Health News

Areas of the brain process read and heard language differently

Date: Mar-10-2014
The brain processes read and heard language differently. This is the key and new finding of a study at the University Department of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine at the MedUni Vienna, unveiled on the eve of the European Radiology Congress in Vienna. The researchers have been able to determine the affected areas of the brain using speech processing tests with the aid of functional magnetic resonance tomography (fMRT).

World first op gives new hope to heart failure patients - mitral heart valve replacement on a beating heart

Date: Mar-10-2014
Patients too ill to survive lifesaving open heart surgery have been given a lifeline as doctors at St Thomas' Hospital have used new technology to complete a mitral heart valve replacement on a beating heart for the first time in the world. The heart team at St Thomas' performed three transcatheter mitral heart valve implants in February and early March. This is an operation carried out under general anaesthetic in which the heart's damaged mitral valve is replaced with an artificial valve.

Twenty-one healthcare organizations join GPhA calling on FDA to reconsider proposed generic labeling rule

Date: Mar-10-2014
In anticipation of the March 13th deadline for comments on the FDA proposed rule on prescription generic drug labeling, today 21 health industry groups submitted a new letter to the FDA, raising concerns about the proposed regulation."Groups from every part of the healthcare supply chain agree that the Proposed Rule raises serious questions about patient safety, cost and access. That is why pharmacists, chain drug stores, distributors , pharmacy benefit managers, suppliers, healthcare advocacy groups, and others are joining us and saying, 'we can do better,'"said Ralph G.

Mutations in leukaemia gene linked to new childhood growth disorder

Date: Mar-10-2014
Mutations in a gene associated with leukaemia cause a newly described condition that affects growth and intellectual development in children, new research reports.A study led by scientists at The Institute of Cancer Research, London, identified mutations in the DNA methyltransferase gene, DNMT3A, in 13 children.All the children were taller than usual for their age, shared similar facial features and had intellectual disabilities. The mutations were not present in their parents, nor in 1,000 controls from the UK population.

Silicon implant and treadmill rehabilitation show promise in treating spinal cord injury

Date: Mar-10-2014
A combination of a silicon implant, which releases a drug, and treadmill rehabilitation shows promise for treating complete spinal injuries in rats. The results, published in the open access journal Molecular Brain, suggest that the combination worked better than the drug alone. The scientists were investigating the clinical applications of a semaphorin3A inhibitor to treat severed spinal cords in rats.

New indication for Xolair approved by the European Commission for treatment in chronic spontaneous urticaria patients

Date: Mar-10-2014
Novartis has announced that the European Commission (EC) has approved the use of Xolair® as an add-on therapy for the treatment of chronic spontaneous urticaria (CSU) in adult and adolescent (12 years and above) patients, who do not respond to the current mainstay of therapy, H1 antihistamines. The approved dose in CSU is 300 mg administered by subcutaneous injection once every four weeks. Prescribers are advised to periodically reassess the need for continued therapy. Clinical trial experience of treatment beyond six months in this indication is limited.

Device to prevent cancer patient hair loss being tested at UCLA

Date: Mar-10-2014
Research physicians at UCLA's Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center have begun a clinical trial on a new device that promises to reduce hair loss of patients receiving chemotherapy for breast cancer. The apparatus, called the DigniCap® System, works by cooling the patient's scalp. The clinical trial will be led at UCLA by Dr. Sara Hurvitz, assistant clinical professor of hematology/oncology and director of the breast cancer program.Often the emotional strain of a breast cancer diagnosis is made worse by the effects of the chemotherapy needed to treat the disease.

Adverse events in nursing facilities outpace hospitals

Date: Mar-10-2014
The Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (OIG) recently reported that 32% of Medicare beneficiaries who went to skilled nursing facilities (SNFs) and spent an average of 15.5 days in the SNF in August 2011 experienced an adverse event or other harm (Adverse Events in Skilled Nursing Facilities: National Incidence Among Medicare Beneficiaries, OEI-06-11-00370 (Feb. 2014)).

Targeted therapy with erlotinib may prolong survival of patients with cervical cancer

Date: Mar-10-2014
A new clinical study has found that erlotinib, a targeted antitumor agent, has promising potential to improve treatment for cervical cancer. Published early online in Cancer, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society, the results indicate that larger trials are warranted to determine whether the drug should become part of standard therapy for women with the disease.Nearly half a million new cases of cervical cancer are reported worldwide each year, making it the third most common cancer among females.

Half of pregnant women are passive smokers, due to their partners

Date: Mar-10-2014
As shown in a study carried out by researchers at 13 research centres in Asturias, Gipuzkoa, Sabadell and Valencia, over half of non-smoking pregnant women, 55%, are passive smokers.These women are under the effect of tobacco smoke to a considerable extent because a member of the household, their partner in particular, smokes at home. The result of the study has been published in the journal Science of the Total Environment.