Medical News

RSS

In-body stem cell therapy has enormous potential for bone injuries

Rarely will physicians use the word "miraculous" when discussing patient recoveries. But that's the very phrase orthopaedic physicians and scientists are using in upstate New York to describe their emerging stem cell research that could have a profound impact on the treatment of bone injuries. Results from preliminary work being released today, patients confined to wheelchairs were able to walk or live independently again because their broken bones finally healed.

23 Apr 2009

Malaria death in Zambia decline by 66%

Malaria deaths reported from health facilities in Zambia have declined by 66%. This result along with other supporting data indicates that Zambia has reached the 2010 Roll Back Malaria target of a more than 50% reduction in malaria mortality compared to 2000.

23 Apr 2009

Many people skipping health care in the past year

As economic conditions remain poor, a majority of the public continues to say that they or a member of their household have delayed or skipped health care in the past year, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation's April health tracking poll.

23 Apr 2009

Trial of unique malaria vaccine candidate to begin

In a move that highlights the strength of public-private collaboration in tackling international health challenges, the Maryland-based company Sanaria Inc., with support from the PATH Malaria Vaccine Initiative (MVI), has initiated a Phase 1 clinical trial - the first tests in adult volunteers - of its unique malaria vaccine candidate. Unlike other malaria vaccine candidates, Sanaria's approach deploys a weakened form of the whole malaria parasite harvested from irradiated mosquitoes instead of small portions of the parasite.

23 Apr 2009

Link found between vitamin D insufficiency and asthma severity

Serum levels of vitamin D in more than 600 Costa Rican children were inversely linked to several indicators of allergy and asthma severity, including hospitalizations for asthma, use of inhaled steroids and total IgE levels, according to a study that will appear in the first issue for May of the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.

23 Apr 2009

Watson Pharmaceuticals files ANDAs for generic Mucinex

Watson Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has confirmed that it has filed two Abbreviated New Drug Applications (ANDAs) with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration seeking approval to market its guaifenesin extended-release 600mg and 1200mg tablets and its dextromethorphan HBr/guaifenesin extended-release 30mg/600mg and 60mg/1200mg tablets prior to the expiration of patents owned by Reckitt Benckiser Inc.

22 Apr 2009

Discovery of molecule that could improve success of blood stem cell transplants

University of British Columbia researchers have discovered a "molecular key" that could help increase the success of blood stem cell transplants, a procedure currently used to treat diseases such as leukemia, Hodgkin's lymphoma and aplastic anemia.

22 Apr 2009

Using combinatorial libraries to engineer genetic circuits advances synthetic biology

Streamlining the construction of synthetic gene networks has led a team of Boston University researchers to develop a technique that couples libraries of diversified components with computer modeling to guide predictable gene network construction without the back and forth tweaking.

22 Apr 2009

Sorafenib and vitamin K combo shows anti-tumor effects in pancreas cancer, hepatocellular carcinoma

A combination of sorafenib and vitamin K had an effect in vitro on both human pancreas cancer and hepatocellular carcinoma, according to researchers from the Kimmel Cancer Center at Jefferson.

22 Apr 2009

Many teens who smoke marijuana use it as a medication, not as a means of getting high

When legal therapies let them down, some teens turn to marijuana.

22 Apr 2009

Surgeon removes a diseased kidney through the belly button

A surgeon at the University of Illinois Medical Center at Chicago is one of the first in the Midwest to use a new surgical technique that requires only one small incision to remove a diseased kidney.

22 Apr 2009

Collagen bioscaffolds used to treat diabetic ulcers, save limbs

San Diego surgeons report that they have been successfully utilizing a collagen bioscaffold material developed by Irvine-based Pegasus Biologics, Inc. to complement soft tissue repair and regeneration among high risk wound patients.

22 Apr 2009

Seattle Genetics presents new data on antibody-drug conjugate

Seattle Genetics, Inc. has announced that data from its antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) programs, SGN-35 and SGN-75, were presented at the 2009 Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) being held in Denver, CO. Preclinical data with SGN-35 further elucidate its mechanism of action and demonstrate its superior antitumor activity in lymphoma compared with non-targeted agents. In addition, data with SGN-75 indicate its therapeutic potential in multiple types of solid tumors.

22 Apr 2009