Just a small fraction of patients who have a stroke receive the only drug — TPA — available to treat the condition. Now doctors and scientists at the University of Rochester Medical Center have developed a potential new treatment that will reach a milestone in the next few months, when the experimental treatment is tested for the first time in people who have suffered a stroke or “brain attack.”
The only drugs currently available for Alzheimer’s patients are those that alleviate symptoms, but a team of scientists led by Paul Aisen, MD, director of the Memory Disorders program at Georgetown University Medical Center, is testing a new class of drugs that actually target the molecule believed to cause the disease. Aisen and his colleagues report that a compound called tramiprosate reduced levels of a marker for the progression of Alzheimer’s disease in a Phase II clinical trial in the November 1 electronic version of Neurology.
The lungs of patients suffering chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) attempt to repair damaged elastic fibers, a new finding that contradicts the conventional wisdom on the capabilities of the adult lung. The researchers found that synthesis of elastin, a gene linked to elastic fiber growth, is increased in the moderately diseased tissue of COPD patients. Elastic fibers allow the lung to expand and contract with breathing.
Cases of Tuberculosis (TB) in England, Wales and Northern Ireland have increased by 10.8% from 7,321 cases reported in 2004 to 8,113 in 2005 according to new figures released today by the Health Protection Agency.
Mayo Clinic heart researchers have devised a new strategy to improve the effectiveness and safety of heart stents, which are used to open narrowed blood vessels and have been the recent subject of clotting concerns. Their novel approach is based on magnetizing healing cells from the patient’s blood so the cells are quickly drawn to magnetically coated stents.
As it investigates an outbreak of illnesses that may be related to Salmonella typhimurium bacteria in produce, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is reminding consumers of steps they can take to keep their food safe.
The Public Health Agency of Canada is recommending that health care providers in Canada not prescribe amantadine to treat and prevent influenza during the current flu season. This recommendation is based on test results from the 2005-2006 flu season and initial results from the 2006-2007 season.
An important new study released finds that the tobacco companies’ youth prevention campaigns do nothing to reduce youth smoking rates and the industry?s parent-focused ads may actually increase intention to smoke among older teens. The findings, published in the latest edition of the American Journal of Public Health, are further evidence that Big Tobacco cannot be the source for kids when it comes to learning about the dangers associated with tobacco use.
The Food and Drug Administration approved the first generic version of MetroGel-Vaginal (metronidazole vaginal gel), a treatment for bacterial vaginosis. The approval is an important step in the agency’s effort to increase the availability of lower-cost generic medications.
Researchers have used a single compound to increase the lifespan of obese mice, and found that the drug reversed nearly all of the changes in gene expression patterns found in mice on high calorie diets–some of which are associated with diabetes, heart disease, and other significant diseases related to obesity. The research, led by investigators at Harvard Medical School and the National Institute on Aging, is the first time that the small molecule resveratrol has been shown to offer survival benefits in a mammal. The study is reported in the November 1 advanced online edition of Nature.