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Diuretic-based antihypertensive therapy touted for obese

Diuretic-based antihypertensive regimens may be preferable to calcium channel blocker-based therapy in patients who are obese, suggest researchers writing in The Lancet.

13 Dec 2012

Predictor of lymph node metastasis after oral cancer unmasked

The presence of high levels of tumor-associated tissue eosinophilia in early oral squamous cell carcinoma tissue can predict future occult lymph node metastasis, study results show.

13 Dec 2012

Massage could ease distress of brain cancer

Massage therapy can significantly reduce distress levels in individuals with brain tumors, indicating its potential use to improve quality of life in this population, report US researchers.

13 Dec 2012

Colectomy fails to ease ulcerative colitis sick leave burden

Patients with ulcerative colitis take more time off work than the general population, even after undergoing colectomy, shows a large Swedish study.

13 Dec 2012

Functional rehab avoids surgery for Achilles rupture

Conservative nonsurgical treatment of acute Achilles tendon rupture is as good as surgery, provided the nonsurgical protocol includes functional rehabilitation, Canadian research shows.

13 Dec 2012

Linking food costs to nutritional value may benefit health

Research suggests that the introduction of taxes on less healthy foods, such as sugary drinks and foods high in saturated fat, and subsidies for healthy food, such as fruit and vegetables, could significantly improve peoples’ health.

13 Dec 2012

Relatives of schizophrenia patients show cortical thinning

Patients with schizophrenia and their unaffected relatives show significant cortical thinning compared with mentally healthy individuals without such a family history, researchers report.

13 Dec 2012

Social cognition impaired in bipolar disorder patients

Results from a Canadian study show that social cognitive ability is impaired in patients with bipolar disorder.

13 Dec 2012

Fingolimod associated with modest, rapid increase in macular volume

Patients with multiple sclerosis treated with fingolimod undergo a modest but rapid increase in macular volume, research shows.

13 Dec 2012

Modified eyelid surgery techniques reap rewards

Research suggests that modifying buried suture double-eyelid blepharoplasty may decrease the risk for complications and double-eyelid fold loss rate.

13 Dec 2012

Health systems must be more ‘adherence-friendly’

Heath system strategies must be appropriately designed to help narrow persistent racial/ethnic gaps in the use of antihypertensive therapy, say researchers.

13 Dec 2012

Many deaths among schizophrenia, bipolar patients ‘avoidable’

More than half of all deaths in patients aged less than 75 years with schizophrenia or bipolar disorder are avoidable, results from a UK study show.

13 Dec 2012

LED light instantly triggers or reverses depression-like behavior in rodents

A specific pattern of neuronal firing in a brain reward circuit instantly rendered mice vulnerable to depression-like behavior induced by acute severe stress, a study supported by the National Institutes of Health has found. When researchers used a high-tech method to mimic the pattern, previously resilient mice instantly succumbed to a depression-like syndrome of social withdrawal and reduced pleasure-seeking - they avoided other animals and lost their sweet tooth.

13 Dec 2012

Fatal imbalance between global disease burden and drug development

Despite important progress in research and development (R&D) for global health over the past decade, only a small fraction of new medicines developed between 2000 and 2011 were for the treatment of neglected diseases, highlighting the 'fatal imbalance' between global disease burden and drug development for some of the world most devastating illnesses, said Doctors Without Borders/M-decins Sans Fronti-res (MSF) and the Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi), in an analysis to be presented today at an international conference aimed at spurring medical innovations for these diseases.

13 Dec 2012

Sirtex unveils new website to learn more about SIR-Spheres microspheres

Sirtex today unveiled a new, comprehensive and easy-to-use global website for doctors, nurses, patients and investors interested in learning more about SIR-Spheres microspheres, a form of radiotherapy targeting liver tumours that is gaining increasingly wide acceptance worldwide.

13 Dec 2012

BioScrip to acquire HomeChoice

BioScrip, Inc. today announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire HomeChoice Partners, Inc., a leading provider of alternate-site infusion pharmacy services, for $70.0 million in cash.

13 Dec 2012

Positive data from Oncolytics’ REOLYSIN Phase III combination study on head and neck cancers

Oncolytics Biotech Inc. today announced initial positive top line data from the first endpoint in its double-blinded randomized Phase III clinical study examining REOLYSIN in combination with carboplatin and paclitaxel in second-line patients with platinum-refractory, taxane-naïve head and neck cancers (REO 018).

13 Dec 2012

Physical activity improves brain function in older generations

The physical benefits of regular exercise and remaining physically active, especially as we age, are well documented. However, it appears that it is not only the body which benefits from exercise, but the mind too. The evidence for this is published in a new review by Hayley Guiney and Liana Machado from the University of Otago, New Zealand, which focuses on the importance of physical activity in keeping and potentially improving cognitive function throughout life.

13 Dec 2012

Concord Medical to acquire 19.98% ownership of MD Anderson Proton Therapy Center

Concord Medical Services Holdings Limited, a leading specialty hospital management solution provider and operator of the largest network of radiotherapy and diagnostic imaging centers in China, today announced the signing of a definitive agreement under which it will acquire 19.98% of indirect ownership of The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center Proton Therapy Center (MD Anderson Proton Therapy Center), achieved through acquiring a minority interest in the general partner and facility manager.

13 Dec 2012

China SFDA approves Veridex’s CellSearch test for women with metastatic breast cancer

Veridex, LLC today announced approval from the China State Food & Drug Administration (SFDA) for the CellSearch circulating tumor cell (CTC) test as an in vitro diagnostic for women with metastatic breast cancer.

13 Dec 2012