Culture | Page 1757 | Science Codex

Treating myasthenia gravis with autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplants

A report on seven cases of severe myasthenia gravis (an autoimmune disease characterized by severe muscle weakness) suggests that autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (when a patient's own stem cells are used) may result in long-term remission that is symptom and treatment free, according to an article published online by JAMA Neurology.

The study by Harold Atkins, M.D., F.R.C.P.C., of the University of Ottawa and the Ottawa Hospital, Canada, and coauthors reports outcomes at the Ottawa Hospital from 2001 through 2014.

New app improves treatment of atrial fibrillation

Atrial fibrillation increases the risk of stroke. Treatment with oral anticoagulation reduces this risk but instead increases the risk of bleeding. Today, a new blood test based tool enabling better and more individualized stroke prevention treatment is presented at a congress in Chicago, and simultaneously published in the top-ranked medical journal The Lancet.

Nanotubes line up to form films

HOUSTON - (April 4, 2016) - A simple filtration process helped Rice University researchers create flexible, wafer-scale films of highly aligned and closely packed carbon nanotubes.

Scientists at Rice, with support from Los Alamos National Laboratory, have made inch-wide films of densely packed, chirality-enriched single-walled carbon nanotubes through a process revealed today in Nature Nanotechnology.

How crispy is your bonbon?

CAMBRIDGE, MA -- Since the 1600s, chocolatiers have been perfecting the art of the bonbon, passing down techniques for crafting a perfectly smooth, even chocolaty shell.

Efmoroctocog alfa for hemophilia A: Added benefit not proven

Efmoroctocog alfa (trade name: Elocta) has been approved since November 2015 for people with type A haemophilia. This is an inherited disorder that impairs blood clotting. The German Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care (IQWiG) examined in a dossier assessment whether this new drug offers an added benefit over the appropriate comparator therapy both in prevention and in on-demand treatment. Such an added benefit cannot be derived from the dossier, however, because it contained no study data adequate for the research question.

Tool to engage patients with chest pain in care decisions shows benefits

CHICAGO (April 3, 2016) -- Patients visiting a hospital emergency department with chest pain who engaged with their physician in shared decision-making using a tool called Chest Pain Choice showed improved knowledge of their health status and follow-up care options compared with patients who received standard counseling from a physician without the use of this decision aid, according to research presented at the American College of Cardiology's 65th Annual Scientific Session.

No improvement in clinical outcomes with ischemic postconditioning

A large randomized controlled trial of ischemic postconditioning in patients who had experienced the deadliest form of heart attack--ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI)--failed to show that this procedure significantly reduces death from any cause or hospitalization for heart failure, according to research presented at the American College of Cardiology's 65th Annual Scientific Session.

Deferred stenting shows no clinical benefit

Delayed or deferred stent implantation in patients experiencing the deadliest form of heart attack--ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI)--failed to reduce death from any cause, hospitalization for heart failure, subsequent heart attacks or the need for a repeat procedure to restore blood flow to the heart, researchers reported at the American College of Cardiology's 65th Annual Scientific Session.

IV beta blockers before angioplasty are safe, but offer no clinical benefit

Giving intravenous beta blockers before performing a coronary angioplasty in patients who had experienced the deadliest form of heart attack--ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI)--was safe but did not reduce heart attack severity or improve blood flow from the heart's main pumping chamber, according to research presented at the American College of Cardiology's 65th Annual Scientific Session.

SAPIEN 3 improves outcomes for major endpoints at 1 year

Intermediate-risk patients who received transcatheter aortic valve replacement, known as TAVR, with the latest-generation valve fared better than patients receiving traditional surgical aortic valve replacement after one year, in a study presented at the American College of Cardiology's 65th Annual Scientific Session.

Asthma is associated with polycystic ovary syndrome and excess weight

Boston, MA--Among reproductive-age women, polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) as well as overweight and obesity are independently linked with asthma, new preliminary research from Australia suggests. The results will be presented in a poster Saturday, April 2, at ENDO 2016, the annual meeting of the Endocrine Society, in Boston.

Few patients use weight-loss medications despite FDA approval

Boston, MA-- Despite guidelines that advocate the use of weight loss medications to treat obesity, and the availability of FDA approved medications, very few patients use this treatment option, a new study suggests. The results will be presented Sunday, April 3, at ENDO 2016, the annual meeting of the Endocrine Society, in Boston.

Penn researchers report successful cardiac transplant outcomes in adult patients with congenital heart disease

CHICAGO - Congenital heart disease, which includes various conditions involving defects in the structure of the heart or blood vessels that develop before birth, affects nearly 1 percent of children - about 40,000 babies each year. Though many of these conditions were once fatal in infancy and childhood, surgeries and other treatments have evolved during the past few decades, and some 800,000 adults have now grown into adulthood with these conditions.

Trial offers objective evidence of muscle-related side effects with statins

The first major clinical trial to include a blinded, placebo-controlled "statin re-challenge" in patients with a history of muscle-related side effects sheds new light on statin-associated muscle symptoms, according to research presented at the American College of Cardiology's 65th Annual Scientific Session. The trial also demonstrates that monthly self-injection of the relatively new non-statin cholesterol-lowering drug evolocumab reduces levels of low-density lipoprotein, or LDL, cholesterol to a greater extent than ezetimibe, a traditional drug used in statin-intolerant patients.

Higher volume of TAVR boosts key in-hospital outcomes

The more frequently a hospital performs a minimally invasive technique called transcatheter aortic valve replacement, or TAVR, to replace a damaged aortic heart valve, the better patients fare, on average, immediately after the procedure, researchers reported at the American College of Cardiology's 65th Annual Scientific Session.