FDA staff question Novartis cystic fibrosis drug

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. drug reviewers questioned whether Novartis AG's inhaled antibiotic treatment truly helped cystic fibrosis patients breathe better, according to documents posted online on Friday. Staff from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration released their review of Novartis's tobramycin inhaled powder ahead of an advisory committee of outside experts, which will vote on whether to recommend the drug next Wednesday. Novartis is seeking approval of the inhaled antibiotic powder as a more convenient alternative than nebulized solution. ...

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FDA staff question Novartis cystic fibrosis drug

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. drug reviewers questioned whether Novartis AG's inhaled antibiotic treatment truly helped cystic fibrosis patients breathe better, according to documents posted online on Friday.

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PCTs can bid for £99k for digital services

DH announces funding for innovative information sharing ideas Related items from OnMedica NHS Information Revolution will require extra safeguards Dame Fiona Caldicott to lead review on patient information Clinicians urged to give patients more information What do today's digital announcement systems have to offer the NHS? New digital “single trusted source” of health and social care info to be set up

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Bagged lettuce or bulk? Experts offer food safety advice

A recall this week of 8,000 cases of Fresh Express Hearts of Romaine salad marks the sixth time since April that the nation’s top producers of bagged lettuce have pulled products because of worries about food safety. For consumers roaming the produce aisles at the grocery store, each new recall raises the question: How safe is my salad?

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Health Tip: Help Keep COPD in Check

Visit your doctor often via Resurrection Health Care - Daily News More READ

Health Tip: Do You Have Plantar Fasciitis?

Heel pain is a prime symptom via Resurrection Health Care - Daily News More READ

Don't Cut Lifesaving ICDs During Financial Crisis: EHRA

The European Heart Rhythm Association aims to raise awareness about the importance of ICDs and sudden sudden cardiac death in countries in Central and Eastern Europe. ICD implantation rates in Europe vary widely, ranging from 1 ICD implantation per million inhabitants in Ukraine to 326 in Germany. Treatment gaps between East and West exist for other cardiovascular implantable electronic devices (CIEDs) including implantable pulse generators (IPGs, also called ...

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Field tasked to cut health inequalities

Former RCGP chair joins medical directorate of NHS Commissioning Board

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Turning on the Zap: New York City Readies World's Largest UV Drinking-Water Disinfection Plant

Turning on the Zap: New York City Readies World's Largest UV Drinking-Water Disinfection Plant via Health News Headlines - Yahoo! News Read More Here..

Feel fuller for longer

Diet pills, appetite suppressants and slimming teas can take their toll on your health. It's better to tackle hunger pangs the natural way, so try these simple but effective changes.

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New Cancer Drug Efficiently Targets Breast, Lung And Colon Cancer; Clinical Trials Could Start Within 2 Years

Legend has it that Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, "Build a better mousetrap, and the world will beat a path to your door." University of Missouri researchers are doing just that, but instead of building mousetraps, the scientists are targeting cancer drugs. In a new study, MU medicinal chemists have taken an existing drug that is being developed for use in fighting certain types of cancer, added a special structure to it, and created a more potent, efficient weapon against cancer. "Over the past decade, we have seen an increasing interest in using carboranes in drug design," said Mark W... via Health News from Medical News Today Read More Here..

Potential New Type Of Diagnostic Imaging Technology Using Collagen-Seeking Synthetic Protein Could Lead Doctors To Tumor Locations

Johns Hopkins researchers have created a synthetic protein that, when activated by ultraviolet light, can guide doctors to places within the body where cancer, arthritis and other serious medical disorders can be detected. The technique could lead to a new type of diagnostic imaging technology and may someday serve as a way to move medications to parts of the body where signs of disease have been found. In a study published in the Aug... via Health News from Medical News Today Read More Here..

Chocolate May Lower Your Stroke Risk

Adding to the mounting evidence that consuming moderate amounts of chocoloate may benefit the heart, comes that of a new study of Swedish men that suggests it may also lower the risk of stroke. First author Susanna C. Larsson, of the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, told the media: "While other studies have looked at how chocolate may help cardiovascular health, this is the first of its kind study to find that chocolate, may be beneficial for reducing stroke in men... via Health News from Medical News Today Read More Here..

Stressed type A people at high stroke risk

Being male raises risk nine times; smoking and energy drinks double it Related items from OnMedica Stroke more common in depressed people, systematic review shows Recurrent stroke more likely at very low BP Stress link to Alzheimer's under spotlight Noisy workplace doubles heart risk Heart risks higher in overtime workers

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Healthy habits beneficial even in old age

Even in old age, healthy lifestyle still prolongs life by up to 6 years Related items from OnMedica Fight cognitive decline with exercise Exercise “switches off” muscle-wasting pathways Slow walkers at increased risk of cardiovascular death Heart failure often missed in the very elderly Exercise in middle years brings healthy old age

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Extra risk of renal disease after kidney stones

End-stage renal disease more likely after kidney stones while young Related items from OnMedica Kidney disease is a ‘red-flag’ for cardiac problems Stroke and kidney failure rates in diabetics hit new high Kidney nerve deactivation can cut hypertension New drive to improve GPs' skills on kidney disease Tight blood pressure control can save kidneys

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Telehealth Gives a True Picture of the Patient's Condition

A visit to a doctor is expensive, not only in terms of money but more importantly in terms of time. A home visit by a doctor, once common in the past, is very rare today. This concept is now being replaced by telehealth to some extent. Telehealth is a means of providing consultation to patients using means of telecommunication and information technology. This approach is particularly useful in two settings: in the rural setting where it is difficult to ...

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Lifesaving ICDs Should Not Be Cut During Financial Crisis

Implantable devices for treating cardiac arrhythmias, which include ICDs, are already underused in parts of Eastern and Central Europe and there is a risk that the financial crisis could exacerbate the problem. The European Heart Rhythm Association (EHRA), a registered branch of the ESC, is tackling this issue through ICD for Life. The initiative aims to raise awareness about the importance of ICDs and sudden cardiac death in countries in Central and Eastern Europe... via Health News from Medical News Today Read More Here..

Mystery Surrounding The Death Of Two Sisters Nearly 50 Years Ago Solved By Researchers

Researchers at Mount Sinai School of Medicine have identified the genetic cause of a rare and fatal bone disease by studying frozen skin cells that were taken from a child with the condition almost fifty years ago. Their study, which details how the MT1-MMP gene leads to the disease known as Winchester syndrome, appears in the online edition of The American Journal of Human Genetics... via Health News from Medical News Today Read More Here..

France, Germany, And The UK Outperform The US On Potentially Preventable Death Rates

The United States lags three other industrialized nations - France, Germany, and the United Kingdom - in its potentially preventable death rate, and in the pace of improvement in preventing deaths that could have been avoided with timely and effective health care, according to a Commonwealth Fund-supported study published as a web first online in Health Affairs. Between 1999 and 2006/2007, the overall potentially preventable death rate among men ages 0 to 74 dropped by only 18.5 percent in the United States, while the rate declined by nearly 37 percent in the U.K... via Health News from Medical News Today Read More Here..

Controlling Diabetes After Pancreas Removal

Removing the entire pancreas in patients with cancer or precancerous cysts in part of the organ does not result in unmanageable diabetes - as many physicians previously believed, research at Mayo Clinic in Florida has found. The study, published online in the journal HPB Surgery, evaluates how well patients who had their entire pancreas removed could control their resulting diabetes. The pancreas produces insulin to remove sugar from the blood, so when the organ is gone, insulin must be replaced, usually through an external pump or with injections... via Health News from Medical News Today Read More Here..

Factors That Regulate Size Of Cellular Fat Pools, Obesity

As the national waistline expands, so do pools of intra-cellular fat known as lipid droplets. Although most of us wish our lipid droplets would vanish, they represent a cellular paradox: on the one hand droplets play beneficial roles by corralling fat into non-toxic organelles. On the other, oversized lipid droplets are associated with obesity and its associated health hazards. Until recently researchers understood little about factors that regulate lipid droplet size... via Health News from Medical News Today Read More Here..

Causes Of Internet Addiction At The Molecular Level

"It was shown that Internet addiction is not a figment of our imagination," says the lead author, Privatdozent Dr. Christian Montag from the Department for Differential and Biological Psychology at the University of Bonn. "Researchers and therapists are increasingly closing in on it." Over the past years, the Bonn researchers have interviewed a total of 843 people about their Internet habits... via Health News from Medical News Today Read More Here..

Dyscalculia And The Neural Basis Of Human Math Abilities

A new study by researchers at UT Dallas' Center for Vital Longevity, Duke University, and the University of Michigan has found that the strength of communication between the left and right hemispheres of the brain predicts performance on basic arithmetic problems. The findings shed light on the neural basis of human math abilities and suggest a possible route to aiding those who suffer from dyscalculia - an inability to understand and manipulate numbers... via Health News from Medical News Today Read More Here..

Universal Flu Vaccine Design Could Be Aided By Knowledge Of Origin Of Broadly Neutralizing Antibodies

National Institutes of Health scientists have identified how a kind of immature immune cell responds to a part of influenza virus and have traced the path those cells take to generate antibodies that can neutralize a wide range of influenza virus strains. Study researchers from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of NIH, were led by Gary Nabel, M.D., Ph.D., director of NIAID's Vaccine Research Center. Their findings appear online in advance of print in Nature... via Health News from Medical News Today Read More Here..

Controlling The Skyrocketing Cost Of Health Care: A New Approach

A potentially powerful new approach for limiting health care costs - which account for almost $1 out of every $5 spent in the U.S. each year - is the topic of the feature story in Chemical & Enginering News (C&EN), the weekly news magazine of the American Chemical Society (ACS), the world's largest scientific society. C&EN Senior Correspondent Marc S. Reisch explains that one until-now neglected way to reign in health care spending involves providing patients and doctors with better diagnostic tests... via Health News from Medical News Today Read More Here..

Addressing The Problem Of Infections After Surgery With New Antibacterial Coating For Sutures

Responding to an urgent need for better antibacterial coatings on surgical sutures, scientists are reporting the discovery of a new coating that is almost 1,000 times more effective than the most widely used commercial coating. Their report appears in ACS' journal Langmuir. Professor Gregory Tew, who is from UMass-Amherst, and colleagues explain that infection at the site of surgical incisions is one of the most common post-surgical complications that keep patients hospitalized longer and boost hospital bills... via Health News from Medical News Today Read More Here..

Better Nutrition Provided By 'Microgreens' Compared To Their Mature Counterparts

The first scientific analysis of nutrient levels in edible microgreens has found that many of those trendy seedlings of green vegetables and herbs have more vitamins and healthful nutrients than their fully grown counterparts. A report on the research appears in ACS' Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. Qin Wang, Gene E. Lester and colleagues point out that microgreens have gained popularity as a new culinary trend over the past few years, especially in upscale markets and restaurants... via Health News from Medical News Today Read More Here..

No Added Benefit Proven For Belimumab For Lupus Erythematosus

Belimumab (trade name Benlysta ®) has been approved since July 2011 as an add-on therapy for adult patients with the autoimmune disease systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). This monoclonal antibody is only considered as treatment when the disease is still active in spite of standard therapy. The German Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care (IQWiG) has now examined the added benefit of this drug pursuant to the Act on the Reform of the Market for Medicinal Products (AMNOG)... via Health News from Medical News Today Read More Here..