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Combination therapy improves patients with depression symptoms: Study

New data presented today at the American Psychiatric Association's annual meeting suggests a benefit to combining L-methylfolate, a prescription medical food called Deplin, with an antidepressant at the start of treatment. This retrospective analysis showed a significantly greater improvement in depression symptoms in a shorter period of time, when patients with Major Depressive Disorder were started on combination therapy.

25 May 2010

Positive results from Phase 2 clinical trial for STA-9090 in Stage IIIB and Stage IV patients with NSCLC

Synta Pharmaceuticals Corp. today announced that clinical activity seen in the first stage of its trial for STA-9090 in Stage IIIB and Stage IV patients with non-small cell lung cancer, support advancing to the second stage of the trial. This result was achieved in the first pre-defined patient cohort to complete enrollment.

25 May 2010

X-spine's new Fixcet Spinal Facet Screw System receives FDA clearance

X-spine, a global manufacturer of implants and instruments for spinal surgery, announced FDA clearance of its new Fixcet Spinal Facet Screw System. The system is designed to provide spinal stability for lumbar fusion procedures, including the treatment of degenerative disk disease, instability and trauma.

25 May 2010

Dietary fat and heart disease

New research shows the type of fat is much more important than total fat in determining an individual's risk of heart disease - and that there are numerous factors beyond dietary fat that affect one's risk - leading to a shift in the age-old dietary fat and heart disease paradigm.

25 May 2010

FDA approves Watson Pharmaceuticals' generic version of VALTREX tablets

Watson Pharmaceuticals, Inc., today announced that its subsidiary, Watson Laboratories, Inc., has received approval from the United States Food and Drug Administration on its Abbreviated New Drug Application for Valacyclovir Hydrochloride tablets, USP, in the 500 and 1000 mg strengths, the generic equivalent to GlaxoSmithKline, LLC's VALTREX tablets.

25 May 2010

Researchers identify mechanisms involved in gene mutation

Genetic variation due to DNA mutation is a driving force of adaptation and evolution, as well as a contributing factor to disease. However, the mechanisms governing DNA mutation rate are not well understood.

25 May 2010

UnitedHealth cut lobbying spending even as Congress finalized health reform measure

The UnitedHealth Group Inc. "dialed down" their federal lobbying in the first quarter of 2010, even as Congress prepared to pass the health reform bill. In the first quarter of 2010, it spent $660,000 on lobbying, less than half of the $1.5 million it spent in the first quarter of 2009 on lobbying.

25 May 2010

Natural anti-inflammatory protein effective against meningitis-causing bacteria

A study published online on May 24th in the Journal of Experimental Medicine (www.jem.org) suggests that boosting the abundance of one of the body's own proteins might be more effective than antibiotic treatment at fighting off a common meningitis-causing bacterium (E. coli K1).

25 May 2010

New HPLC-Chip introduced to address N-glycan analysis in biopharmaceutical market

Agilent Technologies Inc. today introduced a new HPLC-Chip to address N-glycan analysis in the emerging biopharmaceutical market.

25 May 2010

New strategies defined to reduce salt levels in ready meals

Today's busy lifestyles leave little time to prepare meals from fresh ingredients, resulting in the popularity of ready prepared meals. However, these meals contain relatively high levels of salt and health agencies throughout the world are recommending a reduction in non-discretionary sodium from salt- and sodium-containing additives used in the manufacture of these meals.

25 May 2010

Pregnant women with H1N1 flu strain are at risk for obstetrical complications: Study

Pregnant women who contract the H1N1 flu strain are at risk for obstetrical complications including fetal distress, premature delivery, emergency cesarean delivery and fetal death, according to a report in the May 24 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

25 May 2010

Elite Pharmaceuticals acquires hydromorphone hydrochloride tablets from Mikah Pharma

Elite Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced today the acquisition of a currently approved Abbreviated New Drug Application (ANDA) for hydromorphone hydrochloride 8 mg tablets from Mikah Pharma LLC. The hydromorphone hydrochloride tablets are the generic equivalent of Dilaudid® 8 mg.

25 May 2010

Simbionix USA to launch two new hands-on training systems at AUA annual meeting

Simbionix USA Corporation, the world's leading provider of medical education and simulation training products for medical professionals and the healthcare industry, is launching two new hands-on training systems - the Lap Nepherctomy simulation module and the VirtaMed TURPSim. Both solutions will be revealed for the first time at the AUA annual meeting in San Francisco next week.

25 May 2010

Traumatic brain injuries may disrupt sleep patterns, says study

People with brain injuries may produce low amounts of melatonin, which affects their sleep, according to a study published in the May 25, 2010, print issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

25 May 2010

Regulators puzzling out what insurers must do under new health law

The Washington Post reports that regulators are "trying to resolve" which insurance plans must comply with the health law's new requirements. "In keeping with President Obama's promise that you can hold on to your insurance if you like it, the new law exempts existing health plans from many of its provisions. But the law leaves it to regulators to decide how much a health plan can change without giving up its grandfathered status."

25 May 2010

NIH, FDA launch new portal to provide easier access to online reporting

The Food and Drug Administration and the National Institutes of Health today launched a new Web site that, when fully developed, will provide a mechanism for the reporting of pre- and post-market safety data to the federal government.

25 May 2010

Media outlets highlight studies presented at International Microbicides Conference

A study in Africa, presented Sunday at the International Microbicides Conference (M2010) in Pittsburgh, has shown that a man's risk of HIV infection doubles if his HIV-positive partner is pregnant, according to HealthDay News/U.S. News & World Report.

25 May 2010

Economic access becomes primary research focus in public health nutrition

Ensuring access to healthy, affordable foods is a top priority in tackling the obesity epidemic in the United States. Over the course of the last six months, the Institute of Medicine, United States Department of Agriculture, The White House and First Lady Michelle Obama have taken an interest in improving access to affordable and nutritious foods.

25 May 2010

Obesity is a risk factor for depressive symptoms

Researchers, led by Kerri Boutelle, PhD, associate professor of pediatrics and psychiatry at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have found that obesity is a risk factor for depressive symptoms, but not for clinical depression, suggesting that weight status could play a part in the development of depression in some adolescent girls.

25 May 2010

A unique multi-modal atlas of human brain

The Allen Institute for Brain Science announced today that it has launched the Allen Human Brain Atlas, a publicly available online atlas charting genes at work throughout the human brain.

25 May 2010