Body | Page 4398 | Science Codex

Covering inexpensive drugs could increase quality of life after heart attack

Toronto, Ont., November 30, 2009 ― Providing free medications to people after heart attack could add years to patients' lives at a relatively low cost for provincial governments, according to a new study by researchers at St. Michael's Hospital in Toronto.

"Many patients are not benefiting from effective prescribed medications because they simply don't fill their prescriptions," says Dr. Irfan Dhalla, the study's lead author and a physician at St. Michael's Hospital. "There is growing evidence that having to pay for medications out of pocket is a major reason."

Sugary soda linked to higher risk of gestational diabetes

New Orleans, LA – Researchers have found for the first time that drinking more than 5 servings of sugar- sweetened cola a week prior to pregnancy appears to significantly elevate the risk of developing diabetes during pregnancy. Liwei Chen, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor of Epidemiology at LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans School of Public Health, is the lead author of the paper, A Prospective Study of Pre-Gravid Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Consumption and the Risk of Gestational Diabetes Mellitus, that will be published in the December 2009 issue of Diabetes Care.

IQWiG presents a method for evaluating the relation between cost and benefit

After nearly two years of development and extensive discussion in the scientific community, the Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care (IQWiG) presents its methods for evaluating the relation between cost and benefit. The Institute can now apply these methods when working on certain commissions awarded by the Federal Joint Committee (G-BA). The method developed by IQWiG is suitable for passing on recommendations to the GKV-Spitzenverband [National Association of Health Insurance Funds] for establishing maximum reimbursable prices.

Scientists gain new understanding of disease-causing bacteria

A team of scientists from The Forsyth Institute, the University of Connecticut Health Center, the CDC and the Wadsworth Center, have used state-of-the-art technology to elucidate the molecular architecture of Treponema pallidum, the bacterium which causes syphilis. The previously unknown detailed structure of the bacteria can now be shown in three dimensions. This provides the first real image of the pathogen and reveals previously unknown features, which may help fight the spread of syphilis.

Montreal Heart Institute performs its first implant of new prosthesis for cardiac arrhythmia

Montreal, November 30, 2009 – A multidisciplinary team from the Montreal Heart Institute (MHI), which is affiliated to the Université de Montréal, performed its first catheter implantation of a new prosthesis (Amptlazer® Cardiac Plug) closing the appendage of the left atrium of the heart, which will have the effect of preventing the formation of blood clots and avoiding open-heart surgery. This is excellent news for patients suffering from atrial fibrillation, the most common form of cardiac arrhythmia, affecting at least 5 percent of Canadians over the age of 70.

Scientists get a close up of bacteria's toxic pumps

Scientists are building a clearer image of the machinery employed by bacteria to spread antibiotic resistance or cause diseases such as whooping cough, peptic stomach ulcers and legionnaires' disease.

The spread of antibiotic resistance amongst bacteria is a growing problem, making certain diseases increasingly difficult to treat. New strategies for attacking the bacteria are needed, yet virtually no novel-mechanism antibiotics are currently in development.

Clinical trials launched for treating most aggressive brain tumor with personalized cell vaccines

The University of Navarra Hospital has launched a series of clinical trials in order to assess the efficacy of an immunotherapy treatment. This approach involves the application of personalised vaccines —produced from healthy and tumour cells from the patient him or herself— and designed to combat glioblastomas, one of the most aggressive and frequent malignant tumours. The new therapy is administered to participating patients combined with the standard, first-line treatment involving surgical extirpation of the tumour followed by radiotherapy and chemotherapy treatment with temozolomide.

Sugar-filled holiday diets turn on fat storing genes, researchers say

Those extra helpings of gravy and dessert at the holiday table are even less of a help to your waistline than previously thought. According to a new research report recently appearing online in The FASEB Journal (http://www.fasebj.org), a diet that is high in fat and in sugar actually switches on genes that ultimately cause our bodies to store too much fat.

Jefferson researchers identify new mechanism of blocking HIV-1 from entering cells

(PHILADELPHIA) Publishing in PLoS Pathogens, researchers at from the Kimmel Cancer Center at Jefferson have found a novel mechanism by which drugs block HIV-1 from entering host cells.

'The pill' for men: scientists find hormonal on-and-off switch for male fertility

A new research report published in the December 2009 print issue of The FASEB Journal could one day give men similar type of control over their fertility that women have had since the 1960s. That's because scientists have found how and where androgenic hormones work in the testis to control normal sperm production and male fertility. This opens a promising avenue for the development of "the pill" for men. The discovery also offers hope to those who cannot have children because of low sperm counts.

Artificial refuges created to save the reptiles of Doñana

The Aznalcóllar mining accident more than 11 years ago, which contaminated part of the Doñana National Park, also damaged reptile habitat there. Now a team of Spanish researchers, who have been studying the reptile community since 2000, have shown, by setting up artificial refuges, that the disappearance of natural refuges had a serious impact on lizard and snake numbers.

New stem cell technology developed at Hebrew University

Jerusalem, November 30, 2009 – A novel technology involving use of stem cells, developed by Hebrew University of Jerusalem researchers, has been applied to provide better and rapid healing for patients suffering from complicated bone fractures..

A reductionist approach to HIV research

A major obstacle to HIV research is the virus's exquisite specialisation for its human host – meaning that scientists' traditional tools, like the humble lab mouse, can deliver only limited information. Now, a team of researchers writing in BioMed Central's open access Journal of Biology have made an ingenious assault on this problem by creating a mouse that has key features of HIV infection without being infected with HIV.

Scientists explain how holiday stress might kill you

If you ever thought the stress of seeing your extended family over the holidays was slowly killing you—bad news: a new research report in the December 2009 print issue of the Journal of Leukocyte Biology shows that you might be right. Here's the good news: results from the same study might lead to entirely new treatments that help keep autoimmune diseases like lupus, arthritis, and eczema under control.

RNA on the move

Heidelberg, 25 November 2009 - In the fruit fly Drosophila, oskar mRNA, which is involved in defining the animal's body axes, is produced in the nuclei of nurse cells neighbouring the oocyte, and must be transported to the oocyte and along its entire length before being translated into protein.