Health News

US households shrinking, more Americans living alone

Date: Aug-28-2013
Over the last few decades the trend in the US has been toward smaller households, with fewer of them occupied by families and married couples, and more people living alone. This is the conclusion of a new report from the US Census Bureau. The report, which describes trends in living arrangements and the composition of families and households, uses data from the 2012 Current Population Survey and the 2011 American Community Survey. It finds households and families are getting smaller, and married households tend to be older and now make up a smaller share of all households...

First U.S. patients treated with Aorfix flexible aortic stent graft

Date: Aug-28-2013
Lombard Medical Technologies PLC, has announced that the first U.S. patients have been successfully treated with Aorfix™, the Group's flexible stent graft for the endovascular repair of abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAAs).  Aorfix was approved by the FDA for commercial sale in the U.S. in February 2013. The approval included a label indication for the treatment of patients with angulations at the neck of the aneurysm from 0 to 90 degrees...

Lifestyle factors could be the reason an important molecular chaperone protein is absent in infertile men

Date: Aug-28-2013
Scientists studying male infertility have found lifestyle factors such as smoking and high fat diets could be the reason an important molecular chaperone protein is absent in infertile men.  Male factor infertility is a growing health issue with 1 in 20 Australian men classified infertile and very little knowledge behind what is causing such a high prevalence in our society...

New clinical trial may improve cognitive function in those with schizophrenia and diabetes

Date: Aug-28-2013
In a joint study between Australia's University of Wollongong and China's Beijing HuiLongGuan Hospital, researchers led by Dr Mei Han have found that the prevention and treatment of diabetes might prove especially beneficial for people with schizophrenia and may yield better cognitive outcomes in immediate memory and attention, which would improve daily life and restore skills that could allow them back into the workforce.  Diabetes has been reported to occur about two to four times more often in patients with schizophrenia than in the general population...

Fluzone high-dose vaccine significantly more effective than standard dose fluzone vaccine in preventing influenza in seniors

Date: Aug-28-2013
Sanofi Pasteur, the vaccines division of Sanofi, has announced topline results of a large-scale, multi-center efficacy trial in people 65 years of age and older showing a superior clinical benefit of Fluzone® High-Dose (Influenza Virus Vaccine) relative to the standard dose of Fluzone vaccine in preventing influenza.  The announcement reflects the positive findings related to the primary endpoint for the study population...

England faces crisis in care for older people by 2032

Date: Aug-28-2013
Up to 160,000 older people in England will be left vulnerable in the next two decades as the country faces a huge shortfall in unpaid care, according to new LSE research published on August 23rd 2013. As the proportion of older people rises, traditional caregivers - mid-life women - will be placed under increasing pressure to juggle work and care for their parents, creating inequality in the workplace and potentially at a big cost to the labour market...

FDA approval of Mirvaso®: the first FDA-approved topical treatment specifically developed and indicated for the facial erythema of rosacea

Date: Aug-28-2013
Galderma Laboratories, L.P. has announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Mirvaso® (brimonidine) topical gel, 0.33%* for the topical treatment of the facial erythema (redness) of rosacea in adults 18 years of age or older. Applied once daily, Mirvaso works quickly to reduce the redness of rosacea and lasts up to 12 hours. Galderma expects Mirvaso to be available in pharmacies September 2013...

Peptides: Not proven for use in sport

Date: Aug-28-2013
Australia's leading hormone scientists has warned that widespread assumption of the efficacy of peptides in enhancing sporting performance could lead to increased, unregulated use amongst young sportspeople. At their annual meeting in Sydney, council members of The Endocrine Society of Australia (ESA) raised concern that recent high profile cases of alleged use of banned substances in sport has created the assumption that these substances are proven to boost performance, when in fact there is little to no scientific evidence proving their effectiveness...

Allied granted CE mark for lead regenerative product CardioCel®

Date: Aug-28-2013
Allied Healthcare Group have announced that CardioCel® has received CE mark approval, allowing the company to launch and market the product in Europe. The CE mark for CardioCel® allows for the repair and reconstruction of heart defects including treating congenital heart disease and repairing heart valves in both children and adults...

Doctors Without Borders starts emergency rabies intervention in Democratic Republic of Congo

Date: Aug-28-2013
The international medical humanitarian organization Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has started a rabies intervention in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo after an alarming number of people were bitten by rabid dogs. With ten deaths already reported, the emergency intervention aims to prevent any further fatalities from this neglected disease...