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Brandeis University researchers appraises economic benefits of BOS-P lens

Today, in the December issue of the American Journal of Ophthalmology Brandeis University researchers published a paper appraising the economic benefits of the BOS-P, a highly precise scleral lens used to treat severe cornea or ocular surface disease. A companion paper on the clinical benefits has been published online and will appear in the journal's January issue.

3 Dec 2009

Respiratory syncytial virus, the most common cause of pneumonia in children

RSV is a respiratory virus that infects the lungs and breathing passages. While most healthy people recover from RSV infection, it can be severe in infants. According to the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), RSV is the most common cause of bronchiolitis (inflammation of the small airways in the lung) and pneumonia in children under 1 year of age in the nation.

3 Dec 2009

Beta blockers and stress tests before non-cardiac surgeries should be avoided, according to study

Physicians should "throttle back" from routinely ordering stress tests and prescribing beta blockers to patients before non-cardiac surgeries, according to a report by the University of Michigan released online this week.

3 Dec 2009

AMICAS announces new contract with Washington Radiology Associates

AMICAS, Inc., a leader in image and information management solutions, today announced a new contract with Washington Radiology Associates (Fairfax, VA). This agreement will extend Washington Radiology Associates' long-standing partnership with AMICAS to include AMICAS PACS(TM).

3 Dec 2009

Children vaccinated against chickenpox at much lower risk of developing shingles

Vaccination to prevent chickenpox (varicella) appears to have an added benefit for children—a reduced risk of shingles (herpes zoster). That's the finding of a study in the November issue of The Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal, published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, a part of Wolters Kluwer Health, a leading provider of information and business intelligence for students, professionals, and institutions in medicine, nursing, allied health, and pharmacy.

3 Dec 2009

Huntington Memorial Hospital's stroke program receives Gold Seal of Approval

Huntington Memorial Hospital's stroke program has received the Gold Seal of Approval from the Joint Commission, designating the hospital a primary stroke center. This means Huntington will join the network of "approved stroke center" hospitals throughout Los Angeles County.

3 Dec 2009

Spartan Chassis launches new Non-Emergency Ambulance Transport vehicle

Spartan Chassis, Inc., a subsidiary of Spartan Motors, Inc. (Nasdaq: SPAR), today introduced a new Non-Emergency Ambulance Transport (NEAT) vehicle at the American Ambulance Association annual conference in Las Vegas (Booth #10-11).

3 Dec 2009

Widowed population experiences higher mortality rate, says study

Married people in the United States are living longer these days, but the widowed are experiencing a higher mortality rate, according to new research by a Michigan State University sociologist.

3 Dec 2009

New book presents latest research on neuroendocrine physiology

In this volume an international group of basic and clinical investigators presents their latest research on neuroendocrine physiology, advances in the control of the onset of puberty and its disorders, and basic and clinical aspects of the GH/IGF-1 and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axes. An entire section is dedicated to pituitary tumors, including genetics and neuroimaging, and another covers the neuroendocrine control of substrate metabolism, including hypothalamic obesity and anorexia.

3 Dec 2009

Intracranial endovascular procedures will grow at over 5% through 2014 in the US, says MRG

According to Millennium Research Group (MRG), the global authority on medical technology market intelligence, intracranial endovascular procedures to treat aneurysms will grow at over 5% through 2014 in the US. MRG's new US Markets for Transcatheter Embolization and Occlusion Devices 2010 report finds that technological advancements in embolization coils as well as imaging and coiling-assist technology will continue to drive growth in aneurysm coiling procedures.

3 Dec 2009

Researchers to publish a paper on the availability of 'Spice' drugs online

A paper to be published this month by University of Hertfordshire researchers about the availability of 'Spice' drugs online will raise new concerns about its mood altering effects.

3 Dec 2009

Cephalon's lawsuit against Teva Pharmaceuticals for patent infringement of NUVIGIL tablets

Cephalon, Inc. today announced that it has filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Delaware against Teva Pharmaceuticals USA, Inc. for infringement of U.S. Patent Nos. 7,132,570 (the "'570 Patent"), 7,297,346 (the "'346 Patent") and RE37,516 (the "'516 Patent") for the Cephalon product NUVIGIL® (armodafinil) Tablets [C-IV].

3 Dec 2009

Majority of Australians accept teen drinking

Half of Australian adults and 63 per cent of Australians on a higher income believe 15 to 17 year olds should be allowed to consume alcohol under parental supervision at home, according to the latest MBF Healthwatch survey.

3 Dec 2009

Yale researchers survey door-to-balloon times in 831 hospitals

Healthcare professionals using new time-saving strategies to coordinate care for patients having a heart attack saw dramatic improvement in "door-to-balloon" (D2B) times-the time from when a patient enters the hospital to the time blood flow is restored to the heart by opening a blockage with angioplasty. The faster patients are treated, the more likely they are to survive. The results are published by Yale researchers and their colleagues in the December 15 issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

3 Dec 2009

FDA grants Fast Track designation for Keryx Biopharmaceuticals' KRX-0401

Keryx Biopharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted Fast Track designation for KRX-0401 (perifosine), the Company's novel, potentially first-in-class, oral anti-cancer agent that inhibits the phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K)/Akt pathway, for the treatment of relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma.

3 Dec 2009

Earlier diagnosis of cancer saves 5,000 to 10,000 lives each year, says Professor Mike Richards

Earlier diagnosis of people with cancer could save between 5,000 and 10,000 lives each year, Professor Mike Richards, the National Cancer Director for England, has claimed.

3 Dec 2009

Sepsis, a serious infection, remains a major threat to 'late preterm' infants

Sepsis is a serious infection that is a major cause of death in very premature infants. But sepsis is also a threat in "late preterm" infants born just a few weeks prematurely, according to a study in the December issue of The Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal. The journal is published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, a part of Wolters Kluwer Health, a leading provider of information and business intelligence for students, professionals, and institutions in medicine, nursing, allied health, and pharmacy.

3 Dec 2009

New study reveals smokeless tobacco products contain high levels of cancer-causing substances

A new study on the smokeless tobacco product called moist snuff - placed between lip and gum - has led scientists in Minnesota to urge the tobacco industry to change manufacturing practices to reduce snuff's content of carcinogens.

3 Dec 2009

Beta 2 adrenergic agonist drugs linked to autism-spectrum disorders

Commonly prescribed beta 2 adrenergic agonist drugs for the treatment of asthma in pregnant women as well as pre-term labor may increase the incidence of autism-spectrum disorders, psychiatric pathology, cognitive problems and poor school performance in their children, according to a new study published in the December 2009 issue of the American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology.

3 Dec 2009

Exercise remains one of the most effective interventions for peripheral artery disease

Peripheral artery disease (PAD) affects 5 million individuals in the U.S. and is the leading cause of limb amputations. Doctors have long considered exercise to be the single best therapy for PAD, and now a new study helps explain why. Led by researchers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and published in this week's Online Early Edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), the findings demonstrate that a protein called PGC-1alpha plays a key role in the process.

3 Dec 2009