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An extra $73 billion was spent between 2010 and 2012 on brand name medications and the practice of therapeutic substitution (substituting chemically different compounds within the same class of drugs for one another) could help to drive down those costs, according to a new study published online by JAMA Internal Medicine.

Therapeutic substitution is a controversial way to improve the efficiency of the pharmaceutical market because it is opposed by many physician organizations as an attack on physician autonomy.

Daily consumption of artificially sweetened beverages by women during pregnancy may be associated with increased infant body mass index (BMI) and may be associated with an increased risk of being overweight in early childhood, according to an article published online by JAMA Pediatrics.

CAMBRIDGE, MA -- Scientists at MIT, Massachusetts General Hospital, Living Proof, and Olivo Labs have developed a new material that can temporarily protect and tighten skin, and smooth wrinkles. With further development, it could also be used to deliver drugs to help treat skin conditions such as eczema and other types of dermatitis.

WASHINGTON -- Evidence is mounting that the current outbreak of yellow fever is becoming the latest global health emergency, say two Georgetown University professors who call on the World Health Organization to convene an emergency committee under the International Health Regulations. In addition, with frequent emerging epidemics, they call for the creation of a "standing emergency committee" to be prepared for future health emergencies.

As governments and researchers race to develop policies and technologies to make energy production more sustainable and mitigate climate change, they need to remember that the most sophisticated endeavors won't work if they're not adopted.

Researchers from several major US universities and ITMO University in Russia have identified a number of new driver mutations in lung cancer cells that may be responsive to genomically targeted therapies and to immunotherapy.

An Otago-led team of scientists using techniques from the field of dentistry is shedding new light on the evolution of walruses, fur seals and sea lions. The researchers have cast further doubt on previous claims that an ancient "killer walrus" was a marine mammal eater.

Women suffering from extreme morning sickness often take Zofran (ondansetron) to combat their debilitating nausea and vomiting. However, two studies have found that the drug may increase risk of heart defects and cleft palate in children exposed in utero.

Tsukuba, Japan - The inability to adequately respond to infection can cause a whole-body state of inflammation known as sepsis. This can eventually lead to systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS), and even death. White blood cells known as B lymphocytes (B cells) produce antibodies in response to infections such as blood-borne pathogens. B cells of the marginal zone (MZ), which separates circulating blood from spleen lymphoid tissue, contribute to this early immune response, but their role in inflammation has remained unclear.

Neuherberg, Germany, May 9, 2016. Scientists at Helmholtz Zentrum München have new information on what happens at the molecular level when we go hungry. Working with the Deutsches Zentrum für Diabetesforschung (German Center for Diabetes Research - DZD) and the Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum (German Cancer Research Center - DKFZ) they were able to show that upon deprivation of food a certain protein is produced that adjusts the metabolism in the liver. The results are published in the Open Access Journal EMBO Molecular Medicine.

The enzyme is the calcium-pumping Ca2+-ATPase - an ion pump protein that maintains a concentration of calcium inside the cell, which is about 20,000 times lower than outside. Only, it does not pump the calcium ions out of the cell, but instead into a compartment in the cell called the sarco-endoplasmic reticulum.

New research from North Carolina State University shows that implementation of Medicare Part D has increased the number of people taking their prescribed medications as directed - so-called "medication adherence" - and reduced the likelihood that newly covered beneficiaries develop high blood pressure.

Researchers have identified a powerful human motive that has not been adequately appreciated by social and behavioral scientists: the drive to make sense of our lives and the world around us.

Published in the Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Carnegie Mellon University's George Loewenstein and Warwick Business School's Nick Chater developed a theoretical model of the drive for sense-making and how it is traded off against other goals.

PITTSBURGH, May 9, 2016 - A potential drug therapy developed at the University of Pittsburgh Center for Vaccine Research (CVR) has proven effective against tough bacterial biofilms and a deadly respiratory virus simultaneously. The drug outperforms traditional therapies in the laboratory setting.

A longitudinal Nordic study, comparing the results of hormone (antiandrogen) therapy with or without the addition of local radiotherapy, shows that a combination of treatments halves the risk of death from prostate cancer 15 years after diagnosis. This according to a follow-up study recently published in the journal European Urology.