Health News

Ipilimumab in advanced melanoma: added benefit for non-pretreated patients not proven

Date: Mar-21-2014
The German Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care (IQWiG) already assessed the added benefit of ipilimumab in advanced melanoma in 2012. A considerable added benefit was found for patients who had already received previous treatment. In the new dossier compiled by the drug manufacturer, the drug was now compared with the appropriate comparator therapy dacarbazine specified by the Federal Joint Committee (G-BA) also for non-pretreated patients.Again, the manufacturer claimed a noticeable gain in survival time and thus an added benefit.

Mapping neural activity in behaving zebrafish

Date: Mar-21-2014
In a study published in the scientific journal Neuron, neuroscientists at the Champalimaud Foundation, in collaboration with neuroscientists from Harvard University, describe the first activity maps at the resolution of single cells and throughout the entire brain of behaving zebrafish."This opens up new possibilities for studying neural circuits in the brain," says Michael Orger, principal investigator at the Champalimaud Neuroscience Programme.

Highly accurate noninvasive colorectal cancer screening tool

Date: Mar-21-2014
An Indiana University and Regenstrief Institute study of nearly 10,000 average-risk, asymptomatic men and women from 90 sites across the United States reports that a multi-target stool DNA test - a new noninvasive colorectal cancer screening tool that has not yet been approved for sale by the Food and Drug Administration - detects 92.3 percent of colon cancers, compared to only 73.8 percent of cancers detected by a fecal immunochemical test, the most commonly used noninvasive test today.

Breast cancer: lack of resources in low-income countries 'alarming'

Date: Mar-21-2014
A presentation to be held at the 9th European Breast Cancer Conference today will reveal the latest figures that provide insight into the global burden of breast cancer. And although there are some signs of positivity in reducing this burden, it is clear there is still a lot more work to be done.According to Prof. Peter Boyle, director of the University of Strathclyde Institute of Global Public Health at the International Prevention Research Institute (iPRI) in France, over 1.6 million cases of breast cancer are still being diagnosed each year.

Americans struggling to afford food are also skipping medications

Date: Mar-21-2014
A new study in The American Journal of Medicine investigates to what extent chronically ill adults who are struggling financially are taking less medication than they are prescribed or no medication at all.The study acknowledges that there is renewed optimism in the economy at present, but it finds that many Americans are still having trouble meeting basic needs. In a 2012 survey, 1 in 5 reported that they were struggling to pay for basic necessities, while 1 in 6 admitted they had no form of health insurance.

New lens design drastically improves kidney stone treatment

Date: Mar-21-2014
Duke engineers have devised a way to improve the efficiency of lithotripsy - the demolition of kidney stones using focused shock waves. After decades of research, all it took was cutting a groove near the perimeter of the shock wave-focusing lens and changing its curvature."I've spent more than 20 years investigating the physics and engineering aspects of shock wave lithotripsy," said Pei Zhong, the Anderson-Rupp Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science at Duke University.

Building heart tissue that beats

Date: Mar-21-2014
When a heart gets damaged, such as during a major heart attack, there's no easy fix. But scientists working on a way to repair the vital organ have now engineered tissue that closely mimics natural heart muscle that beats, not only in a lab dish but also when implanted into animals. They presented their latest results at the 247th National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society (ACS), the world's largest scientific society."Repairing damaged hearts could help millions of people around the world live longer, healthier lives," said Nasim Annabi, Ph.D.

Strongest evidence yet of two distinct human cognitive systems

Date: Mar-21-2014
Cognitive scientists may have produced the strongest evidence yet that humans have separate and distinct cognitive systems with which they can categorize, classify, and conceptualize their worlds."Our finding that there are distinct, discrete systems has implications for the fields of child development and cognitive aging," says lead researcher, cognitive psychologist J. David Smith, PhD, of the University at Buffalo.

Nearly half of pregnant low-income women do not want to be sent home from hospital after diagnosis of false labor, Baylor study shows

Date: Mar-21-2014
More than 40 percent of pregnant low-income women discharged from the hospital after a diagnosis of false or early labor did not want to be sent home, with the most common reasons being that they were in too much pain or lived too far away, according to a study by Baylor University's Louise Herrington School of Nursing (LHSON) and Parkland Health & Hospital System.Many of the women dissatisfied with being sent home stated that receiving specific written instructions about when to return to the hospital may have made them happier about going home.

An end to animal testing for drug discovery?

Date: Mar-21-2014
As some countries and companies roll out new rules to limit animal testing in pharmaceutical products designed for people, scientists are stepping in with a new way to test therapeutic drug candidates and determine drug safety and drug interactions - without using animals. The development of "chemosynthetic livers," which could dramatically alter how drugs are made, was presented at the 247th National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society (ACS), the world's largest scientific society.Mukund Chorghade, Ph.D.