Health News

Muscular Dystrophy Responds To Tamoxifen Treatment

Date: Jan-15-2013
Duchenne muscular dystrophy was found to respond well to breast cancer drug Tamoxifen - some of the features of the disease were reversed in an animal experiment. This is very promising news as there is currently no treatment available for alleviating the long term symptoms of Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD). DMD is a disorder that affects around 1 in 3,600 boys and is very rarely found among girls, it weakens the musculoskeletal system due to a mutation in the dystrophin gene - which is responsible for coding vital muscular proteins...

Coca-Cola Launches Anti-Obesity Campaign

Date: Jan-15-2013
Coca-Cola, the most powerful and well known soft drinks company in the world, is claiming to publicly address the link between sugary drinks and obesity with a global advertising campaign which has started in the USA. This is quite a change from the promotion of its soft drinks as a route to happiness. On Monday, 14th January 2013, the Coca-Cola company started broadcasting a two-minute video called "Coming Together" on Fox News, CNN and MSNBC in an attempt to become one of the leaders in the debate regarding soda consumption's link to being overweight...

FDA Participation At 3rd Developing CAPAs In The GCP Environment Conference, 24-25 January 2013, Arlington, VA

Date: Jan-15-2013
Dr. Jean Mulinde, Acting Senior Advisor, Division of Good Clinical Practice Compliance, Office of Scientific Investigations at CDER, FDA, has confirmed to present the following keynote address at the 3rd Developing CAPAs in the GCP Environment Conference on January 24-25, 2013 at the Westin in Arlington, VA...

2nd Annual Drug Safety MENA Summit, 13-14 February 2013, Abu Dhabi

Date: Jan-15-2013
The 2nd Annual Drug Safety Summit is due to take place in Abu Dhabi, UAE from 13-14 February 2013. Supported by the Centre Anti Poison et de Pharmacovigilance du Maroc, W.H.O. Collaborating Center for Pharmacovigilance and with more than 20 key leading experts confirmed to speak, the event will discuss the regional Pharmacovigilance initiatives across the Middle East as well as promote the risk reduction strategies and up-to-date advances in the field of safe medication practice. The event will feature over 20 top speakers including: Prof. Rachida Soulaymani, Director, W.H.O...

Link Between Fetal Exposure To PVC Plastic Chemical And Obesity In Offspring

Date: Jan-15-2013
Exposing pregnant mice to low doses of the chemical tributyltin - which is used in marine hull paint and PVC plastic - can lead to obesity for multiple generations without subsequent exposure, a UC Irvine study has found. After exposing pregnant mice to TBT in concentrations similar to those found in the environment, researchers saw increased body fat, liver fat and fat-specific gene expression in their "children," "grandchildren" and "great-grandchildren" - none of which had been exposed to the chemical...

1 In 3 Americans Uses Internet To Help With Diagnoses

Date: Jan-15-2013
A nationwide survey of US adults finds that 1 in 3 of Americans say they have used the internet to help them diagnose a medical condition, either for themselves or someone else. But, when asked who they turned to for help with a serious health issue, either online or offline, the majority said they turned to a doctor or other health professional. These findings come from a telephone survey of over 3,000 adults living in the US. It was commissioned by the Pew Research Center in Washington, DC, who published a report about it online on Tuesday...

Potential Non-Surgical Therapy For Neurofibromatosis Type 2 Brain Tumors

Date: Jan-15-2013
One in 25,000 people worldwide is affected by neurofibromatosis type 2 (NF2), a condition where the loss of a tumour suppressor called Merlin results in multiple tumours in the brain and nervous system. Sufferers may experience 20 to 30 tumours at any one time and such numbers often lead to hearing loss, disability and eventually death. Currently, the only available effective therapies are repeated invasive surgery or radiotherapy aimed at one tumour at a time and which are unlikely to eradicate all the tumours in one go...

Switch From Branded To Generic Antiretrovirals Could Save Nearly $1 Billion Annually But May Not Be Best For HIV Patients

Date: Jan-15-2013
Replacing the combination of brand-name, antiretroviral drugs currently recommended for control of HIV infection with soon-to-be-available generic medications could save the U.S. health care system almost $1 billion a year but may diminish the effectiveness of HIV treatment. A study led by Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) investigators, appearing in the January 15 Annals of Internal Medicine, examines the potential impact of such a change...

Confirmation Of Apes' Sense Of Fairness Provides Another Close Link To Humans

Date: Jan-15-2013
Researchers at the Yerkes National Primate Research Center, Emory University, are the first to show chimpanzees possess a sense of fairness that has previously been attributed as uniquely human. Working with colleagues from Georgia State University, the researchers played the Ultimatum Game with the chimpanzees to determine how sensitive the animals are to the reward distribution between two individuals if both need to agree on the outcome...

How Timothy Syndrome Mutation Causes Wiring Defects Associated With Cognitive Impairment

Date: Jan-15-2013
A new finding in neuroscience for the first time points to a developmental mechanism linking the disease-causing mutation in an autism-related disorder, Timothy syndrome, and observed defects in brain wiring, according to a study led by scientist Ricardo Dolmetsch and published online in Nature Neuroscience. These findings may be at the heart of the mechanisms underlying intellectual disability and many other brain disorders. The present study reveals that a mutation of the disease-causing gene throws a key process of neurodevelopment into reverse...