Friday, November 5, 2010
FDA approves Afinitor drug for tuberous sclerosis complex
Thursday, November 4, 2010
FDA approves cancer drug Afinitor for treatment of rare genetic disorder
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
Fight against Ventilator-Associated Pneumonia....
When I read an article from Emedicine, was surprised to see the analysis by the author. I quote the following lines...
Hospital-acquired pneumonia (HAP) is pneumonia that develops 48 hours or longer after admission to a hospital.
- Ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) is pneumonia that develops 48 hours or longer after mechanical ventilation is given by means of an endotracheal tube or tracheostomy.
- Health care–associated pneumonia is pneumonia that occurs in persons in one of the following groups:
- Patients who have been hospitalized in an acute care facility for 2 or more days within 90 days of the infection
- Residents of a nursing home or long-term care facility
- Patients who received intravenous antibiotic therapy, chemotherapy, or wound care within the last 30 days of the current infection
- Patients who receive hemodialysis in any setting
HAP is the second most common nosocomial infection. HAP increases a patient's hospital stay by approximately 7-9 days and can increase hospital costs by an average of $40,000 per patient. and
Frequency
VAP is a complication in as many as 28% of patients who receive mechanical ventilation. The incidence of VAP increases with the duration of mechanical ventilation. Estimated rates are 3% per day for the first 5 days, 2% per day for days 6-10, and 1% per day after day 10.
Mortality/Morbidity
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
Telbivudine Given to Mothers with Hepatitis B Reduces Infection Rate in Infants
Friday, October 22, 2010
FDA and EMA accept regulatory submissions of vandetanib for advanced medullary thyroid cancer
Thursday, October 21, 2010
Turmeric component (curcumin) enhances chemotherapy's suppression of head and neck cancer
In continuation of my update on Curcumin, I found this info interesting to share with.., i.e., researchers with UCLA's Jonsson Cancer Center have found, when combined with the drug Cisplatin, turmeric enhances the chemotherapy's suppression of head and neck cancer cell growth. Previous studies have shown it can suppress the growth of certain cancers. The study, done in cells in Petri dishes and then in mouse models is of great importance.
A 2005 study by Wang and Srivatsan first showed that curcumin suppressed the growth of head and neck cancer cells, first in cells and then in mouse models. In the animal studies, the curcumin was applied directly onto the tumors in paste form because it did not dissolve in saline, which would have allowed it to be injected. n need of a better way to deliver the curcumin, the team collaborated with Dr. Kapil Mehta of M.D. Anderson Cancer Center and found that encapsulating the curcumin in a liposome, an artificially prepared vehicle that enclosed the spice component within its membrane, made the treatment injectable. The curcumin was injected into the tail vein of a mouse, where it circulated into the blood stream, slowing down and eventually stopping the cancer growth, a study in 2008 found.
"This was a very positive finding, developing an efficient way to deliver the treatment," Wang said. "Our study also showed that the curcumin was very well tolerated."
In this study, the team wanted to combine the curcumin with the chemotherapeutic drug Cisplatin, which is very toxic at the doses needed to fight head and neck cancers, damaging kidneys, the ears and the bone marrow. They hoped that if they added curcumin to the mix, they might be able to lower the Cisplatin dose and cause less organ damage. Their finding, that the curcumin made the Cisplatin work better, was very promising.
More....
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Friday, October 15, 2010
Sanofi-Aventis’ Teriflunomide Comes Up Trumps in Two-Year Phase III MS Trial ....
Saturday, October 9, 2010
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
FDA approves fingolimod drug for multiple sclerosis...
"We have six drugs right now, and they all involve injections. So the convenience alone of a pill is a major change in how we treat MS."
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Rufinamide therapy is effective in reducing partial seizure frequency...
"Overall, there were no significant pharmacokinetic (PK) effects on either rufinamide or any second-generation AED when given with other medications."
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Ingredient (Triclosan) in soap points toward new drugs for Toxoplasmosis !
In the study, Rima McLeod and colleagues point out that toxoplasmosis is one of the world's most common parasitic infections (spread by the parasite Toxoplasma gondii, T. gondii), from contact with feces from infected cats, eating raw or undercooked meat, and in other ways. Many have no symptoms because their immune systems keep the infection under control and the parasite remains inactive. But it can cause eye damage and other problems, even becoming life threatening in individuals with immune systems weakened by certain medications and diseases like HIV infection, which allow the parasite to become active again, and in some persons without immune compromise. Most current treatments have some potentially harmful side effects and none of them attack the parasite in its inactive stage.
The scientists knew from past research that triclosan has a powerful effect in blocking the action of a key enzyme that T. gondii uses to live. As per the claim by the researchers, Triclosan, however, cannot be used as a medication because it does not dissolve in the blood, how ever one can use triclosan's molecular structure as the model for developing other potential medications, including some that show promise as more effective treatments for the disease. Hope this research will lead to a better drug than Triclosan without any carcinogenecity and many other side effects associated with this drug..
Ref : http://pubs.acs.org/stoken/presspac/presspac/abs/10.1021/jm9017724
Saturday, September 25, 2010
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Enzyme telomerase activating compound discovered....
Sierra Sciences, in collaboration with TA Sciences, Geron Corporation, PhysioAge, and the Spanish National Cancer Research Center (CNIO), has announced the first compound ever discovered that activates the enzyme telomerase in the human body - a critical prerequisite for technology that could arrest or reverse the aging process in humans. This compound is a natural product derived nutraceutical known as TA-65.
"We are on the cusp of curing aging," said William Andrews, Ph.D., co-author of this study and President and CEO of Sierra Sciences, LLC. "TA-65 is going to go down in history as the first supplement you can take that doesn't merely extend your life a few years by improving your health, but actually affects the underlying mechanisms of aging. Better telomerase inducers will be developed in the coming years, but TA-65 is the first of a whole new family of telomerase-activating therapies that could eventually keep us young and healthy forever."
"We tend to see HIV turning into AIDS when the cells of the immune system develop critically short telomeres," said Andrews...