Culture

WASHINGTON, August 19, 2016--Vertebroplasty is a safe and effective procedure to reduce acute pain and disability in patients who have experienced spinal fractures within a 6-week period, according to a new study published this week in The Lancet. In this procedure, a special cement is injected in the fractured vertebra to stabilize the fracture and relieve patients of pressure.

The study also found patients' hospital stays reduced by 5.5 days with vertebroplasty.

DALLAS, Aug. 18, 2016 - A history of gallstone disease may increase your risk of coronary heart disease, according to new research in the American Heart Association's journal Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology.

Gallstone disease is one of the most common and costly gastrointestinal disorders in the United States. Gallstone disease and coronary heart disease have similar risk factors, including diabetes, obesity, high cholesterol, high blood pressure and poor diet.

In a paper published in Science this week, Philip M. Fearnside of Brazil's National Institute for Research in Amazonia (INPA) explains how the country's environmental licensing is under threat from a flurry of proposed laws and constitutional amendments. These have jumped into the forefront as anti-environment politicians rush to exploit the opportunity offered by Brazil's current political turmoil. Legislators are eager to help provide short-term stimulation to the country's flagging economy, as by removing social and environmental restrictions on proposed development projects.

WASHINGTON -- Today, patients with cataracts can choose from several types of artificial lenses, which are surgically implanted in the eye to replace cloudy lenses that obstruct vision. A new vision simulator could help these patients see how the world would look with each type of implanted artificial lens, before they have surgery.

Ramucirumab (trade name: Cyramza) is a monoclonal antibody, which blocks a receptor, reducing the growth of blood vessels and so reducing blood supply to the tumours. This aims to slow the growth of the tumours. As a so-called orphan drug, i.e. a drug for the treatment of rare diseases, ramucirumab was initially exempt from proof of an added benefit. With several expansions of the therapeutic indication, it has lost this special status.

The drug combination emtricitabine/tenofovir alafenamide is approved in combination with other antiviral agents for the treatment of adults and adolescents infected with human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1). In an early benefit assessment, the German Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care (IQWiG) has now examined whether in these patients this combination offers advantages over the appropriate comparator therapy.

Nivolumab has been approved since April 2016 as a checkpoint inhibitor for the treatment of adults with locally advanced or metastatic nonsquamous non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who have already undergone chemotherapy. In an early benefit assessment, the German Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care (IQWiG) has now examined whether in these patients this monoclonal antibody offers advantages over the appropriate comparator therapy.