Public Release: 9-Oct-2012 Contact: Jim Sliwa jsliwa@asmusa.org 202-942-9297 American Society for Microbiology How can scientists safely conduct avian flu research if the results could potentially threaten, as well as save, millions of lives? In a series of commentaries appearing on… Read More ›
Pharmaceutical – Medical Devices
What those guys are doing to make Universal Culling, oh excuse me Health Care a more efficient process….
700,000 travellers ‘at risk of typhoid due to dud jab’
More than 700,000 people who thought they were protected against typhoid may be vulnerable to the disease, because of a dud batches of a vaccine. 16 batches of the Typhim Vi vaccine for typhoid have been found to contain doses… Read More ›
First comprehensive paper on statins’ adverse effects released: Benefits have not been found to exceed their risks in those over 70 or 75 years old, even those with heart disease
2009 study posted for filing Contact: Debra Kain ddkain@ucsd.edu 619-543-6163 University of California – San Diego Provides evidence for reported side effects including muscle and cognitive problems A paper co-authored by Beatrice Golomb, MD, PhD, associate professor of medicine at… Read More ›
Stream in India has record high levels of drugs
2009 study posted for filing By Margie Mason THE ASSOCIATED PRESS PATANCHERU, India — When researchers analyzed vials of treated wastewater taken from a plant where about 90 Indian drug factories dump their residues, they were shocked. Enough of a… Read More ›
Reprogramming of Pericyte-Derived Cells of the Adult Human Brain into Induced Neuronal Cells
Reprogramming of somatic cells into neurons provides a new approach toward cell-based therapy of neurodegenerative diseases (Vierbuchen and Wernig, 2011). Previous studies have shown that postnatal astroglia from the mouse cerebral cortex can be directly converted into functional neuronal cells… Read More ›
Genes remember sugar hit: Australian research: ” capable of permanently altering DNA “
2009 study posted for filing Genes remember sugar hit: Australian research SYDNEY (AFP) – Human genes remember a sugar hit for two weeks, with prolonged poor eating habits capable of permanently altering DNA, Australian research has found. A team… Read More ›
HHS Report Slams FDA’s Conflict of Interest Oversight: 42% were missing the required financial disclosures
2009 report posted for filing By Emily P. Walker, Washington Correspondent, MedPage Today WASHINGTON, Jan. 12 — The FDA fails to ensure that scientists conducting clinical trials on investigational products disclose financial conflicts of interest, found a review… Read More ›
Misuse of Vicks VapoRub may harm infants and toddlers: Irritant causes the body to produce more mucus
2009 study posted for filing Contact: Jennifer Stawarz jstawarz@chestnet.org 847-498-8306 American College of Chest Physicians Toddler in respiratory distress after popular salve used Vicks® VapoRub®, the popular salve used to relieve symptoms of cough and congestion, may be harmful for… Read More ›
Study finds faults in proposed mental disorder diagnosis: ” attenuated psychosis syndrome (APS), a new diagnosis that would identify those impaired by preliminary psychotic symptoms that do not meet the threshold for an existing diagnosis as having a psychotic disorder”
Contact: Holly Brown-Ayers hbrownayers@butler.org 401-455-6501 Women & Infants Hospital Providence, RI – A much anticipated addition to the revised Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders fifth edition (DSM-5) is questionable according to research findings. The newly revised DSM-5, the… Read More ›
Meningitis warning spreads to 23 states as investiagtors focus in on cause: fungal contaminate/foreign material in the contaminated steroid solutions
Officials said all of those infected received spinal injections of a steroid solution sold by a Massachusetts-based facility Karen McVeigh in New York guardian.co.uk, Thursday 4 October 2012 17.11 EDT Dr Robert Latham, chief of medicine at Saint Thomas, said… Read More ›
Pneumococcal vaccine does not appear to protect against pneumonia: ” a systematic review and meta-analysis, looked at 22 clinical trials, reviews and meta-analyses and more than 100,000 participants “
2009 study posted for filing Contact: Kim Barnhardt kim.barnhardt@cmaj.ca 613-731-8610 x2224 Canadian Medical Association Journal Commonly used pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccines do not appear to be effective for preventing pneumonia, found a study by a team of researchers from Switzerland and… Read More ›
Black mamba venom makes a great painkiller : Equal to morphine without effecting opioid receptors
03 October 2012 Magazine issue 2885. For similar stories, visit the The Human Brain Topic Guide ONE bite from a black mamba can kill a person within half an hour. Strangely though, venom from what’s arguably the world’s deadliest snake… Read More ›
Asthma: Commonly used medication shows no clear benefits in children: long-acting beta2-agonists
2008 study posted for filing Contact: Jennifer Beal jbeal@wiley.com 44-012-437-70633 Wiley-Blackwell Research news from the journal Evidence-Based Child Health There are no clear benefits to using long-acting beta2-agonists (LABAs) for treatment of asthma in children, a new study concludes. In… Read More ›
Black Hat hacker details lethal wireless attack on insulin pumps
Engineering Evil: A while ago we posted that Pacemakers can be hacked…. Unfortunately we stress that there is an urgent need to better secure these medical devices A.S.A.P. . Our nightmare scenario, is that wireless signals can be broadcast over… Read More ›
Beta-Blocker Use NOT Associated With Lower Risk of Cardiovascular Events: They May Not Work
Beta-Blocker Use Not Associated With Lower Risk of Cardiovascular Events ScienceDaily (Oct. 2, 2012) — Among patients with either coronary artery disease (CAD) risk factors only, known prior heart attack, or known CAD without heart attack, the use of beta-blockers… Read More ›
HALT-C researchers: Interferon as long-term treatment for hepatitis C not effective
2008 study posted for filing Contact: LaKisha Ladson lakisha.ladson@utsouthwestern.edu 214-648-3404 UT Southwestern Medical Center IMAGE:Dr. William M. Lee and other researchers have discovered in a multicenter study that using the drug interferon as a long-term maintenance strategy to slow the… Read More ›
Most scientific paper retractions due to misconduct: study
By Agence France-Presse Monday, October 1, 2012 21:13 EDT WASHINGTON — When a biomedical study is retracted, most of the time it is because of misconduct rather than error, a report published Monday said. Two-thirds of all retractions around the… Read More ›
Fluoxetine (Prozac) increases aggressive behavior, affects brain development among adolescent hamsters
October 1, 2012 BOSTON, Mass.—Fluoxetine was the first drug approved by the FDA for major depressive disorder (MDD) in children and adolescents, and to this date, it remains one of only two selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) registered for treatment… Read More ›
LOYOLA TESTING MELANOMA TREATMENT THAT BOOSTS PATIENT’S IMMUNE SYSTEM TO FIGHT DEADLY CANCER
Contact: Jim Ritter Media Relations jritter@lumc.edu (708) 216-2445 Anne Dillon Director, Media Relations adillon@lumc.edu (708) 216-8232 More Sharing ServicesShare MAYWOOD, Ill. – Loyola University Medical Center has launched the first clinical trial in the Midwest of an experimental melanoma… Read More ›
Pregnancy study finds strong association between two antidepressants and heart anomalies
2008 study posted for filing Contact: Annette Whibley wizard.media@virgin.net Wiley-Blackwell Three-country study looks at fluoxetine and paroxetine Women who took the antidepressant fluoxetine during the first three months of pregnancy gave birth to four times as many babies with heart… Read More ›
Mandatory HPV vaccination is unwarranted and unwise
2008 study posted for filing Contact: Amy Molnar journalnews@bos.blackwellpublishing.net 201-748-8844 Wiley-Blackwell Article explores how mandate does not represent public health necessity Washington, D.C. – November 12, 2008 – The HPV vaccine, sold as Gardasil in the U.S., is intended to… Read More ›
Nanosciences: All Systems Go at the Biofactory: Should furnish a way to develop, construct and utilize designer nanomachines
In order to assemble novel biomolecular machines, individual protein molecules must be installed at their site of operation with nanometer precision. LMU researchers have now found a way to do just that. Green light on protein assembly! (Credit: Image courtesy… Read More ›
Dementia risk from sleeping tablets: Increases risk to Seniors by 50%
Dementia risk from sleeping tablets: Pensioners on pills taken by 1.5m are 50% more likely to be hit, warns Harvard study Academics say side effects could be so harmful doctors should avoid prescribing them Scientists believe sleeping pills may interfere… Read More ›
Common cancer treatments may create dangerous cancer stem cells
By Charles Q. Choi Published September 27, 2012| MyHealthNewsDaily Radiation therapy and chemotherapy aimed at killing cancer cells may have the undesirable effect of helping to create cancer stem cells, which are thought to be particularly adept at generating… Read More ›
Cholesterol Drugs ( Statins ) may contribute to Atherosclerosis
Engineering Evil Note: “Statins inhibit the action of HMGCoA reductase, the rate limiting enzyme of the cholesterol synthesis pathway. Plasma levels of markers of cholesterol synthesis (desmosterol, lathosterol) will be reduced by statins” Contact: Scott LaFee slafee@ucsd.edu 619-543-6163 University of… Read More ›
Help! Pop music really is slower and sadder than when the Beatles and Abba ruled the charts
Researchers say modern music has lost the ‘feelgood factor’ Claim the only artist to have carried on the tradition of ‘pure pop’ is Lady Gaga By Fiona Macrae Science Correspondent PUBLISHED:10:58 EST, 27 September 2012| UPDATED:11:00 EST, 27 September 2012… Read More ›
10 Things the Food Industry Doesn’t Want You to Know
2008 study posted for filing By Adam Voiland Adam Voiland Two nutrition experts argue that you can’t take marketing campaigns at face value With America’s obesity problem among kids reaching crisis proportions, even junk food makers… Read More ›
Popular HIV drug commonly prescribed anti-retroviral drug efavirenz attacks brain cells
Contact: Stephanie Desmon sdesmon1@jhmi.edu 410-955-8665 Johns Hopkins Medicine Popular HIV drug may cause memory declines Johns Hopkins study suggests the commonly prescribed anti-retroviral drug efavirenz attacks brain cells The way the body metabolizes a commonly prescribed anti-retroviral drug that is… Read More ›
Donor network ‘pressured medics to declare patients dead so organs can be harvested’
‘This kid is dead, you got that?’ Donor network ‘pressured medics to declare patients dead so organs can be harvested’ The New York Organ Donor Network accused of bullying doctors into declaring patients brain dead when they are still alive… Read More ›
Antipsychotic Drugmakers Target Marketing Dollars at D.C. Medicaid Psychiatrists, Study Indicates: Prescribing Antipsychotics to non psychotic Children
ScienceDaily (Sep. 26, 2012) — The D.C. Department of Health (DOH) has released a study by George Washington University School of Public Health & Health Services (SPHHS) indicating the high levels of marketing by antipsychotic drug manufacturers to Medicaid psychiatrists… Read More ›
No significant influenza (FLU) vaccine effectiveness could be demonstrated for any season, age or setting after adjusting for county, sex, insurance, chronic conditions recommended for influenza vaccination and timing of influenza vaccination
2008 study posted for filing Contact: Heather Hare 585-273-2840 JAMA and Archives Journals Use of the influenza vaccine was not associated with preventing hospitalizations or reducing physician visits for the flu in children age 5 and younger during two recent… Read More ›
Second lumpectomy for breast cancer REDUCES survival rates
2008 study posted for filing Contact: Karen Finney karen.finney@ucdmc.ucdavis.edu 916-734-9064 University of California – Davis Health System UC Davis researchers find disturbing trend in treating recurrent breast cancer (SACRAMENTO, Calif.) — A majority of women with breast cancer today are… Read More ›
Russia suspends import and use of American GM corn after study revealed cancer risk
The European Food Safety Authority orders review in to the research, conducted at a French university Russia’s decision could be followed by other nations Experts at the University of Caen conducted an experiment running for the full lives of rats… Read More ›
Cell scientist pushes to clone extinct mammoth
2012-09-24 19:56 A South Korean private bioengineering laboratory led by disgraced stem cell scientist Hwang Woo-suk said Monday it is stepping up efforts to make progress in cloning an extinct woolly mammoth. To that end, the Sooam Biotech Research Foundation… Read More ›
“Biohackers” or “DIY Biologists”, Teams have come together to create the world’s first “public BioBrick”
Amateur scientists build Lego-style synthetic BioBricks in public lab By Joel Winston 24 September 12 While some may believe that science is better left to scientists, hundreds of amateur biologists around the world have been setting-up makeshift biology labs in… Read More ›
UCLA/Pitt scientists uncover virus with potential to stop pimples in their tracks
Contact: Elaine Schmidt eschmidt@mednet.ucla.edu 310-794-2272 University of California – Los Angeles Health Sciences Going viral to kill zits Watch out, acne. Doctors soon may have a new weapon against zits: a harmless virus living on our skin that naturally seeks… Read More ›
Children with MS were 1.74 times more likely to have received a certain type of hepatitis B vaccine, called Engerix B®. Those children with MS developed symptoms three or more years after the vaccine.
Public release date: 25-Sep-2008 Re-Posted for Filing Contact: Rachel Seroka rseroka@aan.com 651-695-2738 American Academy of Neurology Majority of children vaccinated against hepatitis B not at increased risk of MS ST. PAUL, Minn. – The majority of children vaccinated against hepatitis… Read More ›
Half of trials supporting FDA applications go unpublished
2008 study posted for filing Contact: Andrew Hyde press@plos.org 44-122-346-3330 Public Library of Science Over half of all supporting trials for FDA-approved drugs remained unpublished 5 years after approval, says new research published in this week’s PLoS Medicine. The most… Read More ›
Statins increase risk of postoperative delirium in elderly patients: 28% Increase
Contact: Kristine Galka kristine.galka@ices.on.ca 416-480-4780 Canadian Medical Association Journal The use of statins is associated with a 28% increased risk of postoperative delirium in elderly patients, found University of Toronto professor Dr. Donald Redelmeier and colleagues in a retrospective cohort… Read More ›
Lipitor drug mismarketed to women
2008 study posted for filing Contact: Amy Molnar journalnews@bos.blackwellpublishing.com 201-748-8844 Wiley-Blackwell Ithaca, N.Y. – September 17, 2008 – Lipitor has been the top-selling drug in the world and has accounted for over $12 billion in annual sales. It has been… Read More ›
Understanding the brain by controlling behavior
Contact: Peter Reuell preuell@fas.harvard.edu 617-496-8070 Harvard University Using precisely-targeted lasers, researchers manipulate neurons in worms’ brains and take control of their behavior In the quest to understand how the brain turns sensory input into behavior, Harvard scientists have crossed a… Read More ›
Viruses Help MU Scientists Battle Pathogenic Bacteria and Improve Water Supply
Newly developed technique can kill antibiotic-resistant germs Sept. 24, 2012 Story Contact(s): Timothy Wall, walltj@missouri.edu, 573-882-3346 COLUMBIA, Mo. — Infectious bacteria received a taste of their own medicine from University of Missouri researchers who used viruses to infect and… Read More ›
Common bronchodilator linked to increased deaths
2008 Post for filing Contact: Marla Paul Marla-Paul@northwestern.edu 312-503-8928 Northwestern University CHICAGO — A common bronchodilator drug which has been used for more than a decade by patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) has been linked to a one-third… Read More ›
‘They’re selling time bombs’: Scientists reveal how baths sends users crazy with ingredient ingredient that is ten times stronger than cocaine
By Daily Mail Reporter PUBLISHED:10:35 EST, 23 September 2012| UPDATED:11:26 EST, 23 September 2012 As lethal bath salts continue to take young lives, researchers have discovered the shocking strength of a key ingredient that leaves users struggling with the… Read More ›
Sifting Social Media for Early Signs of Adverse Drug Reactions
ScienceDaily (Sep. 21, 2012) — The National Science Foundation has awarded a $130,000 grant to a team co-led by University of Virginia professor Ahmed Abbasi to fund research that will analyze social media, including tweets and online discussion forums, to… Read More ›
PRESS CONFERENCE on the threat of CSIRO’s GM Wheat
Expert scientists warn that genetically modified wheat may cause Glycogen Storage Disease IV, resulting in an enlarged liver, cirrhosis of the liver, and failure to thrive. Children born with this disease usually die at about the age of 5. Australia… Read More ›
Pacemakers Vulnerable to Hackers: Malicious hackers can kill
2008 posted for filing Contact: Claire Bowles claire.bowles@newscientist.com 44-207-611-1210 New Scientist How to stop a new type of heart attack PACEMAKERS are supposed to protect people from heart attacks. But to do that they have to provide digital as well… Read More ›
Higher anaphylaxis rates after HPV vaccination: ” significantly higher – 5 to 20 fold – than that identified in comparable school-based vaccination program”
2008 study posted for filing Contact: Kim Barnhardt kim.barnhardt@cma.ca 613-731-8610 x2224 Canadian Medical Association Journal Despite higher rates, HPV vaccine safe for use OTTAWA, ONTARIO, CANADA – The estimated rate of anaphylaxis in young women after human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination… Read More ›
Heart attack patients who stop statin risk death, say McGill researchers
2008 post for filing Contact: Mark Shainblum mark.shainblum@mcgill.ca 514-398-2189 McGill University Study finds doubled mortality risk if treatment is discontinued This release is available in French. Patients discontinuing statin medication following an acute myocardial infarction (AMI) increase their risk of… Read More ›
Flu shot does not reduce risk of death
2008 Study posted for filing Contact: Keely Savoie ksavoie@thoracic.org 212-315-8620 American Thoracic Society The widely-held perception that the influenza vaccination reduces overall mortality risk in the elderly does not withstand careful scrutiny, according to researchers in Alberta. The vaccine does… Read More ›