Health News

Why diabetic retinopathy is difficult to treat

Date: Oct-09-2013
Damage to the retina due to diabetes can be ameliorated only partially, despite treatment with the standard drug metformin. Scientists of Helmholtz Zentrum München have discovered that metformin treatment normalizes the alterations induced by diabetes in only about half of the altered retinal proteins. The results of the study were published in the journal Diabetologia. Retinal damage is one of the most common complications of diabetes, affecting about 90 percent of type 1 diabetics and 75 percent of type 2 diabetics...

In Phase 3 children's study, malaria vaccine candidate reduces disease over 18 months of follow-up

Date: Oct-09-2013
Multilateral Initiative on Malaria Pan African Conference, Durban, South Africa - Results from a large-scale Phase III trial, presented today in Durban, show that the most clinically advanced malaria vaccine candidate, RTS,S, continued to protect young children and infants from clinical malaria up to 18 months after vaccination. Based on these data, GSK now intends to submit, in 2014, a regulatory application to the European Medicines Agency (EMA)...

'Weekend effect' not evident for appendectomy except for cost

Date: Oct-09-2013
Patients who undergo surgical removal of the appendix on a weekend do not experience more postoperative complications than those who undergo the same operation on weekdays, but they do pay slightly more in hospital charges, a new national study finds. Results were presented during a scientific poster session at the 2013 Clinical Congress of the American College of Surgeons. Prior studies have shown higher rates of illness after other types of urgent abdominal operations performed on Saturdays and Sundays, the so-called "weekend effect...

New treatment regimen may prevent fatal leukemia progression

Date: Oct-09-2013
Two gene alterations pair up to promote the growth of leukemia cells and their escape from anti-cancer drugs, according to a study in The Journal of Experimental Medicine. Chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) is an aggressive cancer of the blood that is often treated with a drug called Imatinib (a.k.a. Gleevec). Although Gleevec is highly effective, some cancer cells can develop resistance to the drug. The mechanism that drives this resistance is not completely understood, but there is evidence that cancerous stem-like cells are particularly resistant and help to perpetuate disease...

Despite effective interventions, adult ADHD often remains untreated

Date: Oct-09-2013
Up to two-thirds of children with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) find their disorder persists into adulthood yet only a small proportion of adults ever receive a formal diagnosis and treatment, research suggests. ADHD, a chronic neurodevelopmental disorder that begins in childhood, continues into adulthood in the majority of children. Prevalence figures show that 3-4% of adults are affected by ADHD and it is associated with a broad range of psychosocial impairments...

Scientists 'bad at judging peers' published work,' says new study

Date: Oct-08-2013
Are scientists any good at judging the importance of the scientific work of others? According to a study published 8 October in the open access journal PLOS Biology (with an accompanying editorial), scientists are unreliable judges of the importance of fellow researchers' published papers.  The article's lead author, Professor Adam Eyre-Walker of the University of Sussex, says: "Scientists are probably the best judges of science, but they are pretty bad at it."  Prof...

Better community engagement and stronger health systems are needed to tackle polio

Date: Oct-08-2013
In PLOS Medicine two independently written articles call for a shift away from the leader-centric approach that polio eradication campaigns are currently pursuing in the three countries (Nigeria, Pakistan and Afghanistan) where the disease remains endemic...

Expanding flu vaccination policies to include children could reduce infections and mortality

Date: Oct-08-2013
The current influenza (flu) vaccination policy in England and Wales should be expanded to target 5 to 16-year-olds in order to further reduce the number of deaths from flu, according to a study by UK researchers published PLOS Medicine...

Clinical trial outcomes are more complete in unpublished reports than in publicly available information

Date: Oct-08-2013
Publicly available sources of information reporting findings from clinical trials provide much less information on patient-relevant outcomes than unpublished reports, according to a study by German researchers published in PLOS Medicine. The results of the study by Beate Wieseler and colleagues from the Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care in Cologne, Germany, found that the publically available information contained less information about both the benefits and potential harms of an intervention than the unpublished report...

Despite evidence suggesting comparable pain relief at lower cost, treatment regimen for bone metastases not widely used

Date: Oct-08-2013
Justin E. Bekelman, M.D., of the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, Philadelphia, and colleagues conducted a study to examine whether single-fraction radiation treatment, shown to be as effective as multiple-fraction treatment with less potential for harm, has been incorporated into routine clinical practice for Medicare beneficiaries with prostate cancer and at what cost savings. Single-fraction radiotherapy is where a large dose of radiation is given in one session; with multiple-fraction radiotherapy, radiation is delivered in smaller doses over a longer period of time...