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Quitting smoking eases symptoms of depression

Quitting smoking is certainly healthy for the body, but doctors and scientists haven't been sure whether quitting makes people happier, especially since conventional wisdom says many smokers use cigarettes to ease anxiety and depression. In a new study, researchers tracked the symptoms of depression in people who were trying to quit and found that they were never happier than when they were being successful, for however long that was.

3 Dec 2010

Debt panel proposals target health costs

A White House-appointed commission's deficit-taming proposals would affect every corner of society. Workers with solid coverage on the job, seniors, drug companies, trial lawyers, hospitals, doctors, state governments and federal employees would all feel the effects.

3 Dec 2010

In spite of health care law, patients may still pay for preventive care

Minnesota Public Radio: In principal, the new federal healthcare law "requires insurers to cover preventive care — including colonoscopies, mammograms and immunizations at no cost to the patient — no co-pays, no deductibles." The aim is to encourage people to get preventive care before they develop conditions that are more costly to treat, and while "Medicare will begin covering these tests 100 percent on January 1st ... for other plans there are myriad exceptions.

3 Dec 2010

New inexpensive filtering technology to kill disease-causing bacteria in water

With almost one billion people lacking access to clean, safe drinking water, scientists are reporting development and successful initial tests of an inexpensive new filtering technology that kills up to 98 percent of disease-causing bacteria in water in seconds without clogging. A report on the technology appears in Nano Letters, a monthly American Chemical Society journal.

3 Dec 2010

AtriCure initiates enrollment in DEEP AF feasibility trial

AtriCure, Inc., a medical device company and a leader in cardiac surgical ablation systems and systems for the exclusion of the left atrial appendage, announced initial patient enrollment in its DEEP AF feasibility trial. The first procedure was performed in a new, state-of-the-art hybrid room at Sentara Norfolk General Hospital in Norfolk, Virginia by Jonathan Philpott, M.D., Director of the Sentara Atrial Fibrillation Surgery Program, Ian Woollett, M.D., and John Onufer, M.D., Medical Director of Cardiac Electrophysiology.

3 Dec 2010

MHRA issues notice of acceptance for BioMarin's BMN 673 for genetically-defined cancers

BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc. today announced that the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) in the UK has completed review of the Clinical Trial Application (CTA) and has issued a notice of acceptance for BMN 673 for genetically-defined cancers.

3 Dec 2010

Olympus PlasmaButton- vaporization technology now usable with Gyrus ACMI SuperPulse- Generator platform

Olympus, a precision technology leader in designing and delivering innovative solutions in Medical and Surgical Products among other core businesses, announced today that its revolutionary PlasmaButton- vaporization technology can now be used with the Gyrus ACMI SuperPulse- Generator platform. Together, the PlasmaButton electrode and SuperPulse Generator provide physicians and patients with a new, virtually bloodless treatment option for benign prostate hyperplasia (BPH) or enlarged prostate.

From Evident Corporation - Life Sciences 3 Dec 2010

FDA accepts to file PMA application for LightTouch Cervical Scanner

Guided Therapeutics, Inc. announced that it was notified by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that the company's premarket approval application (PMA) for the LightTouch Cervical Scanner, for patients at risk for cervical cancer, is suitable for filing.

3 Dec 2010

Jimmy Carter: Kennedy obstructed health care reform in 1970s

In an interview with CBS News, former President Jimmy Carter said "he doesn't have 'any doubt' that [Former Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-Mass.] stood in the way of his administration's plans for national health care insurance.

3 Dec 2010

BMEYE signs licensing agreement with PULSION Medical Systems

BMEYE's Breakthrough Totally Noninvasive Blood Pressure and Cardiac Output Technology Will be Incorporated Into PULSION's Next Generation Patient Monitors

3 Dec 2010

Smoking reduces brain thickness

Many brain imaging studies have reported that tobacco smoking is associated with large-scale and wide-spread structural brain abnormalities.

3 Dec 2010

Minnpost examines foreign aid prospects in new Congress

The MinnPost examines the new Congress' possible approach to foreign aid and international spending.

3 Dec 2010

New study offers hope for children with MPS I genetic disorder

A new study offers hope for children born with a rare genetic disease, according to a paper published by the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

3 Dec 2010

Study raises questions about therapeutic use of botulinum toxin A

A new study by researchers at the Faculty of Kinesiology, University of Calgary, is raising questions about the therapeutic use of botulinum toxin A.

3 Dec 2010

Africa can produce enough food to feed itself, study says

Africa is capable of producing enough food to feed itself within a single generation, according to "a study released to coincide with a meeting of several African leaders in Tanzania on Thursday, as well as U.N. talks on slowing climate change in Cancun, Mexico," Reuters reports (Doyle, 12/2).

3 Dec 2010

FDA accepts IND application to initiate human clinical trial to evaluate BNC

QR Pharma, Inc., a developer of novel drugs to treat Alzheimer's disease (AD), announced today that the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has accepted the Investigational New Drug application (IND) to begin human clinical trials and evaluate the safety and efficacy of the company's second product, bisnorcymserine (BNC).

3 Dec 2010

Sirnaomics cemented partnership with Chinese pharmaceutical to develop siRNA therapeutics

Sirnaomics, Inc. announced today that the company has cemented a partnership with a Chinese pharmaceutical company for development of its small interfering RNA (siRNA) therapeutic (STP705) for scarless wound healing.

3 Dec 2010

SAGE launches two new journals in Drug Safety, Hematology

SAGE Expands Therapeutic Advances series by launching two new journals in Drug Safety and Hematology. SAGE has extended its suite of Therapeutic Advances journals with the launch of a further two titles: Therapeutic Advances in Drug Safety, and Therapeutic Advances in Hematology.

3 Dec 2010

TUM physicist's new approach expected to improve image contrast with low radiation

The DFG cited Pfeiffer's research in biomedical imaging, and in particular his pioneering work in X-ray phase-contrast imaging. His systematic approach has laid the foundation for applications of this technique in medicine and industry, where it is expected to deliver improved image contrast with lower doses of radiation.

3 Dec 2010

Geron commences enrollment in imetelstat Phase 2 clinical trial for metastatic breast cancer

Geron Corporation today announced enrollment of the first patient in a randomized Phase 2 clinical trial of its telomerase inhibitor drug, imetelstat (GRN163L), in combination with paclitaxel (with or without bevacizumab) in patients with locally recurrent or metastatic breast cancer.

3 Dec 2010