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Researchers discover human genes that might contribute to ALS

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), or Lou Gehrig's disease, is a universally fatal neurodegenerative disease. Mutations in two related proteins, TDP-43 and FUS, cause some forms of ALS. Specifically, these two proteins are RNA-binding proteins that connect to RNA to regulate the translation of proteins and other cellular functions such as RNA splicing and editing. In a new study, researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania discovered additional human genes with properties similar to TDP-43 and FUS that might also contribute to ALS.

16 Nov 2011

AHA honors Gladstone senior investigator with Distinguished Scientist Award

The American Heart Association will today present Gladstone Institutes Senior Investigator and President Emeritus Robert Mahley, MD, PhD, with the 2011 AHA Distinguished Scientist Award, bestowing yet another honor on one of Gladstone's founding cardiovascular scientists.

16 Nov 2011

U.N.-backed polio vaccination campaign moves forward in South Sudan

"Up to 3.2 million South Sudanese children have received vaccinations against polio in a United Nations-backed campaign to ensure the new country remains free of the deadly disease, more than two years after the last case was reported," the U.N. News Centre reports.

16 Nov 2011

NIAID's ACTG and TB Alliance partner to complete moxifloxacin Phase III trial

The TB Alliance announces the launch of a collaboration with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases' (NIAID) AIDS Clinical Trial Group (ACTG) to conduct and help complete a Phase III clinical trial testing potentially faster-acting tuberculosis (TB) treatments.

16 Nov 2011

Scarring prevents precipitous decline in heart function after cardiac injury

After a heart attack, the portions of the heart damaged by a lack of oxygen become scar tissue. Researchers have long sought ways to avoid this scarring, which can harden the walls of the heart, lessen its ability to pump blood throughout the body and eventually lead to heart failure. But new research from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine shows that interrupting this process can weaken heart function even further.

16 Nov 2011

What will be at stake when the Supreme Court offers a decision?

President Barack Obama is so confident of the constitutionality of his signature Affordable Care Act - and so happy to cast Mitt Romney as his human shield against its Republican critics - that he did little to stop the Supreme Court from fast-tracking a ruling on the law now likely to come in the middle of the 2012 campaign.

16 Nov 2011

Community-based cancer screening may increase awareness of smoking, reduce at-risk behaviors

Large, population specific community-based screening may increase awareness of the dangers of smoking and reduce at-risk behaviors, according to a new study in the November 2011 issue of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery.

16 Nov 2011

Blood-based gene expression test more effective in ruling out obstructive CAD

A blood-based gene expression test was found to be more effective for ruling out obstructive coronary artery disease in stable symptomatic patients than myocardial perfusion imaging (MPI), a common test that uses a radioactive agent to evaluate the blood flow and function of the heart.

16 Nov 2011

High court to hear health care challenge as presidential campaign heats up

The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to hear a challenge to the 2010 health care overhaul law, President Obama's signature legislative achievement, setting the stage for oral arguments by March and a decision in late June as the 2012 presidential campaign enters its crucial final months.

16 Nov 2011

Researchers produce normal sperm from mouse cells

A Ben-Gurion University of the Negev researcher has achieved a significant breakthrough in male fertility, producing normal sperm from mouse cells.

16 Nov 2011

ZIOPHARM announces new preclinical data from two darinaparsin studies on solid tumors

ZIOPHARM Oncology, Inc., a drug development company employing small molecule and synthetic biology approaches to cancer therapy, announced today new preclinical data from two separate studies of darinaparsin, a novel organic arsenic, in various solid tumor models at the AACR-NCI-EORTC International Conference on Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics, taking place November 12-16 in San Francisco.

16 Nov 2011

Poor communities, not just poor countries, affected by NTDs

In this Global Network for Neglected Tropical Diseases "End the Neglect" blog post, Alanna Shaikh, an expert in health consulting and writer for U.N. Dispatch, examines the burden of neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) in the developed world, highlighting findings from an article published in PLoS in July looking at Europe's NTD burden.

16 Nov 2011

Amgen receives EC approval to extend therapeutic indications for Vectibix

Amgen today announced that the European Commission (EC) has approved a variation to the marketing authorization for Vectibix (panitumumab) to include indications for the treatment of patients with wild-type KRAS metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) in first-line in combination with FOLFOX and in second-line in combination with FOLFIRI in patients who have received first-line fluoropyrimidine-based chemotherapy.

16 Nov 2011

International Diabetes Federation report estimates 1 in 10 adults will have diabetes by 2030

"One in 10 adults will have diabetes by 2030, posing a huge challenge to health care systems around the world, according to a report" released by the International Diabetes Federation to coincide with World Diabetes Day on Monday, Reuters reports.

16 Nov 2011

Rosuvastatin as effective as atorvastatin in reversing atherosclerosis

Maximum doses of Crestor- (rosuvastatin) or Lipitor- (atorvastatin) are similarly effective in reversing the buildup of cholesterol plaques in the coronary artery walls (atherosclerosis) after 24 months of treatment, according to Cleveland Clinic researchers.

16 Nov 2011

PEPFAR's commitment to eliminating gender-based violence

In anticipation of the Sixteen Days of Activism Against Gender Violence, a campaign which starts on the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women on November 25, Daniela Ligiero, senior adviser for gender at the Office of the Global AIDS Coordinator, reports on PEPFAR's commitment to address gender-based violence in this post in the Department of State's "DipNote" blog.

16 Nov 2011

Advaxis licenses ISG15 tumor antigen from University of Pennsylvania

Advaxis, Inc., a leader in developing the next generation of immunotherapies for cancer and infectious diseases, has exclusively licensed the use of antigen ISG15 in Advaxis' Lm-LLO based immunotherapies from the University of Pennsylvania.

16 Nov 2011

Health of millions of children in East Asia, Pacific at risk due to climate change, UNICEF report says

"Climate change is expected to worsen the plight of millions of children in East Asia and the Pacific who already lack food and clean water and are vulnerable to disease, ... UNICEF said Monday ... in its report 'Children's vulnerabilities to climate change and disaster impacts in East Asia and the Pacific,'" AlertNet reports.

16 Nov 2011

Study: Pneumonia the most common serious infection post-heart surgery

Pneumonia - not a deep incision surgical site infection - is the most common serious infection after heart surgery, according to new research presented at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2011.

16 Nov 2011

Romney assailed for Mass. effort to stop care for sick girl

The Miami Herald reports that a conservative website has raised questions about the former governor's role in a case in which a state agency sought to stop life support for a young girl who later came out of her coma.

16 Nov 2011