Endocrinology News and Research

Latest Endocrinology News and Research

Researchers receive NIDDK grant to identify pre-diabetes symptoms

A Biodesign team of researchers, led by Randall Nelson, PhD, has received a new five-year, $3.1 million award from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), part of the National Institutes of Health. Their goal is to discover and validate telltale molecular signs to learn how to predict who will develop the disease long before any symptoms of diabetes appear.

5 May 2010

Osiris Therapeutics' Prochymal granted FDA Orphan Drug Designation

Osiris Therapeutics, Inc. today announced that it has been granted Orphan Drug designation from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for Prochymal as a treatment for type 1 diabetes mellitus. The FDA instituted the Orphan Drug Act to promote the development of treatments for underserved patient populations. To be eligible for Orphan Drug designation, the treatment must target a disease that affects fewer than 200,000 new patients per year in the United States.

5 May 2010

BELLUS Health to discontinue NC-503 diabetes development program

BELLUS Health announced today that it will discontinue its NC-503 diabetes development program following the results of the recently completed Phase IIa clinical proof-of-concept study evaluating NC-503 (eprodisate disodium) as a treatment for Type 2 diabetes. The study did not meet its primary efficacy endpoint.

5 May 2010

Fifth Community Pharmacy Agreement planned by the Pharmacy Guild of Australia

According to an Australian Financial Review report the major pharmaceutical companies have agreed to reduce the Australian government’s medicine bill by AUD $2 billion over the next four years only if they are assured of price modifications in future. The details of the agreement are to be revealed next week and experts believe it will reduce the burden on the federal budget which is still considering the source of funds to pay for its health reform package.

4 May 2010

Pay-for-performance programs could end up widening medical disparities: RAND study

Rewarding primary care physicians for providing better care to patients could end up widening medical disparities experienced by poorer people and those belonging to racial and ethnic minorities, according to a new RAND Corporation study.

4 May 2010

Merck reports non-GAAP EPS of $0.83 for first-quarter 2010

Merck & Co., Inc. today announced financial results for the first quarter of 2010. The company reported non-GAAP (generally accepted accounting principles) earnings per share (EPS) for the first quarter of $0.83, which excludes purchase accounting adjustments, merger-related expenses and restructuring costs, as well as a tax charge related to the recently enacted health care reform legislation. First-quarter GAAP EPS was $0.09.

4 May 2010

HGH improves athletic performance: Study

A study released today in Annals of Internal Medicine, the flagship journal of the American College of Physicians, finds that human growth hormone improves sprint capacity in healthy recreational athletes. This is the first trial to demonstrate that HGH improves athletic performance.

4 May 2010

LA BioMed receives $1.5M in grant to study contraceptive for men

As the birth control pill marks its 50th birthday this month, Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute announced today that it has received $1.5 million in grant funding to study a contraceptive for men that uses a combination of two hormonal gels applied to the skin of the arm and abdomen.

4 May 2010

$10M NIH grant to reduce cardiovascular disease risk among Latinos in East Los Angeles

The UCLA School of Public Health today announced a $10 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to fund a Center for Population Health and Health Disparities in partnership with the University of Southern California, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health and several community collaborators.

4 May 2010

Kidneys of healthy adults show signs of chronic injury, says study

Mayo Clinic researchers have found that the kidneys of healthy adults show signs of chronic mild injury that increase with age. This damage is present even though the adults showed no clinical signs of kidney disease.

4 May 2010

Study highlights high prevalence of GDM during pregnancy

Living in a food-insecure household during pregnancy may increase the odds of greater weight gain and pregnancy complications, particularly gestational diabetes mellitus, according to a new study published in the May issue of the Journal of the American Dietetic Association.

4 May 2010

Researchers evaluate efficacy of GKRS in patients with pituitary adenoma

In 2009, it was estimated that a total of 22,070 new cases of brain and other CNS tumors were diagnosed. Pituitary adenomas represent one of the most common brain tumors. Large studies report that approximately 10-20 percent of the population harbors a pituitary tumor. According to the Central Brain Tumor Registry of the United States, 13.4 percent of all brain and CNS tumors diagnosed in 2009 were located in the pituitary.

4 May 2010

Hormone-like inner ear signaling system protects against noise-induced hearing loss

An in vivo study shows for the first time that there is a stress-response system within the cochlea that mirrors the signaling pathways of the body's fight or flight response. Researchers have identified a hormone-like signaling system of the inner ear that sets baseline hearing sensitivity and helps protect against noise-induced hearing loss.

4 May 2010

Trajectory Health, HeartMath partner to deliver clinical stress management solutions to corporates

Dallas-based Trajectory Health, LLC has announced a partnership with HeartMath® to deliver clinical stress management solutions to the corporate marketplace.

4 May 2010

Obese men more likely to have low testosterone than non-obese men: HIM study

Obesity, a condition linked to heart disease and diabetes, now appears to be associated with another health problem, but one that affects men only -- low testosterone levels.

4 May 2010

Data from Phase IV study of Bystolic tablets in Hispanic patients with hypertension presented at ASH 2010

Forest Laboratories, Inc. today presented data from a Phase IV study evaluating the effects of Bystolic (nebivolol) tablets in Hispanic patients with hypertension at the 2010 annual scientific meeting of the American Society of Hypertension.

4 May 2010

Rush Center for Urban Health Equity to focus on disparities in heart and lung disease

Rush University Medical Center has been awarded a $10 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to establish the Rush Center for Urban Health Equity. The aim of the Center is to find ways to promote changes to eliminate the disparities in heart and lung disease affecting inner city residents, in particular those who are low-income persons of color.

4 May 2010

New diagnostic tool could help detect heart attacks

A diagnostic tool developed by Rice University scientists to detect heart attacks using a person's saliva is being tested at the Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center in collaboration with Baylor College of Medicine in Houston.

4 May 2010

Kidneys of healthy adults show signs of chronic mild injury that increase with age: Mayo Clinic

4 May 2010

One-half of physicians do not recommend bariatric surgery for adolescents

Severely obese adolescents may desire or potentially benefit from bariatric surgery. However, half of primary care physicians say they would not recommend the procedure to a patient under the age of 18, according to research published in Obesity Surgery

4 May 2010