Health News

Histogen's method of generating multipotent stem cells receives US patent

Date: Sep-05-2013
Histogen, Inc., a regenerative medicine company developing innovative therapies for conditions including hair loss and cancer, has announced that the United States Patent & Trademark Office has issued patent 8,524,494, entitled "Low Oxygen Tension and bFGF Generates a Multipotent Stem Cell from a Fibroblast In Vitro" to the Company.  The issued patent covers Histogen's method of triggering the de-differentiation of fibroblast cells into multipotent stem cells through low oxygen and special culture conditions...

Evidence uncovered that shows Richard III suffered from roundworm infection

Date: Sep-05-2013
Now are the worms of Richard III's discontent made glorious public knowledge by this squad of scientists: Researchers based at the University of Cambridge and the University of Leicester have uncovered evidence that Richard III suffered from a roundworm (Ascaris lumbricoides) infection, according to a Clinical Picture published in The Lancet...

Bayer receives approval of EYLEA® for second indication in Europe

Date: Sep-05-2013
Bayer HealthCare has announced that EYLEA (aflibercept solution for injection, known in the scientific literature as VEGF Trap-Eye) has been approved by the European Commission for the treatment of visual impairment due to macular oedema secondary to central retinal vein occlusion (CRVO). This approval marks the second indication for EYLEA in Europe, with the wet age-related macular degeneration (wAMD) indication receiving approval in December 2012...

Research highlighting superior numerical skills of congenitally blind people could open up new ways of teaching maths to young children

Date: Sep-05-2013
University of Hull psychologist Dr Julie Castronovo's research with congenitally blind volunteers has revealed their enhanced skills in processing numerical information during tests. The research, published in specialist journals, shows that during numerical tasks, the congenitally blind volunteers showed outstanding estimation skills - better than those of sighted volunteers. This contradicts previous assumptions that vision is essential to the development of numerical skills.  Information gathered from the tests could result in the introduction of new teaching methods in the future...

New report highlights that staff, not structures, are the key to integrated care for people with mental health problems

Date: Sep-05-2013
The Mental Health Foundation is launching a new report, 'Crossing Boundaries: Improving integrated care for people with mental health problems', highlighting that current support for people with mental health problems is based on the flawed idea that physical and mental health care are separate issues. The report outlines the key factors in achieving integrated healthcare, singling out the commitment of leaders and frontline staff to cross-boundary working as the single biggest factor.  Good integrated care for people with mental health needs remains the exception rather than the rule...

One-year data from global atrial fibrillation (AF) registry show antithrombotic agents not optimally used to prevent stroke

Date: Sep-05-2013
One-year outcomes data from the first cohort of the Global Anticoagulant Registry in the FIELD (GARFIELD), an innovative, independent academic research initiative, provide insights into the elevated stroke risk among subpopulations of patients with atrial fibrillation (AF). The findings, from eight abstracts presented this week at the ESC Congress 2013, collectively show that anticoagulant therapy - which is known to significantly lower stroke risk in AF patients - is consistently under-utilised among those at-risk AF patients...

New recombinant antibody can isolate stem cells from umbilical cord blood

Date: Sep-05-2013
A new recombinant antibody can detect and isolate mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), a nonembryonic source of stem cells with promising applications in tissue engineering, blood stem cell transplantation, and treatments for immune-mediated disorders. The antibody recognizes an i blood group antigen present on MSCs in umbilical cord blood, as described in a study published in BioResearch Open Access, a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers. The article is available free on the BioResearch Open Access website...

Biomarker assessment in suspected acute coronary syndrome could be practice-changing: BIC-8 results

Date: Sep-05-2013
An emergency department strategy that uses two biomarkers to triage patients with suspected acute coronary syndrome (ACS) can increase the rate of early, safe hospital discharge, according to results of the Biomarkers in Cardiology 8 (BIC-8) trial. "This biomarker strategy using a state-of-the-art quantitative troponin assay in combination with an ultrasensitive copeptin assay has the potential to change clinical practice with high patient safety," said lead investigator Martin Möckel, MD, PhD, from Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, in Berlin, Germany...

Proteins in histone group might influence cancer development, study shows

Date: Sep-05-2013
Spool-like proteins called histones play a crucial role in packaging the nearly seven feet of DNA found in most human cells. A new study shows that a group of histones that are thought to behave the same actually are functionally distinct proteins. The findings by researchers at the Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center - Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J...

Pedi-Flite improves outcomes and reduces costs for pediatric diabetic patients

Date: Sep-05-2013
Providing families with diabetic children access via pager to a transport team improves outcomes and efficiency, according to a recent study performed at Le Bonheur Children's Hospital and The University of Tennessee Health Science Center (UTHSC). The study, "Real-time Support of Pediatric Diabetes Self-care by a Transport Team," was reported online ahead of print in Diabetes Care, the world's leading journal for clinical diabetes research and published by the American Diabetes Association. Brandi E...