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Study: Underweight COPD patients more likely to face death

Patients suffering from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are at a higher risk of death if they are underweight.

27 Sep 2011

URBAN ARCH Consortium to examine consequences of alcohol on HIV disease

Researchers from Boston University Schools of Medicine and Public Health (BUSM/BUSPH), Boston Medical Center (BMC), the University of California, San Francisco and the University of Pittsburgh, have joined together to examine the consequences of alcohol on HIV disease.

27 Sep 2011

GAO report: More oversight needed on program that gives safety net providers discounts on outpatient drugs

Under this program, known as the 340 B program, drugmakers provide discounts to community health centers and other health care providers that treat vulnerable populations in exchange for having their drugs covered by Medicaid.

27 Sep 2011

No link between chemotherapy during pregnancy and children's cognitive development

Children born after their mothers were treated with chemotherapy during pregnancy appear to be unaffected by the experience in terms of the development of their mental processes and the normal functioning of their hearts, according to new research presented at the 2011 European Multidisciplinary Cancer Congress.

27 Sep 2011

UCSF, QuantiaMD develop new DiabetesIQ mobile phone app

A new interactive mobile phone app called DiabetesIQ, released this week, challenges people to test their knowledge of diabetes and to compete with one another as they learn about the complexities of the disease, which affects more than 25 million Americans, including 4 million Californians.

27 Sep 2011

Zoledronic acid may extend survival in older breast cancer patients

A drug used to protect bone may extend survival in older breast cancer patients, according to researchers at the Universities of Sheffield and Leeds.

27 Sep 2011

Synta announces results of ganetespib, docetaxel Phase 1 combination study on solid tumors

Synta Pharmaceuticals Corp. announced that results of a Phase 1 study of ganetespib in combination with docetaxel in solid tumors were presented at the Annual Meeting of the European Society of Medical Oncology in Stockholm, Sweden.

27 Sep 2011

Viewpoints: LA Times wants solutions from GOP candidates; WSJ finds worrisome census numbers

We've now seen three full-dress debates among the Republican politicians who want to be the next president of the United States, and here's what we've learned: They all believe taxes are too high, even though federal taxes are lower as a percentage of the U.S. economy than any time in the last 60 years. They all believe onerous environmental regulations are preventing economic recovery, though few economists would agree.

27 Sep 2011

MSU creates new malaria vaccine with immune-stimulating gene

Continuing a global effort to prevent malaria infections, Michigan State University researchers have created a new malaria vaccine - one that combines the use of a disabled cold virus with an immune system-stimulating gene - that appears to increase the immune response against the parasite that causes the deadly disease.

27 Sep 2011

Communication breakdown between nerves and muscles in SMA mouse model

Researchers at the University of Missouri have identified a communication breakdown between nerves and muscles in mice that may provide new insight into the debilitating and fatal human disease known as spinal muscular atrophy.

27 Sep 2011

Viewing computer images causes long-term changes in nerve cell connections

Viewing two-dimensional images of the environment, as they occur in computer games, leads to sustained changes in the strength of nerve cell connections in the brain.

27 Sep 2011

Alnylam commences ALN-PCS Phase I trial in severe hypercholesterolemia

Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a leading RNAi therapeutics company, announced today that it has initiated dosing in its Phase I clinical trial with ALN-PCS, an RNAi therapeutic targeting proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9, or PCSK9, for the treatment of severe hypercholesterolemia.

27 Sep 2011

Researchers discover cell receptor for CDT toxin of C. difficile bacterium

A research group led by Freiburg pharmacologist Prof. Dr. Klaus Aktories and their American colleagues have discovered the cell receptor for the toxin CDT of the bacterium Clostridium difficile.

27 Sep 2011

Collegium completes Type A meeting with FDA for COL-003 Phase III chronic low back pain study

Collegium Pharmaceutical, Inc., a specialty pharmaceutical company, announced today that it has successfully completed a Type A meeting with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regarding the proposed Phase III clinical study for COL-003, the Company's tamper-resistant, extended release oxycodone product utilizing its proprietary DETERx technology.

27 Sep 2011

Men over 75 with prostate cancer are being undertreated: Study

It's an ongoing debate: Should men over a certain age be treated for prostate cancer? Should these patients be submitted to treatments that may result in significant side effects if they may not live very much longer?

27 Sep 2011

Aesculap acquires assets of Aragon Surgical

Aesculap announced today that it has acquired the assets of Aragon Surgical, Inc. Aragon Surgical specializes in advanced radio frequency (RF) electrosurgical instruments for tissue fusion and cutting.

27 Sep 2011

Roundup: Patient dies after medical error during Calif. nurses strike; grocery workers ratify contract that had partially hinged on health care

Veteran nurses locked out of Alta Bates Summit Medical Center in Oakland said Sunday that the death of a patient due to a medical error by a replacement worker wouldn't have happened if they had been allowed to do their jobs. The hospital's management countered that it was a freak accident that could have happened at any time -- with or without the replacement nurses. At the center of the dispute is a cancer patient, a woman who has not been identified but whose tragic death on Saturday has inflamed an already tense labor dispute.

27 Sep 2011

Smaller and faster clinical drug trials could improve gains in cancer survival

With the advent of personalised medicine, gains in cancer survival over the long term could be improved by running smaller, faster trials with less stringent evidence criteria, a researcher told the 2011 European Multidisciplinary Cancer Congress.

26 Sep 2011

Scientists identify a way that chemotherapy causes platelet numbers to drop

Scientists at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute have identified a way that chemotherapy causes platelet numbers to drop, answering in the process a decade-old question about the formation of platelets, tiny cells that allow blood to clot.

26 Sep 2011

Radical change needed to deliver affordable cancer care in developed countries

Cancer is one of the leading causes of death and morbidity worldwide, and its economic burden grows year by year. In 2008, the worldwide cost of cancer due to premature death and disability, excluding direct medical costs, was estimated to be US$895 billion.

26 Sep 2011