Health News

Speeding Up Multiple Sclerosis Research Using New Imaging Technique

Date: Jun-14-2013
Researchers at the University of British Columbia have developed a new magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technique that detects the telltale signs of multiple sclerosis in finer detail than ever before - providing a more powerful tool for evaluating new treatments. The technique analyzes the frequency of electro-magnetic waves collected by an MRI scanner, instead of the size of those waves. Although analyzing the number of waves per second had long been considered a more sensitive way of detecting changes in tissue structure, the math needed to create usable images had proved daunting...

Ustekinumab Leads To Significant Improvements In Psoriatic Arthritis

Date: Jun-14-2013
New PSUMMIT 2* data first presented at EULAR 2013, the Annual Congress of the European League Against Rheumatism, further demonstrate the efficacy of ustekinumab in Psoriatic Arthritis (PsA). Anti-TNF naïve and anti-TNF-experienced patients randomised to one of two ustekinumab doses (45mg or 90mg) demonstrated significant and sustained improvements in the signs and symptoms of PsA, with favourable safety profiles...

In Patients With Psoriatic Arthritis, Long-Term Apremilast Demonstrates Continued Efficacy

Date: Jun-14-2013
New data presented at EULAR 2013, the Annual Congress of the European League Against Rheumatism show that apremilast administered to patients with psoriatic arthritis continues to demonstrate meaningful clinical responses beyond 24 weeks. For patients who completed 52 weeks of the study, up to 65% achieved ACR20* response rates. Also, apremilast continued to be well tolerated with an acceptable longer-term safety profile. Apremilast is a novel, oral small-molecule inhibitor of phosphodiesterase 4 (PDE4)...

Xgeva (Denosumab) Approved For Giant Cell Tumor Of The Bone Treatment, FDA

Date: Jun-14-2013
Xgeva (denosumab) has been approved by the U.S. FDA for the treatment of GCTB (giant cell tumor of the bone) in adults and skeletally mature adolescents. GCTB is a rare tumor which is usually non-cancerous. Giant cell tumor of the bone typically affects adults aged between 20 and 40 years. In the majority of cases, GCTB remains localized (does not spread). However, as it grows it destroys normal bone, resulting in severe pain, bone fractures and a limited range of motion. GCTB can become malignant and spread to the lungs, however this is rare...

Tocilizumab Effective In Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis

Date: Jun-14-2013
A new study presented at EULAR 2013, the Annual Congress of the European League Against Rheumatism shows that tocilizumab is efficacious and leads to a sustained clinically meaningful improvement in children with polyarticular Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis (pcJIA). Tocilizumab is a humanized recombinant antibody, which blocks the receptors where interleukin-6 (IL-6) attaches to the surface of cells. When IL-6 is unable to attach to these cells, they are prevented from driving inflammation...

Rapid Diagnosis Followed By Immediate Treatment Of Giant Cell Arteritis Significantly Reduces Risk Of Blindness

Date: Jun-14-2013
A new study presented at EULAR 2013, the Annual Congress of the European League Against Rheumatism, shows that rapid evaluation for Giant Cell Arteritis (GCA) by Color Doppler Ultrasound (CDUS) followed by immediate initiation of treatment (if required) significantly reduces permanent vision loss. Of the patients evaluated by the ''fast track'' principle from March 2010 to December 2012, 11.1% had transient visual manifestations, and none went on to suffer from permanent visual loss...

Psoriatic Arthritis Patients Benefit From Brodalumab

Date: Jun-14-2013
A new study presented at EULAR 2013, the Annual Congress of the European League Against Rheumatism, shows that treatment with brodalumab demonstrates significant clinical response and an acceptable safety profile in subjects with psoriatic arthritis (PsA). PsA is a chronic inflammatory arthritis associated with psoriasis which significantly impacts health-related quality of life in patients, and increases risk of co-morbid cardiovascular and gastrointestinal diseases.2 Psoriasis occurs in 2-3% of the population, with PsA occurring in up to 30% of those of cases...

IOM Standards For Clinical Practice Not Fully Met By Cancer Guidelines

Date: Jun-14-2013
In an age when evidence-based care is increasingly important, how trustworthy are current clinical practice guidelines? Researchers at the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center looked at 169 cancer clinical practice guidelines for lung, breast, prostate and colorectal cancers and found that none of the guidelines fully met standards set in 2011 by the Institute of Medicine. Of eight criteria, the guidelines on average met fewer than three. "None of the current guidelines we looked at meet all of the standards, but some of these are really good guidelines...

Video Gamers Really Do See More

Date: Jun-14-2013
Hours spent at the video gaming console not only train a player's hands to work the buttons on the controller, they probably also train the brain to make better and faster use of visual input, according to Duke University researchers. "Gamers see the world differently," said Greg Appelbaum, an assistant professor of psychiatry in the Duke School of Medicine. "They are able to extract more information from a visual scene...

The First Comprehensive And Prospective Characterization Of A Genetic Subtype Of Autism

Date: Jun-14-2013
In the first prospective study of its kind, Seaver Autism Center researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai provide new evidence of the severity of intellectual, motor, and speech impairments in a subtype of autism called Phelan-McDermid Syndrome (PMS). The data are published online in the journal Molecular Autism. Mutation or deletion of a gene known as SHANK3 is one of the more common single-gene causes of autism spectrum disorders and is critical to the development of PMS, a severe type of autism...