Latest Health News

Lineagen, Inc., a developer of innovative genomic tests and services for the screening, evaluation and diagnosis of complex disorders and diseases including autism spectrum disorders, announced today that Dr. Michael S. Paul, the Company's President & Chief Executive Officer, was selected to present at the "Genetic Risk Factors for Autism: Translating Discoveries into Diagnostics" symposium, being held September 1-2, 2010 at the Old Mill Inn and Spa in Toronto, Ontario, Canada...

Rexahn Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NYSE Amex: RNN), a clinical stage pharmaceutical company developing and commercializing potential best in class oncology and CNS therapeutics, announced the publication of a research article in Bioorganic & Medicinal Chemistry Letters on the anti-tumor activity of RX-8243 and its analogues...

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and U.S. Department of Education Secretary Arne Duncan highlighted the Connecting Kids to Coverage Challenge to enroll five million children in Medicaid and CHIP within five years. Since Sebelius announced the Challenge last February, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) have built an unprecedented coalition of partners, ranging from state governors to national advocacy organizations, who have stepped up to the challenge to enroll kids and educate families...

The American Red Cross is responding with help to people affected by the winds, rains and flooding of Hurricane Earl in North Carolina and is ready as the storm moves up the Atlantic Coast. A dozen Red Cross shelters were opened in North Carolina, giving more than 260 a safe place to ride out the storm last night as heavy rain and strong winds passed through the area. Today, after Earl moves out of the area, the Red Cross will be assessing damage left by the storm and helping people as they begin to cleanup...

The Royal College of Psychiatrists in Northern Ireland has called on the Executive to take the advice of the Health and Social Development Ministers and follow Scotland's lead in proposing a minimum price for alcohol of 45 pence a unit. Both Health Minister Michael McGimpsey and Social Development Minister Alex Attwood have said in recent months that minimum pricing is needed to curb dangerous drinking habits that cost society up to £900 million a year...

School children who consume foods purchased in vending machines are more likely to develop poor diet quality - and that may be associated with being overweight, obese or at risk for chronic health problems such as diabetes and coronary artery disease, according to research from the University of Michigan Medical School. The study also looked at foods sold in school stores, snack bars and other related sales that compete with USDA lunch program offerings and found that these pose the same health and diet risks in school-aged children...

Tibotec Pharmaceuticals announced its submission of a Marketing Authorisation Application (MAA) to the European Medicines Agency (EMA) for TMC278 (rilpivirine, as hydrochloride), an investigational non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NNRTI) for the treatment of HIV. The proposed indication would make TMC278 available for once-daily use with other antiretroviral agents in treatment-naïve HIV-1-infected adults. It is estimated that 33.4 million people are living with HIV worlsudwide,[1] 2.3 million of which are in Europe...

As the FDA oversaw a massive egg recall for possible salmonella contamination, most Americans were aware of the outbreak and substantial numbers took steps to protect themselves from getting sick, according to a new national poll by researchers at Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH). The poll was conducted August 27-30, 2010. As of August 24, 2010, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) had identified approximately 1,469 reported illnesses nationwide that were likely to be associated with this outbreak...

After a comprehensive review, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission and Health Canada announced that they have found no cause linking Pampers Dry Max diapers and reports of diaper rash and other skin conditions. Pampers has welcomed the Commission's and Health Canada's thorough review and cooperated fully with them. "We are thankful that the U.S. CPSC and Health Canada conducted their thorough reviews and have not identified any cause for concern with Pampers with Dry Max," said Jodi Allen, Vice President of Pampers...

GSK initially became aware of possible cases of narcolepsy following vaccination with the adjuvanted H1N1 pandemic vaccine Pandemrix through adverse event reports received by the Swedish Medical Products Agency, and subsequently via media reports in Finland. Information on the individual cases remains limited at present, but GSK is conducting its own investigation in an effort to gather as much additional data as possible regarding the reported cases, and is working closely with key regulatory authorities, including the European Medicines Agency (EMA)...

AstraZeneca announced that the European Commission (EC) has issued a positive decision for the approval of once-daily SEROQUEL XR (quetiapine fumarate) Extended Release Tablets as an add-on treatment of major depressive episodes in patients with Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) who have had sub-optimal response to antidepressant monotherapy. This decision follows a positive recommendation by the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) in April of this year. AstraZeneca will now move forward in obtaining local approvals...

Merck KGaA announced that the Australian Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) has approved Cladribine Tablets for the treatment of relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (MS)(1). Cladribine Tablets will be registered in Australia under the trade name Movectro®. "Approval of Cladribine Tablets in Australia is another step forward in our commitment to fight the devastating disease of multiple sclerosis by providing new therapeutic options meeting unmet needs," said Elmar Schnee, Member of the Executive Board and Head of the Merck Serono division...

The Medical College of Georgia has received a one-year grant to determine the usefulness of using a simulator-based driving training program to improve fitness-to-drive in multiple sclerosis patients. Fifty participants, recruited for the study through the MCG Multiple Sclerosis Center, will receive driving training at the MCG Driving Simulation Laboratory under the direction of Dr. Abiodun Akinwuntan, associate professor of physical therapy, graduate studies and neurology. The study is funded by the Consortium for Multiple Sclerosis Centers...

He is heading the largest Australian study of asthma genetics - the Australian Asthma Genetics Consortium - which has brought together the top asthma genetics experts from across the country to try to solve the genetic puzzle of asthma. For 1 in 10 Australians, asthma is part of their everyday life. Every year asthma attacks are responsible for 1 million work days lost, 36,000 hospital admissions and about 400 deaths. "We know some people are genetically more likely to develop asthma than others...

Study of antimalarial drug diversion published in Research and Reports in Tropical Medicine Background: Antimalarial medicine diversion has been seen across numerous African markets and can lead to serious stock-outs in the public sector, which can be dangerous to countries with high burdens of disease. This study discusses the numbers of diverted antimalarial medicines from several samplings in Africa. Methods: A total of 894 samples of antimalarial medicines were covertly purchased from private pharmacies in 11 African cities from late 2007 to early 2010...

The academic performance of adolescents will suffer in at least one of four key subjects - English, math, science, history - if their DNA contains one or more of three specific dopamine gene variations, according to a study led by renowned biosocial criminologist Kevin M. Beaver of The Florida State University. The research sheds new light on the genetic components of academic performance during middle and high school, and on the interplay of specific genes and environmental factors such as peer behavior or school conditions...

Gilead Sciences, Inc. (Nasdaq:GILD) announced that it has submitted a Marketing Authorization Application (MAA) to the European Medicines Agency (EMA) for marketing approval for the fixed-dose combination of Truvada® (emtricitabine and tenofovir disoproxil (as fumarate)) and Tibotec Pharmaceuticals' investigational non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor TMC278 (rilpivirine (as hydrochloride)) for the treatment of HIV-1 infection in adults...

Santhera Pharmaceuticals (SIX: SANN) and Ipsen (Paris:IPN) (Euronext: IPN; ADR: IPSEY) announced a license agreement for the development and commercialization of fipamezole (antagonist of the adrenergic alpha-2 receptor) for territories outside of North America and Japan. This first-in-class compound is currently under investigation for the treatment of levodopa-induced dyskinesia in Parkinson's Disease. Initiation of a first Phase III study by Biovail is scheduled for 2011. Today's agreement stipulates a data sharing, under which Ipsen has the right to use these data for its own purposes...

Vital progress in stem cell research by hundreds of U.S. laboratories is threatened after last week's injunction prohibiting federal funding for the study of human embryonic stem cells (hESCs). The president of the International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR), Elaine Fuchs, Rockefeller University, U.S., stated that the setbacks for advancing biomedical research on stem cells and translating this knowledge into new and improved treatments for patients are already considerable, and escalate with each day the injunction continues...

The decision regarding treatment following breast-conserving surgery for patients diagnosed with ductal carcinoma in-situ (DCIS) has long been an area of discussion and confusion for patients and physicians alike. While the mortality rates for DCIS remain low, the risk of local recurrence in the breast is high. Standard treatments following surgery include radiation therapy and hormone treatment. While both treatments have been proven to lower the risk of recurrence in the breast, neither has been shown to improve survival, and both carry potentially serious risks...