Health News

Veterans Diagnosed With Reflux Issues Often Start On High Doses Of Drugs, Rarely Stop Therapy

Date: Feb-24-2013
U.S. veterans diagnosed with gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) are frequently prescribed doses of proton pump inhibitors (PPIs), such as omeprazole (commonly known by brand names such as Prilosec), that are much higher than recommended --- and they are kept on the drug far too long, according to a new Northwestern Medicine® study. PPIs are among the most widely used drugs in the nation, resulting in more than $11 billion in annual direct health care costs in the U.S...

Variations In 4 Genes Associated With An Increased Risk Of Colorectal Cancer

Date: Feb-24-2013
An international research team co-led by cancer prevention researcher Ulrike "Riki" Peters, Ph.D., M.P.H., and biostatistician Hsu Li, Ph.D., at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center has identified variations in four genes that are linked to an increased risk of colorectal cancer. Peters and colleagues from 40 institutes throughout the world published their findings online ahead of the April print issue of Gastroenterology...

GCP Therapy May Extend Life Expectancy Of Prostate Cancer Patients With Low Response To Androgen-Deprivation Therapy

Date: Feb-24-2013
A natural, nontoxic product called genistein-combined polysaccharide, or GCP, which is commercially available in health stores, could help lengthen the life expectancy of certain prostate cancer patients, UC Davis researchers have found. Men with prostate cancer that has spread to other parts of the body, known as metastatic cancer, and who have had their testosterone lowered with drug therapy are most likely to benefit. The study, recently published in Endocrine-Related Cancer, was conducted in prostate cancer cells and in mice...

PQM Tests Handheld Device For Detecting Counterfeit And Substandard Medicines

Date: Feb-24-2013
With substandard and counterfeit medicines a dangerous and growing problem in the developing world and elsewhere, identifying new technologies to detect such drugs is an urgent matter. In a new study published in the Journal of Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Analysis, scientists from the U.S. Pharmacopeial Convention (USP) evaluated a handheld Raman device's potential to detect counterfeit and substandard medicines...

Psychotropic Drug Dispensing Increases On Entry To Care Homes

Date: Feb-24-2013
A study by Queen's University Belfast has found that the dispensing of psychotropic drugs to older people in Northern Ireland increases on entry to care homes. According to the study, due to be published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, antipsychotic drug dispensing in older people more than doubled from 8.2 per cent before entry to care homes to 18.6 per cent after entering care. The study was carried out by researchers from Queen's Centre for Public Health in the School of Medicine, Dentistry and Biomedical Sciences...

Cannabinoid Trans-Caryophyllene Protects Brain Cells From Ischemia

Date: Feb-24-2013
The activation of cortical type 2 cannabinoid (CB2) receptors with cannabinoid trans-caryophyllene (TC) is effectively able to facilitate recovery among ischemic brain injury patients, according to a recent study published in The American Journal of Pathology.  TC is derived from the essential oils of the Cannabis sativa plant, but its structure is very different to other classical cannabinoids - it is not associated with any psychoactive side effects...

Are There Fewer Innovative Drugs In UK? No, There Are More

Date: Feb-24-2013
The idea that the supply of breakthrough drugs in the UK is drying up is a myth, researchers from Birmingham University reported in BMJ Open. In fact, the authors point out that if we look over the last four decades, the opposite seems to be the case - the supply of innovative pharmaceuticals in the UK has risen and continues to do so. For some reason, many in the press, medical profession, and even in the pharmaceutical industry believe that the medical innovation industry has been dwindling, with fewer innovative products coming onto the market today compared to decades ago...

New Flu Drug Shows Promise

Date: Feb-24-2013
A new flu drug has been developed by CSIRO scientists which could help in combating influenza pandemics, according to a report published in the journal Science. Researchers conducted tests in laboratory models and found that the drug is extremely effective at preventing the spread of various strains of the influenza virus. The drug prevents the virus from removing sugars which are found on the outer surface of cells. Flu viruses remove the sugars as a means of binding onto the cells and infecting them...

Uncovering The Secrets Of Human Speech Has Implications For Developing Computer-Brain Interfaces

Date: Feb-24-2013
A team of researchers at UC San Francisco has uncovered the neurological basis of speech motor control, the complex coordinated activity of tiny brain regions that controls our lips, jaw, tongue and larynx as we speak. Described in the journal Nature, the work has potential implications for developing computer-brain interfaces for artificial speech communication and for the treatment of speech disorders. It also sheds light on an ability that is unique to humans among living creatures but poorly understood...

Orphan Technologies To Develop New Treatment For Life-Threatening Metabolic Disorder From The University Of Colorado

Date: Feb-23-2013
Licensing and collaboration agreements enable development of enzyme replacement therapy for Homocystinuria, a rare metabolic disorder The University of Colorado (CU) has signed exclusive, worldwide licensing and collaboration agreements with rare-disease research-and-development firm Orphan Technologies Ltd to develop an enzyme replacement therapy for Cystathionine Beta-Synthase (CBS) -deficient homocystinuria, a rare, inherited metabolic disease that is often fatal at a young age...