Health News

Resistance To Anti-HER2 Therapy In Breast Cancer Patients May Be Delayed By Treatment Targeting PI3K

Date: Jan-26-2013
Patients with HER2-positive breast cancer being treated with anti-HER2 therapy may be able to prevent or delay resistance to the therapy with the addition of a phosphatidylinositol-3 kinase inhibitor to their treatment regimens. The data, published in Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research, indicated that failure of the anti-HER2 antibody trastuzumab to block HER2 from activating the phosphatidylinositol-3 kinase (PI3K) signaling pathway can lead to resistance to treatment...

T Cell-Based Immune Response To Therapeutic Vaccines Boosted By Novel Aptamer

Date: Jan-26-2013
A small compound called an aptamer that specifically targets and stimulates a human immune cell can greatly increase the effectiveness of an immunotherapeutic drug designed to destroy malignant or virus-infected cells. The development of a novel apatamer that recognizes activated T-lymphocytes and can boost the therapeutic effect of cell-based vaccines is described in an article in Nucleic Acid Therapeutics, a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. publishers. The article is available on the Nucleic Acid Therapeutics website...

FDA Approves First Medical Robot For Hospital Use

Date: Jan-26-2013
A robot that allows patients to communicate with doctors via a telemedicine system that can move around on its own has just received 510(k) clearance by the FDA (Food and Drug Administration). The robot, called RP-VITA, was created by InTouch Health and iRobot and allows doctors from anywhere in the world to communicate with patients at their hospital bedside via a telemedicine solution through an iPad interface...

With Or Without Knowledge Of Price, Hospital Imaging Test Ordering By Doctors Remain The Same

Date: Jan-26-2013
In a study designed to see if doctors who are told the exact price of expensive medical tests like MRIs in advance would order fewer of them, Johns Hopkins researchers got their answer: No. In a report published online in the Journal of the American College of Radiology, the researchers found that revealing the costs of MRIs and other imaging tests up front had no impact on the number of tests doctors ordered for their hospitalized patients...

2009 Swine Flu Pandemic Infected 1 In Every 5 People

Date: Jan-25-2013
Data gathered from 19 different countries reveals that the global swine flu pandemic which began in 2009 infected close to 20% of the population and almost 50% of all schoolchildren. The virus which originated in Mexico is thought to have killed close to 200,000.  Swine flu is a respiratory disease commonly found in pigs - around 1 to 4 percent of pigs that develop the disease die from it. It is caused by a highly contagious strain of Influenza A virus and it's spread by direct and indirect contact with pigs...

New Exoskeleton Helps Paralyzed Patients Walk Again

Date: Jan-25-2013
Patients with spinal cord injuries are able to walk again with the latest generation of Argo Medical Technologies' ReWalk Rehabilitation 2.0 system. The new 2.0 system exoskeleton is designed to make it easier to treat several patients each day, the company explained in an online communiqué. The ReWalk creators say that the new system has state-of-the-art software that makes it much more user friendly for beginners. The new range of sizes means that it is suitable for more users, compared to the previous model. Below are some of the highlights of the ReWalk Rehabilitation 2...

Diabetics With Kidney Disease Have Greater Mortality Risk

Date: Jan-25-2013
People with type two diabetes should concentrate on keeping their kidneys healthy as a way to extend their life, new research suggests. The study conducted by the University of Washington and published in the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology, established that patients with type 2 diabetes and kidney disease are at an elevated risk for death...

Folic Acid Unlikely To Increase Risk of Cancer

Date: Jan-25-2013
Folic acid supplements are unlikely to increase people's risk of cancer when taken for up to 5 years. The finding came from new research which looked at data on nearly 50,000 people and was published in The Lancet. Short-term use of folic acid supplements is unlikely to considerably increase or decrease overall cancer risk and has little impact on the risk of developing any specific cancers, such as prostate, colon, lung, and breast...

International Medical Travel Exhibition And Conference, 22-23 March 2013, Monaco

Date: Jan-25-2013
The global medical travel market is simultaneously experiencing both saturation and exponential growth. The International Medical Travel Exhibition and Conference (IMTEC) 2013 is a two-day conference that will provide a transparent platform for both consumers and service providers to understand the latest trends and drivers in the global medical tourism industry...

9th Annual Pediatric Clinical Trials Conference, 24-26 April 2013, Philadelphia, PA

Date: Jan-25-2013
marcus evans is proud to announce the dates for the highly anticipated 9th Annual Pediatric Clinical Trials Conference, April 24-26, 2013 in Philadelphia, PA. Sixteen industry leading experts will provide insights on designing and conducting effective global trials in pediatric populations with confidence, while overcoming the risk of clinical and operational failure to maximize success. The 9th Annual Pediatric Clinical Trials Conference is a vital event for those working in Pediatric Clinical Trials, Pediatric Drug Development, Clinical Research and Recruitment and Retention...