Patients with severe burns who have higher levels of vitamin D recover more successfully than those with lower levels, according to a study presented at the Society for Endocrinology annual conference in Harrogate. This study is the first to investigate the role of vitamin D in recovery from burn injury and suggests that vitamin...
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Test could diagnose oesophageal cancer 8 years earlier
A new genetic test could help diagnose oesophageal cancer up to 8 years before symptoms appear in people at a high risk of the disease, according to new research presented at the National Cancer Research Institute’s (NCRI) Cancer Conference in Liverpool. University of Cambridge researchers Sarah Killcoyne and Eleanor Gregson looked at tissue samples from people with...
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New findings on tolvaptan as autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease treatment
A phase 3 trial studying the effects of tolvaptan has found that the drug slowed the rate of decline in kidney function in patients with the most common form of polycystic kidney disease, a condition with no cure. The results are published today in the New England Journal of Medicine. Autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease is...
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Chemists have created compounds that can treat glaucoma
Glaucoma is a serious disease associated with increased intraocular pressure which often leads to blindness. One of the ways to treat glaucoma is to reduce aqueous humour secretion in the ciliary body of the eye by suppressing (inhibiting) activity of special enzymes – carbonic anhydrases. Russian scientists from RUDN University have designed new compounds that...
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New cancer drug shows promise in helping patients with blood cancer
An immunology discovery from the laboratories at the University of Southampton has now been shown to improve the outcomes of a common type of blood cancer in patients. Follicular lymphoma is a type of non-Hodgkin lymphoma and develops when the body makes abnormal white blood cells that fight infection, called B-lymphocytes. It can be slow-growing...
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Miracle cure costs less than a budget airline flight
The revolution in generic drugs means that a 12-week course of drugs to cure hepatitis C can be manufactured for just US$50 – as low as the cost of a plane ticket on many low-cost airlines. Furthermore, new data shows that these generic copies are just as effective as the branded medicines. Yet restrictions and...
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New techniques give blood biopsies greater promise
Improved methods validate the use of blood samples for studying patients’ cancer genomes Improved methods validate the use of blood samples for studying patients’ cancer genomes. Researchers at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Koch Institute at MIT, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, and Massachusetts General Hospital have developed an accurate, scalable approach for monitoring cancer...
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Two simple tests can ID fibromyalgia in pain patients
(HealthDay)—Two simple tests can indicate a probable diagnosis of fibromyalgia (FM) in patients with chronic pain, according to a study published online Oct. 23 in the Journal of Evaluation in Clinical Practice. Kim D. Jones, Ph.D., from Oregon Health and Science University in Portland, and colleagues studied 352 patients scheduled for routine examination in two primary care practices....
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An Eye Scan for Alzheimer’s Disease?
Researchers aim for a routine screen to detect the neurodegenerative disease—decades before symptoms appear. Neurodegenerative diseases are tough nuts to crack, not just because of the inherent difficulties of sorting through what has gone awry, and why, but also due to a dearth of biomarkers that could help spot the diseases and track their progression....
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Brain Patterns May Predict People At Risk Of Suicide
People who are thinking about killing themselves appear to have distinctive brain activity that can now be measured by a computer. In these people, words like “death” and “trouble” produce a distinctive “neural signature” not found in others, scientists report in the journal Nature Human Behaviour. More than 44,000 people commit suicide in the U.S. each year. “There...