step closer

The day may be getting a little closer when robots will perform surgery on patients in dangerous situations or in remote locations, such as on the battlefield or in space, with minimal human guidance.

6 May 2008

Erythropoietin gene linked to severe diabetic eye, kidney diseases

Researchers at the John A. Moran Eye Center at the University of Utah and collaborative institutions have identified a gene called erythropoietin (EPO) that contributes to increased risk of severe diabetic eye and kidney diseases, called retinopathy and nephropathy.

6 May 2008

Cordis Corporation launches new peripheral angioplasty balloon catheters

Cordis Corporation announced today the U.S. launch of the SLEEK and SAVVY Long PTA Balloon Dilatation Catheters, its most advanced percutaneous transluminal angioplasty (PTA) balloon catheters.

5 May 2008

Scientists produce stem cells from ordinary mouse skin cells

Researchers in the United States say they have produced a stem cell made from ordinary mouse skin cells which they have coaxed into becoming three different types of heart and blood cells in mice.

1 May 2008

Alzheimer's and diabetes link

Diabetic individuals have a significantly higher risk of developing Alzheimer's disease but the molecular connection between the two remains unexplained. Now, researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies identified the probable molecular basis for the diabetes - Alzheimer's interaction.

30 Apr 2008

Researchers create heart and blood cells from reprogrammed skin cells

Stem cell researchers at UCLA were able to grow functioning cardiac cells using mouse skin cells that had been reprogrammed into cells with the same unlimited properties as embryonic stem cells.

30 Apr 2008

Ranibizumab therapy for diabetic eye disease shows promise

A JDRF collaboration between Johns Hopkins researchers and Genentech has shown that a drug for the treatment of diabetic eye disease has performed better in clinical trials than the current standard treatment using laser surgery.

29 Apr 2008

Hydrogen sulphide may be involved in regulating blood pressure

Hydrogen sulphide is a gas most commonly associated with the smell of stink bombs, sewage and rotten eggs, but a team of researchers from the Peninsula Medical School in the South West of England and King's College London have now identified a role for this gas in regulating blood pressure, according to research published in the leading science journal "Circulation".

29 Apr 2008