Health News

Early strokes leave many young adults with long-lasting disability

Date: Mar-03-2014
One-third of people who survive a stroke before age 50 are unable to live independently or need assistance with daily activities 10 years after their stroke, according to research in the American Heart Association journal Stroke.About 10 percent of strokes occur in 18- and 50-year-olds."Even if patients seem relatively well recovered with respect to motor function, there may still be immense 'invisible' damage that leads to loss of independence," said Frank-Erik de Leeuw, Ph.D.

Scientists discover new protein involved in lung cancer

Date: Mar-03-2014
Scientists from The University of Manchester - part of the Manchester Cancer Research Centre (MCRC) - have discovered a new protein that is involved in cancer and inflammation in lung tissue.The findings, published in the Journal of Biological Chemistry, could help in the development of new drugs to target lung cancer. Lung cancer is the most common cause of cancer death in Greater Manchester, with around 930 men and 790 women dying from the disease every year in the area.

Effective treatment for youth anxiety disorders has lasting benefit

Date: Mar-03-2014
A study published in the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry found that the majority of youth with moderate to severe anxiety disorders responded well to acute treatment with cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), medication (sertraline), or a combination of both. They maintained positive treatment response over a 6 month follow-up period with the help of monthly booster sessions.As part of the NIMH Child/Adolescent Anxiety Multimodal Study (CAMS), a group of researchers led by Dr.

Strategies for developing new antiviral flu drugs

Date: Mar-03-2014
New analysis of the influenza A virus by scientists at the University of Hertfordshire shows potential for developing new anti-viral drugs which are more likely to be universally effective against the flu virus originating from avian, swine or human virus strains.

Nanoparticles as drug carriers for malaria

Date: Mar-03-2014
A study by researchers from the Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC) and the Barcelona Centre for International Health Research (CRESIB) demonstrates that an antimalarial drug encapsulated in nanoparticles - chloroquine salts in polyamidoamine polymers - is significantly more effective when delivered in vivo than free (unencapsulated) drugs and may help to curb drug resistance.

Scripps Research institute scientists describe deadly immune 'storm' caused by emergent flu infections

Date: Mar-03-2014
Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) have mapped key elements of a severe immune overreaction - a "cytokine storm" - that can both sicken and kill patients who are infected with certain strains of flu virus.Their findings, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, also clarify the workings of a potent new class of anti-inflammatory compounds that prevent this immune overreaction in animal models.

Drug shortages continue to pose patient safety risks and challenge providers, according to survey

Date: Mar-03-2014
Drug shortages continue to challenge providers to properly care for patients while increasing America's healthcare costs, according to an updated Premier, Inc. survey. Among survey respondents, approximately 90 percent experienced at least one shortage in the last six months that may have caused a medication safety issue or error in patient care. This is comparable to results from a similar survey Premier conducted at the height of the drug shortage crisis in 2010.

Mental health problems mistaken for physical illness in children

Date: Mar-03-2014
Many children are admitted to general acute wards with mental health problems mistaken for physical disease.Somatic symptoms, such as abdominal pain, headaches, limb pain and tiredness, often mask underlying problems and result in the NHS spending money on investigations to eliminate wrongly diagnosed disease.A literature review published in Nursing Children and Young People examines how children's nurses can recognise such complaints and help to address them.

Pharma refuses to ensure access to lifesaving Hepatitis C treatment at global meeting

Date: Mar-03-2014
Thirty-eight activists from 22 countries joined forces at the first-ever Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) World Community Advisory Board (CAB) to demand equitable access to treatment for hepatitis C virus (HCV) from six multinational pharmaceutical companies. Yet AbbVie, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Gilead, Janssen, Merck, and Roche refused to provide a plan for equitable access to treatment for HCV, a curable infection that kills over 350,000 people each year.

InterMune® announces support for first ever European Patient Charter on idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF)

Date: Mar-03-2014
To mark international Rare Disease Day, InterMune has announced its support for the development of a European Patient Charter for people with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). IPF is an irreversible, progressive and ultimately fatal fibrotic interstitial lung disease,. IPF has a projected survival rate of only 20-40% after five years1, 2 making it more rapidly lethal than many cancers3, 4. The disease causes scarring of the lungs, irreversibly destroying normal lung architecture and hindering a person's ability to breathe.