The annual Antenatal Survey of women attending public health facilities, which is designed to give general trends in HIV infection over time, shows that in 2006, there are pleasing signs of changes in the right direction even though HIV remains an important public health challenge in South Africa.
Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) researchers have identified a key mechanism underlying proteinuria – excess protein in the urine which signifies a breakdown in the kidney’s filtering process. They have discovered that a protein called dynamin is required for the function of a critical filtering structure called a podocyte and that a specific enzyme’s processing of dynamin will cause podocytes to break down, allowing protein to leak out of the bloodstream.
In an effort to find a better therapy and improve the lives of people with epilepsy, the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) Epilepsy Service is participating in the RNS? System Pivotal Clinical Investigation, a study to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of a responsive brain stimulation device in reducing the frequency of uncontrolled seizures. MGH is one of only 28 centers across the country participating in this study.
For every man with a migraine, three women are struck by the severe headaches that often come with nausea, sensitivity to light and sound, and aura. That means a staggering 18 to 25 percent of women suffer from migraines, making it one of the most common disabling conditions faced by women around the globe.
One of six Autism Centers of Excellence (ACE) in the country has been established at the University of California, San Diego by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), to be directed by Eric Courchesne, Ph.D., professor of neurosciences at the UC San Diego School of Medicine and a leading expert on brain abnormalities associated with autism, a brain disorder affecting an estimated two million people in the U.S. The symptoms are impaired social, emotional, language and cognitive development.
Patients treated with Betaferon? (interferon beta-1b) shortly after their first clinical MS event or ?attack? showed a 40 percent lower risk of developing confirmed disability when compared to patients in whom treatment was delayed. The results ? which were fast-tracked and published in The Lancet today ? provide the first controlled evidence that delaying Betaferon? treatment has an effect on later accumulation of disability. No other MS therapy has demonstrated this effect in this early patient population.
Following a joint meeting of the US Food and Drug Administration Endocrinologic and Metabolic Drugs Advisory Committee and the Drug Safety and Risk Management Advisory Committee, Takeda Global Research & Development underscores its position that ACTOS (pioglitazone HCl) offers a proven safety profile regarding the risk of cardiovascular disease.
Dallas County Health and Human Services has confirmed its second human case of West Nile virus for the 2007 season. The patient, residing in zip code 75206, has been diagnosed with West Nile Encephalitis and is recovering. DCHHS previously reported a case of West Nile fever diagnosed in a patient residing in zip code 75104. For medical confidentiality and personal privacy reasons, DCHHS is not providing additional information. DCHHS has notified the City of Dallas.
Heart attack patients as far as 150 miles away from a 24-hour emergency heart care center were able to receive treatment for blocked arteries within or faster than current recommended time frames, according to a study published in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association.
State Health Secretary Dr. Calvin B. Johnson today reported this year?s first confirmed human case of West Nile virus in Pennsylvania. The individual, a 56-year-old Clearfield County man, is recovering and has been discharged from the hospital.