Health News

Finding Willing Doctors To Perform Vaginal Delivery After Caesarean Sometimes A Challenge

Date: May-15-2012
After a series of Caesarean sections and vaginal deliveries, Melissa Lunsford wants a vaginal delivery for her fourth child. To find a willing doctor or hospital that would enable a vaginal delivery for her fourth pregnancy proved to be a challenge. An advocate of vaginal births after Caesarean section (VBAC) from the Ben Taub General Hospital, one of the top VBAC hospitals in Texas says that many women share Mrs. Lunsford's plight. Dr. Christina Marie Davidson, chief, Obstetrics and Gynecology Services at the Ben Taub General Hospital, and assistant professor at the Department of Obstetrics...

Proper Radiotherapy Targeting While The Patient Is Breathing

Date: May-15-2012
Radiotherapists are constantly battling in order to administer the correct dose of radiotherapy, as respiratory movement during radiotherapy poses a certain risk that a tumor receives either a dose that is insufficient, or the surrounding healthy tissue is being subjected to a potentially toxic over-dose. Dr. Amira Ziouèche presented a study at the 31st conference of the European Society for Radiotherapy and Oncology (ESTRO 31), which reveals a novel technique of how Deep Inspiration Breath Hold (DIBH) protects the heart during irradiation of left-side breast cancer tumors. The technique can...

Tenofovir Safe For HIV-Positive Pregnant Mothers

Date: May-15-2012
Tenofovir, the anti-HIV drug, is safe to use during pregnancy according to a new study published in PloS Medicine. The researchers, led by Diana Gibb from the MRC Clinical Trials Unit in London, UK, found that the drug does not increase the risk of kidney problems, birth defects or growth abnormalities in infants born to HIV-positive women in Africa.  The team examined data from the Development of AntiRetroviral Therapy of Africa (DART) trial in order to determine what affect Antiretroviral therapy (ART - a combination of anti-HIV drugs) had on infants born to Ugandan and Zimbabwean...

Global Medical Research Urgently Requires International Treaty

Date: May-15-2012
In this week's PLoS Medicine, a team of international experts argue that in order to improve the fairness, coherence, sustainability, and efficiency of medical research worldwide, an international treaty is required. A research and development (R&D) treaty should be based on the understanding that a politically and financially sustainable system for producing medical research will need equal contributions from all, as well as equal benefit sharing for all, according to Suerie Moon from the Harvard Global Health Institute, Jorge Bermudez from Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Rio de Janeiro, and Ellen 't...

Global Health R&D Needs To Be Harmonized

Date: May-15-2012
In this week's PloS Medicine, a team of experts recommend that an international convention on research and development (R&D) should be adopted by the World Health Assembly. According to the experts, who advise the World Health Organization (WHO) on R&D, the convention will join member states to action, as well as catalyze new information for diseases that predominantly affect individuals in developing countries. John-Arne Røttingen and Claudia Chamas, chairpersons of the expert group, have concluded that the (CEWG) Consultative Expert Working Group's R&D recommendations and reports will prompt...

Staggered Cancer Drug Delivery Better Than All In One Go

Date: May-15-2012
The fact that treating cancer patients with multiple drugs often results in better outcomes than a single drug treatment is long been known amongst the medical profession. However, a MIT study published in the May 11 issue of Cell has just demonstrated that the order and timing of administering drugs may also have a dramatic impact. The study revealed that staggering doses of erlotinib and doxorubicin, two approved medicines for the treatment of cancer, resulted in a dramatic improvement of killing a particular malignant type of breast cancer cells. Research leader Michael Yaffe, the David H....

The Pros And Cons Of Inducing Labor

Date: May-15-2012
Researchers have found that inducing labor after 37 weeks of pregnancy can lower the risk of perinatal mortality without increasing caesarean section rates. However, babies born to mothers who are induced are more likely to be admitted to a special care baby unit. The study is published in BMJ (British Medical Journal).  Women over 41 weeks pregnant are often induced by physicians in order to lower the risk of perinatal mortality. In addition, inducing labour after 37 weeks also lowers the risk of complications, especially when a mother has existing health problems like hypertension. In this...

2nd Annual Market & Patient Access In Latin America Conference, 14-15 August 2012, Brazil

Date: May-15-2012
Understanding and optimizing market access strategies to penetrate the exciting and diverse South & Central America This event will provide participants with both a broad overview and specific detail of the market access, pricing and reimbursement environments in key Latin American countries such as Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Colombia, Venezuela, Chile, Panama and Costa Rica. A thorough understanding will be achieved by hearing the perspectives of payers, government officials and key opinion leaders from academia, as well as learning from the case-study experiences from pharma industry...

Late Phase Leaders Forum, 8-10 October 2012, Vienna, Austria

Date: May-15-2012
Generating real-world data through late phase clinical and observational studies to achieve clinical, pharmacovigilance and marketing objectives 3 EVENTS IN ONE: Late Phase Leaders Forum (2 days) Comparative Effectiveness Research Leaders Day (1 day) Late Phase Research for Medical Devices (1 day) Day 1&2: October 8th & 9th - Late Phase Leaders Forum This event will be a 2 day forum, structured to provide the latest and most value-adding, real-life experiences in post-marketing studies, including their benefits and challenges. The event will be focused on the strategic use of late phase...

World Drug Repositioning Congress 2012, 11-13 September, London, UK

Date: May-15-2012
Drug development strategies for indication expansion and lifecycle extension 11 - 13 September 2012, Jumeirah Carlton Tower, London, UK As the cost and time of drug development persistently increases, drug repositioning is becoming an increasingly important strategy for large pharma and small biotech alike to successfully innovate in a more cost-effective environment. The 2012 World Drug Repositioning Congress is Europe's only commercially orientated conference that provides key technical and strategic solutions to challenges faced when adopting drug repositioning into your R&D efforts. 10...