Culture

May 22, 2011 –Gothenburg, Sweden: Two trials presented at the Heart Failure Congress 2011, organized by the Heart Failure Association of the European Society of Cardiology (HFA of the ESC), will help to define the precise populations of patients with chronic heart failure (CHF) in whom telemedical management delivers benefits. Both the TIM-HF and TEHAF studies - presented in Late Breaking Session 1 - revealed that telemonitoring showed significant benefits in defined subgroups of patients.

May 22, 2011- Gothenburg, Sweden : The aldosterone antagonist eplerenone (Inspra, Pfizer) significantly reduced the development of new onset atrial fibrillation and flutter (AFF) in patients with class 2 heart failure, concludes a sub-analysis of the EMPHASIS-HF trial, presented at the Heart Failure Congress 2011, organized by the Heart Failure Association of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC).

TORONTO, Ont., May 20, 2011 – Today, one in four or five women in Ontario will give birth through a cesarean or "C-section." A new study, led by researchers from St. Michael's Hospital and The Wilson Centre for Research in Education and the Department of Anesthesia, University of Toronto, has found that many labour and delivery health professionals lack a clear understanding of the anesthesiologist's role as a physician with specialized skills in the management of seriously unwell pregnant patients.

Many drugs sold as 'legal highs' on the internet do not contain the ingredients they claim. Some instead contain controlled substances and are illegal to sell over the internet. These are findings of Dr. Mark Baron, who bought a range of tablets from different websites to see what each contained. The study is published today in the journal Drug Testing and Analysis.

Among likely voters surveyed across the nation, 66 percent support additional funding for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to carry out new responsibilities related to food safety, according to a Pew-commissioned poll released today by the bipartisan team of Hart Research and American Viewpoint.

Hohai University in Nanjing has established a research tradition in hydraulic engineering over the last 95 years. During this time, Hohai has become a first class institution of higher education that focuses on a wide range of engineering subjects including civil engineering and water resources, which are of particular interest.

New York City, NY (May 19, 2011) — Researchers at the University of Florida and Metagenics Inc. today announced that a program consisting of a breakthrough medical food combined with a low-glycemic, Mediterranean-style diet is almost twice as effective as one of the best diets alone for lowering risk factors for cardiovascular disease, the leading cause of death in the U.S.

NEW HYDE PARK, NY -- Radiation oncologists took a blow in a series of front-page newspaper stories published last year on injuries that occurred nationwide in the delivery of radiation treatment. Radiation oncologists at North Shore-LIJ Health System responded to the public charge with a series of steps that will ensure that patients are protected at all points in the treatment process.

Among likely voters surveyed across the nation, 66 percent support additional funding for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to carry out new responsibilities related to food safety, according to a Pew-commissioned poll released today by the bipartisan team of Hart Research and American Viewpoint.

Naltrexone reduced inflammation in Crohn's patients in a research study at Penn State College of Medicine.

Crohn's disease is a chronic inflammatory condition of the gastrointestinal tract causing abdominal pain, diarrhea, gastrointestinal bleeding and weight loss. Treatments for Crohn's disease are designed to reduce the inflammation but may be associated with rare but serious side effects, including infections and lymphoma. Research suggests that endorphins and enkephalins, part of the opioid system, have a role in the development or continuation of inflammation.

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – In the first head-to-head comparison of the three most common drugs used at the time of a kidney transplant to prevent organ rejection, researchers found that the least expensive drug – at one-half to one-fifth the price – is as safe and effective as the other two, according to a paper published by University of Alabama at Birmingham researchers in the May 19, 2011, issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

New research shows that African Americans with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) had a higher antibody response to influenza vaccination than European American patients. Treatment with prednisone, a history of hemolytic anemia, and increased disease flares were also linked to low antibody response in SLE patients who received the flu vaccine according to the study now available in Arthritis & Rheumatism, a peer-reviewed journal published by Wiley-Blackwell on behalf of the American College of Rheumatology (ACR).

ATS 2011, DENVER – Despite their beneficial effects in treating heart disease, neither aspirin nor simvastatin appear to offer benefit to patients suffering from pulmonary artery hypertension (PAH), according to a National Institutes of Health (NIH)-funded study conducted at four U.S. medical centers. This was the first NIH-funded randomized clinical trial (RCT) in PAH.

The results of the study will be presented at the ATS 2011 International Conference in Denver.

In the United States, older patients with advanced lung cancer make much less use of hospital and emergency room services at the end of life than their counterparts in Ontario but use far more chemotherapy, according to a study published May 18th online in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

MINNEAPOLIS / ST. PAUL, Minn. (May 18, 2011) – University of Minnesota Medical School researchers have discovered a method to quickly and exponentially grow regulatory T-cells – also known as "suppressor cells." The new process enables replication of the cells by tens of millions in several weeks, a dramatic increase over previous duplication methods. Historically, regulatory T-cells have been difficult to replicate.