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Period Ending June 16, 2007
STEM CELLS: HUMAN EMBRYONIC STEM CELLS PRODUCED WITHOUT EMBRYO DESTRUCTION
Alameda, California-based Advanced Cell Technology said it successfully produced a human embryonic stem cell line without destroying an embryo. The company announced the development at the fifth annual meeting of the International Society for Stem Cell Research in Cairns, Australia. In August 2006, ACT published a paper in the journal Nature documenting a technique for removing a single cell (known as a blastomere) from an eight-cell human embryo, and using that cell to generate multiple human embryonic stem cells without destroying the embryo.
PARKINSON'S: GENE THERAPY HOLDS PROMISE AS TREATMENT
Injection of genetic information directly into the brain cells of patients with neurodegenerative conditions such as Parkinson's disease could safely alleviate symptoms of these conditions, according to researchers at Weill Medical College of Cornell University in New York. The study, published in The Lancet, examined the safety and tolerability of the treatment on a small group of patients. It found all patients survived the surgery and had no side effects related to gene therapy. Substantial improvements in movement were seen within three months of surgery in the side of the body opposite to that of the brain where injections were given, and continued until 12 months after surgery—the endpoint of the trial.
STEM CELLS: RESEARCHERS DEVELOP ARTIFICIAL BLOOD VESSELS
University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine investigators have engineered artificial blood vessels from muscle-derived stem cells and a biodegradable polymer that exhibit extensive remodeling and remain free of blockages when grafted into rats. The results of their study, which is being presented at the Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine International Society North America Chapter meeting, has potentially significant implications for the treatment of heart and kidney diseases, where there is a critical need for new sources of blood vessels for vascular grafts. The approach by the University of Pittsburgh researchers could use a patient's own stem cells and could produce blood vessels ready for implantation almost immediately or, at most, after a relatively short culture period.
ADDICTION: VACCINES HELP KICK DRUG HABBITS
A pair of new vaccines designed to combat cocaine and methamphetamine dependencies not only relieve addiction, but also minimize withdrawal symptoms, according to a study by Baylor College of Medicine researchers. In a presentation at the annual meeting of the College on Problems of Drug Dependence in Quebec City, Canada, the researchers reported the vaccines stimulate the body to produce antibodies that then attack the drug while it is in the blood stream. This prevents the drug from reaching the brain and creating the reactions that contribute to dependency. The cocaine vaccine requires a series of injections over a three-month period. It has one more large-scale human study scheduled before it is ready for the FDA approval process. The methamphetamine vaccine is still in early stages of development.
FROSTBITE: CLOT-DISSOLVING AGENT COULD BENEFIT SEVERE CASES
A preliminary study suggests that a blood clot-dissolving medication that is administered to some patients following a stroke or heart attack may help to reduce the risk of amputation following severe frostbite, according to researchers at the University of Utah at Salt Lake City. A study published in the Archives of Surgery that examined the use of the anti-clotting agent tissue plasminogen activator or tPA to treat frostbite since 2001. The researchers suspect tPA helps reduce the injury caused when frozen skin is warmed again. Inflammation during thawing typically stimulates clotting that blocks small blood vessels, leading to cell death. Because tPA reverses this clotting, blood flow is restored before permanent damage is done. Patients who received tPA within 24 hours had 10 percent of their affected fingers or toes amputated compared to 41 percent among patients who did not receive it. None of the tPA patients required amputation of other body parts compared to 14 amputations in the control group.
VACCINES: INFECTIOUS DISEASE EXPERTS CALL FOR FEDERAL INVESTMENT
New vaccines are available to make significant gains against cervical cancer deaths and debilitating pain from shingles, but infectious diseases experts warn that their full potential will not be realized without changes in the way vaccines for adults and adolescents are promoted, financed, and delivered in the United States. The Infectious Diseases Society of America has released a "blueprint for action" to prevent tens of thousands of deaths and illnesses caused by these and other diseases that can be avoided with a few simple shots. The blueprint is published in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that the cost of treating diseases that vaccines could prevent exceeds $10 billion annually. Though more than 90 percent of children in the United States are vaccinated against a variety of diseases, many adult don't get vaccinated. Cost, particularly if they are uninsured, is a factor. Among other things the blueprint calls for expanding federal rules to vaccinate underserved children to include adults.
DRUGS: ONE PERCENT OF 11-YEAR-OLDS USE PERFORMANCE ENHANCERS
More than one per cent of eleven-year-olds admit using performance enhancing drugs to do better in sports reports, according to a study published online in the British Journal of Sports Medicine. By the age of 15, the proportion taking them had increased from 1.2 to 3 percent, and users said they were taking them much more regularly. While 62 percent of the eleven-year-old users used doping agents less than once per month, at 15 the same proportion were using them at least every week and 24 per cent daily. Use of the drugs was given as a reason for winning at least one sporting event by 44 percent of the users. The drug most commonly used to improve sporting prowess was salbutamol, which was taken by 45 percent of users. Corticosteroids were taken by 10 percent, cannabis by 6 percent, and other stimulants and anabolic agents by 38 percent.
HEART DISEASE: ESTROGEN USE LOWERED RISK FOR SOME WOMEN
Estrogen use lowered one risk factor for heart disease among some younger postmenopausal women, but risks for blood clots and stroke must be considered before starting estrogen therapy, researchers at Stanford University School of Medicine said. A follow-up study to the federally funded Women's Health Initiative should help allay one concern in a subset of women in their 50s who are considering taking estrogen to relieve hot flashes. The study shows that among women who have had hysterectomies, estrogen use was associated with a significantly reduced risk for one predictor of future heart attacks. However, researchers warn that hormone therapy still carries other health risks, such as the increased likelihood of blood clots and stroke. They stressed that the latest findings shouldn't be interpreted to mean that estrogen should be used to prevent heart disease.
DIABETES: WOMEN NOT PARTICIPATING IN DROP IN DEATH RATES
A new analysis of data from three large national databases finds that in the 29 years between 1971 and 2000, the death rate of men with diabetes has dropped significantly, in line with the overall decline of the death rate for all Americans. But the death rate for women with diabetes did not decline at all. Researchers from the Epidemiology and Statistics Branch of the Division of Diabetes Translation at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that the study uncovered the gender disparity in death rates but was not designed to answer its causes. The improvements seen in men suggest that the improvements in diabetes care are working on longevity as well, the researchers said, but the finding in women is concerning and means different approaches are needed to improve health outcomes for women with diabetes.
RHEUMATISM: BREAST FEEDING PROTECTS MOTHER FROM ARTHRITIS
Breast feeding for a period of thirteen months or more has been shown to reduce the mother's the risk of developing rheumatoid arthritis, according to researchers from Malmö Hospital University in Sweden. The data, presented at the Annual European Congress of Rheumatology in Barcelona, Spain, found the longer the breast feeding period, the lower the mother's risk of developing rheumatoid arthritis in later life. While other studies suggest hormonal factors play a part in the development of rheumatoid arthritis and pregnancy can result in an improvement in symptoms, this study highlighted the potential of naturally-induced hormones in protecting women from developing rheumatoid arthritis in the future.
GENETICS: CULPRIT IN MOST COMMON CAUSE OF HEARING LOSS FOUND
A gene responsible for otosclerosis, the single most common cause of hearing loss among white adults, has been identified for the first time, according to researchers from the University of Antwerp in Belgium. At a presentation at the European Society of Human Genetics in Nice, France, the researchers said the finding may be a step towards new treatments for otosclerosis, which affects approximately 1 in 250 people. Otosclerosis is a multifactorial disease, caused by an interaction of genetic and environmental factors. The outcome is a progressive hearing loss as the growing bone in the middle ear interrupts the sound waves passing to the inner ear.
HEART ATTACKS: OBESE PATIENTS MORE LIKELY TO SURVIVE
Obese and very obese patients have a lower risk of dying after they have been treated for heart attacks than do normal weight patients, according to a study published in the European Heart Journal. Researchers in Germany and Switzerland found that among patients who had received initial treatment for a specific type of heart attack, those that were obese or very obese were less than half as likely to die during the following three years as patients who had a normal body mass index. Although there is no doubt that people who are overweight, obese and very obese have a higher risk of developing diabetes, hypertension and coronary artery disease, the evidence from the study shows once a coronary event has occurred and been optimally treated, obese patients switch to a more favorable prognosis compared to normal weight patients, the researcher said.
STROKE: SURGE IN CASES OF WOMEN IN MID-LIFE
More women than men appear to be having a stroke in middle age, according to researchers at the University of California at Los Angeles. The study, published in the online edition of Neurology, found women 45 to 54 were more than twice as likely as men in the same age group to have had a stroke. There were no sex differences in stroke rates found in the 35 to 44 and the 55 to 64 age groups. The researchers said it is not immediately clear why there is a sex disparity in stroke rates among this age group, but said the mid-life stroke surge among women suggests close attention may need to be paid to the cardiovascular health of women in their mid-30s to mid-50s with a goal of mitigating the problem.
COFFEE: ONE OR TWO CUPS A DAY PROTECTS AGAINST EYELID SPASM
People who drink coffee are less likely to develop an involuntary eye spasm called primary late onset blepharospasm, which makes them blink uncontrollably and can leave them effectively blind, according to a study published online ahead of print in the Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery, and Psychiatry. The effect was proportional to the amount of coffee drunk; one to two cups per day were needed for the protective effect to be seen. The age of onset of the spasm was also found to be later in patients who drank more coffee—1.7 years for each additional cup per day. The researchers suggest that caffeine blocks adenosine receptors, which has been proposed as the same mechanism at work in protecting against Parkinson's disease.
PARKINSON'S: RESEARCHERS IDENTIFY NEW DRUG TARGET
Researchers at the MassGeneral Institute for Neurodegenerative Disease have identified a potential new drug target for the treatment of Parkinson's disease and possibly for other degenerative neurological disorders. Parkinson's disease—characterized by tremors, rigidity, difficulty walking and other symptoms—is caused by the destruction of brain cells that produce the neurotransmitter dopamine. In an article slated to be published in the journal Science, the investigators describe finding, in cellular and animal models, that blocking the action of an enzyme called SIRT2 can protect the neurons damaged in Parkinson's disease from the toxic effects of alpha-synuclein, a protein that accumulates in the brains of Parkinson's patients. The study also suggests that inhibiting this pathway could help in the treatment of other conditions in which abnormal proteins accumulate in the brain.
INSOMNIA: STUDY LINKS TO MEDICATION DISPENSING AND CHARTING ERRORS
Insomnia, which affects more than a quarter of nurses, attributes to a significant increase in medication dispensing errors, charting deviations from standard practice and falling asleep unintentionally on the job, according to a study from Alertness Solutions, a Cupertino, California-based consultancy. The study found nearly a third of the nurses had trouble staying asleep and more than 10 percent had trouble falling a sleep. The survey also found that despite the significant impact of their insomnia, only 30 percent of those surveyed sought professional care to address the problem.
LEGAL: LOCAL, NOT NATIONAL, STANDARDS FOLLOWED IN 21 STATES
Some U.S. states follow some form of a ruling dating back to 1880 that says the standard of care physicians must meet by law depends on where the doctor practices, even if it is a small town with only two doctors, according to researchers at Georgetown University Medical Center and Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of Bioethics. That means what is considered malpractice in some states may be considered acceptable practice in others, the researchers said. This "locality rule" can negatively impact both physicians and patients and should be changed to the national, evidence-based standards of care that the 29 other states and the District of Columbia have now adopted as the basis for malpractice law, the researchers said in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
CARCINOGENS: WORKERS IN NO-SMOKING RESTAURANTS SHOW LOWER LEVELS
Restaurant workers exposed to tobacco smoke on the job were more likely to have a detectable level of NNK, a carcinogen implicated in the development of lung cancer, than those who worked in tobacco-free environments, according to a study published in the online edition of the American Journal of Public Health. Nonsmokers exposed to secondhand smoke have about a 20 percent increase in the risk of lung cancer—and food service workers tend to have more exposure to indoor environmental tobacco smoke than do workers in any other occupation. Only 11 states have clean indoor air acts that ban smoking in all indoor workplaces. In states like Oregon, where the study took place, workplaces such as restaurants and bars have exemptions. Investigators at Multnomah County Health Department and the Oregon Department of Human Services, who conducted the study, said that there is no justification for any clean air exemptions and that policymakers and the public need to protect the health of all nonsmoking workers by prohibiting smoking in all indoor workplaces.
MEDICARE: PART D PLANS VARY, BUT MOST COVER COMMON DRUGS, LOW CO-PAYS
Medicare Part D plans in California and Hawaii reveal wide variations in drug formularies but indicate that for many classes of drugs, it's possible to find at least one or more covered by nearly all Part D plans, according to a study in JAMA from researchers at the John A. Burns School of Medicine at the University of Hawaii, Honolulu. Because of the number and variety of plans, clinicians often find it difficult to know which drugs are covered by Part D plan formularies. The number of Part D plans is increasing, with 1,875 stand-alone prescription drug plans in 2007, compared with 1,429 in 2006. The coverage of individual drugs varied extensively, indicating the potential difficulties that clinicians can face in knowing which drugs are covered or are more affordable. The researchers said a potential way to address formulary variation would be to identify, within a class, which drugs are widely covered and generally more affordable for clinicians to consider.
FDA: AGENCY APPROVES COMBINATION BLOOD PRESSURE DRUG
The FDA approved Novartis' Exforge, a single-tablet combination of two of the most prescribed high blood pressure medicines in a single, once-daily tablet. The company said Exforge is the first medicine of its kind to combine the active ingredients of an angiotensin receptor blocker Diovan (valsartan), which inhibits a hormone that narrows blood vessels, and the calcium channel blocker Norvasc (amlodipine), which inhibits calcium from entering blood vessels. Both drugs relax blood vessels and allow blood to flow more easily. Exforge won approval in January 2007 in the European Union and has already been made available in nine E.U. countries, including Germany and the U.K., with further launches planned. Exforge is also available in Switzerland. High blood pressure causes damage to the arteries, burdening the heart, kidneys, brain and other vital organs. About 29 percent of adults in the United States and 1 billion people worldwide suffer from the condition.
PULMONARY HYPERTENSION: FDA GIVES GILEAD OK TO MARKET DRUG
Gilead Sciences said the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has granted approval of Letairis, a once-daily tablet for pulmonary arterial hypertension. The elevation of blood pressure in the pulmonary artery makes it difficult for the heart to pump blood through the lungs where it is oxygenated. It is a debilitating and life threatening disease. It can cause shortness of breath, dizziness, fainting and other symptoms. The drug from the Foster City, California-based Gilead is a so-called endothelin receptor antagonist. Activation of the endothelin receptor type-A by the hormone endothelin leads to a narrowing of blood vessels.
LEGISLATION: DRUG SAFETY BILL CLEARS HOUSE COMMITTEE
A bill that would give the FDA greater power to monitor drugs after they have been approved for marketing passed a U.S. House of Representatives committee, Reuters reported. The House Energy and Commerce Committee approved the legislation, which would grant the FDA the authority to require drug makers to conduct post-marketing studies of new drugs or put warnings on their labels, by a 39 to 0 vote. The additional authority is part of a larger package of expanded powers meant to address the agency's handling of safety concerns over some widely used drugs.
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