Long-term consequences of arsenic poisoning during infancy is due to contaminated milk powder, a study published in Environmental Health by Miwako Dakeishi, Katsuyuki Murata and Philippe Grandjean. Arsenic toxicity is a global health problem affecting many millions of people.
Music therapy many help to ease the depression, anxiety and emotional withdrawal symptoms of schizophrenia, British scientists said. Music therapy may provide a means of improving mental health among people with schizophrenia, but its effects in acute psychoses have not been explored. To examine the feasibility of a randomised trial of music therapy for inpatients with schizophrenia, and explore its effects on mental health, study was conducted by Dr Mike Crawford, Department of Psychological Medicine, Claybrook Centre.
The Commonwealth Government will add two drugs for the treatment of breast cancer to the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS). From 1 December, exemestane (Aromasin?) and letrozole (Femara?) will be listed for the treatment of hormone-dependent early breast cancer in post-menopausal women.
Smokers will soon be confronted with a new set of graphic warnings on their cigarette packets, with seven gruesome pictures to be added to those already on display. From today, tobacco manufacturers can introduce a second set of seven images on cigarette packs, and all cigarette packs must be printed with this second set by 1 March 2007.
Last week, in one of TV ad Actor Michael J. Fox appeared with his disturbingly uncontrolled movements. And, his opponents in the stem-cell debate accused him of either acting or purposefully not taking his medications, in an effort to gain sympathy, quoted by news agencies worldwide. Nothing could be further from the truth, according to Parkinson’s experts. In fact, Fox’s disordered movement — a condition called dyskinesia — was mainly due to his taking medication to help control his Parkinson’s, they said.
New data presented today from a meta-analysis* of nearly 1,300 Parkinson?s disease (PD) patients, indicate that pramipexole (Mirapexin?/Sifrol?) has a beneficial effect on depressive and motivational symptoms in PD.1 This confirms findings from previously published clinical trials,2,3,4 and is in addition to its established efficacy in controlling motor symptoms. These findings are of particular interest as mood symptoms in PD can affect up to 50 percent of the patient population.1,5 The data were presented at the 10th International Congress of Parkinson?s Disease and Movement Disorders (MDS) in Kyoto, Japan.
A research center newly created by the University of California, Berkeley, and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) aims to put light-sensitive switches in the body’s cells that can be flipped on and off as easily as a remote control operates a TV. Optical switches like these could trigger a chemical reaction, initiate a muscle contraction, activate a drug or stimulate a nerve cell – all at the flash of a light.
Berlex Oncology, a business unit of Berlex Laboratories, a U.S. affiliate of Schering AG, Germany (FSE: SCH; NYSE: SHR), today announced that a national clinical study is underway investigating a new approach to treating follicular B-cell lymphoma, a sub-type of non-Hodgkin?s lymphoma (NHL). NHL is the fifth most common form of cancer in the United States, with more than 56,000 new cases diagnosed each year. Follicular B-cell lymphoma is an indolent, or slow-growing, type of NHL that comprises approximately 30% of all diagnosed cases.
GlaxoSmithKline plc [NYSE:GSK, LSE:GSK] announced results from a global Phase II study of eltrombopag, an investigational non-peptide oral platelet growth factor. In this study of 74 hepatitis C patients with thrombocytopenia, (a condition where the blood has low platelet levels) more than 95% (p< 0.001) of patients treated with the highest dose of eltrombopag (75mg) had increased platelet counts. In addition, 71% - 91% of patients in all treatment groups were able to initiate antiviral therapy with pegylated interferon-α (IFN) and ribavirin, and 65% were able to be maintained on therapy.1 Full results from this Phase II study are being presented today at the 57th Annual Meeting of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD) in Boston, Massachusetts.
Lower back pain is one of the most common causes of job-related disability and why some people miss work. It is also the second most common neurological ailment in the United States, second only to headache. In fact, approximately 80% of adults in Western countries have, at some point, experienced lower back pain.