Cold, Flu & Cough News and Research

Latest Cold, Flu & Cough News and Research

MTF survey shows large decline in teen smoking

Cigarette and alcohol use by eighth, 10th and 12th-graders are at their lowest point since the Monitoring the Future (MTF) survey began polling teenagers in 1975, according to this year's survey results. However, this positive news is tempered by a slowing rate of decline in teen smoking as well as continued high rates of abuse of other tobacco products, marijuana and prescription drugs.

15 Dec 2011

Experts warn expectant moms about dangers of common cold medicines during pregnancy

Experts in pregnancy and breastfeeding health at the California Teratogen Information Service (CTIS) Pregnancy Health Information Line warn expectant moms about the potential dangers of common cold medicines during pregnancy.

15 Dec 2011

Debate on freedom of speech regarding vaccines at Woodford Folk Festival

The Woodford Folk Festival is one of Australia's largest and most popular festivals with approximately 130,000 people attending over six days and six nights. On this year's speakers list is anti-vaccine lobbyist Meryl Dorey, spokesperson for the Northern NSW-based Australian Vaccination Network (AVN).

15 Dec 2011

H2S plays critical role in signaling pathway linked to Alzheimer's and Parkinson's

Something rotten never smelled so sweet. This is what members of a team of scientists at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) are telling one another as they discuss a new finding they did not expect to make. They have discovered that hydrogen sulfide (H2S) - the flammable, highly toxic gas that we usually associate with the smell of rotten eggs in landfills and sewers - plays an important role in the regulation of a signaling pathway implicated in biological malfunctions linked to Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases, among others.

14 Dec 2011

$Celgene reports final results from REVLIMID-rituximab combination phase II study for relapsed/refractory CLL$

Celgene reports final results from REVLIMID-rituximab combination phase II study for relapsed/refractory CLL

Celgene International Sàrl, a subsidiary of Celgene Corporation, (NASDAQ: CELG), announced final results from a phase II investigational study evaluating the combination of REVLIMID® (lenalidomide) and rituximab in 59 patients with relapsed or refractory chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). These data were presented at the 53rd Annual Meeting of the American Society of Hematology in San Diego, CA.

14 Dec 2011

Celgene announces data from REVLIMID Phase III study on high-risk asymptomatic smoldering MM

Celgene International Sàrl, a subsidiary of Celgene Corporation, announced that updated data evaluating continuous treatment with REVLIMID (lenalidomide) in patients with high-risk asymptomatic smoldering multiple myeloma were presented at the 53rd Annual Meeting of the American Society of Hematology.

14 Dec 2011

Macrophages play a role in brown fat metabolism

Throughout the interior spaces of humans and other warm-blooded creatures is a special type of tissue known as brown fat, which may hold the secret to diets and weight-loss programs of the future.

14 Dec 2011

Promising results from Fate Therapeutics' ProHema Phase 1b trial on hematologic malignancies

Fate Therapeutics, Inc. announced today promising clinical results from a Phase 1b trial of ProHema (FT1050-enhanced umbilical cord blood) as part of double-umbilical cord blood (UCB) transplants in adult patients with hematologic malignancies who have undergone reduced-intensity conditioning therapy.

14 Dec 2011

Top five tips for easy breathing during holiday season

Getting out the boxes of holiday decorations from years gone by is a time-honored tradition. But in addition to stirring up memories, it also stirs up allergies. "The dust from the boxes and on the decorations that have been packed away in dank basements or dusty attics is triggering reactions in my allergy and asthma patients," said Joseph Leija, MD, allergist at Gottlieb Memorial Hospital.

14 Dec 2011

Statins linked with reduced risk of death among hospitalized flu patients

The two main ways to prevent and control influenza today are annual immunization and antiviral drugs. A team of investigators has found that statins, cholesterol-lowering drugs, may offer an additional treatment to complement these approaches and reduce mortality among patients hospitalized with influenza.

14 Dec 2011

Mandatory vaccination policy increases healthcare worker flu vaccination rates

A California hospital raised its employee influenza vaccination rate above 90 percent by shifting from a voluntary vaccination program to one mandating all healthcare workers either get vaccinated or wear a mask at work for the entire flu season (December through March).

13 Dec 2011

Research describes advantages of new vaccine adjuvant

New research from the laboratory of Dr. Elizabeth Leadbetter at the Trudeau Institute may lead to a whole new class of vaccines. Dr. Leadbetter's lab has discovered new properties of a potential vaccine adjuvant that suggest it could be useful for enhancing protection against a number of different infections.

13 Dec 2011

Book on hot health topics

The intersection of health care, politics and policy is a controversial one. A new book of lively essays takes on all of today's hot health topics: alternative medicine, swine flu, health care reform, screening mammograms, taxes to decrease soda consumption, gun control and many more.

13 Dec 2011

Study describes new method that synthesizes novel anti-HIV protein

The most abundant and important molecules in all living organisms are proteins; after all they manage to participate in every single one of life's essential reactions. So it is easy to see why scientists have been making such a fuss trying to learn how to synthesise them in laboratory as this would provide them with a tool of extraordinary potential. Unfortunately, this has not proved easy.

13 Dec 2011

Celgene reports final results from REVLIMID plus VIDAZA phase II study on higher-risk MDS

Celgene International Sàrl, a subsidiary of Celgene Corporation, today reported final results from the phase II portion of a multi-center phase I/II study evaluating combination therapy with REVLIMID (lenalidomide) and VIDAZA (azacitidine) in patients with higher-risk myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) not previously treated with either drug.

13 Dec 2011

Parents blame swine flu vaccine for son’s narcolepsy

A six year old boy’s parents have claimed that he developed narcolepsy after a swine flu vaccination. Caroline Hadfield said son Josh lost muscle control and started sleeping up to 19 hours a day three weeks after being given Pandemrix nearly two years ago.

12 Dec 2011

WTC disaster results in increased risk of physical and mental health conditions after 9/11

The World Trade Center disaster exposed nearly half a million people to hazardous chemicals, environmental toxins, and traumatic events. According to research published in the December 2011 issue of Elsevier-published journal Preventive Medicine, this has resulted in increased risk of developing physical and mental health conditions after 9/11.

12 Dec 2011

Celgene announces interim results of REVLIMID study on CLL

Celgene International Sàrl, a subsidiary of Celgene Corporation, announced interim results of CLL-009, a study evaluating three starting doses of REVLIMID (lenalidomide), followed by step-wise dose escalation as tolerated in patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) who have received at least one prior therapy.

12 Dec 2011

New findings from Micromet's blinatumomab phase 1 trial on DLBCL

New findings from a phase 1 trial presented yesterday at the 53rd Annual American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting demonstrate Micromet's blinatumomab induces durable responses in patients with extensively pre-treated diffuse large B cell lymphoma.

12 Dec 2011

Celgene announces results from azacitidine Phase 1 study on AML

Celgene International Sàrl, a subsidiary of Celgene Corporation, announced results from a multi-center Phase I study that explored multiple dosing schedules of oral azacitidine in 23 patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML), myelodysplastic syndromes or chronic myelomonocytic leukemia (CMML) who were not candidates for other therapies or who had failed previous regimens.

12 Dec 2011