Health News

UNMC leading national $4.4 million study to test if ibuprofen can reverse lung damage of emphysema

Date: Nov-11-2013
The University of Nebraska Medical Center will lead a clinical research study that will evaluate if a common, over-the-counter drug has potential to reverse the devastating effects of emphysema.  The phase II, three-year study funded for $4.4 million by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, will look at whether ibuprofen can reduce inflammation in the lungs. Ibuprofen is a non-steroidal, anti-inflammatory drug commonly used to treat pain and swelling...

Patterns of drug use changing, but risks remain, UK

Date: Nov-11-2013
A new report published by Public Health England, Shooting Up - infections among people who inject drugs in the United Kingdom 2012, found patterns of injecting drug use are changing, but infection risk for all drug users remains high.  Whilst heroin, on it's own or in combination with crack-cocaine remains the most commonly injected drug, the number of people reporting their main injecting drug as amphetamines and amphetamine-type substances (like mephedrone), nearly tripled between 2002 and 2012...

RUCONEST improved symptoms of acute hereditary angioedema attacks with similar results for repeated treatments

Date: Nov-11-2013
Pharming Group NV (NYSE Euronext: PHARM) and Santarus, Inc. (NASDAQ: SNTS) announced that new data from an open-label extension of the pivotal Phase III clinical study with RUCONEST® (recombinant human C1 esterase inhibitor, or rhC1INH) will be featured in a poster presentation on November 9 & 10, 2013 at the 2013 American College of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology Annual Scientific Meeting at the Convention Center in Baltimore, Maryland. The poster is titled, Efficacy and Safety of Recombinant Human C1 Esterase Inhibitor for Acute Attacks of Hereditary Angioedema: An Open-Label Study...

Operation USA preparing to aid recovery efforts in the Philippines following typhoon

Date: Nov-11-2013
Operation USA, a Los Angeles-based international relief agency, has announced that it is assessing needs and preparing to aid communities in the Philippines as Super Typhoon Haiyan bears down on the country. The organization will call on long standing partnerships with local Filipino agencies to effectively aid recovery efforts.   Operation USA is calling for donations to aid in recovery efforts and funding for grant distribution to local agencies...

"One-stop" radiotherapy could offer an alternative to lengthy and inconvenient post-surgery procedures for breast cancer

Date: Nov-11-2013
Two new studies, published in The Lancet and The Lancet Oncology, show that targeted radiotherapy delivered during surgery could offer a viable alternative to current procedures - which require women to attend daily radiotherapy sessions for weeks after surgery - for some women undergoing surgery for early breast cancer. Most women who undergo partial mastectomy (lumpectomy) surgery for breast cancer also complete a course of radiotherapy delivered to the whole of the affected breast (called external beam radiotherapy, EBRT)...

Calcium and vitamin D improve bone density in patients taking antiepileptic drugs

Date: Nov-11-2013
A recent prospective, randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trial reports that calcium and vitamin D supplementation improves bone density in a group of male veterans with epilepsy who were treated chronically with antiepileptic drugs (AEDs). The results published in Epilepsia, a journal of the International League Against Epilepsy (ILAE), suggest that risedronate, a bisphosphonate, may help to prevent new vertebral fractures when taken with calcium and vitamin D supplementation...

Transcription factor may protect against hepatic injury caused by hepatitis C and alcohol

Date: Nov-11-2013
New data suggest that the transcription factor FOXO3 may protect against alcohol-induced liver injury. Researchers determined that alcohol given to mice deficient in FOXO3 caused severe liver injury resembling human alcoholic hepatitis. Further they found that although hepatitis C virus (HCV) and alcohol independently activated FOXO3, in combination they suppressed FOXO3, reduced expression of cytoprotective genes, and worsened liver injury. The results are published in The American Journal of Pathology...

Initial study results demonstrate detection rate of 75% for colorectal cancer

Date: Nov-11-2013
VolitionRx Limited (OTC: VNRX), a life sciences company focused on developing blood-based diagnostic tests for different types of cancer, has announced the publication of preliminary data from an ongoing independent trial of one of its NuQ® assays. Priv.-Doz. Dr. Stefan Holdenrieder will present a poster at the eighth CNAPS (Circulating Nucleic Acids in Plasma and Serum) congress in Baltimore, MD, USA, showing results from his third party study into the effectiveness of a single NuQ assay for detecting patients with colorectal cancers. Dr...

FDA takes step to further reduce trans fats in processed foods

Date: Nov-11-2013
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced its preliminary determination that partially hydrogenated oils (PHOs), the primary dietary source of artificial trans fat in processed foods, are not "generally recognized as safe" for use in food. The FDA's preliminary determination is based on available scientific evidence and the findings of expert scientific panels...

Researchers link von Willebrand factor to heart-valve calcium deposits

Date: Nov-11-2013
Heart valves calcify over time, and Rice University scientists are beginning to understand why. The Rice lab of bioengineer Jane Grande-Allen found through studies of pigs' heart valves that age plays a critical role in the valves' progressive hardening, and the problem may be due to the infiltration of a protein known as von Willebrand factor (VWF). Tissues from pig valves are commonly used to make human heart-valve replacements...