Medical News from epgonline.org

Lung transplant patients at increased risk of VTE

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 13:00:10 GMT

Patients who undergo a lung transplant procedure may be at an increased risk of venous thromboembolism (VTE). This is according to researchers at The Methodist Hospital and Baylor College of Medicine in Texas, US, who conducted a retrospective...

Breakthrough in new leukaemia treatment

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 13:00:08 GMT

Researchers in Ireland have made a breakthrough in the development of a new treatment for leukaemia. Scientists at Trinity College Dublin discovered that PBOX-15 can destroy cancerous cells in adult patients who have previously shown resistance to other...

Oral contraceptives may benefit female asthma patients

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 19:00:05 GMT

Taking oral contraceptives may benefit the health of female asthma patients, the results of a new study have suggested. Researchers at McMaster University, Canada, discovered that women with asthma who were not taking oral contraceptives during their natural...

Many buying imitation drugs online, research reveals

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 19:00:05 GMT

Millions of people in Europe are putting their health at risk by procuring imitation drugs online rather than buying prescription medications. Recent research collated by Pfizer, the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency, the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of...

Finding could have implications for new diabetes drugs

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 13:00:06 GMT

Diabetes drugs currently in development could be implicated following new findings from researchers at the University of California, US. Dr Cynthia Kenyon discovered that adding small amounts of sugar to worms' diets reduced their lifespan by approximately 20...

Frontotemporal dementia is hereditary, researchers discover

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 19:00:09 GMT

A rare brain disorder responsible for the early stages of dementia is highly hereditary, it has been discovered. Researchers at University College London's Dementia Research Centre said that knowing your family's health history may be a better way...

Nocturnal teeth grinding prevalent in OSA sufferers

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 19:00:09 GMT

Large numbers of patients suffering from insomnia as a result of obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) experience nocturnal teeth grinding. Research presented at the Chest 2009 conference showed that almost a quarter of OSA patients suffer from teeth grinding,...

Retirement may help to combat insomnia

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 19:00:09 GMT

Many people suffering from insomnia begin to sleep better once they have retired. This is according to findings from researchers at the University of Turku, Finland, and suggests that the improvement in sleep is related to the removal...

Diabetes could impact on memory loss in Alzheimer's patients

Fri, 30 Oct 2009 13:00:06 GMT

People with Alzheimer's disease who have diabetes tend to experience slower memory loss than dementia sufferers without the metabolic condition. This is according to a new study published in the Neurology journal, which concentrated on 608 people with...

Lifestyle changes reduce chance of developing type-2 diabetes

Fri, 30 Oct 2009 13:00:06 GMT

Implementing intensive lifestyle changes to achieve modest weight loss can reduce the rate of developing type-2 diabetes by 34 per cent over a ten year period. This is according to researchers at Washington University School of Medicine, US,...

Neurodegenerative disease could be treated with anti-epilepsy drugs

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 19:00:05 GMT

Anti-epileptic drugs could be used to treat neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases. This is according to researchers in the US, who discovered that neurons in the brain were protected after being treated with T-type calcium-channel...

Therapeutic protein could lead to improved treatment of Fabry disease

Tue, 27 Oct 2009 13:00:07 GMT

Researchers have designed a therapeutic protein that offers "significant advantages" over existing treatments for a rare disease that can lead to cardiac and renal failure. By implementing a structure-based remodelling strategy, researchers at Meiji Pharmaceutical University, Japan, have...

Little evidence that pulmonary embolism is result of DVT, study suggests

Tue, 27 Oct 2009 13:00:07 GMT

Trauma patients who develop potentially fatal blood clots in the lungs can also have clots in the deep veins of their pelvis and legs. This is according to a new study published in the October edition of the...

Heart attack symptoms similar in men and women, study discovers

Tue, 27 Oct 2009 13:00:07 GMT

The difference between heart attack symptoms in men and women is far smaller than previously thought. This is according to findings presented at the Canadian Cardiovascular Congress 2009, with researchers discovering no gender differences in rates of chest...

Discovery could have implications for pulmonary hypertension treatment

Tue, 27 Oct 2009 13:00:07 GMT

A new protein has been identified by scientists in the US which promotes the development of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) in humans and mice. Researchers at the University of California discovered a genetic pathway by which vascular smooth...

HIV vaccine is effective, US military says

Fri, 23 Oct 2009 13:00:15 GMT

An HIV vaccine trial conducted in Thailand has been found to be modestly effective at preventing the HIV infection. This is according to new data presented at the AIDS Vaccine 2009 conference in Paris, with questions having originally...

Amphetamines impact on adult memories

Fri, 23 Oct 2009 13:00:15 GMT

Adolescents may impair their adult working memory if they take regular doses of amphetamines. This is according to findings presented at the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience in Chicago, US, which revealed that rats exposed to...

High protein diet can cause brain to shrink

Wed, 21 Oct 2009 19:00:13 GMT

Researchers looking at Alzheimer's disease have discovered that a diet containing lots of protein is responsible for shrinking the brain. A research team from the US, Canada and the UK found that, during a study on mice, those...

Using the internet can reduce dementia risk, study suggests

Tue, 20 Oct 2009 13:00:10 GMT

Spending time searching for things on the internet may be more beneficial than reading in terms of slowing the onset of dementia. This is according to researchers at the University of California, US, who revealed that the stimulation...

Cases of type-1 diabetes on the increase

Tue, 20 Oct 2009 13:00:10 GMT

There are approaching half a million cases of type-1 diabetes in children across the world, figures have revealed. According to the International Diabetes Federation, there are 440,000 instances of the condition in juveniles, which has led to one...

Metals could be key in fight against colon cancer

Mon, 19 Oct 2009 13:00:13 GMT

Unusual metals could be used to develop effective treatments against colon and ovarian cancer, researchers have suggested. Scientists at the University of Warwick and the University of Leeds, UK, discovered that a range of compounds containing transition metals...

Researchers develop new Alzheimer's treatment

Fri, 16 Oct 2009 13:00:18 GMT

A new treatment involving the removal of amyloid plaques could spell good news for sufferers of Alzheimer's disease. Scientists at the Mayo Clinic, US, have developed the treatment, which allows amyloid plaques - a hallmark of the disease...

Fixed dose combination treatment effective for treatment of type-2 diabetes

Fri, 16 Oct 2009 13:00:18 GMT

Type-2 diabetes patients may benefit from fixed-dose combination ACTOplus, made up of pioglitazone HCl and metformin HCl, more than if taking either component alone. This is according to a study published in the Current Medical Research and Opinion...

Molecule in red grapes has anti-diabetes effects

Thu, 15 Oct 2009 19:00:20 GMT

Resveratrol, a naturally-produced molecule found in the skin of red grapes, has the power to lower insulin levels if it is injected directly into the brain. This is the finding from scientists at UT Southwestern Medical Center, whose...

H1N1 patients at risk of pulmonary embolism

Thu, 15 Oct 2009 19:00:20 GMT

Patients with the most severe cases of H1N1 are at a greater risk of developing pulmonary emboli and other severe complications. This is according to findings published in the October 14th online edition of the American Journal of...

Neuronal protein could have Parkinson's disease implications

Tue, 13 Oct 2009 17:35:38 GMT

Genetic and pathologic data have suggested there is a role for the neuronal protein alpha-synuclein in the fight against Parkinson's disease. Studies in the past have suggested that phosphorylation of alpha-synuclein at amino acid 129 (Ser129) is an...

Type-2 diabetes less prevalent in healthy areas, study reveals

Tue, 13 Oct 2009 17:35:38 GMT

Living in an area defined as 'healthy' may mean that a person is less likely to develop type-2 diabetes. This is according to a study published in the October 12th issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, which revealed...

HPV vaccine could prevent three-quarters of cervical cancer in India

Mon, 12 Oct 2009 13:00:05 GMT

Three-quarters of cervical cancer cases in India could be eradicated if a new vaccine is developed targeting human papillomavirus (HPV) types 16 and 18. This is according to findings presented at the American Association for Cancer Research Frontiers,...

Exercise could allow CKD patients to live longer

Fri, 09 Oct 2009 19:00:05 GMT

Kidney disease patients who remain active and take plenty of exercise could live longer. This is according to a new study published in the Clinical Journal of the American Society Nephrology, which suggests that exercise has important health...

Shingles raises stroke risk

Fri, 09 Oct 2009 19:00:05 GMT

Adults with shingles are 30 per cent more likely to suffer from an ischemic stroke within 12 months than people without the condition. This is according to new findings published in Stroke: Journal of the American Heart Association,...