In August 2004, the Royal College of Physicians (RCP) began work on a programme called ‘Communication between patients and their hospital doctor’ in order to suggest ways in which greater understanding of the doctor/patient partnership can produce more effective treatment and care.
On 30 October 2006, Dr Brian Gibbons, Health Minister for Wales, announced an additional ?700,000 funding for the beta interferons and glatiramer acetate. This should help to ensure that everyone with MS who lives in Wales and meets the prescribing criteria will be able to start treatment as soon as possible.
By combining four proteins of Staphylococcus aureus that individually generated the strongest immune response in mice, scientists have created a vaccine that significantly protects the animals from diverse strains of the bacterium that cause disease in humans. A report describing the University of Chicago study, funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) of the National Institutes of Health, appears online this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
The Office of Research on Women?s Health (ORWH) and the Trans-NIH Working Group for Research in Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFSWG) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) are pleased to announce seven (7) awards in Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) research. The proposed studies will help researchers understand how the diverse symptoms in CFS are related to the interactions between the immune and neurological systems ? an important step towards developing effective treatments for a disabling condition.
Topiramate (Topamax), a drug commonly prescribed to treat seizures and migraine headaches, can increase the propensity of calcium phosphate kidney stones, researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have found.
More than two-thirds of people who suffer from major depression can become symptom-free if they are willing to work with their doctors and try various treatments to determine which work best for them, which may involve taking different antidepressants or adding cognitive therapy to the mix.
In the largest, most comprehensive study of its kind to date, researchers supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) showed clinical improvements out to one year when stroke survivors who had lost function in one arm were given a unique, two-week rehabilitation regimen.
An extensive NIH-supported study has found that low-intensity laser treatment, thought to be possibly beneficial in slowing or preventing the loss of vision from age-related macular degeneration (AMD), is ineffective in preventing complications of AMD or loss of vision. This is the major conclusion of the Complications of Age-Related Macular Degeneration Prevention Trial (CAPT), a research study of more than 1,000 people that will be published in the November 2006 issue of the journal Ophthalmology. The study was supported by grants from the National Eye Institute (NEI) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
“Cardiovascular disease remains our country’s biggest killer,” said Minister Clement. “Canada’s new government is following through on our promise to develop a heart health strategy. The strategy developed will ensure crucial information on prevention and treatment is available quickly and effectively to all provinces and territories. A new Heart Health Strategy will save lives.”
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.