Health News

Migraine Sufferers Benefit From Handheld Magnetic Device

Date: Sep-24-2012
A handheld magnetic device may be a way for migraine sufferers to take treatment into their own hands. At a congress last week, researchers revealed how three months of treatment with the device relieved or reduced headache pain in 73% of patients treated. Headache specialists at several clinics around the UK, including in Aberdeen, Bath, Exeter, Hull, Liverpool and London, are prescribing the non-invasive single pulse Spring Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) device, made by eNeura Technology in California...

Diet May Induce Epigenetic Changes In Women Before Pregnancy That Are Inherited By Offspring

Date: Sep-24-2012
Everyone knows that what mom eats when pregnant makes a huge difference in the health of her child. Now, new research in mice suggests that what she ate before pregnancy might be important too. According to a new research report published online in The FASEB Journal, what a group of female mice ate - before pregnancy - chemically altered their DNA and these changes were passed to her offspring. These DNA alterations, called "epigenetic" changes, drastically affected the pups' metabolism of many essential fatty acids...

MDC Researchers Solve Puzzle Of B-Cell Lymphoma Development

Date: Sep-24-2012
The Myc gene is a key regulator of cellular proliferation and is frequently involved in chromosomal translocations in human lymphomas derived from B cells at the germinal center reaction. Such translocations, seen in roughly 10 percent of diffuse large B-cell lymphomas and almost all cases of sporadic Burkitt lymphoma, juxtapose Myc and enhancers in immunoglobulin loci, leading to deregulated Myc expression. These observations have puzzled researchers for many years because translocations of this gene can only take place in those cells where Myc is active...

European Medicines Agency Recommends First Medical Treatment For Removal Of Eschar From Severe Burn Wounds

Date: Sep-24-2012
The European Medicines Agency has recommended approval of NexoBrid (concentrate of proteolytic enzymes enriched in bromelain), an orphan-designated medicine, for removal of eschar in adult patients with deep partial- and/or full-thickness thermal burn. Eschar is the dried-out, thick, leathery, black necrotic tissue that covers severe burn wounds. Its removal is essential to initiate the wound healing process and prevent further complications such as infections in burn victims. Treatment of severe burn wounds today rests mainly on surgical intervention...

First Country In Europe Launches Flutiform® (Fluticasone Propionate/Formoterol Fumarate), A New Combination Therapy For Asthma

Date: Sep-24-2012
Mundipharma has announced that flutiform® (fluticasone propionate/formoterol fumarate), a new combination therapy for the maintenance treatment of asthma, is now available for use in Germany. The German launch marks the first European country where flutiform can be prescribed for appropriate patients with asthma. Marketing authorisations have already been granted in Austria, Cyprus, Germany, Norway, The Netherlands, Slovakia, Sweden and the UK...

Purdue-Designed Fiber May Improve Digestive Health

Date: Sep-24-2012
Fiber designed by a Purdue University food scientist may improve digestive health and decrease the risk of colon cancer, irritable bowel syndrome, Crohn's disease and diverticulosis. Bruce Hamaker, the Roy L. Whistler Chair in Carbohydrate Science in the Department of Food Science, has developed a patent-pending designer fiber that is digested slower than other fiber, which could reduce digestive intolerance. "The initial goal of the research was to address the problem of dietary fiber intolerance," he said...

Camptothecin Analog FL118 Shown To Inhibit Production Of Key Cancer Survival Genes

Date: Sep-24-2012
Some 500,000 people die of cancer in the United States each year, often because their cancers have become resistant to approved therapies. Scientists at Roswell Park Cancer Institute (RPCI) have made headway in the effort to overcome resistance to treatment, publishing findings about a novel cancer drug that has been shown to inhibit several genes associated with the ability of cancer cells to survive and reproduce...

New Research - Some Terminally Ill Patients Don't Understand The Medical Decisions They Can Make Or Discuss Their Choices With Family Or Doctors

Date: Sep-24-2012
Compassion in Dying and the award-winning patient information website http://www.healthtalkonline.org are holding a seminar Towards shared decision making at the end of life on Thursday 20th September. New research entitledHow do people approach decision making at end of life? will be launched at the seminar. Delegates including representatives from the Motor Neurone Disease Association and The Royal Marsden London will discuss the importance of shared decision making at the end of life, from both the patient and healthcare professional perspective...

Young Cancer Survivors Often Forgo Medical Care Due To Costs

Date: Sep-24-2012
Many survivors of adolescent and young adult cancers avoid routine medical care because it's too expensive, despite the fact that most have health insurance. That is the conclusion of a new study published early online in CANCER, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society. The results indicate that expanding insurance coverage for young cancer survivors may be insufficient to safeguard their long-term health without efforts to reduce their medical cost burdens...

'NeuroTouch' System Provides 3D Graphics And Tactile Feedback During Simulated Brain Surgery

Date: Sep-24-2012
A new virtual reality simulator - including sophisticated 3-D graphics and tactile feedback - provides neurosurgery trainees with valuable opportunities to practice essential skills and techniques for brain cancer surgery, according to a paper in the September issue of Neurosurgery, official journal of the Congress of Neurological Surgeons. The journal is published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, a part of Wolters Kluwer Health...