Health News

Bladder Function Restored In Rats With Spinal Cord Injury Using Technique That Promotes Nerve Regeneration

Date: Jun-27-2013
Using a novel technique to promote the regeneration of nerve cells across the site of severe spinal cord injury, researchers have restored bladder function in paralyzed adult rats, according to a study in The Journal of Neuroscience. The findings may guide future efforts to restore other functions lost after spinal cord injury. It also raises hope that similar strategies could one day be used to restore bladder function in people with severe spinal cord injuries...

What Is MERS-CoV (Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus)?

Date: Jun-26-2013
MERS-CoV (Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus), previously known as the Novel Coronavirus or SARS-like virus, is a member of the coronavirus family. Coronaviruses commonly cause respiratory illness in mammals, including humans. Coronaviruses are responsible for approximately 1 in every 3 cases of the common cold. MERS-CoV is much more deadly than any other coronavirus seen before. MERS-CoV is a new coronavirus strain that appeared last year...

Even A Few Extra Pounds Can Be Dangerous To Your Heart

Date: Jun-26-2013
Just a few extra pounds can raise the risk of heart failure by 17%, according to new research in PLOS Medicine. The research was led by Swedish scientists who used a new technique to examine obesity and being overweight as a trigger of cardiovascular disease. Previously, significant links have been found, but it has never been evident whether obesity was the cause or just a sign of a separate underlying cause, as clinical trials that include long-term follow-ups are harder to implement...

Surgeon Live-Streams Procedure Using Google Glass And IPad

Date: Jun-26-2013
With the help of Google Glass and an iPad, a surgeon in the US live-streamed a procedure as he performed it in the operating room, thus turning a new page in the annals of telemedicine. Rafael Grossmann, a general and trauma surgeon at Bangor-based Eastern Maine Medical Center (EMMC), used the "wearable computer" headset to send a live video stream while he carried out a simple endoscopic procedure called PEG (Percutaneous Endoscopic Gastrostomy) on a patient who needed a feeding tube fitted...

Global Increase In New Legal Highs, UN Drug Report Warns

Date: Jun-26-2013
Governments around the world are struggling to cope with an increase in the number of new drugs known as "legal highs", according to the 2013 World Drug Report. The use of traditional drugs, including cocaine and heroin, is stable worldwide, the report, by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) said. However, the authors indicated that legal highs, or new synthetic substances (NPS) are being spread continuously through the internet. A 2011 study demonstrated some of the dangers of purchasing legal highs online...

'E' Reshaping Marketing - Are You Ready, Pharma? 3rd Annual Pharma EMarketing Congress, 11-13 September 2013, Barcelona

Date: Jun-26-2013
Recently, the year of mobile, social, multichannel and omnichannel have proved to be the major disruptive forces in the world of modern marketing. Therefore Blue Latitude believes that in 2013 Pharma marketing teams will focus on four significant areas in order to reach their audience in an ever more fragmented market, whilst maximising its ROI. These areas include shifting from marketing to medical, online & offline integration, adding value to the pill, and realigning business & customer impact...

NICE Final Guidance On Blood Cancer Drug Jakavi™ (ruxolitinib) Delivers Major Setback For Myelofibrosis Patients

Date: Jun-26-2013
The only therapy available for a disease with a clear unmet medical need will not be made available to UK patients Novartis today expressed disappointment at the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence's (NICE) decision to publish final guidance not recommending ruxolitinib (INC424, Jakavi™) for the treatment of disease-related splenomegaly (enlarged spleen) or symptoms in adult patients with primary myelofibrosis (also known as chronic idiopathic myelofibrosis), post-polycythaemia vera myelofibrosis or post-essential thrombocythaemia myelofibrosis[i]...

Robo-Pets Help Dementia Patients

Date: Jun-26-2013
A new study has revealed that therapeutic robot companions can provide a better quality of life for people living with dementia. The researchers found that "PARO", a large, fluffy robotic harp seal, helped mid-to late-stage sufferers of dementia become less anxious, aggressive and lonely. Professor Wendy Moyle from Griffith University, Australia led the pilot study, along with Professor Glenda Cook at the Northumbria University, as well as researchers from institutions in Germany. The team evaluated what effect interactions with PARO had among people with dementia...

Nerve Cells Regrown In Rats With Spinal Cord Injury

Date: Jun-26-2013
Rats with severe spinal cord injury were able to urinate normally after scientists used a new technique to regenerate nerve cells across the site of injury. The US team hopes their methods will help develop treatments that restore bladder function in humans with severe spinal cord injuries, and also guide efforts to restore other functions...

New Efficacy And Safety Data Presented For Trajenta® (Linagliptin) In Asians With Type 2 Diabetes

Date: Jun-26-2013
New Phase III data presented at the American Diabetes Association 73rd Scientific Sessions® (ADA) showed linagliptin improved blood glucose control as monotherapy and in combination with metformin, in Asian people from China, Malaysia and the Philippines with Type 2 Diabetes. Boehringer Ingelheim and Eli Lilly and Company have presented results from two randomised Phase III clinical trials evaluating the efficacy and safety of linagliptin in Asians from China, Malaysia and the Philippines with Type 2 Diabetes (T2D)...