Health News

More Americans Facing Blindness

Date: Jun-20-2012
A study from Johns Hopkins University is showing an increasing number of vision impairment problems and blindness in those over 40. The report released today by Prevent Blindness America and the National Eye Institute (NEI) shows a surprising 23% increase since 2000. The preliminary update to the 2007 Prevent Blindness America "Economic Impact of Vision Problems" report, pegs the problem as costing an extra $1 billion in medical care, informal care and health-related quality of life...

Sleep Regulation Influenced By Dopamine Levels

Date: Jun-20-2012
According to a study published in the journal PLoS Biology, dopamine, a neurotransmitter that helps controls the brain's reward and pleasure centers, also plays a role in sleep regulation. The study was conducted by researchers from CIBERNED (Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades Neurodegenerativas), dependant on the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness through the Carlos III Health Institute, and from the Faculty of Biology of the University of Barcelona. Dopamine is produced in the pineal gland...

Minimally Invasive Bariatric Procedures Safer And Cheaper Than Open Surgery

Date: Jun-20-2012
Laparoscopic Roux-en-Y gastric bypass procedures are safer and cheaper than open surgery procedures, researchers from Stanford University Medical Center reported in the journal Archives of Surgery. Open surgery involves making a large abdominal incision. The authors added that theirs is the first study to compare minimally invasive and open approaches to bariatric procedures at a national level. Bariatrics is a branch of medicine that deals with obesity - its causes, prevention, and treatment...

Peripheral Nervous System Damage - Therapy Shows Promise

Date: Jun-20-2012
According to a study published online by the Journal of Neuroscience, researchers have gained new insight into how Schwann cells protect and repair damage caused by trauma and disease. These findings could lead to future treatments for the repair and improvement of damage to the peripheral nervous system. Schwann cells insulate the nerve cells in the peripheral nervous system - all the nerves outside of the brain and spinal cord...

Moderate Drinking During Early Pregnancy Is OK

Date: Jun-20-2012
Mothers to be around the world can relax a little. A new Danish study showed that low and moderate drinking during early pregnancy does not have noticeable adverse effects on children after they are born. The study looked at neuropsychological differences in children age five, compared with their mothers drinking habits while pregnant. Researchers did note, however, that higher amounts of alcohol resulted in lower attention spans amongst five year olds, and since one drink often leads to another, expectant mothers still will need to be cautious about their drinking habits...

Malaria's Spread May Be Encouraged By Rising Type 2 Diabetes Prevalence

Date: Jun-20-2012
The mosquito's immune system is suppressed by human insulin, which could be bad news for the spread of malaria if the number of people in Africa with diabetes type 2 continues to grow at its present rate, researchers from the University of California, Davis, explained in the journal Infection and Immunity. The authors added that the malaria parasite spread is slowed down by the mosquitoes' immunological resistance.  First author, Nazzy Pakpour, said "A fair portion actually fight off the infection." Type 2 diabetes rates in Africa, as in the rest of the world, are rising rapidly...

Drug Delivery Technologies Show Promise Of Improving Clinical Outcomes For Patients At Partnership Opportunities In Drug Delivery Conference

Date: Jun-20-2012
In an effort to remove barriers and embrace collaborations to get therapeutics to patients faster, pharmaceutical and biotech companies will listen to more than 25 drug delivery technology presentations, ranging from novel delivery devices to formulation technologies at the 2nd Annual PODD: Partnership Opportunities in Drug Delivery conference, October 1-2, 2012, at the Boston Park Plaza hotel in Boston, MA...

When Does Breast Cancer Spread?

Date: Jun-20-2012
According to a study published in the Medical Journal of Australia, important information regarding prognosis can now be given to women who are diagnosed with early breast cancer. Dr Sarah Lord from the NHMRC Clinical Trials Center at the University of Sydney and her team note that in Australia, 1 in 10 women diagnosed with non-metastatic breast cancer will develop metastatic cancer within five years. However, this figure increases to 1 in 6 women if the cancer has metastasized to adjacent tissue or nearby lymph nodes...

Best Practices In Specialty Product Launch & Lifecycle Management Conference, 24-25 September 2012, Brussels

Date: Jun-20-2012
This will be a very unique event that will provide participants with a broad overview on the best practices towards launch excellence and lifecycle management of pharmaceutical products in developed and emerging markets. A thorough understanding will be achieved by understanding the perspectives of payers, regulatory agencies, key opinion leaders from academia, as well as learning from the case-study experiences from pharma industry experts who have successfully overcome challenges to launch innovative medicines in the global market...

Value Of Liver Cancer Screening Doubtful Says Danish Study

Date: Jun-20-2012
A new study from Denmark finds that people with alcoholic cirrhosis are no more likely to die from liver cancer than other people, despite their having a higher risk of the disease. The researchers conclude screening such patients is unlikely to save lives and would not be cost-effective. Lead author Dr Peter Jepsen of Aarhus University Hospital and the University of Copenhagen, and colleagues, write about their findings in the June issue of Annals of Internal Medicine...