Vaccine alliance seeks $3.7 bln from London meeting
|
|
International health alliance GAVI is seeking $3.7 billion from a June 13 pledging conference in London to help deliver vaccines to nearly a quarter of a billion children across the world by 2015.
Launched in 2000 and including partners such as the World Bank and pharmaceutical firms, the grouping targets common but deadly diseases such as pneumonia or diarrhea and says it has already saved 5 million lives.
The alliance uses so-called “vaccine bonds” underpinned by firm market expectations that donors will ultimately honor their pledges to bridge the time lags in the funding process that are common to the aid sector.
Arthritis patients taking newer treatments do not have an overall increased cancer risk
|
|
Only three percent (n=181) of patients in the study cohort receiving anti-tumour necrosis factor agents (anti-TNFs) for treatment of their arthritis developed a first cancer within nine years and overall risk was not dependent on the type of arthritis.
The nine year follow-up study conducted at Gentofte University Hospital, Denmark demonstrated that relative risk ((RR)=1.03 (95%confidence interval 0.82-1.30)) was not increased in patients treated with anti-TNFs compared to patients who had never taken anti-TNFs during 23,965 person-years follow-up. Overall cancer risk was not dependent on the type of arthritis including rheumatoid arthritis (RA) (n=3,496) (RR=1.05, 95% CI 0.82-1.34), psoriatic arthritis (PsA) (n=670) (RR=1.98, 95% CI 0.24-16.18) or other arthritis (n=499) (RR=0.79 95% CI 0.08-8.33).
“Some studies have suggested that taking anti-TNFs may increase an individual’s risk of cancer however this study provides long term evidence that an overall risk of cancer is not associated with this group of treatments”, said Dr. PhD, Lene Dreyer from the Department of Rheumatology at Gentofte University Hospital. “TNF is a small signalling molecule called a cytokine and is able to inhibit the development of tumours by interfering with signalling pathways. Therefore drugs targeting TNF can influence the development of tumours, although the extent of this impact remains unclear.”
New treatment dissolves blood clots in brain tissue
|
|
A new treatment that treats a subset of stroke patients by combining minimally invasive surgery, an imaging technique likened to “GPS for the brain,” and the clot-busting drug t-PA appears to be safe and effective, according to a multicenter clinical trial led by Johns Hopkins researchers.
The novel treatment, detailed for the first time at this week’s European Stroke Conference in Hamburg, Germany, was developed for patients with intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH), a bleed in the brain that causes a clot to form within brain tissue. This clot builds up pressure and leaches inflammatory chemicals that can cause irreversible brain damage, often leading to death or extreme disability. The usual treatments for ICH - either general supportive care such as blood pressure control and ventilation, which is considered the current standard of care, or invasive surgeries that involve taking off portions of the skull to remove the clot - have similar mortality rates, ranging from 30 to 80 percent depending on the size of the clot.
Seeking to improve these mortality rates and surviving ICH patients’ quality of life, Daniel Hanley, M.D., professor of neurology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, and his colleagues developed and tested the new treatment on 60 patients at 12 hospitals in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and Germany. They compared their results to those of 11 patients who received only supportive care.
When it comes to warm-up, less is more
|
|
University of Calgary Faculty of Kinesiology researcher Elias Tomaras says the idea came to him while watching track and field sprinters warm-up for a race. “If you watch sprinters, short distance speed skaters or cyclists before their race, they will often warm-up for one to two hours, including several brief bouts of high intensity exercise. From an exercise physiology point of view, it seemed like it might be pretty tiring.”
Many coaches and physiologists believe that a longer warm up provides an increase in muscle temperature, acceleration of oxygen uptake kinetics, increased anaerobic metabolism and a process called postactivation potentiation of the muscles. However, very few studies have studied if warm ups has a detrimental effect on performance.
As it turns out, the warm-up is one of the more contentious issues in high-performance sport. Different coaches have different theories and not a lot of quality research has been done to identify the optimal warm-up. Tomaras’ study, published recently in the prestigious Journal of Applied Physiology suggests that at the very least, athletes may want to lower the intensity and reduce the amount of time that they warm up.
PGD can permit the birth of healthy children to women carrying mitochondrial DNA disease
|
|
Amsterdam, The Netherlands: Pre-implantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) can give women at risk of passing on a mitochondrial DNA disorder to their offspring a good chance of being able to give birth to an unaffected child, a researcher told the annual conference of the European Society of Human Genetics today (Monday). Dr. Debby Hellebrekers, from Maastricht University Medical Centre, Maastricht, The Netherlands, said that the scientists’ findings could have a considerable effect on preventing the transmission of mitochondrial diseases.
Mitochondria are cellular organelles involved in the conversion of the energy of food molecules into ATP, the molecule that powers most cellular functions. Disruptions of this energy-producing process, due to a defect in the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) or nuclear genes, can cause mitochondrial disorders which represent the most common group of inborn errors of metabolism. The manifestation of mtDNA disorders can be quite varied, but the diseases are almost always serious and, if they do not lead to death, they can result in life-long serious disability for children born with them. Symptoms of mtDNA disorders include loss of muscle co-ordination, visual and hearing problems, poor growth, mental retardation, heart, liver and kidney disease, neurological problems, respiratory disorders and dementia.
Prenatal diagnosis is in general not possible for mtDNA diseases, because the clinical signs cannot be reliably predicted from the mutation load (the relative amount of mutated mtDNA molecules) in chorionic villus sampling, so the team of scientists from The Netherlands, Australia, and the UK decided to look at whether PGD would be a better alternative. “If we could find a minimal level of mtDNA mutation load below which the chance for an embryo of being affected was acceptably low”, said Dr. Hellebrekers, “we could offer PGD to women who otherwise had little chance of giving birth to a healthy child.”
PBDEs can cause developmental malformations, changes in behavior and death
|
|
A new study by Baylor University environmental health researchers found that zebra fish exposed to several different technical mixtures of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) - a common fire retardant - during early development can cause developmental malformations, changes in behavior and death.
The study will appear in the June issue of the journal Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry and is the first to test multiple PBDE mixtures for changes in behavior, physical malformations and mortality on zebra fish.
PBDEs are found in many common household products from blankets to couches to food wrappers. Lab tests have shown that PBDEs have been found in human breast milk and cord blood. Previous studies have showed children with high levels of PBDEs in their umbilical cord at birth scored lower on tests between one and six years of age. In 2006, the state of California started prohibiting the use of PBDEs.
U.N. body to probe Fukushima radiation impact
|
|
A U.N. scientific body said on Monday it would study the radiation impact of Japan’s nuclear disaster on people and the environment, but it did not expect to detect any major health effects.
The United Nations Scientific Committee on the effects of Atomic Radiation (UNSCEAR), which has published reports about the 1986 Chernobyl accident, said it would take at least two years to produce a full report on the issue.
“Everybody wants answers tomorrow or next week ... but this is not possible. We need time,” UNSCEAR Chairman Wolfgang Weiss told a news conference, adding that preliminary findings were expected in May 2012.
Cell phone use may reduce male fertility
|
|
Men who have been diagnosed with poor sperm quality and who are trying to have children should limit their cell phone use. Researchers have found that while cell phone use appears to increase the level of testosterone circulating in the body, it may also lead to low sperm quality and a decrease in fertility.
“Our findings were a little bit puzzling,” says Rany Shamloul, a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology and lead researcher on the project. “We were expecting to find different results, but the results we did find suggest that there could be some intriguing mechanisms at work.”
The research team discovered that men who reported cell phone use had higher levels of circulating testosterone but they also had lower levels of luteinizing hormone (LH), an important reproductive hormone that is secreted by the pituitary gland in the brain.
New treatment regimen shows clinical benefit in advanced colon cancer
|
|
A new treatment regimen for patients with metastatic colon cancer appears to offer clinical benefit even when used after multiple other treatments have failed, say research physicians at Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, a part of Georgetown University Medical Center.
The research team found that combining a PARP inhibitor with chemotherapy (temozolomide) offers significant benefit in patients who had no further treatment options. However, the study is small, and does not include a comparison arm, so further investigation is needed, they add. The study will be presented in an oral session on Saturday, June 4th, at the 2011 annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology in Chicago.
PARP, short for “poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase” is a key part of a cell’s DNA repair apparatus, and is important for protecting our normal cells against DNA damage. However, cancer cells become resistant to chemotherapy in part by increasing PARP expression and thus rapidly repairing DNA damage intentionally caused by chemotherapy. PARP inhibitors are designed to overcome a cancer cell’s ability to repair the damaged DNA. (They are showing promise in both breast and ovarian cancers, and are being studied in a variety of other cancer types).
Late-Breaking Clinical Trials
|
|
Results from C91 “Late-Breaking Clinical Trials” on Tuesday afternoon, May 17, will bring new light to clinical problems and potential treatments. While five examine possible new therapies for people with asthma (pregnant women), emphysema, lymphangioleiomyomatosis (LAM), TB and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), a sixth looks at the safety of physician- vs. nurse-led transport teams for critically ill patients,
In one, researchers from Australia identified a way for pregnant women with asthma to avoid exacerbations. This randomized, controlled trial tested a management algorithm for asthma in pregnancy based on fractional exhaled nitric oxide (FENO) which indicates level of inflammation, and symptoms, and compared this to standard, guideline-based care.
Heather Powell, MMedSci, and colleagues enrolled 242 pregnant asthmatic women before 20 weeks’ gestation. They measured FENO, symptoms and lung function at monthly visits. For the women randomized to the algorithm-based treatment, FENO was used to increase or decrease their ICS medications. Long-acting beta agonists were used to treat symptoms when FENO was not elevated.
Economic factors associated with increase in closures of emergency departments
|
|
Over the last 20 years, the number of hospital emergency departments in nonrural areas in the U.S. has declined by nearly 30 percent, with for-profit ownership, location in a competitive market, low profit margin and safety-net status associated with an increased risk of emergency department closure, according to a study in the May 18 issue of JAMA.
“As the only place in the U.S. health care system that serves all patients, emergency departments (EDs) are the ‘safety net of the safety net.’ Federal law requires hospital EDs to evaluate and treat all patients in need of emergency care regardless of ability to pay,” according to background information in the article. “Between 1998 and 2008, the number of hospital-based EDs in the United States declined, while the number of ED visits increased, particularly visits by patients who were publicly insured and uninsured. Little is known about the hospital, community, and market factors associated with ED closures.”
Renee Y. Hsia, M.D., M.Sc., of the University of California, San Francisco, and colleagues conducted a study to examine the factors that may be associated with the closure of hospital EDs. The study included emergency department and hospital organizational information from 1990 through 2009, acquired from the American Hospital Association Annual Surveys and merged with hospital financial and payer mix information available through 2007 from Medicare hospital cost reports.
Stem cell study could pave the way to treatment for age-related muscle wasting
|
|
A team led by developmental biologist Professor Christophe Marcelle has nailed the mechanism that causes stem cells in the embryo to differentiate into specialised cells that form the skeletal muscles of animals’ bodies. The scientists published their results in the British journal Nature on Monday (May 16).
Scientists world wide are racing to pin down the complex molecular processes that cause stem cells in the early embryo to differentiate into specialist cells such as muscle or nerve cells. The field has the potential to revolutionise medicine by delivering therapies to regenerate tissue damaged by disease or injury.
Differentiation happens soon after fertilisation, when embryonic cells are dividing rapidly and migrating as the animal’s body takes shape.
Vitamin D Improves Exercise Outcomes in Patients with COPD
|
|
Vitamin D supplements may help patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) get more from their pulmonary rehabilitation programs, according to a study conducted by researchers from Belgium.
The study results will be presented at the ATS 2011 International Conference in Denver.
“Our study shows that high doses of vitamin D supplementation on top of a standard rehabilitation program improve the outcome in terms of exercise capacity and respiratory muscle strength,” said Miek Hornikx, physiotherapist and doctoral student in the department of pneumology at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven in Leuven, Belgium.
CPAP improves daytime sleepiness even in patients with low levels of symptoms
|
|
Continuous positive airway pressure, or CPAP, can increase alertness and even improve quality of life for sufferers of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), even if their symptoms are minimal, according to a study conducted by researchers in Europe. Patients enrolled in the study reported an improvement in daytime sleepiness within six months of beginning CPAP treatment.
The study will be presented at the ATS 2011 International Conference in Denver.
“Treatment with CPAP clearly reduces daytime sleepiness and improves quality of life in patients with very limited symptoms, at a rate of about half the improvement seen in patients with more severe symptoms,” said Sonya Craig, research fellow at Churchill Hospital, Oxford.
Federal agency seeks Medicaid savings with better care
|
|
A small percentage of people account for a huge share of Medicaid healthcare program costs and U.S. officials on Wednesday announced a drive to save money while improving care for these patients.
The initiative will focus on coordinating care of people who receive health coverage under both the Medicaid program for the poor and the Medicare healthcare program for the elderly, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said.
These 9.2 million “dual eligibles” tend to have multiple chronic illnesses and 43 percent have a mental impairment. They represent only 15 percent of Medicaid enrollees but account for about 40 percent of the spending, according to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, which oversees the programs.
