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Medtronic announces new M-Link cellular accessory

Medtronic, Inc. announced today that it now offers the new Medtronic M-Link™ cellular accessory, which provides cardiac device patients with an option to securely send information stored in their implanted devices to their clinics via the CareLink® Network using cellular signals, rather than a telephone landline. This simplified connection to the CareLink® Network enables clinicians to remotely monitor more patients who are implanted with cardiac devices.

11 May 2010

One-quarter of young adults use waterpipes

As fewer people puff on cigarettes, a new smoking trend may be gaining popularity among North American youth. A study published in the journal Pediatrics has found that almost one-quarter of young adults in Montreal had used waterpipes (also known as shishas or hookahs) in the past year.

11 May 2010

Pathway Genomics personal genetic testing kits to be sold at Walgreens

Pathway Genomics, a U.S.-based genetic testing company, today announced that Pathway's personal genetic testing kits will be available at Walgreens. Starting in mid-May the Pathway Genomics Insight™ Saliva Collection Kit will be sold at many of Walgreens' nearly 7,500 stores nationwide (with the exception of New York, due to a New York state law). The Insight™ Saliva Collection Kit will retail in the $20 to $30 price range.

11 May 2010

LifeWatch Services to launch remote iPad ECG report TeleViewer application

LifeWatch Services, Inc., a subsidiary of LifeWatch AG, will announce the launch of their remote ECG report TeleViewer™ application for the Apple iPad. The iPad application integrates with and enhances the advanced reporting and workflow management capabilities present in their web based applications for all product offerings.

11 May 2010

Gene variations may increase risk of developing schizophrenia: Study

By analyzing the genomes of patients with schizophrenia, genetics researchers have discovered numerous copy number variations—deletions or duplications of DNA sequences—that increase the risk of developing schizophrenia. Significantly, many of these variations occur in genes that affect signaling among brain cells.

11 May 2010

New multicenter trial achieves 71% survival in AML children

More individualized therapy and better supportive care helped push the survival for children with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) to 71 percent three years after diagnosis, according to new research led by St. Jude Children's Research Hospital investigators and reported in the medical journal The Lancet Oncology. The survival rate of 71 percent is 20 percent better than previously reported U.S. rates and is similar to the success achieved in a 2009 Japanese study, said Jeffrey Rubnitz, M.D., Ph.D., a member of the St. Jude Oncology department.

11 May 2010

USP panel recommends to establish universal standards for prescription medication labels

To promote the establishment of universal standards for prescription medication labels-and to address the widespread problem of patient misinterpretation of medication instructions-an advisory panel formed by the U.S. Pharmacopeial Convention (USP) recently issued a set of recommendations to bring consistency to labeling on dispensed prescription packaging.

11 May 2010

Increased cholesterol levels can affect microenvironment of bone marrow

Increased cholesterol levels are being increasingly recognised as risk factors for the onset and progression of several cancers. Now researchers in Portugal show that high levels of cholesterol can affect the microenvironment of the bone marrow, so that more cells move from the bone marrow to peripheral, circulating blood.

11 May 2010

New bacterial species in tsete fly may help control African sleeping sickness

A new bacterial species, found in the gut of the fly that transmits African sleeping sickness, could be engineered to kill the parasite that causes the disease. The study, published in the International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology, could lead to new approaches to control this fatal infection that is becoming resistant to drug therapy.

11 May 2010

Transition Therapeutics reports increased revenue in third-quarter 2010

Transition Therapeutics Inc., a product-focused biopharmaceutical company developing therapeutics for disease indications with large markets, today announced its financial results for the quarter ended March 31, 2010.

11 May 2010

Health law's 'grandfather' clause could deprive consumers of key benefits

Kaiser Health News staff writers Phil Galewitz and Mary Agnes Carey write about a term that will be central to how health reform is implemented: "Under the law, existing, or 'grandfathered' health plans are exempt from several consumer protections, including a requirement that beginning as early as September prohibits health plans from charging co-payments

11 May 2010

NEI renews K12 grant for Mass. Eye and Ear to fund Harvard Vision Clinical Scientist Development Program

The Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Harvard Medical School Department of Ophthalmology, has been awarded a grant renewal from the National Institutes of Health, National Eye Institute (NEI), to recruit, train and support first-rate clinician scientists to promote translational and clinical research into cures for eye disease.

11 May 2010

New combination therapy may help treat anti-estrogen resistant ER+ breast cancer

A study by researchers from the Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center at Georgetown University Medical Center (GUMC) identifies a potential new combination therapy to "rescue" treatment sensitivity to fulvestrant in estrogen receptor positive breast cancers.

11 May 2010

Astra HR launches suite of resources for medical industry professionals to manage medical practices

At a time when 73% of medical practices cite dealing with operating costs rising more rapidly than revenues as a considerable or extreme challenge (Medical Group Management Association, July 2009 Member Opinion Survey), the unclear impact of recently passed healthcare reform legislation, termed the "Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act," looms large for those who manage medical practices.

11 May 2010

Advanced radiation techniques treat head and neck cancer, reduce swallowing complications

Researchers at the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center have applied advanced radiation techniques for head and neck cancer to avoid treating critical structures that affect swallowing and eating.

11 May 2010

New disposable measuring device monitors body's vital functions

Physiological signals can nowadays be easily monitored with measurement devices implanted inside a living body. The object - animal or human - is barely aware of the presence of the implant.

11 May 2010

Intercell reports EUR 4.8m revenue, EUR 14.7m net loss for first-quarter 2010

Today, the biotech-vaccine company Intercell AG announced its financial results for Q1 and presented an update on the Company's development programs.

11 May 2010

New law could help hospice patients continue aggressive medical treatments

Kaiser Health News staff writer Jordan Rau, in collaboration with The Philadelphia Inquirer, reports: "After an excruciating bout of chemotherapy, Linda Meisenhelder gave up fighting colon cancer and last fall entered end-of-life hospice care.

11 May 2010

LifeWatch Services to unveil advanced AF TeleClinic service at HRS Annual Meeting

LifeWatch Services, Inc., a subsidiary of LifeWatch AG, will unveil its advanced AF TeleClinic service offering this week at the Heart Rhythm Society (HRS) Annual Meeting taking place in Denver, Colorado. The AF TeleClinic service, empowered with the latest communication, IT and medical technologies, ensures physicians are well equipped to deliver optimal diagnostic and treatment options to their patients.

11 May 2010

Forest, Almirall to present data on aclidinium bromide for COPD and LAS100977 for asthma at ATS conference

Forest Laboratories, Inc. and Almirall, S.A. today announced that they are presenting data from several studies of two investigational inhaled respiratory compounds at the annual American Thoracic Society International Conference taking place in New Orleans May 14-19, 2010. Data on aclidinium bromide, an inhaled muscarinic antagonist, which is in Phase III development for COPD, and LAS100977, a long-acting beta 2-agonist, in Phase II development for asthma, will be presented in 11 separate posters.

11 May 2010