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QLT announces trial court decision in ongoing Eligard( patent litigation

QLT Inc. has announced a ruling in the on-going litigation between plaintiff TAP Pharmaceutical Products, Inc. and its co-plaintiffs and defendants QLT USA, Inc. and Sanofi-Synthelabo Inc., a member of the Sanofi-aventis Group.

23 Jan 2006

Do medical specialties reflect the current clinical needs of patients?

In an editorial opening the 2006 Jan issue of Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics Giovanni A. fava (University of Bologna) criticizes the current subdivision of clinical medicine in subspecialties.

23 Jan 2006

Faculty of 1000 Medicine launched by BioMed Central

Faculty of 1000 Medicine, a major new online service designed to help medics keep abreast of the most important new research, is now live.

23 Jan 2006

Patients want to see the letters sent to their general practitioner following hospital consultations

A study published in the open access journal BMC Medicine shows that patients would prefer to receive the same information as their general practitioner (GP) following an outpatient consultation, rather than a letter written especially for them.

23 Jan 2006

Clearer framework needed to deal with the use of personal health data

Overly strict interpretation of the data protection law is hampering epidemiological research (the study of the causes, distribution, and control of disease in populations), argue researchers in this week's British Medical Journal.

23 Jan 2006

Safer treatment for depression

Researchers from the University of Pittsburgh, with the help of a team of Pittsburgh high school science teachers, have developed a wireless device that is implanted in the neck to fight depression and epileptic seizures.

23 Jan 2006

Researchers isolate causes of cognitive loss following coronary artery bypass surgery

Minimizing trauma to the body's largest artery - the aorta - during heart bypass surgery can significantly reduce cognitive loss that often follows the operation, a team from Wake Forest University School of Medicine reported in the Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery.

23 Jan 2006

Scientists discover method to multiply an adult stem cell 30-fold

Adult stem cells may be free of the ethical concerns that hamper embryonic stem cell research, but they still pose formidable scientific challenges.

23 Jan 2006

Protein amplifies DNA injury signals - cues genetic repair mechanism to prevent tumors

A Mayo Clinic-led research collaboration has discovered that the protein MDC1 amplifies weak DNA injury signals so genetic repair can begin.

23 Jan 2006

Low-level heat wrap therapy reduces acute low back pain

The use of continuous low-level heat wrap therapy (CLHT) significantly reduces acute low back pain and related disability and improves occupational performance of employees in physically demanding jobs suffering from acute low back pain

23 Jan 2006

Workplace stress plays is an important risk factor for heart disease and diabetes

Stress at work is an important risk factor for the development of heart disease and diabetes, finds a study published online by the British Medical Journal.

23 Jan 2006

Study examines incidence of melanoma rates among California Hispanics over time

For the first time, scientists have identified a significant increase in the incidence rate of melanoma--an invasive form of an already deadly skin cancer--among California Hispanics.

23 Jan 2006

SSRI antidepressants may also affect human immune system

Drugs that treat depression by manipulating the neurotransmitter serotonin in the brain may also affect the user's immune system in ways that are not yet understood, say scientists from Georgetown University Medical Center and a Canadian research institute.

23 Jan 2006

Chocolate compund that helps heart identified

In a multifaceted study involving the Kuna Indians of Panama, an international team of scientists has pinpointed a chemical compound that is, in part, responsible, for the heart-healthy benefits of certain cocoas and some chocolate products.

23 Jan 2006

Metabolic syndrome - a new risk factor for impaired kidney function

A three-year multi-center study of kidney-pancreas transplant recipients has identified a new risk factor for impaired kidney function, which may help physicians refine their treatment strategies.

23 Jan 2006

Ataxia gene identified

Researchers at the University of Minnesota Medical School have discovered the gene responsible for a type of ataxia, an incurable degenerative brain disease affecting movement and coordination.

23 Jan 2006

Histidine may be key to new therapies for cardiovascular disease

It's just one little amino acid, but it makes all the difference in protecting the heart from the harmful effects of heart attack and cardiac failure. Researchers from the University of Michigan Medical School suggest this amino acid, called histidine, could be the key to a new therapy for cardiovascular disease

23 Jan 2006

Robot designed to shoot X-ray video of sufferers of orthopedic injuries as they walk

The MRI and CT scan may one day have a robotic cousin capable of following and peering into patients as they move around.

23 Jan 2006

First genome-wide screen for protein complexes is completed

Researchers in Germany have finished the first complete analysis of the "molecular machines" in one of biology's most important model organisms: S. cerevisiae (baker's yeast). The study from the biotechnology company Cellzome, in collaboration with the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), appears in this week's online edition of Nature.

23 Jan 2006

Palliative radiation cures some lung cancer patients

About one in a hundred patients with apparently incurable non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) survive five or more years after being given relatively small doses of radiation therapy (RT) meant to ease symptoms, according to a new study.

23 Jan 2006