Hypothermia ? when the body’s temperature drops significantly below normal ? is especially deadly for the elderly. Older people become hypothermic despite the fact that they are more likely to live inside a home than on the street, and nearly half who become hypothermic die.
Novartis announced that it has received a contract from the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) of approximately USD 55 million. The contract supports the company’s efforts to bring the antigen-sparing capabilities of the MF59 adjuvant to the United States. An adjuvant is a substance added to a vaccine to enhance the body’s immune response to the vaccine’s active constituent, called the antigen.
Barr Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NYSE: BRL) today announced that its subsidiary, Barr Laboratories, Inc. has received tentative approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for its generic version of Roche Laboratories Inc.’s KYTRIL(R) (granisetron hydrochloride) Tablets, 1mg (base).
Obesity is one of the main risk factors for developing type II diabetes. Previous studies have shown that mice lacking a protein known as SH2B1 throughout their body are obese and develop diabetes. However, a new study now shows that replacing SH2B1 only in the brain of these mice rescues them from obesity, indicating that SH2B1 in the brain might be a new target for the development of treatments for obesity and type II diabetes.
Some 50 million Americans have hypertension, that is, blood pressure measuring above the normal range (less than 120/80 mmHg). If untreated, it can lead to heart attacks, strokes, or kidney disease. Lifestyle changes are the first-stage treatment for the disease, but if they fail, medications are prescribed. In a soon-to-be-released study using an animal model, scientists have found that tanshinone IIA, an active ingredient of danshen, reduces blood pressure.
Sweet potatoes shouldn’t be just for holiday cooking. At least that’s the finding of food scientists with the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) in New Orleans, La.
Can a gene from an orange cauliflower found three decades ago be the key to making food crops more nutritious? Quite possibly, according to Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientist Li Li. She’s using cauliflower to identify genes and define molecular mechanisms that regulate nutrients in plant-based foods.
HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt announced today that the department has awarded contracts totaling $132.5 million to three vaccine makers for the advanced development of H5N1 influenza vaccines using an immune system booster called an adjuvant. An adjuvant is a substance that may be added to a vaccine to increase the body?s immune response to the vaccine?s active ingredient, called antigen.
In a study of nonhuman primates infected with the influenza virus that killed 50 million people in 1918, an international team of scientists has found a critical clue to how the virus killed so quickly and efficiently.
CNRS (France) researchers have developed a novel synthetic process for bio degradeable materials that could be used instead of traditional medication in the form of tablets, capsules or syrups. This study was published on 27 December 2006 in the Journal of the American Chemical society.