Health News

Porn-Induced Headaches Suffered By Young Man

Date: Jun-30-2012
A single young man who was found to develop severe headaches five minutes into watching pornographic videos has been reported by researchers from India in the journal Archives of Behavior. The 24-year old professional, whose headaches were described as exploding holocranial headaches, had been complaining of porn-linked head pains for over two years, the authors added...

Affordable Care Act Supreme Court Decision Welcomed By American Medical Association

Date: Jun-30-2012
Jeremy A. Lazarus, MD, President of the American Medical Association (AMA), said that the AMA is pleased with the ruling by the Supreme Court to uphold health reform. Dr. Lazarus added that the AMA has always supported health insurance coverage for all US citizens. The decision means that millions of Americans who currently do not have coverage may now look forward to it to either "get healthy" or "stay healthy". President Barack Obama's healthcare law was upheld by the US Supreme Court on 28th June 2012 by a majority of 5 to 4...

Asthma Drug Flutiform® Clinical Trial Reaches Completion

Date: Jun-30-2012
SkyePharma PLC (LSE: SKP) announced last week that its development and marketing partner Kyorin Pharmaceutical Co, Ltd. ("Kyorin") has successfully completed the Phase III clinical studies for the Japanese development programme for KRP-108 (flutiform®), with both studies (A301 and A302) meeting their primary endpoints. This will enable the regulatory filing with the Japanese authorities to take place in Kyorin's fiscal year ending in March 2013 as planned.  Study A301 included patients suffering from asthma...

COPD Treatment Seebri® Breezhaler® Receives Positive CHMP Opinion

Date: Jun-30-2012
Vectura Group plc ("Vectura"; LSE: VEC) confirms the information released last week by Novartis, that the European Medicines Agency's Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) has adopted a positive opinion for Seebri® Breezhaler® (glycopyrronium /NVA237) 44 mcg delivered dose (50 mcg glycopyrronium per capsule), as a once-daily inhaled maintenance bronchodilator treatment to relieve symptoms in adult patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)...

Real-World Data Reinforce Clinical Efficacy Of Xiapex® In The Treatment Of Dupuytren's Contracture

Date: Jun-30-2012
New analysis of recurrence data at three years shows treatment response following Xiapex can be maintained at three years Real-world data from clinical practice, presented last week at the annual congress of the Federation of European Societies for Surgery of the Hand (FESSH), show that Xiapex® (collagenase clostridium histolyticum) improved the degree of Dupuytren's contracture by 36.6 ± 20.3 degrees (n=546 joints) with an 84% improvement in range of motion...

Watching Lipid Metabolism In Live Zebrafish To Learn About Fat

Date: Jun-30-2012
In mammals, most lipids (such as fatty acids and cholesterol) are absorbed into the body via the small intestine. The complexity of the cells and fluids that inhabit this organ make it very difficult to study in a laboratory setting. New research from Carnegie's Steven Farber, James Walters and Jennifer Anderson reveals a technique that allows scientists to watch lipid metabolism in live zebrafish. This method enabled them to describe new aspects of lipid absorption that could have broad applications for human health. Their work is published in Chemistry & Biology...

'Huntington's Disease In A Dish' Created To Enable Search For Treatment

Date: Jun-30-2012
Johns Hopkins researchers, working with an international consortium, say they have generated stem cells from skin cells from a person with a severe, early-onset form of Huntington's disease (HD), and turned them into neurons that degenerate just like those affected by the fatal inherited disorder. By creating "HD in a dish," the researchers say they have taken a major step forward in efforts to better understand what disables and kills the cells in people with HD, and to test the effects of potential drug therapies on cells that are otherwise locked deep in the brain...

Subjects With Visual Impairment Use 'Blindsight' - They Turn Their Eyes Towards Motion, Brightness And Color

Date: Jun-30-2012
The visual information from eyes is sent into the brain unconsciously even if you are not aware. One example of unconscious seeing is a phenomenon called "blindsight" [Subjects have no awareness, but their brains can see] in subjects with visual impairment, caused by damage to a part of the brain called the visual cortex. Although it is already reported that the patients with damage in the visual cortex, who were not aware of seeing, can walk and avoid obstacles, it was not proved whether this was really blindsight...

Researchers Generate Immature Nerve Cells

Date: Jun-30-2012
RUB biologists have deliberately transformed stem cells from the spinal cord of mice into immature nerve cells. This was achieved by changing the cellular environment, known as the extracellular matrix, using the substance sodium chlorate. Via sugar side chains, the extracellular matrix determines which cell type a stem cell can generate. "Influencing precursor cells pharmacologically so that they transform into a particular type of cell can help in cell replacement therapies in future" says Prof. Dr. Stefan Wiese, head of the Molecular Cell Biology work group...

The Most Successful Strategy For Diabetes Is Early, Intensive Treatment

Date: Jun-30-2012
Intensive early treatment of type 2 diabetes slows down progression of the disease by preserving the body's insulin-producing capacity, a UT Southwestern study has shown. "We can potentially change the course of this prevalent disease, which would represent a breakthrough," said Dr. Ildiko Lingvay, assistant professor of internal medicine and author of the study published online in Diabetes Care. "The intensive treatment regimen we propose is different from the stepwise approach recommended in standard guidelines." As one of the fastest-growing diseases in the U.S...