Medical News

RSS

Scientists report global shortage of radioactive isotopes for medical scans

Twenty million medical scans and treatments are done each year that require radioactive isotopes and scientists today described a global shortage of these life-saving materials that could jeopardize patient care and drive-up health care costs.

23 Aug 2010

Researchers discover unusual property of meiosis may lead to Down syndrome

In a study of egg cells using time-lapse microscopy, researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research have discovered an unusual property of meiosis - cell division that produces reproductive cells in sexually reproducing organisms.

23 Aug 2010

Researchers find medication for diabetes, smoking cessation

The script for two research teams inducted today into the American Chemical Society (ACS) scientific "hall of fame" the ACS Heroes of Chemistry is a tale of two pills. One team invented a medication that helps people with diabetes control their blood sugar levels. The second team invented a medicine that helps people stop smoking, an addiction that experts regard as today's single greatest preventable cause of death worldwide.

23 Aug 2010

Sledding-related injuries may result in traumatic brain injury: Study

A new study conducted by the Center for Injury Research and Policy of The Research Institute at Nationwide Children's Hospital found that from 1997-2007, an estimated 229,023 children and adolescents younger than 19 years were treated in U.S. hospital emergency departments for sledding-related injuries, an average of more than 20,000 cases each year.

23 Aug 2010

Golden Meditech medical device business raises USD 40 million

Golden Meditech Holdings Limited, China's leading integrated healthcare enterprise, is pleased to announce that its medical devices business has successfully raised USD 40 million from a number of renowned private equity investors where the proceeds will fund the construction of new production lines for both medical devices and medical accessories to fund the formation of joint-venture with Fenwal Inc.

23 Aug 2010

Intelerad to feature hospital solutions at AHRA annual meeting

Intelerad Medical Systems will be featuring its hospital solutions at the AHRA 2010 Annual Meeting and Exposition on August 22 to 26, 2010 in Washington, DC.

23 Aug 2010

Health insurance for college students generating coverage, controversy

A national anti-abortion group is asking Gov. Bev Perdue to look into the details of a new [University of North Carolina] system requirement that all students have health insurance. Students for Life of America has asked Perdue to investigate a number of issues surrounding the UNC system's new health insurance program for students.

23 Aug 2010

Illinois launches health insurance program, California to follow suit

As the new health reform law requires, states are continuing to establish health insurance pools for "high-risk" patients. The Associated Press/Chicago Sun-Times "Hundreds of Illinois residents have submitted applications for a new federally funded health insurance program for people with medical problems.

23 Aug 2010

Epicept receives refusal to file letter on new drug application

EpiCept Corporation today announced that it received a refusal to file letter from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on the New Drug Application (NDA) for Ceplene(histamine dihydrochloride).

23 Aug 2010

Scientists develop new synthetic material to grow stem cells

Human pluripotent stem cells, which can become any other kind of body cell, hold great potential to treat a wide range of ailments, including Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis and spinal cord injuries. However, scientists who work with such cells have had trouble growing large enough quantities to perform experiments - in particular, to be used in human studies. Furthermore, most materials now used to grow human stem cells include cells or proteins that come from mice embryos, which help stimulate stem-cell growth but would likely cause an immune reaction if injected into a human patient.

23 Aug 2010

Castor bean genome may help prevent potential bioterrorism events

A research team co-led by scientists from the J. Craig Venter Institute (JCVI) and the Institute for Genome Sciences (IGS), University of Maryland School of Medicine, today published the sequence and analysis of the castor bean (Ricinus communis) genome in Nature Biotechnology.

23 Aug 2010

Martin Karplus receives 2010 Russell Varian Prize for NMR innovation

Agilent Technologies Inc. announced Martin Karplus, professor emeritus, Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Harvard University; and Laboratoire de Chimie Biophysique, ISIS, Université Louis Pasteur, the winner of the 2010 Russell Varian Prize.

23 Aug 2010

New antisense drugs may help treat accidental infections: Study

New studies show that treatments targeting specific viral genes protected monkeys infected with deadly Ebola or Marburg viruses. Furthermore, the animals were protected even when therapeutics were administered one hour after exposure-suggesting the approach holds promise for treating accidental infections in laboratory or hospital settings.

23 Aug 2010

Study finds rectal cancer rates are increasing among young individuals

A new analysis has found that while colon cancer rates have remained steady over the past several decades among people under the age of 40, rectal cancer rates are increasing in this population across races and in both sexes.

23 Aug 2010

Researchers find new way to study oncogene's role in DNA repair

A key step in understanding the origins of familial breast cancer has been made by two teams of scientists at the University of California, Davis. The researchers have purified, for the first time, the protein produced by the breast cancer susceptibility gene BRCA2 and used it to study the oncogene's role in DNA repair.

23 Aug 2010

Scientific findings provide new information on prostate cancer care

A new analysis has found that short-term and long-term costs of prostate cancer care vary considerably based on which treatment strategy a man initially receives. Published early online in Cancer, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society, the study finds that treatments that may be less expensive in the short-term may have higher long-term costs.

23 Aug 2010

Hospira Japan receives approval for long term use of Precedex IV sedative

Hospira Japan Co., Ltd. today announced it has received an approval for the long-term (greater than 24 hour) use of the sedative "Precedex IV™200ug" (generic name: dexmedetomidine hydrochloride). This approval follows Hospira's first launches earlier this year of Precedex in Canada and in South Korea, important milestones for Hospira as the company continues to build the molecule's global presence.

23 Aug 2010

Scientists discover new ways to boost antioxidant levels in potatoes

Scientists today reported discovery of two simple, inexpensive ways of boosting the amounts of healthful antioxidant substances in potatoes. One involves giving spuds an electric shock. The other involves zapping them with ultrasound, high frequency sound waves.

23 Aug 2010

Beer psoriasis link for women and psoriasis plus depression

According to a new study, women who regularly drink beer may be increasing their risk of developing psoriasis – a disease of the skin. Light beer and wine are not associated with such a risk, the study says. Psoriasis is a chronic skin disease characterised by itchy red scaly patches that most commonly appear on the knees, elbows and scalp or anywhere else in the body.

23 Aug 2010

Bottled tea contains less antioxidants, high sugar content

The first measurements of healthful antioxidant levels in commercial bottled tea beverages has concluded that health-conscious consumers may not be getting what they pay for: healthful doses of those antioxidants, or "poylphenols," that may ward off a range of diseases.

23 Aug 2010