Health News

New licensed treatment for Type 2 Diabetes launched in the UK with Cardiovascular Outcomes Evidence

Date: Mar-03-2014
Vipidia (alogliptin) is a new DPP-4i for the management of Type 2 diabetes, launched in the UK with CV safety outcomes.1 Vipidia and the fixed dose combination product Vipdomet® (alogliptin and metformin) are now available in the UK. Vipidia is licensed for the treatment of Type 2 diabetes mellitus in adults aged 18 years and older to improve glycaemic control in combination with other glucose-lowering medicinal products including insulin, when these, together with diet and exercise, do not provide adequate glycaemic control.

Detecting levels of antibiotics in blood paves the way to individualised treatment

Date: Mar-03-2014
A new methodology for rapidly measuring the level of antibiotic drug molecules in human blood serum has been developed, paving the way to applications within drug development and personalised medicine.The study, published in Nature Nanotechnology, describes the exploitation of a sensor for measuring the concentration of effective antibiotics in blood, giving an indication of their efficiency against disease causing pathogens, for instance multidrug resistant hospital "superbugs".

Acanthamoeba keratitis: A rare infectious eye disease is targeted by a new drug treatment under development by a European consortium

Date: Mar-03-2014
ODAK is an industry led FP7 project which aims to develop a safe and effective treatment for a rare eye disease Acanthamoeba keratitis (AK), a devastating and severely debilitating condition which can lead to blindness and in over 85% of cases associated with contact lens wearing.AK is caused by a common protozoan (Acanthamoeba spp.) infecting the cornea which is extremely difficult to treat because of the pathogens resistance to antimicrobial therapy. It affects 1 in 100,000 people in the EU.

Scientists uncover trigger for most common form of intellectual disability and autism

Date: Mar-03-2014
A new study led by Weill Cornell Medical College scientists shows that the most common genetic form of mental retardation and autism occurs because of a mechanism that shuts off the gene associated with the disease. The findings, published in Science, also show that a drug that blocks this silencing mechanism can prevent fragile X syndrome - suggesting similar therapy is possible for 20 other diseases that range from mental retardation to multisystem failure.

Link discovered between pollutants and certain complications of obesity

Date: Mar-03-2014
A team of researchers at the IRCM in Montréal led by Rémi Rabasa-Lhoret, in collaboration with Jérôme Ruzzin from the University of Bergen in Norway, found a link between a type of pollutants and certain metabolic complications of obesity. Their breakthrough, published online by The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, could eventually help improve the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of cardiometabolic risk associated with obesity, such as diabetes, hypertension and cardiovascular disease.

Protective mutations for type 2 diabetes pinpointed by study

Date: Mar-03-2014
An international team led by researchers at the Broad Institute and Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) has identified mutations in a gene that can reduce the risk of developing type 2 diabetes, even in people who have risk factors such as obesity and old age. The results focus the search for developing novel therapeutic strategies for type 2 diabetes; if a drug can be developed that mimics the protective effect of these mutations, it could open up new ways of preventing this devastating disease.Type 2 diabetes affects over 300 million people worldwide and is rising rapidly in prevalence.

Novel therapeutic targets discovered for Huntington's disease

Date: Mar-03-2014
A study led by researchers at Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) provides novel insight into the impact that genes may have on Huntington's disease (HD). The study, published online in PLOS Genetics, identified specific small segments of RNA (called micro RNA or miRNA) encoded in DNA in the human genome that are highly expressed in HD. Micro RNAs are important because they regulate the expression of genes.

Math anxiety factors into understanding genetically modified food messages

Date: Mar-03-2014
People who feel intimidated by math may be less able to understand messages about genetically modified foods and other health-related information, according to researchers."Math anxiety, which happens when people are worried or are concerned about using math or statistics, leads to less effort and decreases the ability to do math," said Roxanne Parrott, Distinguished Professor of Communication Arts and Sciences and Health Policy and Administration. "Math anxiety also has been found to impair working memory.

Important economic and social benefits may be lost if funds for basic research are cut

Date: Mar-03-2014
Scoffing at or cutting funds for basic biological research on unusual animal adaptations from Gila monster venom to snail sex, though politically appealing to some, is short-sighted and only makes it more likely that important economic and social benefits will be missed in the long run, say a group of evolutionary biologists at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

Vitamin D deficiency occurs in an early stage in type 1 diabetes

Date: Mar-03-2014
Low levels of vitamin D are commonly found in people with type 1 diabetes. But even children who have multiple positive islet autoantibodies without manifest type 1 diabetes have lower levels of vitamin D in their blood. This does not appear, however, to influence the progression of the disease from pre-diabetes to diabetes, according to scientists from the Helmholtz Zentrum München and the Technical University of Munich in the specialist journal Diabetologia.Vitamin D is known as a major regulator of calcium levels and bone metabolism. Furthermore, it also influences the immune system.