_ Vision Health No More Eye Drops for Glaucoma By Sondra Forsyth article Scientists from Nanyang Technological University in Singapore and the Singapore Eye Research Institute have jointly developed a new nanomedicine, liposomal latanoprost, that will allow glaucoma patients to do away with daily eye drops. The nanomedicine is delivered to the front of the eye via a painless injection and will stay and release the anti-glaucoma drugs slowly over the next six months.
_ Dietary Supplements For Osteoarthritis By Jane Farrell article Osteoarthritis is the most common type of arthritisΓÇöaffecting 27 million AmericansΓÇöand is an increasing problem among older adults. Treatments for osteoarthritis address the symptoms, such as pain, swelling, and reduced function in the joints. Nonmedicinal approaches involve lifestyle changes such as exercise, weight control, and rest.
_ Lung-Cancer Drug Can Prolong Life By Jane Farrell article Ramucirumab, a drug designed to combat solid tumors, has proven effective as a second-line treatment for patients with advanced non-small-cell lung cancer when itΓÇÖs combined with another drug, docetaxel. In a randomized phase III clinical trial, the two drugs showed greater effectiveness than docetaxel combined with a placebo. The findings were published in the British journal Lancet. A team of researchers, including corresponding study author Dr. Edward B. Garon, MD, of UCLA, looked at 1,253 patients.
_ Vision Health A Cheaper But Effective Eye-Disease Drug By Jane Farrell article Eye doctors could save billions in health-care costs if they prescribed a less expensive but effective drug to treat two common forms of serious eye disease in older adults. Researchers from the University of Michigan focused on two medicines used to treat the wet form of macular degeneration and diabetic macular edema.
_ Is It Too Hot For Your Health? By Jane Farrell article Almost every summer, thereΓÇÖs a deadly heat wave in some parts of the country. Excessive heat isnΓÇÖt safe for anyone, especially for older people or those with health problems. But exactly what dangers are you facing and how can you protect yourself? HereΓÇÖs some advice from the National Institute on Aging: Your body is always working to keep a balance between how much heat it makes and how much it loses. Too much heat causes sweating.
_ Combo Tx for Melanoma: Encouraging Results By article The first long-term follow-up results from a an immunotherapy trial combining drugs for advanced melanoma patients has shown long-lasting rsultswith high survival rates, according to researchers at Yale Cancer Center led by Dr. Mario Sznol, professor of medical oncology. Dr. Sznol presented the updated data in June at the 2014 annual conference of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) in Chicago.
_ Healthy Diet & Nutrition Update on Leptin & Appetite Control By Jane Farrell article Twenty years ago, scientists found that the hormone leptin regulates metabolism, appetite, and weight through brain cells called neurons. Now Yale School of Medicine researchers have discovered that the hormone also acts on glial cells in the brain cells to control appetite. The study, published in the June st 2014 issue of Nature Neuroscience, could lead to development of treatments for metabolic disorders such as obesity and diabetes.
_ Keeping Your Liver Healthy. By Jane Farrell article Many of us are rightly concerned about heart health, cancer, hypertension and diabetes. In the midst of all this, our liver health may not be at the top of the list. But the liver, one of our vital organs, is paramount to our health, and itΓÇÖs essential to protect it. It renders toxins harmless and makes sure they are expelled from the body, according to the federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Unfortunately, drugs and even dietary supplements can make the liver go haywire, the FDA says.
_ Managing Life with Hepatitis C By Jane Farrell article People with hepatitis C can live a normal life span of seventy or eighty years with proper medical care and self care. The main keys to survival are adhering without fail to any medication schedule and avoiding all alcohol because it damages the liver. However, a liver transplant may be necessary if serious damage has already taken place. Even if that is the case, though, taking antivirals and anti-rejection drugs as prescribed can mean a long and relatively healthy life. Living With A healthy lifestyle is essential in order to feel your best with hepatitis C.
_ What causes Hepatitis C? By Jane Farrell article HCV is most often spread by contact with the blood of infected people, especially if you have an open cut or puncture wound that would allow the virus to get past your skin and into your bloodstream. Here are some causes Hepatitis C: ΓÇó Getting a blood transfusion before 1992 or receiving blood clotting products before 1987. Those are the dates when screening for HCV infected donor blood and blood products went into effect.
_ Delivering a Drug ΓÇ£CocktailΓÇ¥ to Cancer Cells By Jane Farrell article Biomedical engineering researchers at North Carolina State University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have developed daisy-shaped, nanoscale structures that are made predominantly of anti-cancer drugs and are capable of introducing a "cocktail" of multiple drugs into cancer cells.
Pain Management 6 Myths About Painkillers By Jane Farrell article By Richard W. Rosenquist, MD , Chairman of Pain Management at Cleveland Clinic When it comes to prescription pain medications, thereΓÇÖs a lot of misinformation out there.
A Better Tool for Tracking MS By article Imaging scientists at Western University's Robarts Research Institute in London and Canada have developed a better way to track the progression of Multiple Sclerosis (MS) from its earliest stages. Led by Ravi Menon, PhD, the researchers used what's called "Quantitative Susceptibility (QS) Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)," to measure damage in specific areas of the brain which the study showed to be common to all patients. The findings were published in advance online in May 2014 in Radiology.
_ How Long Should Hep C Treatment Last? By Jane Farrell article As new treatments for hepatitis C virus (HCV) are approved, biomedical scientists are exploring their mechanisms and what they reveal about the virus. An online publication in May 2014 in Hepatology is the first to report real-time tracking of viral decay in the liver and blood in 15 patients with HCV.
_ Stroke A Longer Window for Treating Stroke? By Jane Farrell article There is an urgent need for developing new drugs that can alleviate the harmful effects of a stroke because current treatment possibilities using thrombolysis are limited to the first hours following a stroke. To that end, researchers at Lund University in Sweden are studying brain cells known as pericytes. The team discovered in 2012 that pericytes can for new cells. According to a release from the university, the 2014 research shows for the first time that pericytes are directly involved in the reaction of the brain tissue after stroke.
A New Understanding of the Anti-Cancer Drug Taxol By Jane Farrell article Scientists have discovered exactly how the anti-cancer drug Taxol works, and the discovery could lead to designing better medicines. Taxol, one of the most widely prescribed anti-cancer drugs globally, disrupts the workings of microtubules, part of the cellΓÇÖs skeleton.
_ Pain Management New Target for Chronic Pain Treatment By Jane Farrell article Researchers at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine have found a new target for treating chronic pain: an enzyme called PIP5K1C. In a paper published on may 21st 2014 in the journal Neuron, a team of researchers led by Mark Zylka, PhD, Associate Professor of Cell Biology and Physiology, shows that PIP5K1C controls the activity of cellular receptors that signal pain. By reducing the level of the enzyme, the scientist demonstrated that the levels of a crucial lipid called PIP2 in pain-sensing neurons is also lessened, thus decreasing pain.
_ Breast Cancer Hope for Beating HER2-Positive Breast Cancer By article Scientists at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory on Lonf Island in New York report on May 18th 2014 a discovery that they hope will lead to the development of a powerful new way of treating an aggressive form of breast cancer commonly called "HER2-positive".