Monthly Archives: February 2012

Bone gives 'some' heart healing

Posted: Published on February 15th, 2012

14 February 2012 Last updated at 19:10 ET By James Gallagher Health and science reporter, BBC News Bone marrow stem cell therapy offers "moderate improvement" to heart attack patients, according to a large UK review of clinical trials. The analysis by the Cochrane Collaboration looked at 33 trials involving more than 1,700 patients. It said longer-term studies were needed to see if the experimental therapy affected life expectancy. The review comes a day after doctors reported the first case of using heart cells to heal heart attack damage. If a patient survives a heart attack, dead heart muscle is replaced with scar tissue - leaving the patient weaker and possibly on a lifetime of medicine. Researchers are beginning to show that taking cells from a heart, growing millions of new heart cells in the laboratory and pumping those back into the heart may reduce scar tissue and lead to new heart muscle. Continue reading the main story “Start Quote Stem cell therapy may also reduce the number of patients who later die or suffer from heart failure, but currently there is a lack of statistically significant evidence based on the small number of patients treated so far” End Quote Dr … Continue reading →

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Stem cell treatments improve heart function after heart attack

Posted: Published on February 15th, 2012

Public release date: 14-Feb-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ] Contact: Jennifer Beal healthnews@wiley.com 44-124-377-0633 Wiley-Blackwell Stem cell therapy moderately improves heart function after a heart attack, according to a systematic review published in The Cochrane Library. But the researchers behind the review say larger clinical trials are needed to establish whether this benefit translates to a longer life. In a heart attack, the blood supply to parts of the heart is cut off by a blocked artery, causing damage to the heart tissue. The cells in the affected area start to die. This is called necrosis and in the days and weeks that follow, the necrotic area may grow, eventually leaving a large part of the heart unable to contract and increasing the risk of further heart problems. Stem cell therapy uses cells from the patient's own bone marrow to try to repair and reduce this damage. Currently, the treatment is only available in facilities with links to scientific research. The authors of the review drew together all the available evidence to ask whether adult bone marrow stem cells can effectively prevent and repair the damage caused by a heart attack. In 2008, a Cochrane review of 13 stem … Continue reading →

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IMF prescriptions not relevant now? | Business Recorder

Posted: Published on February 15th, 2012

February 09, 2012 BR RESEARCH Wake up! Two words that sum up the Article IV review for Pakistan by the IMF. Just before repayment starts, the fund in an unprecedented tone has told the countrys economic managers to take pervasive actions, before it is too late. The point is simple; monetary and fiscal policies are not in sync with economic realities and in election year, the reality can get harsher, very quickly. The pointy references allude to the extent of pressure that the Fund may exercise on the countrys economic policies, should the depleting levels of foreign reserves take Pakistan back to the lenders window. The Funds tone betrays urgency. Over the past four months, not only has the central bank slashed the discount rate by 150 basis points, despite slippage in foreign reserves and structural imbalances, but also it has been active in the foreign exchange market shouldering the local currency against depreciation. SBPs consistent facilitation of the banking sector to continue lending to the government has also caught the attention of the IMF. Still there are many who plausibly contend that the prescription of the Fund should be set aside in favour of lower interest rates to boost … Continue reading →

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Kate's first solo visit

Posted: Published on February 15th, 2012

Rangers' administration Rangers Football Club has appointed an administrator after a court petition was lodged by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) to… Spiralling car insurance Action will be taken to reduce the £2 billion-a-year cost of insurance claims for whiplash to help deal with the UK's "compe… UK in Jordan over Qatada The Home Office minister James Brokenshire is in Jordan discussing the potential deportation of the radical cleric Abu… Syria's Zabadani battle Middle East Correspondent John Ray has just returned from Syria where he found rebels trapped under an assault from governme… Tevez returns The Manchester City striker Carlos Tevez flew back from his three months unauthorised leave with his family in Argentina.Fro… Bombings alarm Israel A bungled bombing in the Thai capital Bangkok that maimed the terrorist but killed no one has nevertheless alarmed Israel.It… Religion "marginalised"? In amongst the domes and spires of the Vatican, a British government minister has warned of the dangers of religion being… Lawrence witness review ITV News has learnt that the police are considering launching an investigation into alleged perjury by witnesses during the… Chainsaw attacker jailed CCTV footage has been released that shows the moment a man entered a Hull pub … Continue reading →

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The New War Against Synthetic Drugs

Posted: Published on February 15th, 2012

by Scott Arnold NASHVILLE, Tenn.- State lawmakers have called synthetic drugs a deadly epidemic. There's now a number of new pushes at the Capitol to get the dangerous drugs off the streets. While the drugs sold in convenience stores as potpourri, herbal incense, or bath salts sound harmless, many Tennesseeans have died using these products "There have been instances in which these synthetic drugs have triggered severe mental reactions which have resulted in hospitalization," said Nashville State Representative Mike Stewart State lawmakers have been getting an earful about the issue. A 7th grade class recently told State Rep Tony Shipley they even knew kids who had used Synthetic Drugs. "Then I asked them, I said how many of you all had taken some, no hands went up, but half of the heads went down, body language said that 50% of our 7th graders are messing with something that can kill them," Shipley told us. In response lawmakers have filed a number of bills designed to stop these drugs from being sold. Representative Shipley's bill makes it a felony to sell synthetic drugs. Representative Stewart's legislation would allow you to sue the store owner. There are other measures that would suspend … Continue reading →

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UM pharmacy faculty member wins AACP New Investigator Award

Posted: Published on February 15th, 2012

Quentin Winstine / The Daily Mississippian The American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy recently announced that a University of Mississippi faculty member is among 18 recipients of the New Investigator Award. Rahul Khanna, assistant professor of pharmacy administration and assistant professor in the Research Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, will use the award to study the relationship between the health and well-being of caregivers of autistic children and the emotional and physical stress they experience. “I feel really fortunate and excited to be selected for this award, especially since they are so competitive,” Khanna said. “This is a national award, and there is a lot of prestige associated with it.” Khanna applied for the same award last year but fell short of the selective process. “Thanks to the support and encouragement I received from our department chair, Dr. Donna West-Strum, and other colleagues, I applied for this award with a new research proposal,” he said. Khanna has already started working on the project associated with the award. This is a one-year award that goes until the end of this year and also includes the submission of a mid-year progress report. “Since there are several steps involved in this project, I have … Continue reading →

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When nerve meets muscle, biglycan seals the deal

Posted: Published on February 14th, 2012

The protein biglycan needs to be present to stabilize synapses at the neuromuscular junction after they have formed, according to research led by Brown University that appears in the Feb. 14, 2012, issue of the Journal of Neruoscience. "What neuromuscular junctions do second-by-second is essential for our brain to control movement and they are also important for the long-term health of both muscle and motor neurons," said Justin Fallon, profesor of neuroscience at Brown University and the paper's senior author. "A treatment that sustains or supports the synapse could promote the health of motor neurons and muscle." In previous work, Fallon, a member of the Brown Institute for Brain Science, has shown that in mice with the same genetic mutation as Duchenne patients, biglycan promotes the activity of another natural protein, utrophin, that can significantly reduce the muscle degradation that patients suffer. Utrophin essentially takes over for dystrophin, which is the protein Duchenne patients cannot produce. In 2010 Brown licensed Fallon's biglycan intellectual property to the Providence startup company Tivorsan Pharmaceuticals, which is working toward human trials of biglycan. Last month the Muscular Dystrophy Association, which helped support Fallon's new study, gave Tivorsan a $1 million grant. Now Fallon's research … Continue reading →

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JumpStart Invests $250,000 in Milo Biotechnology

Posted: Published on February 14th, 2012

CLEVELAND, Feb. 14, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Milo Biotechnology will receive $250,000 from JumpStart Inc., a nonprofit investing intensive business assistance and some capital into early stage Northeast Ohio-based tech companies.  A clinical stage startup developing a therapy to increase muscle strength and improve the quality of life of muscular dystrophy patients, Milo is the 61st company in JumpStart's portfolio.  "There are limited treatment options for muscular dystrophy and approved therapies are inadequate or can cause significant side effects," says JumpStart's Mike Lang. "Since most muscular dystrophy patients are children, the medical community is interested in a safer and more targeted therapy." Milo Biotechnology's lead product is an adeno-associated virus (AAV) delivered follistatin protein.  Follistatin inhibits the activity of myostatin, a protein that impedes muscle differentiation and growth.  That makes follistatin a very potent stimulator of muscle growth and prevention of muscle scarring after injury.  "The translational research team at the Research Institute at Nationwide Children's Hospital has harnessed the power of follistatin and increased its specificity for muscle," explains Al Hawkins, CEO of Milo Biotechnology and CEO-in-Residence at BioEnterprise in Cleveland. "The efficacy and safety results thus far have been remarkable." Pre-clinical studies in mice and non-human primates demonstrated considerable increases … Continue reading →

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Possible link to hyper-excitability factors in epilepsy, autism and more

Posted: Published on February 14th, 2012

ScienceDaily (Feb. 14, 2012) — A UT Dallas undergraduate's research is revealing new information about a key protein's role in the development of epilepsy, autism and other neurological disorders. This work could one day lead to new treatments for the conditions. Senior neuroscience student Francisco Garcia has worked closely with Dr. Marco Atzori, associate professor in the School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences (BBS), on several papers that outline their findings about interleukin 6 (IL-6) and hyper-excitability. An article on the project is slated for publication in Biological Psychiatry later this year. Scientists know that stress elevates the levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines (signaling molecules used in intercellular communication) and promotes hyper-excitable conditions within the central nervous system. This hyper-excitability is thought to be a factor in epilepsy, autism and anxiety disorders. Garcia and Atzori hypothesized that the protein IL-6 acutely and directly induces hyper-excitability by altering the balance between excitation and inhibition within synaptic communication. In other words, IL-6 is not just present when hyper-excitability occurs in the nervous system. It may actually cause it in some circumstances, Garcia said. The UT Dallas research team administered IL-6 to rat brain tissue and monitored its synaptic excitability. The brain tissue exhibited … Continue reading →

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Utah House GOP reaches a deal on autism coverage

Posted: Published on February 14th, 2012

A deal struck after weeks of negotiations among House Republican leaders could extend coverage for treatment of about 800 children with autism, but would stop short of a more sweeping and contentious mandate. “We believe this is a Utah solution to addressing autism,” said House Assistant Majority Whip Ronda Menlove, R-Garland, who had sponsored the bill requiring about a third of Utah’s insurance carriers to cover autism treatment. Under terms of the deal, which will be contained in HB272, the state would set up a two-year pilot program within the health plan that covers public employees, which would extend coverage to a few hundred children. The state would then put about $2 million toward covering low-income children through Medicaid, which would be matched by several million in federal funds to cover about 500 children. Then, private commercial carriers, corporations and others have agreed to kick in about another $2 million to a state fund that would enable the treatment of few hundred others. Children between ages 2 and 6 would qualify for the benefits. “It will not help everyone universally,” said House Majority Whip Greg Hughes, R-Draper. “But we’ve been told that early intervention is critical in terms of costs … Continue reading →

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