Health News

Abraxane® (Nab-Paclitaxel) Plus Gemcitabine Demonstrates Survival Advantage In Phase III Study Of Patients With Advanced Pancreatic Cancer

Date: Jan-24-2013
Nab-paclitaxel plus gemcitabine was superior to gemcitabine alone with statistically significant and clinically meaningful results across primary and key secondary endpoints and patient subgroups1 Oral Presentation Scheduled for Friday, January 25th at ASCO's Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium Annual Meeting Celgene UK and Ireland, a subsidiary of Celgene Corporation (NASDAQ: CELG), have announced that its phase III clinical trial of ABRAXANE® (nab-paclitaxel) in combination with gemcitabine in treatment-naïve patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer demonstr...

Cancer Expert Remains To Be Convinced By Breast Screening Review

Date: Jan-24-2013
In this week's BMJ, a leading cancer expert says he remains to be convinced that the benefits of breast screening outweigh the harms. Michael Baum, Professor emeritus of surgery at University College London says that, while deaths from breast cancer may be avoided, any benefit will be more than outweighed by deaths due to the long term adverse effects of treatment. He estimates that, for every 10,000 women invited for screening, three to four breast cancer deaths are avoided at the cost of 2.72 to 9.25 deaths from the long term toxicity of radiotherapy...

Synthon Biopharmaceuticals Reports Positive Early Results With Its Second Generation HER2-Antibody-Drug Conjugate

Date: Jan-24-2013
Best-in-Class potential with improved therapeutic index compared to other armed antibodies Synthon Biopharmaceuticals, a subsidiary of specialty pharma company Synthon, has reported promising results with its lead program of antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs). In pre-clinical xenograft studies using patient-derived breast cancer and non-small-cell lung cancer material, Synthon has reported complete tumor remission...

Newly Approved Oral Medication Slows Rheumatoid Arthritis Joint Damage

Date: Jan-24-2013
A Phase 3 clinical trial demonstrates that tofacitinib improves disease activity and inhibits progression of joint damage in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients who did not respond to methotrexate (MTX). Results of the 12-month interim analysis of the efficacy of tofacitinib appear in Arthritis & Rheumatism, a journal published by Wiley on behalf of the American College of Rheumatology (ACR). RA is a chronic, autoimmune disease that causes inflammation, pain and swelling of the joints. Over time, RA may destroy joints, impair daily function, and lead to significant disability...

Microbiologists Eavesdrop On The Hidden Lives Of Microbes

Date: Jan-24-2013
Scientists track ocean microbe populations in their natural habitat to create a 'day in the life' montage. Microbiologists who study wild marine microbes, as opposed to the lab-grown variety, face enormous challenges in getting a clear picture of the daily activities of their subjects. But a team of scientists from MIT and the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute recently figured out how to make the equivalent of a nature film, showing the simultaneous activities of many coexisting species in their native habitat over time...

Teenagers Avoid Early Alcohol Misuse Through Personality Management

Date: Jan-24-2013
Personality-targeted interventions delivered by trained teachers and school staff decrease alcohol misuse in at-risk teens and delay their classmates' alcohol uptake...

Self-Reported BMI Bias Estimates Increasing Due To Weight Bias, Not Weight Loss

Date: Jan-24-2013
Widening gap in estimates of obesity partially due to biased self-reports The gap between obesity levels measured by self-reported height and weight and obesity recorded by measured height and weight is increasing.� This is due to an increasing bias in self-reported weight, according to research published January 23 in the open access journal PLOS ONE by Frances Shiely and colleagues from University College of Cork, Ireland. � BMI is a ratio of height and weight used clinically to assess whether an individual's weight is in a healthy range...

Sugar And Calories Cut In Soft Drinks, UK

Date: Jan-24-2013
Leading soft drinks brands Lucozade and Ribena will reduce the amount of sugar and calories in their products by up to 10 per cent as part of the Government's drive to curb obesity levels, Public Health Minister Anna Soubry announced this week. Speaking at the Food and Drink Federation's 'Delivering Healthy Growth' stakeholder event, the minister unveiled the latest brands to sign up to the Responsibility Deal's calorie reduction pledge...

Attitudes To Speed Among Learner Drivers Predict Unsafe Driving Once Qualified

Date: Jan-24-2013
Training on safety, not just technical skills, needed at this stage Attitudes to speed and risk-taking on the road develop at the learner driver stage and predict those who will go on to be potentially dangerous drivers once fully licensed, indicates research published online in Injury Prevention. More effort should therefore be channelled into nipping these attitudes in the bud to enhance road safety, rather than just focusing on technical competence at this stage, say the authors. In 2010, 1850 people died on the UK's roads and a further 22,690 people were seriously injured...

Effect Of Taking Smaller Bites Outweighs Tendency To Eat More When Distracted

Date: Jan-24-2013
Smaller bites reduce food intake even during distracted eating Eating while distracted generally makes people eat more without being aware of it, but reducing bite sizes may be able to counter this effect, according to new research published January 23 in the open access journal PLOS ONE by Dieuwerke Bolhuis and colleagues from Wageningen University, Netherlands. � Previous studies have shown that taking smaller bites helps people eat less. Other research has also shown that people tend to eat larger meals if eating while distracted...