Drug tests will prevent repeat of Northwick Park trial

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Scientists investigating the 2006 Northwick Park drug-trial disaster that left six healthy volunteers hospitalised say they have developed new pre-clinical tests that could have stopped the trial from ever going ahead.

But Dr Stephen Poole, speaking at the British Pharmacological Society's Winter Meeting in Brighton today (Tuesday), said that research is still "ongoing" to understand why the drug had such an adverse effect in the clinic but not in pre-clinical testing.

Diet may cut second breast cancers in women without hot flashes

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Diet may cut risk of breast cancer recurrence in women without hot flashes

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Colonoscopy significantly reduces death from left-sided colon cancer but not from right-sided

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Philadelphia, December 16, 2008 -- A new study finds that colonoscopy is strongly associated with fewer deaths from colorectal cancer. However, the risk reduction appears to be entirely due to a reduction in deaths from left-sided cancers. According to the study, colonoscopy shows almost no mortality prevention benefit for cancer that develops in the right side of the colon. Colorectal cancer is the second-leading cause of cancer death in North America.

Number of female cardiologists nearly doubles, but under-representation and discrimination remain

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The number of female doctors in cardiology nearly doubled in the last decade, and male and female cardiologists both report a high level of job satisfaction, according to findings from a 10-year follow-up survey published in the December 16/23, 2008, issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

Depression, anxiety spur poor health habits, damaging heart and blood vessels

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Anyone will tell you that stress is bad for the heart. Many people also know about the toxic effects of anxiety and depression. But how exactly do these negative emotions cripple the cardiovascular system—and what can be done about it?

New genetic cause of boy in the bubble syndrome

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Severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID) is an inherited disease sometimes known as 'Boy in the bubble syndrome', because the patient lacks one or more type of immune cell, making them very susceptible to infections. Dik van Gent and colleagues, at Erasmus Medical Center, The Netherlands, have now identified a new genetic cause of SCID characterized by a lack of T cells and B cells (T–B– SCID). Specifically, they identified a patient with T–B– SCID who has a mutation in the gene DNA-PKcs.

New insight into birth defect characterized by digit duplication and fusion

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Birth defects characterized by malformation of the limbs are relatively common. New insight into one form of the birth defect synpolydactyly, where individuals have 1 or more digit (finger or toe) duplicated and 2 or more digits fused together, has now been provided by Stefan Mundlos and colleagues, at Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Germany, who studied a mouse model of the condition.

Researchers map new path to colon cancer therapy

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GALVESTON, Texas — University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston researchers have identified a promising new target in the battle against colorectal cancer — a biochemical pathway critical to the spread of tumors to new locations in the body. If this "survival pathway" can be successfully blocked under clinical conditions, the result would be a much-needed new therapy for colorectal cancer, the second leading cause of cancer death in the United States.

Home-based pulmonary rehabilitation: More freedom for COPD patients

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Montréal, December 15, 2008 – Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is the fourth leading cause of death in Canada. Although it is an incurable chronic disease, effective treatments exist to relieve symptoms and improve the course of the illness.