Health News

Investigational Hormone Replacement Promising Treatment For Rare Disorder

Date: Jun-26-2012
An investigational parathyroid hormone replacement effectively treated a rare disorder characterized by low calcium and high phosphate levels in the blood, a new study finds. The results were presented at The Endocrine Society's 94th Annual Meeting in Houston. The parathyroid hormone replacement is called recombinant human parathyroid hormone, or rhPTH(1-84). It is produced in the lab using a replica of the human parathyroid hormone gene. rhPTH(1-84) is identical to the naturally occurring parathyroid hormone and acts to regulate calcium levels in the same way...

Add Exercise To Dieting To Improve Insulin Sensitivity

Date: Jun-26-2012
Obese older adults can reduce their chance of developing the metabolic syndrome by losing weight through dieting alone, but adding exercise to a weight loss program has even more benefit, a new study finds. The results, presented at The Endocrine Society's 94th Annual Meeting in Houston, show that a combination of diet-induced weight loss and frequent exercise almost doubled the improvement in insulin sensitivity compared with dieting alone...

Women Eating Significantly Less Salt Than Men

Date: Jun-26-2012
New figures from the Department of Health show the nation's average salt intake is continuing to decrease slowly - with women consuming significantly less salt than men. Survey results reveal the mean estimated salt intake for adults aged 19 to 64 years was 8.1g per day. The findings showed the intake for men was 9.3g per day, while for women it was 6.8g. The Department of Health calculated the figures by measuring the amount of sodium in the urine of more than 500 people...

Augmenting Blood System Protein Pathway Protects Against Radiation Poisoning

Date: Jun-26-2012
New research in Nature Medicine shows that boosting a protein pathway in the body's blood making system protects mice from otherwise fatal radiation poisoning.   Scientists in the multi-institutional study - posted online by the journal on June 24 - say their findings open the potential for new treatments against radiation toxicity during cancer therapy or environmental exposures - such as in a nuclear explosion or accident...

New Accu-Chek® Mobile System Launches In UK And Wins International Design Award

Date: Jun-26-2012
More people with diabetes now have the opportunity to use strip-free testing Roche in the UK has launched the next generation of the popular Accu-Chek® Mobile blood glucose monitoring system. The new Accu-Chek Mobile system offers a smart and sleek design allowing it to be carried in any handbag or pocket, making it easier for more people with diabetes using insulin to test their blood glucose levels at any time, no matter where they are...

Moderate Drinkers Tend To Have Higher Quality Of Life Compared To Abstainers

Date: Jun-26-2012
Data from a nationally representative sample of 5,404 community-dwelling Canadians ages 50 and older at baseline (1994/1995) was used to estimate the effects of alcohol drinking patterns on quality of life when subjects were aged =50 years and after a follow-up period. Health-related quality of life was assessed with the Health Utilities Index Mark 3 (HUI3). The authors report that most participants showed stable alcohol-consumption patterns over 6 years. Detailed information was available on the participants alcohol consumption...

Protein That Binds To Growth Factor Receptor, Priming It For Normal Function, Likely Linked To 4 Cancers

Date: Jun-26-2012
Once considered merely a passive link between proteins that matter, Grb2 - pronounced "grab2" - actually lives up to its nickname with its controlling grip on an important cell signaling pathway, scientists at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center report in Cell. "Grb2 is a switch that controls normal signaling through the fibroblast growth factor receptor (FGFR)," said the paper's senior author, John Ladbury, Ph.D., professor in MD Anderson's Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology...

Muscular Dystrophy Therapies Reviewed

Date: Jun-26-2012
Leading muscular dystrophy researcher Dean Burkin, of the University of Nevada School of Medicine summarizes the impact of a new protein therapeutic, MG53, for the treatment of Duchenne muscular dystrophy in an article published this week in Science Translational Medicine...

Lyrica Approved For Managing Neuropathic Pain In Spinal Cord Injury

Date: Jun-26-2012
First and Only Treatment Option Approved in the U.S. for Pain Condition Affecting 40 Percent of Spinal Cord Injury Patients Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE) announced last week that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the use of Lyrica® (pregabalin) capsules CV for the management of neuropathic pain associated with spinal cord injury. Lyrica received a priority review designation for this new indication from the FDA...

Treatment With Brilinta (Ticagrelor) For 12 Months Is Cost-Effective Versus Generic Clopidogrel, Europe New Data Shows

Date: Jun-26-2012
AstraZeneca announced last week that full data results of the PLATO health economics substudy, which have been published online in the European Heart Journal, demonstrate that even at a higher drug cost and incremental cost per acute coronary syndromes (ACS) patient, ticagrelor (known as BRILIQUE in the European Union and BRILINTA elsewhere) numerically lowered non-drug healthcare costs versus generic clopidogrel and is cost-effective...