Health News

NIH grant could develop technology to help personalize leukemia treatments

Date: Oct-04-2013
People affected by leukemia and health care professionals who advocate for personalized medicine options could benefit from technology that is being developed with funding from a National Institutes of Health grant. Tymora Analytical Operations LLC, Purdue University and St. Jude Children's Research Hospital have been awarded a one-year, $300,000 Phase I STTR grant from the NIH. The groups will develop technology that could pinpoint the proteins inside cells affected by the disease so treatments can be more targeted...

Global stem cell standard could pave way for universal therapy

Date: Oct-04-2013
Patients suffering from a range of diseases could benefit from better treatments if new standards in stem cell research are adopted by the international scientific community. Leading scientists are calling on governments from around the world to adopt a joined-up approach so that induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) can be shared between countries...

Extension of UK Cancer Drugs Fund to 2016 could save 16,000 patients a year - Oncology Market Access Europe Summit - November 20-21 2013

Date: Oct-04-2013
Andrew Wilson of the Rarer Cancers Foundation expresses his support for the UK government's surprise announcement as health economists point to a change in direction for value-based pricing, and has said that the move could save up to 16,000 lives each year. Speaking to eyeforpharma, Andrew Wilson has reacted positively to David Cameron's unexpected announcement that the Cancer Drugs Fund, which was set up in 2011 to help patients in England gain access to certain drugs before NHS approval, is to be extended to 2016...

MITA cites progress in the final Medicare coverage decision for beta amyloid PET, expresses disappointment in its narrow scope

Date: Oct-04-2013
The Medical Imaging & Technology Alliance (MITA) has issued the following statement in response to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' (CMS) final decision to cover beta amyloid positron emission tomography (PET) imaging under coverage with evidence development (CED) for patients enrolled in an approved clinical study.  "MITA appreciates CMS's attention to the serious concerns raised by the Alzheimer's disease community about the initial draft coverage decision and made progress in its final National Coverage Determination," said Gail Rodriguez, executive director of MITA...

School policies may reduce overexposure to sugary treats

Date: Oct-04-2013
Nearly 1 in 3 American children are overweight or obese, but sugary sweets are often on the menu at elementary school classroom parties. But schools with a district policy or state law discouraging sugary foods and beverages were 2.5 times more likely to restrict those foods at parties than were schools with no such policy or law, according to a new study published online in the Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior...

Challenges remain despite an increase in diversity in the American population

Date: Oct-04-2013
America's communities are becoming increasingly diverse, but there are still important concerns about racial and ethnic integration in the future, according to researchers. A new US2010 report shows whites, blacks, Hispanics and Asians are increasingly sharing American communities, said Barry Lee, professor of sociology and demography, Penn State...

Genetic anti-inflammatory defect predisposes children to lymphoma

Date: Oct-04-2013
New research shows that children with an inherited genetic defect in a critical anti-inflammatory pathway have a genetic predisposition to lymphoma. Results of the study, published online today in Blood, the Journal of the American Society of Hematology (ASH), reveal an important association between the genetic defect, which causes chronic intestinal inflammation and early onset inflammatory bowel disease, and its role in cancer development in infants and children...

How a sensory system can regulate social behavior in mice has implications for human behaviour research

Date: Oct-04-2013
Nocturnal animals need their noses to stay alive. Mice, among others, depend on their impressive olfactory powers to sniff out food or avoid danger in the dark. Hard-wired to flee a predator or fight a mating rival in response to a whiff of urine, mice use a streamlined system that sends the sensory cue to neural centers in the brain that need only a few synapses to rapidly initiate the instinctive behavior...

Barrett's esophagus treated effectively by Radiofrequency ablation

Date: Oct-04-2013
Radiofrequency ablation (RFA) leads to remission for 91 percent of patients with dysplastic Barrett's esophagus, according to new figures published in Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology, the official clinical practice journal of the American Gastroenterological Association. Dysplastic Barrett's esophagus is the most serious grade of the condition in which precancerous cells are detected in the esophagus...

In teens with bipolar disorder, predictors of substance abuse identified

Date: Oct-04-2013
A study published in the October 2013 issue of the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry found that approximately one in three teens with bipolar disorder developed substance abuse, for the first time, during 4 years of follow-up. The study also identified several risk factors that predicted who among these teens was most likely to develop substance abuse. Using data from the Course and Outcome of Bipolar Youth (COBY) study, a group of researchers led by Dr...