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Gene-therapy trial to restore hearing in deaf mice

Researchers have found long-sought genes in the sensory hair cells of the inner ear that, when mutated, prevent sound waves from being converted to electric signals - a fundamental first step in hearing. The team, co-led by Jeffrey Holt, PhD, in the department of otolaryngology at Children-s Hospital Boston, and Andrew Griffith, MD, PhD, of the NIH-s National Institute on Deafness and other Communication Disorders (NIDCD), then restored these electrical signals in the sensory cells of deaf mice by introducing normal genes.

22 Nov 2011

CardioComm demonstrates HeartCheck ECG monitor at Medica 2011

At the world's largest medical trade fair, Medica 2011 held in Düsseldorf last week, CardioComm Solutions, Inc. demonstrated their newly developed remote patient ECG monitoring service, called HeartCheck Smart Monitoring

22 Nov 2011

South Asian patients with CAD more likely to need repeat PCI procedures

South Asian patients with coronary artery disease were almost three times as likely to be readmitted to hospital for further interventional treatment to arterial plaque than their White European counterparts, according to research in the December issue of IJCP, the International Journal of Clinical Practice. They were also more likely to present as an emergency and require urgent treatment.

22 Nov 2011

Scientists search for main culprit behind Sj-gren's syndrome

Researchers want to find the main culprit behind the dry, irritated eyes, mouth, throat, skin, nose and more afflicting 1-3 percent of the population.

22 Nov 2011

Researchers identify EGFR protein as therapeutic target for Cushing disease

Cushing disease is a hormone disorder that causes a diverse array of symptoms, including fat accumulation, high blood pressure, osteoporosis, muscle wasting, and ultimately death. It is caused by a tumor in the anterior pituitary gland that results in the secretion of excess amounts of adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH). Treatment options are essentially limited to surgical resection. However, tumors commonly recur, meaning that new treatment options are needed.

22 Nov 2011

Psychological problems can influence patient's viewpoint of IBS symptom severity

A patient's viewpoint of the severity of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) symptoms can be influenced not only by physical symptoms of IBS but broader psychological problems, according to a new study in Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology, the official journal of the American Gastroenterological Association.

22 Nov 2011

Racial disparities in emergency diverticulitis surgery

Black senior citizens who need surgery for the intestinal disorder diverticulitis are significantly more likely to die in the hospital than their equally ill white counterparts, even when each racial group carries the same health insurance, new Johns Hopkins research suggests.

22 Nov 2011

FDA allows marketing of Aptus EndoStapling System to treat AAA

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today allowed marketing of the first system that can repair a failed or problematic aortic endograft, a fabric tube used to repair a dangerously large aortic aneurysm, a bulge in the large blood vessel that carries blood away from the heart.

22 Nov 2011

Researchers manipulate life span of yeast by mutating chemical residues

Collaborations between Johns Hopkins and National Taiwan University researchers have successfully manipulated the life span of common, single-celled yeast organisms by figuring out how to remove and restore protein functions related to yeast aging.

22 Nov 2011

FDA clears TSC's OncoTrac medical imaging software

Translational Sciences Corporation (TSC) announced today that it has received FDA 510(k) clearance for commercialization of its OncoTrac medical imaging software.

22 Nov 2011

Scientists design math model that could guide future prostate cancer treatments

Scientists have designed a first draft of a mathematical model that someday could guide treatment decisions for advanced prostate cancer, in part by helping doctors predict how individual patients will respond to therapy based on the biology of their tumors.

22 Nov 2011

Hypertension on the rise in Canada

Hypertension in Canada is increasing, and it is projected that more than one-quarter of Canadian adults will be diagnosed with hypertension by 2012/13, according to a study in CMAJ.

22 Nov 2011

Oral delivery of PYY hormone can help obese people lose weight

Most people understand that serious weight loss requires changing attitudes toward what they eat and how often they exercise. But, what if the process could be aided by simply chewing a stick of gum after meals? That's the question a team of scientists, led by Syracuse University chemist Robert Doyle, is trying to answer. In a groundbreaking new study, Doyle's team demonstrated, for the first time, that a critical hormone that helps people feel "full" after eating can be delivered into the bloodstream orally.

22 Nov 2011

Study reveals PEA-15 protein can enhance cancer cell proliferation

A new study from the University of Hawaii Cancer Center reveals that PEA-15, a protein previously shown to slow ovarian tumor growth and metastasis, can alternatively enhance tumor formation in kidney cells carrying a mutation in a cancer-promoting gene called H-Ras.

22 Nov 2011

Study identifies major risk factor for necrotizing enterocolitis

Many premature infants suffer a life-threatening destruction of intestinal tissue called necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC). Now a Loyola University Medical Center study has identified a major risk factor for NEC: Preemies with the AB blood type who develop NEC are nearly three times as likely to die from it as preemies with other blood types.

22 Nov 2011

Safety tips to avoid cooking accidents on Thanksgiving Day

Aficionados agree that deep-frying a turkey is the best way to prepare the most flavorful and moist version of the traditional centerpiece of the Thanksgiving meal. Serafino Alfe was deep-frying turkeys for an annual fundraiser dinner recently and ended up at the Loyola Burn unit with third-degree burns - the worst - on his leg.

22 Nov 2011

Older home health care patients are prescribed PIMs three times higher than others

Older adults receiving home health care may be taking a drug that is unsafe or ineffective for someone their age. In fact, nearly 40 percent of seniors receiving medical care from a home health agency are taking at least one prescription medication that is considered potentially inappropriate to seniors, a new study in the Journal of General Internal Medicine has revealed.

22 Nov 2011

Targeting synthetic RNA to specific gene could help reduce severity of SMA

A team of University of Missouri researchers have found that targeting a synthetic molecule to a specific gene could help the severity of the disease Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA) - the leading genetic cause of infantile death in the world.

22 Nov 2011

Scientists discover second faulty gene linked to ALS

Following a major Northwestern Medicine breakthrough that identified a common converging point for all forms of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS and Lou Gehrig's disease), a new finding from the same scientists further broadens the understanding of why cells in the brain and spinal cord degenerate in the fatal disease.

21 Nov 2011

Review highlights promising interventions to improve reproductive health of women living with HIV in developing countries

An article published in the Journal of the International AIDS Society on Friday "reviews the evidence of what works to meet the sexual and reproductive health needs of women living with HIV in developing countries and includes 35 studies and evaluations of eight general interventions using various methods of implementation science from 15 countries."

21 Nov 2011