Medical News

RSS

Researcher to study ADAM12 gene in breast tumor initiating cells

A Kansas State University professor's research on breast cancer stem cells may help improve survival rates by preventing cancer recurrence and metastasis -- the major causes of death among breast cancer patients.

14 Feb 2013

Canada-US-Italian research team develops nature-inspired cocaine biosensor

Since the beginning of time, living organisms have developed ingenious mechanisms to monitor their environment. As part of an international study, a team of researchers has adapted some of these natural mechanisms to detect specific molecules such as cocaine more accurately and quickly. Their work may greatly facilitate the rapid screening-less than five minutes-of many drugs, infectious diseases, and cancers.

14 Feb 2013

Fluke Biomedical receives FDA clearance for ESA615 Electrical Safety Analyzer

The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced today it has granted the new automated, multifunctional ESA615 Electrical Safety Analyzer 510(k) clearance.

14 Feb 2013

Tianyin Pharmaceutical second quarter revenue decreases 3.3% to $17.6 million

Tianyin Pharmaceutical Inc., a pharmaceutical company that specializes in the patented biopharmaceutical, modernized traditional Chinese medicine (mTCM), branded generics and active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) announced financial results for second quarter of the fiscal year 2013.

14 Feb 2013

Research determines causes of boys' underachievement at school

Negative stereotypes about boys may hinder their achievement, while assuring them that girls and boys are equally academic may help them achieve. From a very young age, children think boys are academically inferior to girls, and they believe adults think so, too. Even at these very young ages, boys' performance on an academic task is affected by messages that suggest that girls will do better than they will.

14 Feb 2013

Blog examines future of European Union aid

In a post in the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation's "Impatient Optimists" blog, Elisa Baldini, an advocacy and campaigns officer with Plan E.U., examines the future of European Union aid, writing, "Last week, European Union leaders came together for a decisive summit to discuss how much they think the E.U. should spend from 2014-2020, and what they should spend the budget on."

14 Feb 2013

New study reveals racial disparities in chronic pain management

Opioids are frequently prescribed for pain management in noncancer patients, but recommended clinical guidelines for monitoring effectiveness and signs of drug abuse are often not implemented. Alongside well-documented racial disparities in prescribing opioid medications for pain, researchers report racial differences in the use of recommended opioid monitoring and follow-up treatment practices.

14 Feb 2013

Implementation issues trigger action, analysis

News outlets examine health law issues ranging from how states are planning to market the health plans that will become available this fall to whether accountable care organizations will help control health care costs.

14 Feb 2013

Study shows importance of lncRNAs for regulation of adipogeneis

Whitehead Institute researchers have identified a previously unrecognized layer of genetic regulation that is necessary for the generation of undesirable white fat cells. When this regulation is disrupted, white fat cells are unable to accumulate lipid droplets or mature from their precursors.

14 Feb 2013

Women raped in war need access to safe abortion

"While there is welcome attention focused on the plight of women and girls raped in war, there are still significant gaps in the international response to this global scourge," Glenys Kinnock, founder and president of One World Action and a board member of the European Council on Foreign Relations, writes in the Guardian's "Poverty Matters Blog," adding that women who become pregnant as a result of rape in war need access to safe abortion services.

14 Feb 2013

Activation of SK channels can lead to heart disease

Qing-Hui Chen's research focuses on hypertension, heart failure and the neuromechanisms that underlie these problems. Specifically, his research examines how a particular ion channel (that regulates resting and action in membranes)—the potassium channel (SK)—is linked to heart disease.

14 Feb 2013

Blogs address IHME report on global health funding

"Last week, the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) released 'Financing for Global Health: The End of the Golden Era?,' its fourth annual report analyzing trends in Development Assistance for Health (DAH) from 1990 through 2009, with estimates through 2011," the Maternal Health Task Force blog reports, noting, "One of the areas where there has been an increase in spending is the overall area of maternal, newborn and child health, including family planning." The blog outlines sections of the report that discuss MNCH funding.

14 Feb 2013

Combination of Methotrexat and Tofacitinib shows promise against rheumatoid arthritis

Together with colleagues from the international rheumatic diseases research community, scientists of the Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin have presented a new therapy approach for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA), a chronic form of joint inflammation.

14 Feb 2013

Debating U.N. resolution on universal health coverage

Writing in the "UHC Forward" blog, Nkem Wellington, program officer at the Results for Development Institute (R4D), summarizes a debate that took place on the Performance-Based Financing Community of Practice online discussion forum following the December 12 U.N. General Assembly vote on the "Global health and foreign policy" draft resolution, which focused on universal health coverage (UHC).

14 Feb 2013

FDA grants IDE approval to STS and ACC to study alternative access approaches for TAVR

The Society of Thoracic Surgeons (STS) and the American College of Cardiology (ACC) have received a unique investigational device exemption (IDE) from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to study "alternative access" approaches for transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) using the STS/ACC TVT Registry.

14 Feb 2013

Stress and mental illness: an interview with Professor Akira Sawa

As a psychiatrist I am interested in how stress may play a role in the pathology of adult mental disorders. You may know that most of the major mental illnesses, such as schizophrenia, mood-disorder, substance abuse or even anxiety disorder, become prominent in early adulthood.

14 Feb 2013

Cambodia, China report cases of avian influenza H5N1

"Cambodia reported on Wednesday that another four-year-old girl has contracted avian influenza H5N1, becoming the seventh person who infected the virus in 2013," Xinhua reports.

14 Feb 2013

Probiotics shows promise in reducing both incidence and severity of necrotizing enterocolitis

"Good" bacteria that live in our intestines have been linked with a variety of health benefits, from fighting disease to preventing obesity. In a new study, Kriston Ganguli of Massachusetts General Hospital for Children and Harvard Medical School and her colleagues have discovered another advantage to these friendly microscopic tenants: Chemicals secreted by good bacteria that typically live in the intestines of babies could reduce the frequency and severity of a common and often-lethal disease of premature infants.

14 Feb 2013

UNDP administrator calls for 'permanent' focus on NCDs

At the London launch of a Lancet series on non-communicable diseases (NCDs) on Monday, U.N. Development Programme Administrator Helen Clark said if NCDs are placed "permanently on the global development agenda, people's lives, opportunities, and future prospects will improve -- thereby advancing sustainable human development overall," Devex's "Development Newswire" blog reports.

14 Feb 2013

IQGAP1 molecule can suppress growth of tumors in the liver

A molecule already implicated in a number of diverse cellular functions can suppress the growth of tumors in the liver, a Mayo Clinic Cancer Center study has found. Its name is IQGAP1, and when the molecule is active in the cells that surround a tumor cell, this "tumor microenvironment" becomes less hospitable to cancer growth. When the molecule is deficient, cancer thrives.

14 Feb 2013