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Alzheimer’s research update

Alzheimer’s disease researchers have been working for a while with a small, sticky protein fragment, beta amyloid, that clumps into balls in the brains of patients with this degenerative neurological disease. It is a normal protein that is present in every normal brain but in Alzheimer’s it starts to accumulate into these balls or plaques. On buildup of amyloid symptoms of the disease appear.

13 Dec 2010

Gray’s Anatomy: Grey area for medical students!

In a new study researchers have found that Australian medical students are struggling to name important body parts. They found that only nine of the 26 students could answer half of 20 questions correctly. Some (nearly a quarter) answers were “of concern” indicating a perfunctory knowledge of human anatomy.

13 Dec 2010

Fat or obese – What’s in a name?

The question of whether the term ‘fat’ is more appropriate than ‘obese’ was raised in an Australian study that confirmed the former is the “lesser of two evils”. The study from University of NSW study which looked at public perceptions surrounding these words has found that, while both are unwelcome, obese was viewed more negatively.

13 Dec 2010

$Indian study confirms vitamin D deficiency as risk factor for hip fracture$

Indian study confirms vitamin D deficiency as risk factor for hip fracture

A study from New Delhi India has revealed high rates of vitamin D deficiency among hip fracture patients, confirming the conclusions of similar international studies which point to vitamin D deficiency as a risk factor for hip fracture.

13 Dec 2010

TRL, Anaphore partner to develop novel protein therapies for autoimmune diseases

Tanabe Research Laboratories U.S.A. Inc., (TRL) announced today that it has entered into a partnership with Anaphore Inc. for the research and preclinical development of novel protein therapies for autoimmune diseases based on Anaphore's proprietary Atrimer™ technology.

13 Dec 2010

Inimex, SARomics Biostructures achieve scientific milestone in IMX942 IDR collaboration

Inimex Pharmaceuticals and SARomics Biostructures announce that they have achieved a scientific milestone in their collaboration to solve the structure of Inimex's Innate Defense Regulator (IDR) IMX942 in complex with its target, the ZZ domain of human p62 (sequestosome-1). No structures were previously available for this challenging protein domain. The crystal structure determined by SARomics Biostructures provides invaluable information that will assist the functional understanding of IMX942 and the development of the new generation of IDRs.

13 Dec 2010

Women & Infants Hospital participates in new fertility drug study

The emotional and physical demands on a couple seeking fertility treatment can be daunting. Researchers are constantly on a quest to improve fertility to increase a couple's chances of becoming pregnant in the most time and cost efficient manner.

13 Dec 2010

Infinity extends global strategic alliance with Mundipharma for development, commercialization of IPI-926

Infinity Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced the extension of its global strategic alliance with Mundipharma International Corporation Limited to develop and commercialize IPI-926, Infinity's novel Smoothened antagonist, as well as development candidates arising from Infinity's phosphoinositol-3-kinase (PI3K) and discovery programs.

13 Dec 2010

ORNL's software scans molecular databases, may help scientists to develop new drug treatments

A quicker and cheaper technique to scan molecular databases developed at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory could put scientists on the fast track to developing new drug treatments.

13 Dec 2010

First-ever Prophylactic Cancer Vaccine Conference to be held in Tempe, Arizona

World-leading scientists, ethicists, policymakers, and cancer patient advocates will gather at Arizona State University for the first-ever Prophylactic Cancer Vaccine Conference in Tempe, Ariz., March 16-18, 2011. The conference will be a premier forum to discuss the latest developments in a radical new approach to battling cancer: the development of cancer vaccines aimed at protecting healthy individuals from the disease.

13 Dec 2010

Scientists discover key molecular events in immune system that contribute to inflammatory bowel disease

Scientists at the Virginia Bioinformatics Institute at Virginia Tech have discovered some of the key molecular events in the immune system that contribute to inflammatory bowel disease.

13 Dec 2010

FDA issues final guidance for public's comments at advisory committee meetings

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today issued final guidance for people who wish to comment during the agency's advisory committee meetings. The guidance provides instructions on how to request a time to speak and how FDA staff should respond to requests to speak at the meetings.

13 Dec 2010

New study says boxers are at substantial risk for acute injuries to head, heart, and skeleton

Boxers are at substantial risk for acute injuries to the head, heart, and skeleton. Subacute consequences after being knocked out include persistent symptoms such as headaches, impaired hearing, nausea, unstable gait, and forgetfulness.

13 Dec 2010

UAB researchers pinpoint protein that causes nephrotic syndrome

University of Alabama at Birmingham researchers have pinpointed a protein that compromises the kidney's filtering ability, causing nephrotic syndrome, and demonstrated that a naturally occurring precursor of an acid in the body offers potential for treating some forms of the condition.

13 Dec 2010

Medication for depression ended before recommended time

Swedish women's use of antidepressants is twice as high as that of Swedish men. However, among both female and male new users, one fifth fills only one prescription. "This can be an indication of choices being made to end treatment before the recommended time," says researcher Karolina Andersson Sundell at the Nordic School of Public Health.

10 Dec 2010

Weightlifting may help prevent lymphedema following breast cancer treatment

Weightlifting may play a key role in the prevention of the painful limb-swelling condition lymphedema following breast cancer treatment, according to new research from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. Combined with the team's previous findings that the exercise limits a worsening of symptoms among women who already have lymphedema, the new data cements the reversal of long-running advice that breast cancer survivors should avoid lifting anything heavier than five pounds after they finish treatment.

10 Dec 2010

Repeated cerebral trauma in boxing career may result in boxer's dementia

Up to 20% of professional boxers develop neuropsychiatric sequelae. But which acute complications and which late sequelae can boxers expect throughout the course of their career? These are the questions studied by Hans Förstl from the Technical University Munich and his co-authors in the current issue of Deutsches Ärzteblatt International (Dtsch Arztebl Int 2010; 107[47]: 835-9).

10 Dec 2010

Social activities most promising in prevention of depression among older adults

Interventions focused on social activities significantly decrease depressive symptoms among older adults. This is the results from a recent study.

10 Dec 2010

Accovion establishes two additional subsidiaries in the Czech Republic and in Russia

Accovion is a premier full service European CRO known for its expertise in managing and conducting international clinical trials. Accovion supports local and global projects of all types and phases for the pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical device industries. Its services include study planning and management, clinical monitoring, pharmacovigilance including post-marketing safety, data management, biostatistics, statistical programming, medical writing and electronic publishing.

10 Dec 2010

Depression treatment may help obese women to lose weight

The new study, which appears in the November/December issue of the journal General Hospital Psychiatry, cites past surveys that show having a body mass index (BMI) of 30 or more — classified as obese — increases a person's risk of depression by 50 percent to 150 percent.

10 Dec 2010