Health News

Cold-Chain Storage Critical To Pharma's Future

Date: Jun-28-2012
As temperature sensitive drugs become more prevalent, pharmaceutical companies are increasing reliance, and spending, on cold-chain storage, according to a report by business intelligence experts GBI Research. The new report* states that pharmaceutical firms around the world are investing more and more in this storage solution in response to the increase in treatments such as vaccines, biologics, specialty pharmaceuticals and personalized medicines that must be maintained at low temperatures. Blockbuster vaccines such as Prevnar 13 and Gardasil (with 2011 sales of $3.6 billion and $1...

Research 'Red Tape' Causing Life-Threatening Delays For Heart Patients

Date: Jun-28-2012
Open up access to NHS data, says nation's heart charity A damning report from the British Heart Foundation (BHF) today reveals how UK red tape is strangling medical research that could save lives. The charity, which funds around £100m of medical research every year, is calling for the NHS to open up its data to the scientists it funds at universities and hospitals across the UK...

Technique To Focus Light Inside Biological Tissue

Date: Jun-28-2012
Imagine if doctors could perform surgery without ever having to cut through your skin. Or if they could diagnose cancer by seeing tumors inside the body with a procedure that is as simple as an ultrasound. Thanks to a technique developed by engineers at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), all of that may be possible in the not-so-distant future. The new method enables researchers to focus light efficiently inside biological tissue...

Breakthrough In Understanding Alzheimer's Disease And Its Progress

Date: Jun-28-2012
The inexorable spread of Alzheimer's disease through the brain leaves dead neurons and forgotten thoughts in its wake. Researchers at Linkoping University in Sweden are the first to show how toxic proteins are transferred from neuron to neuron. Through experiments on stained neurons, the research team - under the leadership of Martin Hallbeck, associate professor of Pathology - has been able to depict the process of neurons being invaded by diseased proteins that are then passed on to nearby cells...

Endocrine Society Issues Statement Of Principles On Endocrine-Disrupting Chemicals And Public Health Protection

Date: Jun-28-2012
In a Statement of Principles just unveiled, The Endocrine Society proposes a streamlined definition for endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) and offers recommendations that will strengthen the ability of current screening programs to identify EDCs. An endocrine-disrupting chemical (EDC) is a chemical or mixture of chemicals in the environment, that can interfere with any aspect of hormone action...

When School-Based Nutrition Programs Involve Teachers, Staff, & Parents Kids Eat Healthier

Date: Jun-28-2012
Programs to promote healthy eating can substantially reduce the amount of unhealthy foods and beverages on school grounds if the programs focus on a school's specific needs and involve teachers, parents, staff, and administrators, according to a Kaiser Permanente Southern California study published in BioMed Central's open access journal International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity...

Potential Link Between Long-Term Calcium, Vitamin D Supplement Use And Increased Risk Of Kidney Stones

Date: Jun-28-2012
Calcium and vitamin D supplements are associated with high calcium levels in the blood and urine, which could increase the risk of kidney stones, a new study finds. The results were presented at The Endocrine Society's 94th Annual Meeting in Houston. "The use of calcium and vitamin D supplementation may not be as benign as previously thought," said principal investigator J. Christopher Gallagher, M.D., professor and director of the Bone Metabolism Unit at Creighton University Medical Center in Omaha, NE...

Monitoring Brain Function Using New Invasive Imaging Technique

Date: Jun-28-2012
A new video article in JoVE, the Journal of Visualized Experiments, describes a novel procedure to monitor brain function and aid in functional mapping of patients with diseases such as epilepsy. This procedure illustrates the use of pre-placed electrodes for cortical mapping in the brains of patients who are undergoing surgery to minimize the frequency of seizures. This technique, while invasive, provides real-time analysis of brain function at a much higher resolution than current technologies...

Higher Rates Of Childhood Obesity May Be Linked To Phthalate, An Environmental Chemical

Date: Jun-28-2012
Obese children show greater exposure than nonobese children to a phthalate, a chemical used to soften plastics in some children's toys and many household products, according to a new study, which found that the obesity risk increases according to the level of the chemical found in the bloodstream. The study was presented at The Endocrine Society's 94th Annual Meeting in Houston. The chemical, di-ethylhexyl phthalate (DEHP), is a common type of phthalate, a group of industrial chemicals that are suspected endocrine disruptors, or hormone-altering agents...

Patients With High Blood Calcium Levels Benefit From Monitored Vitamin D Therapy

Date: Jun-28-2012
Patients with a gland disorder that causes excessive calcium in their blood who also have vitamin D deficiency can safely receive vitamin D treatment without it raising their calcium levels, a new study has determined. The results with one-year follow-up were presented at The Endocrine Society's 94th Annual Meeting in Houston. Doctors often fear that raising vitamin D levels will further raise calcium blood levels in patients with primary hyperparathyroidism - in which glands in the neck produce too much of the parathyroid hormone, which controls calcium levels...