Researchers have demonstrated for the first time that malfunction of a gene that had been associated with schizophrenia and depression does indeed cause symptoms of those disorders. They said their findings in mice offer a possible animal model for developing treatments for schizophrenia and depression. Also, they said their findings support the theory that the two disorders share common genetic mechanisms.
Bladder, prostate and other urinary tract diseases cost Americans nearly $11 billion a year, according to a new report from the National Institutes of Health. Medicare?s share exceeded $5.4 billion.
More than four million Americans have glaucoma, an eye disease that damages the optic nerve and destroys eyesight. However, nearly half of those with glaucoma are not even aware they have it. Are you one of them? You owe it to yourself to find out by getting a dilated eye exam.
The stigma of mental illness acts as a roadblock for treatment for the more than 54 million Americans, one in 5, according to the National Institute on Mental Health, who suffer from a mental disorder in any given year. Of that number, many don?t seek treatment, at a time when awareness about mental illness has grown.
Genentech, Inc. (NYSE: DNA) and Biogen Idec, Inc. (Nasdaq: BIIB) announced that positive data from a Phase II clinical study of Rituxan? (rituximab) in patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) were presented at the American Academy of Neurology annual meeting held in Boston.
The drug metformin is among the most widely prescribed drugs for the treatment of type 2 diabetes and results in an array of therapeutic benefits. Although it has been used for over 30 years, only recently have studies begun to reveal the molecular events responsible for its therapeutic effects.
African-American and Hispanic patients hospitalized for complications of portal hypertension were less likely to undergo a palliative shunt, prompt endoscopy, or liver transplantation compared to white patients, according to a new study in the May issue of Hepatology, a journal published by John Wiley & Sons on behalf of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD).
Statin drugs, known primarily for their ability to lower cholesterol, also may reduce the overactive sympathetic nervous system response that contributes to the worsening of heart failure and increases the risk of sudden cardiac death, two University of Missouri-Columbia researchers have found. Heart failure is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in the United States.
Data from two clinical trials presented today at the American Academy of Neurology meeting suggest that an investigational once daily extended release formulation of Lamictal (lamotrigine) is effective as add-on treatment in patients with partial epilepsy with and without secondary generalization.
The BCR-ABL gene in chronic myeloid leukemia stem cells has a tendency to quickly mutate, and this may help explain why patients are predisposed to resistance to drugs like imatinib that target that gene, according to a study in the May 2 Journal of the National Cancer Institute.