Genetic testing can help doctors choose the most effective and economical drugs to prevent blood clots in the half a million patients in the U.S. who receive coronary stents each year, according to a new study led by a UC San Francisco researcher. The work, reported in the February 18, 2014 Annals of Internal Medicine, demonstrates that genetically guided personalized medicine, often perceived as pricier than traditional approaches, can both lower costs and increase the quality of health care. Dhruv Kazi, MD, MSc, MS Our results counter the general perception that personalized medicine is expensive, said Dhruv Kazi, MD, MSc, MS, assistant professor of medicine at UCSF and first author of the new study. What we have shown is that individualizing care based on genotype may in fact be very cost-effective in some settings, because it allows us to target the use of newer, more expensive drugs to the patients who are most likely to benefit from them. According to the American Heart Association, about 500,000 patients per year in the U.S. receive stents to open up coronary arteries after experiencing unstable angina or a heart attack. These patients routinely begin a one-year regimen of aspirin taken daily in combination … Continue reading →

February 19, 2014 Image Credit: Christof Angst, Biberfachstelle Brett Smith for redOrbit.com Your Universe Online Long-prized for their thick fur, the cuddly Eurasian beaver has been hunted by humans for thousands of years and a new genetic study from a large group of international researchers has found that predation by humans has significantly cut down the genetic diversity of these animals. While beaver populations have been growing rapidly since the late 19th century when conservation efforts began, genetic diversity within modern beaver populations remains considerably reduced to what was present prior to the period of human hunting and habitat reduction, said study author Michi Hofreiter, a biology professor from the University of York in the United Kingdom. In the study, which was published in the journal Molecular Ecology, the research team found that the Eurasian beaver can be divided into three different groups. The two predominant ones are in western and Eastern Europe and a now extinct, and previously unknown, third group inhabiting the Danube river basin. This population was around at least 6,000 years ago but vanished during the transition to modern society. The rapid loss of diversity prior to conservation efforts appears to have established a very strong … Continue reading →

PHILADELPHIA A newly developed, more specific approach to classifying tumors by molecular type can help cancer researchers to determine tumor characteristics and guide treatment strategies. A team of researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and the Wistar Institute have created the first isoform-level assay for stratifying tumors at a molecular level, in patients with glioblastoma, the most common and most aggressive type of malignant primary brain tumor. This new classifier is more efficient and replicable in a laboratory setting than existing diagnostic tools, and can provide more accurate predictions for survival and how glioblastoma patients may respond to different treatments. "Current tests can help classify tumor types to a lesser degree. This new classifying system improves both the diagnostic accuracy and the efficiency of the testing process," said Donald O'Rourke, MD, associate professor of Neurosurgery with Penn's Abramson Cancer Center and director of the Penn Brain Tumor Tissue Bank. "The more detailed information we have about the tumor, at a molecular level, the better we can target new immunotherapies and other treatments for our patients with glioblastoma." Penn Medicine's Center for Personalized Diagnostics (CPD) currently analyzes all brain tumors to determine the best treatment … Continue reading →

Stem Cell Treatment at "EmCell" http://www.emcell.com/ Stem cell therapy is the rapidly developing area of modern medicine. Unique properties of fetal stem cells, the core of EmCell treatme... By: Stem Cell Therapy Center "EMCELL" … Continue reading →

For people with newly diagnosed epilepsy, monotherapy is the preferred option for managing their condition as this reduces the potential for adverse drug interactions and encourages treatment compliance.[2] Epilepsy in children often presents major challenges such as developmental and behavioural problems that result in educational underachievement and a lack of self-esteem. These issues, which are frequently manifested in an attention deficit disorder, withdrawal, anxiety or depression, have a negative impact on both the child and their family.[3] "The availability of zonisamide in Spain as monotherapy in adults and the widened indication for its use as adjunctive therapyin children over the age of six and beyond is welcome and will provide a new treatment option for doctors and patients," commented Dr Pedro Serrano-Castro, Department of Neurology and Neurophysiology, Hospital Torrecardenas, Spain. "The extension of the Zonegran indication provides doctors with an effective and well-tolerated additional tool for the treatment of a condition that still poses many unsolved therapeutic challenges," commented Dr. Pere Fernndez, Director of Medical Department & Health Innovation at Esteve. Epilepsy is one of the most common neurological conditions in the world,[4] with an estimated 400,000 people who currently live with epilepsy in Spain alone.[5] The successful treatment of … Continue reading →

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) The doctors were out of ideas to help 5-year-old Charlotte Figi. Suffering from a rare genetic disorder, she had as many as 300 grand mal seizures a week, used a wheelchair, went into repeated cardiac arrest and could barely speak. As a last resort, her mother began calling medical marijuana shops. Two years later, Charlotte is largely seizure-free and able to walk, talk and feed herself after taking oil infused with a special pot strain. Her recovery has inspired both a name for the strain of marijuana she takes that is bred not to make users high Charlotte's Web and an influx of families with seizure-stricken children to Colorado from states that ban the drug. "She can walk, talk; she ate chili in the car," her mother, Paige Figi, said as her dark-haired daughter strolled through a cavernous greenhouse full of marijuana plants that will later be broken down into their anti-seizure components and mixed with olive oil so patients can consume them. "So I'll fight for whomever wants this." Doctors warn there is no proof that Charlotte's Web is effective, or even safe. In the frenzy to find the drug, there have been reports of … Continue reading →

It's a parent's worst nightmare,their child wanders off,disappears and is no where to be found. Sadly, this happens too often in families with autistic children. "You never think it's going to happen to you," said Michael Sprague grandfather of a child with autism. Isaac Sprague his grandson, was having fun practicing archery with his grandfather in Hilmar. In an instant, the 7-year old autistic boy disappeared. "You can't comprehend the feeling when one minute somebody's there and you come back and a few minutes later they're gone and no matter what you do you can't find them," said Sprague. After eight hours of searching for the boy, the Merced County dive team found Isaac crying in the freezing Merced River. This time, it turned out good, but many times, it doesn't. Like when 14-year old Avonte Oquendo wondered away from school. He was found three months later in a river dead. And little 9-year-old Mikaela Lynch vanished from her backyard. Adive team found her body in a muddy creek. About half of autistic children are prone to wandering. Add that to the common fascination that many autistic children have with water, and the result is tragic. "Iwas terrified. I don't … Continue reading →

After Monday's news conference, Traci Beasley laughed with Dr. Justin Fraser, left, who treated her at UK Chandler Hospital after she had a stroke in 2012, and Justin Mueller, one of her nurses. HERALD-LEADER|BuyPhoto University of Kentucky HealthCare has been designated a Comprehensive Stroke Center by The Joint Commission and the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association. Michael Karpf, UK's executive vice president for health affairs, announced Monday that the selection fulfilled UK HealthCare's mission to connect Kentuckians with complex conditions to treatment within the state. The classification "puts us in fine company," he said. UK HealthCare is one of 63 organizations in the United States with the designation, which means its hospital has staff, training and equipment for round-the-clock availability of specialized treatment. In the region, hospitals at the University of Louisville and University of Cincinnati also carry the designation. Traci Beasley, 35, a stroke patient who teaches elementary school math in Anderson County, was at Monday's announcement to talk about her gratitude to UK HealthCare for getting her back into the classroom just a few months after her stroke in 2012. Beasley, the mother of two young boys, was at a child's football game when she felt a popping … Continue reading →

Women have a poorer quality of life after a stroke than men, a study has found. The United States research, published in Neurology, assessed the mental and physical health of 1,370 patients three months and a year after a stroke. Women had more depression and anxiety, pain and discomfort, and more restricted mobility. UK experts said women tended to have strokes later, and might therefore need more support. But the study did say more people survive a stroke now than 10 years ago because of improved treatment. Women tend to have strokes at a later age than men, which lowers their chances of natural recovery says Prof. Cheryl Bushnell of the Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center, North Carolina. The researchers at the centre, looked at patients who had a stroke or transient ischaemic attack, also known as a mini-stroke. Quality of life is calculated using a formula that assesses mobility, self-care, everyday activities, depression/anxiety and pain. At three months, women were more likely than men to report problems with mobility, pain and discomfort, anxiety and depression, but the difference was greatest in those aged over 75. After a year, women still had lower quality-of-life scores overall than men but the … Continue reading →