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Griffin Securities' report features stem cell hypothesis of cancer

ImmunoCellular Therapeutics, Ltd., a clinical-stage biotechnology company that is developing immune based therapies for the treatment of brain and other cancers, announced today that it has been featured in an in-depth report by Griffin Securities, a New York-based brokerage firm, highlighting the importance of the role that cancer stem cell (CSCs) targeting technology such as that employed by its lead product candidate, ICT-121, may play in developing future cancer treatments.

18 Sep 2009

Health bill fails to address the root cause of national health collapse: Earth Intelligence Network

Robert David STEELE Vivas, CEO, Earth Intelligence Network, a 501c3 Public Charity chartered in the Commonwealth of Virginia, has released a single graphic showing Health Policy Fundamentals, three quarters of which are being ignored by both proponents and detractors of the new national health bill.

18 Sep 2009

FDA approves Valturna tablets for treating high blood pressure

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Valturna((R)) (aliskiren and valsartan) tablets, the first and only medicine to target two key points within the renin system, also known as the renin angiotensin aldosterone system (RAAS), an important regulator of blood pressure.

18 Sep 2009

Meridian Bioscience to update its TRU FLU test package

Meridian Bioscience, Inc., Cincinnati, Ohio today announced that the company has been granted a Special 510(k) clearance to update the TRU FLU package insert to include analytical sensitivity claims with two strains of 2009 H1N1 virus cultured from positive respiratory specimens. TRU FLU is a rapid test which identifies influenza A and B in human specimens.

18 Sep 2009

Parents' insurance status affects their children's health care--even when the children are insured

Insured children are less likely to have necessary health-care services if their parents are uninsured, according to a study published in the September/October issue of Annals of Family Medicine.

18 Sep 2009

Debate focuses on cost for coverage mandates

The Democratic reform proposals in Congress mandate that people have health insurance and provide for different levels of government subsidies, which causes debate on how much people should pay for their health care. NPR reports on the bill released Wednesday by Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus: "The latest bill, however, provides less generous subsidies, which could make it harder for middle-class families to afford the mandatory insurance."

18 Sep 2009

Components of insulin-control system can reset body's biological clock

Many of the genes that regulate insulin also alter the timing of the circadian clock, a new study has found.

18 Sep 2009

Book on the effects of antibiotic-resistant microbes

In RISING PLAGUE: THE GLOBAL THREAT FROM DEADLY BACTERIA AND OUR DWINDLING ARSENAL TO FIGHT THEM (Prometheus Books, $26), Dr. Brad Spellberg-an infectious diseases specialist and member of a national task force charged with attacking antibiotic resistant infections-tells the story of this potentially grave public health crisis.

18 Sep 2009

Health reform yet to address the critical issue of how federal rules will impact health care delivery systems

According to a new report from State Coverage Initiatives, federal policymakers crafting health reform have yet to address the critical issue of how new or modified federal rules will impact health care delivery systems, insurance regulation, and safety net programs administered by the states.

18 Sep 2009

Researchers link plasticity related gene-1 to lipid phosphates

In mice that are missing a protein found only in the brain, neural signals "go crazy," leaving the animals with epileptic seizures from a young age, researchers have found. The report in the September 18th Cell, a Cell Press publication, details what it is that happens when the protein encoded by plasticity related gene-1 (PRG-1) gets lost, revealing an important fine-tuning mechanism for brain function.

18 Sep 2009

Young adults need quality and affordable health coverage

HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius today released a new report, Young Americans and Health Insurance Reform: Giving Young Americans the Security and Stability They Need. The report highlights the vulnerability young adults face in the current health care system and the urgent need for health insurance reform.

18 Sep 2009

Drug carrier that cuts off blood supply to tumors

To that end, Dr. Ronit Satchi-Fainaro of Tel Aviv University's Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Sackler School of Medicine, and her team of researchers have developed a new drug carrier to deliver compounds straight to the tumor.

18 Sep 2009

FDA advises consumers not to use stolen respiratory medications

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today advised consumers not to use certain respiratory medications purchased after Sept. 8, 2009 and manufactured by Dey L.P., a subsidiary of Mylan Inc., because the medications might have been part of a shipment being transported on a tractor-trailer stolen in Tampa, Fla., on Sept. 8, 2009.

18 Sep 2009

Mayo Clinic scientists conduct clinical study on functional dyspesia patients

"Nerve cells are found throughout the body, and just as their dysfunction in the brain can cause depression, we suspect overly sensitive nerves in the gut can produce this very uncomfortable indigestion," says Nicholas Talley, M.D., Ph.D., chair of the trial and chair of the Department of Internal Medicine at the Mayo Clinic campus in Florida.

18 Sep 2009

Vitamin K prevents age-related conditions

An important analysis conducted by Children's Hospital Oakland Research Institute scientists suggests the importance of ensuring optimal dietary intakes of vitamin K to prevent age-related conditions such as bone fragility, arterial and kidney calcification, cardiovascular disease, and possibly cancer. Vitamin K is concentrated in dark green plants such as spinach or Swiss chard, and is either not present or present in only small amounts in most multivitamin pills.

18 Sep 2009

Government-run health care and increased taxes top list of concerns

On the heels of the new $856 billion health care bill proposed yesterday by Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, doubt over health care reform passing this year still looms across the American public.

18 Sep 2009

Insulin metabolism regulates body's internal clock

While scientists have known for several years that our body's internal clock helps regulate many biological processes, researchers have found that the reverse is also true: Many common biological processes - including insulin metabolism - regulate the clock, according to a new study by investigators at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, the Genomics Institute of the Novartis Research Foundation, and the University of California at San Diego.

18 Sep 2009

Also in global health news: HIV/AIDS in Bangladesh; river blindness in Tanzania; potential immune system booster; compounds might fight TB

BDNews24.com reports on a new $13 million U.S.-government initiative aimed at "providing HIV-prevention services to two million at-risk people in Bangladesh including injecting drug users, male, female and transgender sex workers and their clients, and HIV-positive people through a network of 50 health centres." USAID will partner with Family Health International (FHI) to implement the program (9/17).

18 Sep 2009

Research reveals that iPSCs similar to embryonic stem cells

A team of researchers from the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in La Jolla have developed a safe strategy for reprogramming cells to a pluripotent state without use of viral vectors or genomic insertions. Their studies reveal that these induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) are very similar to human embryonic stem cells, yet maintain a "transcriptional signature." In essence, these cells retain some memory of the donor cells they once were.

18 Sep 2009

Intermittent preventive treatment could prevent a third of infant malaria cases, study finds

Research into intermittent preventive treatment of malaria in infants (IPTi) found that one-third of malaria cases in African babies can be prevented by giving them regular doses of malaria drugs even if they have not contracted the disease, according to a Lancet study, published on Thursday, Reuters reports. The study found that IPTi "helped children build better immunity to the disease and reduced the risk of the parasite becoming drug-resistant," but "these benefits decrease if treatment is given continuously as a prophylaxis," Reuters writes.

18 Sep 2009