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 Back to Medical News Today Archives
Medical News Today: 04-24-2006
Concerns about the use of letrozole, an easy-to-use and inexpensive drug for the treatment of infertility, appear to be unfounded, according to a major study co-authored by Dr. Togas Tulandi, Director of Division of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility, McGill University Health Centre (MUHC) and Chief of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the Jewish General Hospital, and Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at McGill University... click link for more info.
Women who have undergone abortion but oppose its legality say their numbers are increasing, especially after some of them advocated for approval of a South Dakota law (HB 1215) that bans the procedure except to save the life of the woman, the Washington Times reports. The South Dakota Abortion Task Force before the ban was approved collected statements from thousands of women who had undergone the procedure and said it caused them emotional pain and physical damage and should not be legal, according to the Times... click link for more info.
According to recent research carried out at the University of Pennsylvania, USA, a mutant gene causes Fibrodysplasia Ossificans Progressiva (FOP), a rare incurable disorder which gradually turns muscles, ligaments and tendons into bone. A patient with FOP eventually becomes enveloped in a second skeleton and cannot move... click link for more info.
Researchers have now carefully crafted a combination therapy that reverses recent-onset type 1 diabetes in 2 animal models of disease. By combining an oral with an intranasal therapy for type 1 diabetes that have individually shown beneficial, but limited, effects in previous studies, Matthias von Herrath and colleagues at the La Jolla Institute for Allergy and Immunology deliver a one-two punch, and prove that, in this case, 2 treatments work together better than one... click link for more info.
The NIH budget likely will decrease by 3.8% in fiscal year 2007 after an adjustment for inflation, according to an editorial published on Thursday in the New England Journal of Medicine, the Washington Times reports. For FY 2007, the Bush administration has proposed a $28.6 billion NIH budget, a 0... click link for more info.
According to a new study, too many breast cancer survivors, over 67% of them, are not getting the recommended annual mammogram for the five years after their first diagnosis. Breast cancer survivors have triple the risk of cancer recurrence in the other breast. According to study lead author Dr... click link for more info.
A major finding, which represents an important step toward a potential cure for type 1 (insulin-dependent) diabetes, has been made by a research team at the La Jolla Institute for Allergy & Immunology (LIAI). The team, led by Matthias von Herrath, M.D., an internationally recognized expert on the molecular basis of type 1 diabetes, used a combinatorial treatment approach in laboratory mice and found it reversed recent onset type 1 diabetes in the majority of animals tested... click link for more info.
The International Herald Tribune on Wednesday examined how bilateral foreign trade agreements between the U.S. and other countries "pivotal to the fight" against HIV/AIDS could affect access to generic drugs used to treat the disease. Several developing countries fighting HIV/AIDS epidemics, including six in Central America, have signed FTAs with the U... click link for more info.
Microbicides may offer women, whose partners refuse to wear condoms, protection from HIV infection, according to speakers at Microbicides 2006, a conference in Cape Town, South Africa, which began yesterday. Over 1,000 researchers who are attending the conference say more research is needed on vaginal microbicides for protection against HIV... click link for more info.
The Rush Institute for Healthy Aging at Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, and the International Academy on Nutrition and Aging are co-sponsoring an international and interdisciplinary conference on nutrition and Alzheimer's disease/cognitive decline to be held at the InterContinental Hotel in Chicago on May 1-2, 2006... click link for more info.
The Connecticut Stem Cell Research Advisory Committee, which is authorized to distribute state funding for human embryonic stem cell research projects, has postponed its meetings until the state Legislature addresses concerns raised by the Office of State Ethics about the committee's composition, a state Department of Public Health spokesperson said Tuesday, the Hartford Courant reports (Hathaway, Hartford Courant, 4/19)... click link for more info.
Rush cardiologists are hoping that transplanted stem cells can regenerate damaged heart muscle in those who experience a first heart attack. The study involves an intravenous infusion of adult mesenchymal stem cells from healthy donor bone marrow that might possibly reverse damage to heart tissue.A unique benefit of the stem cell product is that it is given to patients through a standard IV line... click link for more info.
President Bush on Wednesday "recess appointed" John Palmer and Thomas Saving as public trustees on the Medicare and Social Security board of trustees and ended a dispute with the Senate over their reappointment to the positions, Dow Jones reports (Watts, Dow Jones, 4/19). Palmer, a former dean of the Maxwell School of Syracuse University, and Saving, an economist at Texas A&M University, have served as public trustees on the board since 2000... click link for more info.
One of the US National Institutes of Health's clinical trials programmes has had substantial returns on investment in terms of public health gains, according to an article in this week's issue of The Lancet.Few attempts have been made to systematically evaluate whether government investment in medical research has worthwhile returns in terms of gains for public health... click link for more info.
FDA has issued an "approvable" letter to Medford, N.Y.-based Chembio Diagnostics for its rapid HIV tests SURE CHECK HIV 1/2 and HIV 1/2 STAT-PAK as long as certain conditions are met, the company announced Wednesday, the United Press International reports (United Press International, 4/19). The products detect HIV-1 and HIV-2 antibodies and give results in about 15 minutes... click link for more info.
Two blood tests for diagnosing latent tuberculosis (TB) infection can individually produce fewer false-positive results than the standard tuberculin skin test, according to a study in this week's issue of The Lancet.Eradication of TB in low-prevalence countries is a realistic aim. Diagnosis and treatment of people with latent infection, who are a reservoir for future cases, will be key... click link for more info.
The Arizona Republic on Wednesday examined how a "string of vetoes" by Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano (D) is likely in the November gubernatorial election to make abortion "the issue of perhaps greatest contrast between the incumbent and challenger" (Benson, Arizona Republic, 4/19). Napolitano on April 11 vetoed a bill (HB 2254) that would have required physicians to inform women seeking abortion after 20 weeks' gestation that the fetus can feel pain even if the women take pain medication during the procedure (Kaiser Daily Women's Health Policy Report, 4/13)... click link for more info.
Creative public-health approaches need to be developed to improve folic acid intake in women and prevent neural tube defects, state the authors of a Review in this week's issue of The Lancet.Despite worldwide public-health campaigns recommending daily synthetic folic acid in the period immediately before and after conception to reduce neural tube defects, many women are not following these recommendations... click link for more info.
Forty-eight senators on Wednesday sent a letter to Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) asking him to address legislation that would extend the current May 15 deadline for enrollment in the Medicare prescription drug benefit, the Boston Globe reports. The letter, which was written by Sens. Bill Nelson (D-Fla... click link for more info.
Doctors in this week's BMJ express concern over the apparent increase in preterm births.Research from Denmark, published on bmj.com in February, found that preterm deliveries increased by 22% from 1995 to 2004. Even among low risk women aged 20-40, there was a 51% increase in early delivery.The study also showed that assisted conceptions, multiple pregnancies, and elective deliveries increased during this time and were associated with early birth... click link for more info.
The Philadelphia Inquirer on Thursday examined the departure of nurses from African nations to seek higher salaries in more developed countries, a situation that is making it more difficult for African nations to treat diseases such as HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis. Nurses, who are "on the front lines of Africa's various health crises, ... click link for more info.
Replikins, Ltd. has discovered of agroup of virus peptides that predict whether a virus is rapidly replicatingand whether it is likely to spread. The company has designed software whichcan now detect and count these proteins which may allow scientists tobetter predict viral epidemics, such as the H5N1 (avian) flu... click link for more info.
A study released today by TheLewin Group asserts that there is tremendous room for expansion ofcapitation contracting in the Medicaid program, and that optimal use ofthis model would yield savings of $83 billion across ten years. "We engaged Lewin to obtain an objective assessment of the potentialfor savings," noted Thomas Johnson, Executive Director of the MedicaidHealth Plans of America, one of the study's co-sponsors... click link for more info.
R.J. ReynoldsTobacco Company today filed suit in U.S. District Court for the WesternDistrict of Washington (Tacoma Division) to overturn a recently enactedstate law prohibiting tobacco companies from sampling products to adultsmokers in bars, nightclubs and other adult-only venues. In its court filing, R... click link for more info.
In a ruling filed Friday (21 April, 2006), SuperiorCourt Judge Bonnie Sabraw found all claims made by the People's Advocateand the National Tax Limitation Foundation against Proposition 71 (TheCalifornia Stem Cell Research and Cures Act) and the California Institutefor Regenerative Medicine to be unfounded... click link for more info.
A Bibb County, Georgia, juryawarded the family of James Davis $1.16 million in compensatory damages onThursday after he died in September 2002 from an infection stemming fromfalls and negligent care at North Macon Health Care Nursing Home in Macon,Georgia. The family chose to let their loved one die with dignity insteadof undergoing an amputation and putting in a permanent feeding tube, adecision defense attorneys criticized during the trial... click link for more info.
UK targets to reduce health inequalities could end up improving the health of the richest fastest, warn researchers in this week's BMJ.The UK government's health inequalities policy aims to improve the health of the poorest fastest. But the way health gaps are currently measured gives a misleading impression of progress, argue health economist Allan Low and Director of public health, Anne Low... click link for more info.
Opponents of a House-approved national food safety bill (HR 4167), including Sens. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) and Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), say the bill would override stricter state laws, such as one in California requiring warning labels for products that can cause birth defects or cancer, the Contra Costa Times reports (Hannah, Contra Costa Times, 4/20)... click link for more info.
Two studies in the April 2006 Cell report new details of the "genetic program" that affords embryonic stem cells the flexibility to give rise to any cell type in the body. Both groups identified mechanisms by which the embryonic stem cells of mice or humans keep from going down any one particular developmental path--that of muscle or nervous tissue, for example--while remaining "poised for activation... click link for more info.
IL-4 is expressed by many types of immune cells and it can act on a variety of other immune as well as non-immune cells to modulate the immune response. This broad range of effects necessitates strict control of IL-4 expression as inappropriate IL-4 expression is associated with allergic disease, autoimmunity, and an inability to clear some infections... click link for more info.
Within the kidney, thousands of structures known as glomeruli filter harmful or unnecessary substances out of blood and into the urine. During the condition known as focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS), scar tissue forms in segments of some of the glomeruli. This results in the persistent release of protein from the urine and progression to renal failure... click link for more info.
Inflammatory skin disorders result in many changes to the skin surface, one of which is an impairment of the epidermal barrier that protects the body from an often hostile environment. Now, in a study appearing online in April, in advance of print publication in the May issue of the Journal of Clinical Investigation, Julia Segre and colleagues from the National Human Genome Research Institute in Bethesda, Maryland report that the converse is also true: that damage to the skin surface actually promotes development of the chronic inflammatory condition psoriasis, and that the protein connexin 26 is involved in this process... click link for more info.
In the lore of marathoners and extreme athletes, lactic acid is poison, a waste product that builds up in the muscles and leads to muscle fatigue, reduced performance and pain.Some 30 years of research at the University of California, Berkeley, however, tells a different story: Lactic acid can be your friend... click link for more info.
A team of scientists announced today a critical step on the path of realizing the promise of embryonic stem (ES) cells for medicine. As described in the April issue of Cell, the researchers have discovered unique molecular imprints coupled to DNA in mouse ES cells that help explain the cells' rare ability to form almost any body cell type... click link for more info.
When a group of people tries to decide how to carry out an important task, it is sometimes said that the pivotal discussions do not happen in large, well-attended meetings, but in one-on-one conversations around the water cooler.It turns out that among individual neurons in our brains, the same may hold true... click link for more info.
A comprehensive review of all phase III clinical trials supported by one Federal agency finds that, estimated conservatively, the economic benefit in the United States from just eight of these trials exceeded $15 billion over the course of 10 years. The study also found that new discoveries from the trials were responsible for an estimated additional 470,000 healthy years of life... click link for more info.
According to a new survey, one quarter of English children are obese. The study, carried out by the Health and Social Care Information Centre looked at the height, weight and ages of 2,000 children. In 1995 15% of 11-15 year-old boys were obese, in 2004 the number jumped to 24%. During the same period the percentage of obese girls rose from 15% to 25%... click link for more info.
Though publishing only its fourth issue, Alzheimer's & Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer's Association continues to feature valuable new data, and stimulate thought and discussion with provocative perspectives on key issues, such as alternative theories for the cause of Alzheimer's.Included in the journal's April 2006 issue are: Screening - A call for consideration of dementia risk factors in individuals at age 50, with routine yearly screening after age 75... click link for more info.
If someone is injured in an automobile collision or is severely burned, emergency room physicians across the country would probably take similar steps to stabilize each condition. But subsequent treatment in the intensive care unit or operating room is less well established and may vary significantly... click link for more info.
Currently that genetic test correctly detects HCM only 40 percent of the time. But coupled with imaging information, the detection power of the test nearly doubles, to 79 percent, says Steve Ommen, M.D., director of Mayo's HCM Clinic and co-lead investigator of the Mayo Clinic research team.These results suggest the combined approach of an echocardiography-guided genetic test may be more helpful for families undergoing genetic counseling, and more cost-effective to perform, he says... click link for more info.
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