Endocrinology News and Research

Latest Endocrinology News and Research

Obesity becoming serious problem, comparable to cigarette smoking

Dr. Charles H. Hennekens, M.D., Dr.P.H., the first Sir Richard Doll Professor and senior academic advisor to the dean in the Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine at Florida Atlantic University has published a report in the current issue of the American Journal of Medicine that obesity is becoming as big a hazard worldwide, comparable to cigarette smoking.

1 Feb 2013

Merck full-year 2012 worldwide sales decrease 2% to $47.3 billion

Merck, known as MSD outside the United States and Canada, today announced financial results for the fourth quarter and full year of 2012.

1 Feb 2013

First Edition: February 1, 2013

Kaiser Health News staff writer Jenny Gold, working in collaboration with NPR, reports: "As of mid-January, most of NYU is up and running again, including the labor and delivery unit. But the question still looms whether NYU will lose some of the patients and even doctors who sought refuge at NYU's biggest competitors after the storm. If that happens, the storm could end up having a long term impact on NYU's valuable share of the fiercely competitive health care market in New York City."

1 Feb 2013

Adults should consume less than 5 g of salt and at least 3,510 mg of potassium per day: WHO

Adults should consume less than 2,000 mg of sodium, or 5 grams of salt, and at least 3,510 mg of potassium per day, according to new guidelines issued by the WHO. A person with either elevated sodium levels and low potassium levels could be at risk of raised blood pressure which increases the risk of heart disease and stroke.

31 Jan 2013

Hypertensive pregnancies need rigorous follow up

Women who have hypertensive complications during pregnancy are at increased risk for developing chronic kidney disease and end-stage renal disease, shows a study in the Canadian Medical Association Journal.

31 Jan 2013

Dual renin angiotensin system blockade: too many cons

Any benefit of dual blockade of the renin angiotensin system is limited to its effects on surrogate endpoints, and outweighed by an excessive risk for adverse events such as hypotension, hyperkalemia, and renal failure, argue hypertension experts.

31 Jan 2013

Selenium supplements do not reduce risk of developing heart disease according to current evidence

A systematic review published today in The Cochrane Library finds that in well-nourished adults current evidence does not support selenium for preventing heart disease.

31 Jan 2013

World Health Assembly's Executive Board concludes 132nd meeting

"The World Health Assembly's rotating Executive Board meets twice a year, and on 29 January concluded its 132nd meeting with what the WHO director general termed an 'unprecedented' amount of agenda items and documents," Intellectual Property Watch reports.

31 Jan 2013

Finding medical applications for unused inventions: an interview with Gabriel Mecklenburg, Co-Founder of Marblar

Marblar is gamifying the process of technology transfer. We post technology on our platform in the form of a challenge, and the Marblar community then competes to uncover new problems these technologies could solve – thereby discovering new market applications for these technologies.

31 Jan 2013

No added benefit from linagliptin in patients with type 2 diabetes

Linagliptin has been approved since August 2011 to improve blood glucose control in adults with type 2 diabetes. The assessment of the new dossier according to the German Act on the Reform of the Market for Medicinal Products (AMNOG) again showed that no added benefit of the drug over the appropriate comparator therapy (ACT) can be determined, because the pharmaceutical company has not submitted any relevant studies.

31 Jan 2013

Binge drinking causes insulin resistance and increases risk of Type 2 diabetes

Binge drinking causes insulin resistance, which increases the risk of Type 2 diabetes, according to the results of an animal study led by researchers at the Diabetes Obesity and Metabolism Institute at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.

31 Jan 2013

Possible new direction for treatment of metabolic syndrome

Obesity might be a very modern problem, but a team of scientists from Taiwan and China is turning to the age-old principles of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) to help fight it. Breaking research published in the Journal of Biomolecular Structure and Dynamics indicates a possible new direction for the treatment of metabolic syndrome.

31 Jan 2013

Mayo Clinic cardiologists offer simple tips to reduce risk of heart disease

February is American Heart Month, a perfect time to remind people that small steps can reduce their risk of heart disease, the No. 1 killer of men and women. Mayo Clinic cardiologists offer several simple tips to reduce the risk.

31 Jan 2013

Lack of exercise, television viewing associated with risk of metabolic syndrome

A team of scientists at Umeå University, in collaboration with colleagues in Melbourne, Australia, have found that television viewing and lack of exercise at age 16 is associated with the risk of developing metabolic syndrome at 43 years age.

30 Jan 2013

Timing of meals predicts weight-loss effectiveness

Most weight-loss plans center around a balance between caloric intake and energy expenditure. However, new research has shed light on a new factor that is necessary to shed pounds: timing. Researchers from Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH), in collaboration with the University of Murcia and Tufts University, have found that it's not simply what you eat, but also when you eat, that may help with weight-loss regulation.

30 Jan 2013

Report calls for greater emphasis on preventive care

A report issued by the Trust for America's Health is urging a revamp of state and local public health efforts to better integrate and focus prevention strategies.

30 Jan 2013

Researchers determine precise configuration of humulones

Researchers employing a century-old observational technique have determined the precise configuration of humulones, substances derived from hops that give beer its distinctive flavor.

30 Jan 2013

Phenformin decreases size of lung tumors and increases survival in mice

Ever since discovering a decade ago that a gene altered in lung cancer regulated an enzyme used in therapies against diabetes, Reuben Shaw has wondered if drugs originally designed to treat metabolic diseases could also work against cancer.

30 Jan 2013

Mice with mitochondrial mutation live longer, have less fat

If findings of a new study in mice are any indication, it might be possible to fine-tune cellular powerhouses called mitochondria, tweaking one aspect to increase insulin sensitivity, reduce body and fat mass, and even extend life. Exploiting this target could one day lead to novel treatments for type 2 diabetes - an endocrine system disease that affects 8 percent of the U.S. population. The research also points to promising new avenues of investigation in the biology of aging.

30 Jan 2013

Genzyme receives FDA approval for Kynamro to treat homozygous familial hypercholesterolemia

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved Kynamro (mipomersen sodium) injection as an addition to lipid-lowering medications and diet to treat patients with a rare type of high cholesterol called homozygous familial hypercholesterolemia (HoFH).

30 Jan 2013