New research suggests that targeting a particular cell signaling pathway with the diabetes drug metformin might offer a way to stop the progression and spread of pancreatic cancer. The study — which was led by Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey in New Brunswick — is to feature at the 2018 annual meeting of the American...
Category: <span>Pharmaceutical Updates</span>
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Medicinal cannabis is safe and effective — it’s time to reboot research
Amsterdam, March 15, 2018 — Medicinal cannabis is safe and effective in pain relief, and researchers are calling for the treatment to be properly established in our modern medical arsenal. A new special issue of the European Journal of Internal Medicine provides a comprehensive overview of current evidence for the use of cannabis and derived...
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New class of menopause drugs reduces severity of hot flushes in three days
A new class of experimental drugs reduces hot flushes in menopausal women by almost three-quarters in just three days. The treatment, tested by scientists at Imperial College London, also reduces the severity of hot flushes by over a third within three days of taking it. The research, funded by the Medical Research Council (MRC) and...
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Peptide Hydrogel Promotes Tissue Growth to Heal Without Drugs
Rice University researchers studying how different drugs, proteins, and cells embedded in peptide hydrogel can boost healing and promote tissue formation, discovered that the hydrogel itself exhibits powerful therapeutic properties. Their self-assembling multidomain peptide (MDP) with the amino acid sequence K2(SL)6K2 can be injected into tissue to provide a place for new cells to grow, the...
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Compound scores key win in battle against antibiotic resistance
Researchers at Oregon State University have made a key advance in the fight against drug resistance, crafting a compound that genetically neutralizes a widespread bacterial pathogen’s ability to thwart antibiotics. The findings are important because antibiotic resistance is a growing global threat, with the percentage of isolates with multidrug resistance on the rise for many...
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For nanomedicine, cell sex matters
Important biological differences between men and women exist – right down to the cellular level. Investigators from Brigham and Women’s Hospital and colleagues at Stanford University, McGill University and University of California, Berkeley wanted to determine if differences between male versus female cells may influence how well cells uptake nanoparticles – a key vehicle for...
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Is prescribing drugs ‘off label’ bad medicine?
A woman, let’s call her Sarah, is a young actor looking to make her debut at a major theatre. She is fit and healthy, but gets nervous on opening nights and can’t sleep. She’s tried zopiclone, but it didn’t work, so her GP prescribes a course of quetiapine. Quetiapine is usually used to treat bipolar disorder,...
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Breakthrough sees new drug for dementia patients which could spell the end to the dangerous ‘chemical cosh’ meds to keep sufferers sedated
Alzheimer’s victims suffer from psychotic episodes and terrifying hallucinations As a result, they are often prescribed anti-psychotic drugs and tranquillisers But in many cases patients are sedated to stop them from wandering off – a practice dubbed the ‘chemical cosh’ A new drug could spell the end of the scandal of dementia patients being prescribed dangerous...
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FDA approves admelog for diabetes
(HealthDay)—Admelog (insulin lispro), a short-acting form of insulin, has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat patients aged 3 years and older with either type of diabetes. Admelog is the first drug approved as a follow-up product based on an abbreviated new process dubbed 505(b)(2), the agency said Monday in a news release....
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New compound stops progressive kidney disease in its tracks
Progressive kidney diseases, whether caused by obesity, hypertension, diabetes, or rare genetic mutations, often have the same outcome: The cells responsible for filtering the blood are destroyed. Reporting in Science, a team led by researchers from the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and Harvard Medical School describes a new approach to...