A fragmented approach to cancer may strengthen it

A fragmented approach to cancer may strengthen it

March 26, 2014 – 12:35AM

Alexander Nazaryan

Radiologist Robert A. Gatenby believes intense chemotherapy may kill weak cancer cells, leaving stronger carcinogenic cells to flourish in their place. Read more of this post

Scare Tactics Over Foreign Drugs

Scare Tactics Over Foreign Drugs

By GABRIEL LEVITTMARCH 24, 2014

ABOUT five million Americans buy medication internationally each year because of high costs in the United States. These drugs are considered “foreign unapproved drugs” by the Food and Drug Administration, and federal law makes it illegal to buy them. Generally, though, purchases go through without a hitch. Only rarely do customs agents seize an order. Read more of this post

Personalized medical treatment based on genetic testing has become a lucrative global industry said to be worth US$30 billion

Personalized medicine based on genetic testing worth US$30bn

Staff Reporter

2014-03-25

Personalized medical treatment based on genetic testing has become a lucrative global industry said to be worth US$30 billion, reports the Chinese-language Global Entrepreneur magazine. Read more of this post

Selling a Poison by the Barrel: Liquid Nicotine for E-Cigarettes; “E-liquids” used to refill e-cigarettes are potent, unregulated neurotoxins. Evidence of the potential dangers is already emerging

Selling a Poison by the Barrel: Liquid Nicotine for E-Cigarettes

By MATT RICHTELMARCH 23, 2014

A dangerous new form of a powerful stimulant is hitting markets nationwide, for sale by the vial, the gallon and even the barrel. Read more of this post

“We think of TB as a snake. The head is in South Africa [at the mines] and the body is in the other countries in the region”; Mining companies must step up fight against TB

March 24, 2014 12:01 am

Mining companies must step up fight against TB

By Rose Jacobs

Seven years ago, the picture of tuberculosis infection among workers at Anglo American’s coal mines was relatively grim: the incidence rate stood at about 900 people per 100,000 – above the rate for South Africa as a whole at the time, despite the countrywide rate having tripled in the previous decade. Read more of this post

TB, disease of the poor, now threatens the rich; “TB has killed more people than all other pandemics combined”

March 24, 2014 12:01 am

TB, disease of the poor, now threatens the rich

By Andrew Ward

Its victims have included George Orwell, Frederic Chopin, Franz Kafka, Emily Brontë and Eleanor Roosevelt.

If tuberculosis were still killing such cultural giants, it would not be hard to attract attention and funding to the campaign for its eradication. Read more of this post

TB reappears in developed world; Resurgence of an illness that respects no borders

March 24, 2014 12:01 am

TB reappears in developed world

By Rose Jacobs

Cruising the streets of London, a white van emblazoned with the National Health Service’s logo is seeking out a specific subsection of the capital’s population: the people most vulnerable to tuberculosis.

Read more of this post

Big pharma balks at investment in TB; Genetics offers route to cure TB

March 24, 2014 12:01 am

Big pharma balks at investment in TB

By Andrew Ward

For an industry so often on the back foot over ethical issues, the approval last year of the first tuberculosis drug in 40 years was a chance to trumpet Big Pharma’s positive role in tackling global health problems. Read more of this post

US biotech stocks suffer sharp slide on Congress letter over the price of a hepatitis C drug treatment from Gilead Sciences

Last updated: March 22, 2014 1:03 am

US biotech stocks suffer sharp slide on Congress letter

By Arash Massoudi and Alan Rappeport in New York

Biotechnology stocks, the standout asset class of the soaring US equity market, suffered their sharpest decline since October 2011 on Friday after US congressional representatives raised concerns over the price of a hepatitis C drug treatment from Gilead Sciences. Read more of this post

Sick Again? Why Some Colds Won’t Go Away; Some people get back-to-back colds, infected by a new virus

Sick Again? Why Some Colds Won’t Go Away

Some people get back-to-back colds, infected by a new virus

SUMATHI REDDY

March 24, 2014 7:02 p.m. ET

About a month ago Sharon Gilbert was hit with a runny nose, sore throat and a cough. The whole snotty works.

A few weeks later she thought she had recovered. Then her husband Derek got sick, and bam. “Suddenly I started getting all the symptoms [again] and it was worse,” said Ms. Gilbert, a 61-year-old writer in Charleston, Ill. Read more of this post

Tuberculosis Affects Children More Than Previously Thought; New Study Says About One Million Kids Under 15 Contract Disease Every Year

Tuberculosis Affects Children More Than Previously Thought

New Study Says About One Million Kids Under 15 Contract Disease Every Year

BETSY MCKAY

March 23, 2014 6:31 p.m. ET

About one million children world-wide under 15 years old contract tuberculosis every year, twice as many as previously thought, according to a new study from researchers from Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School. Read more of this post

Novartis Chairman Stresses Need for R&D Investment; ‘We Need to Add Value,’ Says Jürg Reinhardt

Novartis Chairman Stresses Need for R&D Investment

‘We Need to Add Value,’ Says Jürg Reinhardt

MARTA FALCONI

March 22, 2014 3:46 a.m. ET

BASEL, Switzerland— Novartis AG NOVN.VX +0.76% needs to continue investing in research in order to develop new drugs that national health-care systems are willing pay for, a task that gets harder as generic versions of older medicines become available, according to the company’s chairman. Read more of this post

Medical Device Recalls Nearly Doubled in a Decade; Sharp Increase Where Defective Product Carried Reasonable Probability of Death, FDA Says

Medical Device Recalls Nearly Doubled in a Decade
Sharp Increase Where Defective Product Carried Reasonable Probability of Death, FDA Says
THOMAS M. BURTON
March 21, 2014 12:06 a.m. ET
Recalls of defective medical devices nearly doubled in the decade from 2003 through 2012, according to a Food and Drug Administration report due Friday. Read more of this post

Hard Choices in Pursuit of Rare-Disease Cures; Patients Urge More Data Gathering as Tighter Federal Budget Crimps Research

Hard Choices in Pursuit of Rare-Disease Cures
Patients Urge More Data Gathering as Tighter Federal Budget Crimps Research
AMY DOCKSER MARCUS
March 20, 2014 7:28 p.m. ET
BETHESDA, Md.—Last month, at the National Institutes of Health clinical center here, Sarah Kucharski and Fran Saplis set up a table at a Rare Disease Day event. The plan was to hand out pens and brochures about fibromuscular dysplasia, which affects the arteries and can cause complications such as high blood pressure and aneurysms. Read more of this post

Poor diagnosis driving global multidrug-resistant TB, WHO warns

Poor diagnosis driving global multidrug-resistant TB, WHO warns
8:26am EDT
By Kate Kelland, Health and Science Correspondent
LONDON (Reuters) – Half a million people fell sick with dangerous superbug strains of tuberculosis (TB) in 2012, but fewer than one in four were diagnosed, putting the rest at risk of dying due to the wrong medicines or no treatment at all.

Read more of this post

Novartis CEO reshapes drugmaker for ‘brutal’ new world

Novartis CEO reshapes drugmaker for ‘brutal’ new world
9:43am EDT
By Caroline Copley and Ben Hirschler
BASEL, Switzerland (Reuters) – Novartis Chief Executive Joe Jimenez is taking a hard look at the drugmaker’s smaller businesses as he reshapes the company for what he expects to be a “brutal” new era in healthcare spending.

Read more of this post

New heart guidelines may put 12.8 million more Americans on statins

New heart guidelines may put 12.8 million more Americans on statins
Wed, Mar 19 2014
By Julie Steenhuysen
CHICAGO (Reuters) – New guidelines on heart health that sparked fierce debate among U.S. cardiologists last fall could lead 12.8 million more Americans to take cholesterol-lowering statin drugs, U.S. researchers said on Wednesday.

Read more of this post

Protein May Hold the Key to Who Gets Alzheimer’s

Protein May Hold the Key to Who Gets Alzheimer’s
By PAM BELLUCKMARCH 19, 2014
It is one of the big scientific mysteries of Alzheimer’s disease: Why do some people whose brains accumulate the plaques and tangles so strongly associated with Alzheimer’s not develop the disease?

Read more of this post

The secret of successful drug launches; About two-thirds of drug launches don’t meet expectations. Improving that record requires pharmaceutical companies to recognize the world has changed and adjust their marketing accordingly

The secret of successful drug launches
About two-thirds of drug launches don’t meet expectations. Improving that record requires pharmaceutical companies to recognize the world has changed and adjust their marketing accordingly.
March 2014 | byHemant Ahlawat, Giulia Chierchia, and Paul van Arkel

Read more of this post

Rivals race to develop new biotech asthma drugs

Rivals race to develop new biotech asthma drugs
8:54am EDT
By Ben Hirschler
LONDON (Reuters) – Rival firms are racing to develop injectable biotech asthma drugs for patients with severe disease who don’t respond well to traditional inhalers, in pursuit of a new market worth a possible $7.5 billion.
Britain’s GlaxoSmithKline, the leader in asthma treatments since launching its Ventolin inhaler in 1969, is in the vanguard but faces competition from the likes of Roche, AstraZeneca, Sanofi and Teva.

Read more of this post

A new test for Alzheimer’s may be on the cards. But it is not here yet

A new test for Alzheimer’s may be on the cards. But it is not here yet
Mar 15th 2014 | From the print edition

AS JOHN IOANNIDIS prepares to launch an institute intended, among other things, to combat small, statistically underpowered scientific studies (see article), just such a study has hit the headlines. The media reaction to it neatly illustrates what Dr Ioannidis is talking about, for the impression given by those headlines is that researchers have found a way to predict Alzheimer’s disease. At the moment, that cannot be done reliably, though a brain scan or a spinal tap can confirm suspicions. And the researchers have not—at least, not yet—found a test, for their results were based on data from a handful of people in what may be an unrepresentative sample of humanity.

Read more of this post

New Pain Treatment Uses Ultrasound at Home; New devices let patients treat their pain with ultrasound almost anywhere and for longer periods

New Pain Treatment Uses Ultrasound at Home

New devices let patients treat their pain with ultrasound almost anywhere and for longer periods

LAURA JOHANNES

March 17, 2014 6:19 p.m. ET

ZetrOZ’s Sam device, which shows how much battery power is left. ZetrOZ, Inc.

The Ache: Ultrasound energy is widely used by physical therapists and other clinicians to treat sports injuries and chronic pain. But because the machines are hand-held, treatment is generally limited to 15 minutes or less. Some scientists think longer treatments will be more effective. Read more of this post

Alzheimer’s and Its Uncounted Victims; Deaths from the disease may be six times higher than reported. This is a cancer-size illness

Alzheimer’s and Its Uncounted Victims

Deaths from the disease may be six times higher than reported. This is a cancer-size illness.

GEORGE VRADENBURG And STANLEY PRUSINER

March 16, 2014 6:40 p.m. ET

It’s well known that President Ronald Reagan died in 2004 after a long battle with Alzheimer’s disease. Yet his death certificate listed pneumonia as the official cause of death. Attributing Alzheimer deaths to other diseases is all too common—and highlights the complicated nature of Alzheimer’s contribution to deaths in the U.S. each year. It also suggests that Alzheimer’s might be a bigger problem than previously thought. Read more of this post

Stroke Patients Lose Month for Each 15-Minute Delay

Stroke Patients Lose Month for Each 15-Minute Delay