Health News

Malignant Mesothelioma Patients Likely To Benefit From Drug Pemetrexed Identified By Study

Date: Aug-31-2012
Previous studies have hypothesized that low levels of the enzyme thymidylate synthase (TS) likely mark patients who will benefit from the drug pemetrexed - but results have been inconclusive at best and at times contradictory. A University of Colorado Cancer Center study recently published in the Journal of Thoracic Oncology provides an explanation of why: only in combination with high levels of a second enzyme, FPGS, does low TS predict response to pemetrexed in patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma...

FFR-Guided Cardiac Stenting, Better Patient Outcomes Revealed By FAME II Trial Results

Date: Aug-31-2012
Instances of urgent revascularization 86% lower for patients with FFR-guided treatment using the St. Jude Medical PressureWire. New findings build upon data from the original FAME trial which demonstrated improved outcomes and cost-savings when FFR is utilized to guide cardiac treatment procedures St. Jude Medical, Inc. (NYSE:STJ), a global medical device company, today announced results of the FAME II Trial demonstrating that patients with FFR-guided stenting plus the best available medical therapy had superior outcomes to those treated with medical therapy alone...

Dyscalculia And The Neural Basis Of Human Math Abilities

Date: Aug-31-2012
A new study by researchers at UT Dallas' Center for Vital Longevity, Duke University, and the University of Michigan has found that the strength of communication between the left and right hemispheres of the brain predicts performance on basic arithmetic problems. The findings shed light on the neural basis of human math abilities and suggest a possible route to aiding those who suffer from dyscalculia - an inability to understand and manipulate numbers...

Addressing The Problem Of Infections After Surgery With New Antibacterial Coating For Sutures

Date: Aug-31-2012
Responding to an urgent need for better antibacterial coatings on surgical sutures, scientists are reporting the discovery of a new coating that is almost 1,000 times more effective than the most widely used commercial coating. Their report appears in ACS' journal Langmuir. Professor Gregory Tew, who is from UMass-Amherst, and colleagues explain that infection at the site of surgical incisions is one of the most common post-surgical complications that keep patients hospitalized longer and boost hospital bills...

Controlling The Skyrocketing Cost Of Health Care: A New Approach

Date: Aug-31-2012
A potentially powerful new approach for limiting health care costs - which account for almost $1 out of every $5 spent in the U.S. each year - is the topic of the feature story in Chemical & Enginering News (C&EN), the weekly news magazine of the American Chemical Society (ACS), the world's largest scientific society. C&EN Senior Correspondent Marc S. Reisch explains that one until-now neglected way to reign in health care spending involves providing patients and doctors with better diagnostic tests...

Universal Flu Vaccine Design Could Be Aided By Knowledge Of Origin Of Broadly Neutralizing Antibodies

Date: Aug-31-2012
National Institutes of Health scientists have identified how a kind of immature immune cell responds to a part of influenza virus and have traced the path those cells take to generate antibodies that can neutralize a wide range of influenza virus strains. Study researchers from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of NIH, were led by Gary Nabel, M.D., Ph.D., director of NIAID's Vaccine Research Center. Their findings appear online in advance of print in Nature...

Better Nutrition Provided By 'Microgreens' Compared To Their Mature Counterparts

Date: Aug-31-2012
The first scientific analysis of nutrient levels in edible microgreens has found that many of those trendy seedlings of green vegetables and herbs have more vitamins and healthful nutrients than their fully grown counterparts. A report on the research appears in ACS' Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. Qin Wang, Gene E. Lester and colleagues point out that microgreens have gained popularity as a new culinary trend over the past few years, especially in upscale markets and restaurants...

No Added Benefit Proven For Belimumab For Lupus Erythematosus

Date: Aug-31-2012
Belimumab (trade name Benlysta ®) has been approved since July 2011 as an add-on therapy for adult patients with the autoimmune disease systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). This monoclonal antibody is only considered as treatment when the disease is still active in spite of standard therapy. The German Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care (IQWiG) has now examined the added benefit of this drug pursuant to the Act on the Reform of the Market for Medicinal Products (AMNOG)...

No Added Benefit Proven For Fampridine In MS

Date: Aug-31-2012
Drug manufacturer did not present evaluable study data on the appropriate comparator therapy Fampridine (trade name Fampyra®) has been approved in Germany since July 2011 for adult patients suffering from a higher grade walking disability (grades 4 to 7 on the EDSS disability status scale), as a result of multiple sclerosis (MS). The German Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care (IQWiG) has assessed the added benefit of the drug pursuant to the Act on the Reform of the Market for Medicinal Products (AMNOG)...

TAVI Restricted To Very Old Or Very Sick Patients

Date: Aug-31-2012
The registry is part of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) EURObservational Research Programme (EORP) of surveys and registries. This presentation reveals current usage of the most modern TAVI valves and catheters in Europe, and compares indications, techniques and outcomes between different countries. "TAVI is a new technology which has been introduced in Europe but many question marks remain on which patients are most suitable," said Professor Di Mario. "We set up this registry because it was important to have a clear picture of clinical practice in Europe...