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Lux Biosciences announces results of its LX214 human safety study for dry eye syndrome

Lux Biosciences, Inc. a privately held biotechnology company focused on the treatment of ophthalmic diseases, today announced results from a Phase 1 human safety and an open-label pilot efficacy study of the company’s potential best-in-class therapy for dry eye, LX214 (topical mixed nanomicellar formulation of voclosporin).

24 Sep 2009

Pregnant women must be vaccinated against H1N1 and seasonal flu

Pregnant women should be sure to get all their flu shots as soon as the vaccines become available this year to protect them against both the seasonal flu and the H1N1 (swine) flu, according to eight leading national maternal and infant health organizations.

24 Sep 2009

DATATRAK International signs two clinical studies

DATATRAK International, Inc., a technology and services company focused on global eClinical solutions for the clinical trials industry, today announced the signing of two worldwide studies exemplifying the versatility of the DATATRAK eClinical platform.

24 Sep 2009

Acetaminophen can prevent age-related problems

Recent studies conducted by Dr. Eric Blough and his colleagues at Marshall University have shown that use of the common pain reliever acetaminophen may help prevent age-associated muscle loss and other conditions.

24 Sep 2009

DISC1 linked to proper development and migration of neurons in the brain

Scientists now have a better understanding of a perplexing gene that is associated with susceptibility for a wide spectrum of severely debilitating mental illnesses. Two independent research studies published by Cell Press in the September 24th issue of the journal Neuron provide fascinating insight into the molecular mechanisms that link disrupted-in-schizophrenia 1 (DISC1) with the proper development and migration of neurons in the hippocampus, a brain area involved in learning and memory and associated with the pathology of schizophrenia.

24 Sep 2009

IOM study to examine premarket notification program for medical devices

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today announced that it has commissioned the Institute of Medicine (IOM) to study the premarket notification program used to review and clear certain medical devices marketed in the United States.

24 Sep 2009

A selection of today's opinions and editorials

It seems a poor reflection on one of the richest countries in the world that we are so stingy, so callous and so xenophobic. At least we've not reached the point of turning away cases of immediate need — victims of car accidents or heart attacks or others who need emergency care (Cynthia Tucker, 9/22).

24 Sep 2009

Hope for heterotopic ossificiation

A recent United States Army study found that excessive bone growth, also known as heterotopic ossificiation (HO), affects up to 70 percent of soldiers who are severely wounded during combat. A much smaller percentage of the civilian population also suffers from HO following trauma or invasive surgery. The excessive bone forms within muscles and other tissues causing severe pain, reduced mobility and even local paralysis if untreated.

24 Sep 2009

Adolescent depression and anxiety: Two distinct psychiatric disorders

Adolescent depression and anxiety disorders are two distinct psychiatric disorders, according to Dr. William W. Hale III (a researcher of the Langeveld Institute for the Study of Education and Development in Childhood and Adolescence at Utrecht University) in a recent publication in the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry.

24 Sep 2009

E-18 Corp. enters dental syringe market, completes US patent filing for the Protectus Safety Dental Syringe

E-18 Corp. (OTCBB: ETEN), through its wholly owned subsidiary, SquareOne Medical, Inc., doing business as Protectus Medical Devices ("Protectus Medical Devices"), today announces completion of the US patent filing for the Protectus Safety Dental Syringe, broadening the company’s market opportunities to include the multi-billion dollar dental syringe market.

24 Sep 2009

Two Yale faculty members awarded a MacArthur "genius" grant for extraordinary commitment to research

Two Yale faculty members have been named MacArthur Foundation Fellows for 2009, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation announced. Mary Tinetti, M.D., the Gladys Phillips Crofoot Professor of Medicine and Epidemiology and Public Health and Richard O. Prum, the William Robertson Coe Professor of Ornithology, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology will each receive a five-year, $500,000 "genius" grant to spend as they see fit.

24 Sep 2009

BREVAGen test offers precise breast cancer risk assessment

Perlegen Sciences, which develops genetic tests that correlate genetic variation to disease risk and drug response, announced today that its BREVAGen™ breast cancer risk stratification test is now clinically available in select U.S. markets. Perlegen plans to add sales areas to make the test available nationwide over the next few months.

24 Sep 2009

TSPs can block cancer-triggering proto-oncogenes

A tiny bit of genetic material with no previously known function may hold the key to stopping the spread of cancer, researchers at Yale School of Medicine and Sichuan University in Chengdu, China report in two papers in the September 7-11 issue of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

24 Sep 2009

Original and creative healthy foods

Claire Criscuolo is the founder and proprietor of legendary health food emporium Claire's Corner Copia, in New Haven, Connecticut (www.clairescornercopia.com). She wants to deliver a message to the rest of the world: Healthy doesn't have to hurt.

24 Sep 2009

Electrically stimulating nerve cells can restore some vision

Results: MIT engineers have designed a retinal implant for people who have lost their vision from retinitis pigmentosa or age-related macular degeneration, two of the leading causes of blindness. The retinal prosthesis would help restore some vision by electrically stimulating the nerve cells that normally carry visual input from the retina to the brain.

24 Sep 2009

VisEn launches new imaging agent for monitoring key hypertension and renal disease biomarker

VisEn Medical Inc., a leader in fluorescence in vivo imaging from research through medicine, announced today the commercial launch of its new ReninSense680(TM) FAST imaging agent for measuring and monitoring a key hypertension and renal disease biomarker in vivo.

24 Sep 2009

Also in global health news: Malawi HIV/AIDS fight; cancer in developing world

Tim Gilbo, the World Bank's director in Malawi, announced on Tuesday that the organization will grant the country $30 million, which will be used to "increase access to prevention, treatment and mitigation services with a focus on behavioural change," SAPA/News24.com reports. Gilbo also said the country should "identify and promote those programmes that are working and drop or redesign those that are not bearing any fruits." UNAIDS Malawi coordinator Desmond Johns said HIV/AIDS is "arguably the single consistent threat in overall development" for Malawi (9/22).

24 Sep 2009

Focused Health Solutions to host Population Health Management Forum

Focused Health Solutions, a leading national provider of customized population health management services, is hosting top healthcare industry experts in Chicago on Thursday, Oct. 15, for a timely discussion on population health management programs and the role they can play in improving health and ensuring a productive workforce.

24 Sep 2009

NBI Juiceworks increases distribution network in Texas

NBI Juiceworks has joined forces with two of the leading distributors in Texas: Metroplex Organics, based in the Dallas-Ft. Worth area and Houston-based Bev Source. Both companies will be distributing Drenchers(TM) 100 percent all natural super juices, Fit 'N Lean super juices and all natural Fit 'N Lean Super Blends.

24 Sep 2009

Global effort needed to protect people from species-crossing diseases, Report finds

A team of health experts on Tuesday called for the U.S. "to lead a global effort to protect people from new outbreaks of deadly infectious diseases that originate in animals, such as swine flu, AIDS and SARS," Reuters writes (Morgan, 9/22).

24 Sep 2009