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Merck updates on Schering-Plough merger

Merck & Co., Inc. has provided an update on the status of credit facilities that will be used to finance its recently announced agreement to merge with Schering-Plough Corporation.

23 Mar 2009

Differences of sex and gender in mental illness

Why do women suffer from depression more often than men? Why does schizophrenia affect more men than women? Should men and women be treated differently for mental illness?

23 Mar 2009

Listening to pleasant music could help restore vision in stroke patients, suggests study

Patients who have lost part of their visual awareness following a stroke can show an improved ability to see when they are listening to music they like, according to a new study published today in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

23 Mar 2009

Dire need to increase awareness of diabetes in U.S.

According to the American Diabetes Association, there are 23.6 million children and adults living with diabetes in the U.S. Of this number, nearly 17.9 million people are currently undiagnosed, indicating that there is a dire need to increase awareness of the symptoms of the disease.

23 Mar 2009

Licorice may offer a new approach to preventing colorectal cancer

A chemical component of licorice may offer a new approach to preventing colorectal cancer without the adverse side effects of other preventive therapies, Vanderbilt University Medical Center researchers report.

23 Mar 2009

p11 protein may lead to faster acting antidepressants

Research conducted by Nobel laureate Paul Greengard, Medical Director of The Michael Stern Parkinson's Research Center at The Rockefeller University, Dr. Jennifer L. Warner-Schmidt in New York and colleagues in Sweden, demonstrated in the Journal of Neuroscience that the brain protein called p11 could lead pharmaceutical companies to develop anti-depression drugs that begin working within hours or days rather than the weeks or even months required by current drugs.

23 Mar 2009

Environmental cardiology - the relationship between air pollution and heart disease

We are used to thinking of heart disease as a product of genetic factors or lifestyle choices, such as what we eat and how much we exercise.

23 Mar 2009

Increasing number of Americans have insufficient levels of vitamin D

Average blood levels of vitamin D appear to have decreased in the United States between 1994 and 2004, according to a report in the March 23 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine.

23 Mar 2009

Human adult testes cells can become embryonic-like

Using what they say is a relatively simple method, scientists at Georgetown University Medical Center have extracted stem/progenitor cells from testes and have converted them back into pluripotent embryonic-like stem cells.

23 Mar 2009

High triglyceride levels common, often untreated among Americans

High concentrations of blood fats known as triglycerides are common in the United States, according to a report in the March 23 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine.

23 Mar 2009

Discovery of cellular process that fights type 1 herpes simplex

Scientists have discovered a new way for our immune system to combat the elusive virus responsible for cold sores: Type 1 herpes simplex (HSV-1).

23 Mar 2009

Colonoscopy prevents 15,000 cancer cases in Germany

Since 2002, statutory health insurances in Germany have offered an endoscopic examination of the colon (colonoscopy) free of charge for all insured persons from the age of 55.

23 Mar 2009

fMRI shows some advice shuts down key decision-making areas of the brain

A study using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) shows that expert advice may shut down areas of the brain responsible for decision-making processes, particularly when individuals are trying to evaluate a situation where risk is involved.

23 Mar 2009

Federal Court rules FDA must reconsider Plan B decision

Today, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York rejected the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) decision to limit over-the-counter access to the emergency contraceptive Plan B to women over 18, ruling that it was based on politics and ideology, rather than science.

23 Mar 2009

FDA approves Symbyax for treatment-resistant depression

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved a new indication for Symbyax (olanzapine and fluoxetine HCl capsules), Eli Lilly and Company has announced.

23 Mar 2009

Family history linked to increased risk of venous thrombosis

Children and siblings of those with venous thrombosis, or blood clots in the veins, appear to have more than double the risk of developing the condition than those without a family history, according to a report in the March 23 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine.

23 Mar 2009

Jaundice an unreliable method of predicting the baby's risk of hyperbilirubinemia

For hundreds of years, doctors, nurses and midwives have visually examined newborn babies for the yellowish skin tones that signify jaundice, judging that more extensive jaundice carried a greater risk of illness.

23 Mar 2009

Red and processed meat linked to greater risk of death from all causes

Individuals who eat more red meat and processed meat appear to have a modestly increased risk of death from all causes and also from cancer or heart disease over a 10-year period, according to a report in the March 23 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine.

23 Mar 2009

DNA duplication - mechanism for 'survival of the fittest'

Some 65 million years ago, the earth's most recent 'mass extinction' took place.

23 Mar 2009

Cubist Pharmaceuticals files patent infringement case against Teva Parenteral Medicines

Cubist Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has confirmed that it has filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Teva Parenteral Medicines, Inc. (TPM), Teva Pharmaceuticals USA, Inc. and Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd.

23 Mar 2009