Results of the first-ever clinical study in patients with osteoporosis who suffered a hip fracture show that a once-yearly infusion of Aclasta®/Reclast® (zoledronic acid 5 mg)[*] reduced the risk of subsequent fractures by 35% compared to patients treated with placebo.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration cleared for marketing a new genetic test that will help physicians assess whether a patient may be especially sensitive to the blood-thinning drug warfarin (Coumadin), which is used to prevent potentially fatal clots in blood vessels.
Scientists have discovered how the gene mutation responsible for fragile X syndrome — the most common inherited form of mental retardation — alters the way brain cells communicate. In neurons cultured from laboratory rats, the scientists also were able to reverse the effects of the mutation using a drug targeted to the specific site in an upstream pathway of the defect. The finding could lead to the development of human therapies for this previously untreatable condition.
A team of researchers led by Fei Hu, assistant professor of computer engineering at Rochester Institute of Technology, is working to advance the integration of radio frequency identification technology, also known as RFID, into cardiac sensor networks, a new wireless technology for telemedicine delivery.
Whether a smoking-cessation drug will enable you to quit smoking may depend on your genes, according to new genotyping research from the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH). The study, published in the September issue of the journal Biological Psychiatry, found that the enzyme known to metabolize both the smoking cessation drug bupropion and nicotine is highly genetically variable in all ethnicities and influences smoking cessation.
Although prescription medications that may increase the risk of birth defects are commonly used by women in their childbearing years, only about half receive contraceptive counseling from their health care providers, according to a large-scale study from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine reported in the Sept. 18 issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine.
Cancer Research UK funded a record £315m of research last year. The milestone marks nearly a doubling in research funding since the Charity was formed five years ago, according to its annual report and accounts published today (Friday 14 September 2007).
Two U.S. Department of Health and Human Services agencies will collaborate in the most comprehensive study to date of prescription medications used to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and the potential for increased risk of heart attack, stroke or other cardiovascular problems.
Having a healthy kidney is worth a billion dollars. But an unhealthy kidney costs more—about $16 billion more, according to Prabir Roy-Chaudhury, MD, PhD, associate professor in the division of nephrology and hypertension at the University of Cincinnati (UC).
New findings by UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers show that a byproduct of cholesterol metabolism interferes with the beneficial effects estrogen has on the cardiovascular system, providing a better understanding of the interplay between cholesterol and estrogen in heart disease.