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Diabetes drug metformin works in different way than previously understood: Researchers

A team, led by senior author Morris J. Birnbaum, MD, PhD, the Willard and Rhoda Ware Professor of Medicine, with the Institute for Diabetes, Obesity, and Metabolism, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, found that the diabetes drug metformin works in a different way than previously understood.

7 Jan 2013

JAMA column outlines need for frozen, larger specimens in DNA-sequencing era

Genetic sequencing technology is altering the way cancer is diagnosed and treated, but traditional specimen handling methods threaten to slow that progress.

7 Jan 2013

Colorado will expand Medicaid, claims cost savings are in progress, according to Gov. Hickenlooper

The state plans to expand its Medicaid program as much as the federal health law envisions, without spending any extra money to make it happen.

7 Jan 2013

New study compares costs and outcomes associated with prostate cancer treatments

The most comprehensive retrospective study ever conducted comparing how the major types of prostate cancer treatments stack up to each other in terms of saving lives and cost effectiveness is reported this week by a team of researchers at the University of California, San Francisco.

7 Jan 2013

Researchers show that protein p62 balances metabolism in fat tissue

In many cases, obesity is caused by more than just overeating and a lack of exercise. Something in the body goes haywire, causing it to store more fat and burn less energy. But what is it? Researchers at Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute have a new theory-a protein called p62.

7 Jan 2013

Health care and the shakeout from the fiscal cliff

News outlets parse the particulars of how the fiscal deal will impact the health care system, and how the health industry is bracing for the next rounds in the budget battles.

7 Jan 2013

FDA proposes two new food safety rules to help prevent foodborne illness

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today proposed two new food safety rules that will help prevent foodborne illness.

7 Jan 2013

Researchers find link between brain infections and climate in sub-Saharan Africa

The amount of rainfall affects the number of infant infections leading to hydrocephalus in Uganda, according to a team of researchers who are the first to demonstrate that these brain infections are linked to climate.

7 Jan 2013

UCSB scientists publish groundbreaking study results of Type 2 diabetes

While legions of medical researchers have been looking to understand the genetic basis of disease and how mutations may affect human health, a group of biomedical researchers at UC Santa Barbara is studying the metabolism of cells and their surrounding tissue, to ferret out ways in which certain diseases begin.

7 Jan 2013

Reflecting on FDA approval of new TB drug

Noting "the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently announced that it has approved a new treatment for multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (TB) that can be used as an alternative when other drugs fail," Kim Lufkin, communications officer at the Global Health Technologies Coalition (GHTC), writes in the coalition's "Breakthroughs" blog, "There is a pressing and urgent need for even more new TB drugs, which makes this new FDA approval so significant."

7 Jan 2013

Clinical Nutrition now been revised and updated in a 2nd edition

One of the most important factors in recovering from illness is nutrition, and understanding the scientific basis which underpins nutritional support is a key requirement for nutrition students and professionals. The Nutrition Society was established in 1941 to advance the scientific study of nutrition and its application to the maintenance of human and animal health; to support that mission, the Society created the Nutrition Society Textbook Series, published by Wiley.

7 Jan 2013

California Nurses Association, National Union Of Healthcare Workers join forces

The move could change the scope of labor battles statewide and renew a rivalry between the nurses organization and the Service Employees International Union, according to media reports.

7 Jan 2013

Researchers identify four new genetic regions associated with Behcet's disease

Researchers have identified four new regions on the human genome associated with Behcet's disease, a painful and potentially dangerous condition found predominantly in people with ancestors along the Silk Road.

7 Jan 2013

Biogen Idec files rFIXFc BLA with FDA for treatment of hemophilia B

Today Biogen Idec announced the company recently submitted a Biologics License Application (BLA) to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the marketing approval of recombinant factor IX Fc fusion protein (rFIXFc) for the treatment of hemophilia B.

7 Jan 2013

Researchers discover new pathway to reduce paradoxical pain

For individuals with agonizing pain, it is a cruel blow when the gold-standard medication actually causes more pain. Adults and children whose pain gets worse when treated with morphine may be closer to a solution, based on research published in the January 6 on-line edition of Nature Neuroscience.

7 Jan 2013

Rhythm commences RM-493 Phase 2 trial in obesity

Rhythm announced today the initiation of a Phase 2 clinical trial with RM-493, the company's novel melanocortin 4 receptor (MC4R) agonist, for the treatment of obesity.

7 Jan 2013

PharmaIN receives FDA orphan-drug designation for terlipressin to treat ascites

PharmaIN Corporation and LAT Pharma LLC today announced that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted their request for orphan-drug designation for terlipressin for the treatment of ascites due to all etiologies except for cancer.

7 Jan 2013

Link between Parkinson's and benomyl

For several years, neurologists at UCLA have been building a case that a link exists between pesticides and Parkinson's disease. To date, paraquat, maneb and ziram - common chemicals sprayed in California's Central Valley and elsewhere - have been tied to increases in the disease, not only among farmworkers but in individuals who simply lived or worked near fields and likely inhaled drifting particles.

6 Jan 2013

TRIP-Br2 plays a major role in energy metabolism and fat storage

As part of their ongoing research on the physiologic factors that contribute to the development of obesity, Joslin Diabetes Center scientists have identified a cell cycle transcriptional co-regulator - TRIP-Br2 - that plays a major role in energy metabolism and fat storage.

6 Jan 2013

Research roundup: Gearing children's hospitals for future patients; Inappropriate care decreases, but not 'enough'; What patients think about testing

Researchers in this study examined the use of children's hospitals by relatively healthy children and those "with chronic conditions of varying medical complexity" from 2004 to 2009.

6 Jan 2013