Arthritis & Rheumatology News and Research

Latest Arthritis & Rheumatology News and Research

A new search for causes of autism

Dr. Eric Fombonne, from the Research Institute of the MUHC at the Montreal Children's Hospital, is involved in a multi-site consortium to gather DNA samples from 2,000 autism patients and their families over the next three years.

7 May 2008

Relief in sight for arthritis triggered by viral infections such as Ross River fever

Australian scientists believe they may have discovered the possibility of relief for those suffering with the debilitating arthritis triggered by viral infections such as Ross River fever.

6 May 2008

New tool for tissue damage assessment

A tool with the potential to determine the level of tissue damage in patients with osteo-arthritis, sports injuries and other conditions affecting bone and cartilage is being developed by QUT researchers. Professor Oloyede said that the device, which he calls a "smarthroscope", may be able to reduce the cost of surgery, eliminate unnecessary surgery, and could be useful in developing countries.

2 May 2008

Breakthrough compound could lead to new class of antihypertensive drugs

University of Florida researchers have identified a drug compound that dramatically lowers blood pressure, improves heart function and - in a remarkable finding - prevents damage to the heart and kidneys in rats with persistent hypertension

1 May 2008

Aspirin a day cuts risk of common breast cancer

Scientists in the U.S. say an aspirin a day may afford women some protection against the most common type of breast cancer, estrogen receptor or ER-positive breast cancer.

30 Apr 2008

Mothers and offspring can share cells throughout life - with positive and negative effects

Cutting the umbilical cord doesn't necessarily sever the physical link between mother and child. Many cells pass back and forth between the mother and fetus during pregnancy and can be detected in the tissues and organs of both even decades later. This mixing of cells from two genetically distinct individuals is called microchimerism. The phenomenon is the focus of an increasing number of scientists who wonder what role these cells play in the body.

30 Apr 2008

Gastric bypass surgery and effect on lower back pain

The prevalence of both obesity and back pain in developing nations has reached alarming levels. According to recent statistics, more than one-third of U.S. adults - over 72 million people were obese in 2005-2006. Of these, 33.3 percent were men and 35.3 percent were women. Especially alarming is that obesity has not decreased among teenagers - the rates remain essentially unchanged in 2005-2006 from the 2003-2004 estimates, at 17 percent.

29 Apr 2008

Biomarkers identified for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis

The first evidence of a distinctive protein signature that could help to transform the diagnosis and improve the monitoring of the devastating lung disease idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is being reported by University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine researchers in this month's edition of PLoS Medicine, an open-access journal of the Public Library of Science.

28 Apr 2008

Newly refined antibody therapy may be potent treatment for autoimmune diseases

An old, fickle therapy for a variety of autoimmune diseases is getting a makeover, thanks to a decade-long investigation by Rockefeller University researchers.

26 Apr 2008

Latona acquires patent rights and orphan drug status to drug compound for rheumatoid arthritis

Latona Life Sciences Inc. announced today that it has entered into two agreements for the acquisition of patent rights and orphan drug status to a novel late-stage drug, trademarked "Oralgam," for the treatment of Juvenile and Adult Rheumatoid Arthritis.

24 Apr 2008

Regulatory T cells orchestrate reaction to a virus invasion

Just as fire engines arrive quickly at the scene to save people and property, the cells that fight viruses have to reach the site of an infection promptly to mount a protective response.

24 Apr 2008

Number of HIV-positive state and federal inmates drops

Between 2005 and 2006 the number of state and federal prisoners who were HIV-positive decreased 3.1 percent -- from 22,676 to 21,980 inmates, according to a report by the Justice Department's Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS). Another BJS report estimated that 44 percent of state inmates and 39 percent of federal inmates reported a current medical problem other than a cold or a virus.

22 Apr 2008

A stem cell type supposed to be crucial for angiogenesis and cancer growth does not exist?

It is widely believed that tumor angiogenesis and cancer growth critically depend on circulating endothelial precursor cells, mobilized from the bone marrow. The recent study from researchers at the University of Helsinki, Finland, and Stanford University, US, now suggests that a stem cell type supposed to be crucial for blood vessel formation and cancer growth does not actually exist.

22 Apr 2008

Computer-assisted total knee replacement to be shown live

Jason E. Lang, M.D., an assistant professor of orthopaedic surgery, will perform a computer-assisted total knee replacement during a live webcast that begins at noon, Friday, May 2, from Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center.

21 Apr 2008

Surgery under hypnosis a pain-free event

A hypnotist in Britain has had surgery on his right hand without a general anaesthetic.

20 Apr 2008

Interaction networks: the new path to drug discovery

Although the pharmaceutical industry has dedicated enormous research efforts over the last 50 years to identify new targets and develop new active ingredients, these efforts have met with limited success.

17 Apr 2008

An effective colon cancer prevention treatment

Using a combination of a targeted cancer-fighting agent called DFMO and a low dose of an anti-inflammatory drug, UC Irvine researchers have reduced the risk of reoccurring colorectal polyps, an early sign of colon cancer, by as much as 95 percent with fewer toxic side effects.

15 Apr 2008