Endocrinology News and Research

Latest Endocrinology News and Research

Enlarged fat cells and waist-to-height ratios can cause diabetes in women

When it comes to assessing risk for type 2 diabetes, not only do waistlines matter to women, but so does the size of their fat cells. This new discovery by a team of Swedish researchers was just published online in the FASEB Journal (http://www.fasebj.org) and helps explain why some women of normal weight develop type 2 diabetes, despite not having any known risk factors.

11 Sep 2009

KidneyTel system helps manage health issues faced by kidney patients

Kidney patients often have a number of serious chronic health issues in addition to their kidney disease. Fresenius Medical Care, the world’s leading renal therapies company, has developed the KidneyTel system to provide an integrated care solution to assist patients, their families and their providers in managing the full range of health issues that kidney patients face on a daily basis.

11 Sep 2009

Routine screening is useful for identifying pregnant women with gestational diabetes

Pregnant women who develop marked increased blood sugar levels during pregnancy can reduce the risk of certain birth complications if they receive treatment. This is a prerequisite for offering all pregnant women routine screening for gestational diabetes.

11 Sep 2009

Phase II human clinical trial of Exsulin commences

Exsulin Corporation today announced the start of a phase II human clinical trial of Exsulin, a peptide drug product aimed at restoring insulin production in people with diabetes mellitus. The randomized, controlled 12-week trial in patients with established Type 1 diabetes (T1DM) will be co-led by Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., and McGill University Health Centre in Montreal, Canada.

10 Sep 2009

Roche conducts third Phase 1 clinical trial utilizing Halozyme’s Enhanze Technology

Halozyme Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: HALO), a biopharmaceutical company developing and commercializing products targeting the extracellular matrix, today announced that the first patient was dosed in a Phase 1 pharmacokinetic clinical trial using Enhanze™ Technology (rHuPH20, recombinant human hyaluronidase) in a subcutaneous formulation of a Roche biologic.

10 Sep 2009

Symposium on innovations in health care experience to be hosted

The Mayo Clinic Center for Innovation will host Transform, a collaborative symposium on innovations in health care experience and delivery, Sept. 13-15, http://centerforinnovation.mayo.edu/transform. Transform will feature nationally recognized speakers discussing topics focused on innovation methodology and innovations in health care delivery models, including Web-based tools.

10 Sep 2009

Varying physical activity for optimal health benefits

How hard and for how long should you exercise in order to shed excess abdominal fat and reduce your risk of cardiovascular disease?

10 Sep 2009

Oral GLP-1 Analog approved for human clinical trial

Oramed Pharmaceticals, Inc., a developer of oral drug delivery systems, announced today that it has received approval from the Institutional Review Board (IRB) to commence human clinical trials of an oral GLP-1 Analog.

10 Sep 2009

Lead exposure may result in cardiovascular mortality

Growing evidence shows that exposure to lead in the environment is associated with cardiovascular disease, including increased risk of hypertension. However, those studies have looked at lead concentrations in blood, not bone lead, a better indicator of cumulative lead exposure over time.

10 Sep 2009

Risk of NAFLD lowers with routine physical activities

Researchers from the University of Sydney, Australia determined that patients with a sedentary lifestyle who engage in routine physical activities lower their risk of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD).

10 Sep 2009

Free, online self-assessment quiz helps assess health and lifestyle risks for PAD

As recent medical studies continue to highlight the seriousness of peripheral arterial disease (or PAD) and its association with heart attack, stroke and early mortality, the Society of Interventional Radiology Foundation recommends that older Americans, smokers and diabetics take its free, online self-assessment quiz.

10 Sep 2009

Obesity experts call on policymakers to adopt obesity recommendations

The Obesity Society and other steering committee members of the Strategies to Overcome and Prevent (STOP) Obesity Alliance, and two former US Surgeons General, join together today to develop effective recommendations to urge policymakers to act on the inclusion of obesity as the largest and most urgent driving factor in healthcare reform.

10 Sep 2009

Miracles of the immune system discussed at the 2nd European Congress of Immunology

"I think it will not surprise you if I say that the immune system is one of our most important organ systems. Its relevance is obvious if only for the fact that it has been reinvented several times throughout the evolution of life," says Professor Andreas Radbruch, President of the German Society of Immunology and Director of the Deutsches Rheuma-Forschungszentrum, Berlin. He lectured about the miracle of our immune system at the Opening Press Conference of the 2nd European Congress of Immunology.

10 Sep 2009

Three genes linked to Lou Gehrig's disease

Michigan Technological University researchers have linked three genes to the most common type of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), generally known as Lou Gehrig's disease.

10 Sep 2009

All Americans should have access to affordable and high quality health care: President of BIO

“BIO shares President Obama's goal of ensuring that all Americans have access to affordable, sustainable, high quality health care. Biotechnology plays an essential role in achieving this goal. Biotechnology expands the boundaries of science by discovering, developing, and delivering innovative and needed medical products to patients.

10 Sep 2009

VIVUS' Phase 3 studies find Qnexa effective in tackling obesity

VIVUS, Inc. (Nasdaq: VVUS) today announced positive results from two final, phase 3 pivotal 56-week studies, EQUIP (OB-302) and CONQUER (OB-303), evaluating the safety and efficacy of Qnexa(TM), an investigational drug, in more than 3,750 patients across 93 sites. The EQUIP and CONQUER studies met all primary endpoints by demonstrating statistically significant weight loss with all three doses of Qnexa, as compared to placebo.

9 Sep 2009

aTyr Pharma expands intellectual property portfolio, receives its fifteenth patent

aTyr Pharma announced today that the US Patent office has issued patent US 7,572,452 B2, titled "Method for Stimulating Wound Healing." aTyr Pharma is the sole assignee of this patent, and Professor Sunghoon Kim, a scientific co-founder of aTyr Pharma, is the inventor.

9 Sep 2009

Congress urged to include injury prevention in health care reform

A group of 18 research centers, professional organizations and advocacy groups have joined together to urge Congress to include injury prevention in health care reform. Each day, 475 Americans die from injuries related to motor vehicle crashes, assaults, fires and other trauma. This results in 170,000 deaths every year, more than twice that from diabetes and more than four times that of breast cancer.

9 Sep 2009

International Institute of Biomedical Sciences and Technology established for a global research initiative

Upstate Medical University in Syracuse, New York, the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa, Israel, and National Cheng Kung University in Tainan City, Taiwan, have announced the creation of the International Institute of Biomedical Sciences and Technology that will facilitate the collaboration of research across three continents and accelerate the development of novel bioengineering, diagnostic and biomedical products for the treatment and cure of disease, officials said today.

9 Sep 2009

1.4 million Nigerians over the age of 40 will become blind by 2020: Study

By 2020, 1.4 million Nigerians over age 40 will lose their sight, and the vast majority of the causes are either preventable or treatable, according to the Nigeria National Blindness and Visual Impairment Study Group.

9 Sep 2009