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Doctors call for hormone replacement therapy rethink

Posted: Published on July 28th, 2012

Doctors and specialists are calling for hormone replacement treatments (HRT) to be more readily available for women who need them. It has been 10 years since an alarming US study found HRT increased a woman's risk of breast cancer, strokes and heart attack. But a decade later, medical professionals agree that those findings were flawed. Doctors say the pharmaceutical industry has withdrawn from sale half of all the available therapies, while extreme product warnings are unnecessarily frightening and outdated. But there is still confusion amongst women and GPs about the best treatment. Gynaecologist Dr John Eden, head of the Sydney Menopause Centre at the Royal Hospital for Women, says the 2002 Women's Health Initiative Study in the US changed the lives of millions of women. "It terrified women, there's no doubt about that, it was laced with fear," he said. "Probably the most dramatic example is that before Women's Health Initiative (WHI) I would hardly ever prescribe an anti-depressant, since WHI I've become an expert in anti-depressants, and that's because I see there's a small group of women, probably around one-in-eight, who have severe, intractable sweats and flushes day and night for the rest of their lives." Margaret Miller is … Continue reading →

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Stem cells for neck injury: $20 million

Posted: Published on July 28th, 2012

Stem cells for neck injury: $20 million July 27th, 2012, 3:45 pm posted by Pat Brennan, science, environment editor Human neural stem cell. Image courtesy StemCells Inc. The states stem-cell institute has awarded $20 million to UC Irvine researchers, along with a private company, to prepare the way for human testing of a treatment for spinal-cord injuries in the neck region one that could restore movement and independence for some of the 1.3 million spinal-cord injury sufferers in the United States. The treatment, developed by the husband and wife research team, Aileen Anderson and Brian Cummings, along with StemCells Inc. of Newark, Ca., would involve injecting versatile human neural stem cells into the neck area. The cells, capable of transforming themselves based on cues from the body, could then migrate to the injured area and perhaps repair the protective sheaths, known as myelin, around nerve cells. If the treatment works as expected, it would restore movement and body control for patients with debilitating injuries. While the treatment has the potential to allow the paralyzed to walk again, more modest gains are more likely and well worth the effort, Anderson said Friday. UC Irvine husband-wife research team, Brian Cummings and Aileen … Continue reading →

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Boy Still Doing Well After Receiving Stem Cell Windpipe Transplant

Posted: Published on July 28th, 2012

July 27, 2012 Lee Rannals for redOrbit.com Your Universe Online Stem cell research has made yet another stride, as one boy who received a trachea is showing a remarkable recovery. Researchers writing in the journal The Lancet said the child who received a new windpipe built with his own stem cells is doing well and is back in school. Ciaran Finn-Lynch was born with long-segment tracheal stenosis, which causes breathing difficulties. Due to his condition, his lungs collapsed on the day he was born, so he had to have major surgery to reconstruct his airways when he was just six days old. In 2009, one of the metal tubes that were used to hold open his airways damaged the main blood vessel coming out of his heart. Finn-Lynch had to undergo ground-breaking surgery at Londons Great Ormond Street Hospital in 2010. Doctors said that this procedure was the boys only option. The doctors took a donor windpipe, and stripped it of all the donors cells. Stem cells were then taken from Ciarans bone marrow, and were sprayed onto the newly transplanted windpipe. Tiny sections of lining from his original windpipe were patched on to the replacement. This prompted the stem … Continue reading →

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Cancer patients tour stem cell research lab

Posted: Published on July 28th, 2012

Touring McMaster Universitys stem cell research labs felt like a real-life science fiction movie for Moses Cook. Like a surreal trip inside his own head. And in a sense, it was the Hamilton teen was diagnosed with a brain tumour two years ago. And after he completed radiation treatments a couple months ago, the 16-year-old decided he wanted to see what goes on behind the scenes of cancer care. Its so surreal, he said Friday afternoon, touring the labs where his own tumour was studied. Its just so crazy to know this is where this work is done. The Sherwood student in remission now has wanted to be a neurosurgeon since long before his diagnosis, and is fascinated, still, by the science of it all. Dr. Sheila Singh was happy to show him around. As both a pediatric neurosurgeon and stem cell researcher, Singh is accustomed to the clinical and the scientific sides of cancer. She organized the tour for patients like Cook and their families to see the research in action at Macs Stem Cell and Cancer Research Institute. There arent that many people that get to see it from both sides, she said. Its really a huge pleasure … Continue reading →

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Scientists find new genetic test predicts prostate cancer risk

Posted: Published on July 28th, 2012

By Lynne Friedmann A genetic test to predict the risk for prostate cancer could reduce the need for repeat biopsies in men who have previously had negative biopsies. In a clinical trial, 1,654 men who had prostate biopsies also had genetic studies conducted that looked for the presence of genetic variations that may have an association with prostate cancer risk. The genetic test outperformed the widely used PSA (Prostate-Specific Antigen) test in assessing cancer risk. Because this genetic score is available at any time in a mans lifetime it could be used as a pre-screening test thus leaving aggressive PSA screening only to men at higher genetic risk. The goal is to avoid, particularly in older men, unnecessary repeat biopsy procedures which carry with them the risk of infection and potential hospitalizations. Findings appear in the journal of European Urology. News release at http://bit.ly/M7iaHV Inhibiting malaria parasite development Malaria is responsible worldwide for more than 1.2 million human deaths annually. Severe forms of the disease are caused by the parasite Plasmodium falciparum transmitted to humans by the bite of female Anopheles mosquitoes. Lack of vaccines, together with the parasites ability to develop drug resistance, has thwarted eradication efforts. An international … Continue reading →

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UC Davis gets $53 million in stem cell funds to study Huntington's, other diseases

Posted: Published on July 28th, 2012

The University of California, Davis, scored a major coup in stem cell funding with a $53 million award Thursday for research into Huntington's disease, limb ischemia and osteoporosis. The grants were approved Thursday afternoon by CIRM the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine. They are a major milestone for the university, which had received $73 million in past funding from the state agency. "We're here to bring this new era of medicine to patients," UC Davis stem cell program director Jan Nolta said. For Melissa Biliardi of Santa Maria, the vote symbolizes hope. Her son, James Birdsall, 32, was diagnosed four years ago with Huntington's disease. The degenerative brain disorder could prove fatal over the next 10 to 15 years. There is currently no cure or treatment, but with the grant, UC Davis researchers hope to deliver an effective therapy in four years. "This is the most hope we've ever had for a cure or treatment," Biliardi said. Her son suffers from involuntary movement and fatigue, all symptoms of the disease, and relies on a wheelchair to get around. Birdsall is one of 30,000 Americans living with the genetic disorder, according to Nolta. Another 150,000 are at risk, but many aren't … Continue reading →

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State stem cell research funding agency awards $20 million to UCI, StemCells Inc.

Posted: Published on July 28th, 2012

Public release date: 27-Jul-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ] Contact: Cathy Lawhon clawhon@uci.edu 949-824-1151 University of California - Irvine Irvine, Calif., July 26, 2012 Efforts to begin human clinical trials using stem cells to treat cervical spinal cord injury in the U.S. received a $20 million boost Thursday, July 26, from the state's stem cell research funding agency, the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine. The award will be shared by Aileen Anderson and Brian Cummings, associate professors of physical medicine & rehabilitation at UC Irvine's Sue & Bill Gross Stem Cell Research Center, and Nobuko Uchida of StemCells Inc. in Newark, Calif. Anderson and Cummings proved that transplanting human neural stem cells discovered and developed by Stem Cells, Inc. into rodents with thoracic spinal cord injury could restore mobility. The CIRM award announced Thursday will fund the collection of data necessary to establish human clinical trials in the U.S. "Our therapeutic approach is based on the hypothesis that transplanted human neural stem cells integrate into the injured spinal cord to repair the protective myelin sheath and spinal circuitry," Anderson said. "Any therapy that can partially reverse some of the effects of spinal cord injury could substantially change the quality … Continue reading →

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China to phase out AIDS drug

Posted: Published on July 28th, 2012

China has vowed to gradually phase out the AIDS drug D4T, which the World Health Organisation recommended early in 2009 be phased out worldwide because of its long-term and irreversible side effects. "As the country is further expanding antiretroviral therapy among sufferers under the treatment as prevention strategy now recognised worldwide, the drug regimen will also be optimised," Wu Zunyou, director of the National Centre for AIDS/STD Control and Prevention, said on Friday. Since WHO's recommendation in 2009, China has already taken steps to reduce the use of D4T, said Zhao Yan, deputy director of the AIDS treatment and care division of the centre. Several years ago, about half of AIDS patients on the Chinese mainland were using the drug, Zhao said. She expected that by the end of 2013, China would no longer be using D4T for AIDS treatment on the mainland. In July, 10 to 15 per cent of new AIDS patients in Wuhan, Hubei province, were prescribed D4T, mostly in rural areas, a source close to the situation said. Currently, about 26 per cent of the more than 140,000 AIDS patients on antiretroviral therapy, are still receiving D4T on the mainland, statistics from the NCAIDS showed. To … Continue reading →

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NH will get 1.7M for Medicaid drug overcharges.

Posted: Published on July 28th, 2012

CONCORD - Attorney General Michael A. Delaney announced Friday that New Hampshire will receive $1.7 million from a national settlement with a major drug company whose wholesale drug pricing caused the states Medicaid program to overpay for a large number of prescription drugs between late 2001 and March 2005. New Hampshire is one of 30 states that will share in the settlement with McKesson Corp. The national settlement resolved allegations that McKesson violated the Federal False Claims Act and various state false claims acts, by reporting inflated pricing data for a large number of prescription drugs between late 2001 and March 2005. As a result of the inflated pricing data reported, New Hampshires Medicaid program overpaid for the drugs during that period. Medicaid is funded jointly by the federal government and New Hampshire. In April, the federal government settled the federal portion of this lawsuit for over $187 million; this agreement recovers the state Medicaid share for New Hampshire. The drug pricing data at issue in this settlement concerns the Average Wholesale Price (AWP) benchmark used by most states, including New Hampshire, to set pharmacy reimbursement rates for pharmaceuticals dispensed to state Medicaid beneficiaries. The state and federal governments alleged … Continue reading →

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NH will receive 1.7 million in drug over pricing settlement

Posted: Published on July 28th, 2012

CONCORD Attorney General Michael A. Delaney said Friday that New Hampshire will receive $1.7 million from a national settlement with a major drug company whose wholesale drug pricing caused the states Medicaid program to overpay for a large number of prescription drugs betweeen late 2001 and March 2005. New Hampshire is one of 30 states that will share in the settlement with McKesson Corp. The national settlement resolved allegations that McKesson violated the Federal False Claims Act and various state false claims acts, by reporting inflated pricing data for a large number of prescription drugs. As a result of the inflated pricing data reported, New Hampshires Medicaid program overpaid for the drugs during that period. Medicaid is funded jointly by the federal government and New Hampshire. In April, the federal government settled the federal portion of this lawsuit for more than $187 million; this agreement recovers the state Medicaid share for New Hampshire. The drug pricing data at issue in this settlement concerns the Average Wholesale Price (AWP) benchmark used by most states, including New Hampshire, to set pharmacy reimbursement rates for pharmaceuticals dispensed to state Medicaid beneficiaries. The state and federal governments alleged that McKesson, one of the largest … Continue reading →

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