Baltimore, MD, 31 March 2014. – A new report reveals a potential breakthrough in the treatment of a common eye ailment known as pterygium (Surfer's eye) that impacts the vision, eye health, and cosmetic appearance of countless sufferers. The newly published report shows that eye drops containing the anti-anginal drug dipyridamole (Persantin®, Cardoxin®) led to almost total disappearance of an inflamed pterygium in a 35 year old otherwise healthy woman. Dipyridamole is a drug in use over the past 55 years to treat other disorders, but now found to have this remarkable ...

A new Rutgers study is giving hope to older men concerned about the effects of cholesterol-lowering medications on their sexual health. The research, conducted at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, found that statin medication prescribed to lower cholesterol and decrease the chance of heart attack and stroke, also improves a man's erectile function. The researchers reported their findings at the American College of Cardiology's annual scientific session in Washington DC March 29 and in the April issue of The Journal of Sexual Medicine. "Older men who have poor ...

Heart valve defects are a common cause of death in newborns. Scientists at the University of Bonn and the caesar research center have discovered "Creld1" is a key gene for the development of heart valves in mice. The researchers were able to show that a similar Creld1 gene found in humans functions via the same signaling pathway as in the mouse. This discovery is an important step forward in the molecular understanding of the pathogenesis of heart valve defects. The findings have been published in the journal "Developmental Cell". Atrioventricular septal defect (AVSD) ...

Data from satellite sensors show that during the Northern Hemisphere's growing season, the Midwest region of the United States boasts more photosynthetic activity than any other spot on Earth, according to NASA and university scientists. Healthy plants convert light to energy via photosynthesis, but chlorophyll also emits a fraction of absorbed light as fluorescent glow that is invisible to the naked eye. The magnitude of the glow is an excellent indicator of the amount of photosynthesis, or gross productivity, of plants in a given region. Research in 2013 led by Joanna ...

TORONTO, ON, March 31, 2014 -- Improving hand hygiene compliance by healthcare professionals is no easy task, but a first-of-its-kind Canadian study by researchers at Women's College Hospital shows simply asking patients to audit their healthcare professional is yielding high marks. The study, published in the April edition of the American Journal of Infection Control, details the findings of an 11-month pilot project looking at an alternative method of hand hygiene auditing using the patient-as-observer approach. In this method, patients observe and record hand hygiene ...

Researchers at Western University (London, Canada) have found youth living in rural areas are more likely to sustain concussions from injuries involving motorized vehicles such as all-terrain vehicles and dirt bikes, whereas youth living in urban areas suffer concussions mostly as a result of sports. Hockey accounts for 40 per cent of those injuries. The study which reveals where and how children are receiving concussions is published in the Journal of Trauma and Acute Care Surgery. Dr. Doug Fraser, a scientist with the Children's Health Research Institute at Lawson ...

CORVALLIS, Ore. – Researchers at Oregon State University have discovered novel proteins in, or on the surface of the bacteria that causes gonorrhea, which offer a promising new avenue of attack against a venereal disease that is showing increased resistance to the antibiotics used to treat it. Only a single, third-generation cephalosporin antibiotic still shows good efficacy against gonorrhea, creating a race against time to find some alternative way to treat this disease that can have serious health effects. It's the second most commonly reported infectious disease in ...

RIVERSIDE, Calif. — Do you want information on Viagra or ibuprofen? Check out general social networks such as Twitter and Pinterest. Interested in sleep disorders or depression? You're better off going to specialized health social networks such as WebMD or drugs.com. That is one of the findings of a just published paper, "Pharmaceutical Drugs Chatter on Online Social Networks," based on an analysis of more than 1 million drug-related posts, by a team of researchers at the University of California, Riverside's Bourns College of Engineering and Zhejiang University in China. The ...

WASHINGTON (March 31, 2014) — A new stent covered with biodegradable coating continues to show statistical equivalence to Japan's market leader in cumulative second-year data and subgroup analyses, according to research from the NEXT trial presented at the American College of Cardiology's 63rd Annual Scientific Session. NEXT is the largest head-to-head randomized study of these two stents – the novel biolimus-releasing model with the degradable coating (BES) and the everolimus-releasing standard with a durable polymer (EES). Polymer coatings contain the drugs in drug-eluting ...

Scientists from the University of Granada have taken part, alongside the Esteve laboratory, in the development of a new drug that multiplies the analgesic effect of opioids (drugs for treating intense pain), without increasing constipation, one of the most common side-effects of these drugs, among which is morphine. This important scientific breakthrough has been published in The Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics, and has been chosen as its outstanding article in the month of January. So far, the University of Granada researchers have published the ...

A breakthrough in drug testing developed by a University of Huddersfield lecturer could lead to cheaper, more effective medicines. Dr Hamid Merchant is a member of the team that has created a device which accurately simulates the gastro-intestinal tract and how it absorbs medication. This means that the cost of clinical trials could be greatly reduced, with savings passed on to customers. Dr Merchant has joined the University as a Senior Lecturer in Pharmaceutics. Previously a postdoctoral fellow at University College London (UCL), he has extensive research experience, ...

While patients diagnosed with bladder cancer usually face a favorable prognosis, many experience recurrence after treatment. Because frequent, painful screenings are needed to identify recurrences, the ablility to identify patients at high risk of recurrent cancer could help to improve quality of life for all bladder cancer patients. A new study published in BJU International, "Genetic polymorphisms modify bladder cancer recurrence and survival in a U.S. population-based prognostic study," suggests that certain inherited DNA sequences may affect a bladder cancer patient's ...

WASHINGTON (March 31, 2014) — In a comparison of two blood-thinning medications, heparin was associated with significantly fewer major cardiovascular events at 28 days than bivalirudin in patients receiving primary percutaneous coronary intervention after a heart attack, according to research presented at the American College of Cardiology's 63rd Annual Scientific Session. The single-center, open label trial enrolled 1,829 patients with suspected heart attack who received a coronary angiography, an imaging test to see how blood flows through the heart. Patients were randomized ...

Anti-anxiety drugs and sleeping pills have been linked to an increased risk of death, according to new research from the University of Warwick. The large study, published in BMJ, shows that several anxiolytic (anti-anxiety) drugs or hypnotic drugs (sleeping pills) are associated with a doubling in the risk of mortality. Although these findings are based on routine data and need to be interpreted cautiously, the researchers recommended that a greater understanding of their impact is essential. Professor Scott Weich, Professor of Psychiatry at the University of ...

WASHINGTON (March 31, 2014) — Use of drug-eluting stents is associated with a lower risk of major cardiovascular events at one year compared to bare metal stents when followed by an individualized course of blood-thinning medication among patients previously thought to be uncertain candidates for drug-eluting stents due to their heightened risk of bleeding or blood clots, according to research presented at the American College of Cardiology's 63rd Annual Scientific Session. Positive study findings for patients receiving a shorter than currently recommended course of ...

This news release is available in German. Objects with sizes in the nanometer range, such as the molecular building blocks of living cells or nanotechnological devices, are continuously exposed to random collisions with surrounding molecules. In such fluctuating environments the fundamental laws of thermodynamics that govern our macroscopic world need to be rewritten. An international team of researchers from Barcelona, Zurich and Vienna found that a nanoparticle trapped with laser light temporarily violates the famous second law of thermodynamics, something that ...

WASHINGTON (March 31, 2014) — Patients with severe ischemic heart disease and heart failure can benefit from a new treatment in which stem cells found in bone marrow are injected directly into the heart muscle, according to research presented at the American College of Cardiology's 63rd Annual Scientific Session. "Our results show that this stem cell treatment is safe and it improves heart function when compared to placebo," said Anders Bruun Mathiasen, M.D., research fellow in the Cardiac Catherization Lab at Rigshospitalet University Hospital Copenhagen, and lead investigator ...

WASHINGTON (March 31, 2014) — The first one-year outcomes data of transcatheter heart valve replacement (TAVR) in nearly all U.S. patients undergoing this procedure shows that real-world outcomes are comparable to or slightly better than those found in clinical trials, according to registry data presented at the American College of Cardiology's 63rd Annual Scientific Session. However, specific baseline characteristics of patients undergoing TAVR are associated with differing degrees of death and survival and may be important considerations for patient counseling and shared ...

A new research discovery published in the April 2014 issue of the Journal of Leukocyte Biology may open the door to new therapies that help treat immune disorders or curb runaway inflammation. Specifically, scientists have discovered a molecule that can induce cell death (apoptosis) in a key type of immune cell (dendritic cells). With this understanding, it may be possible to develop new therapies that essentially shut down dendritic cell activity, and thereby reducing an immune reaction. "We hope that our findings provide better understanding of immune regulation, which ...

The sun emitted a significant solar flare, peaking at 1:48 p.m. EDT March 29, 2014, and NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory captured images of the event. Solar flares are powerful bursts of radiation. Harmful radiation from a flare cannot pass through Earth's atmosphere to physically affect humans on the ground, however -- when intense enough -- they can disturb the atmosphere in the layer where GPS and communications signals travel. To see how this event impacted Earth, please visit NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center at http://spaceweather.gov, the U.S. government's ...

VIDEO: New statistics from the American Society of Plastic Surgeons show that since 2000, breast lift procedures have grown by 70 percent, twice the rate of breast implants. According to the... Click here for more information. ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill., March 31, 2014 – New statistics released today by the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS) show that breast lift procedures are growing at twice the rate of breast implant surgeries. Since 2000, breast lifts have grown by ...

A comparison of the safety of biodegradable polymer biolimus-eluting stents vs durable polymer everolimus-eluting stents finds similar outcomes for measures including death and heart attack after two years, according to a JAMA study released online to coincide with presentation at the 2014 American College of Cardiology Scientific Sessions. Recent studies have raised concerns about the safety of biodegradable polymer drug-eluting stents (BP-DES) compared with durable polymer everolimus-eluting stents (DP-EES). The NOBORI Biolimus-Eluting vs XIENCE/PROMUS Everolimus-Eluting ...

Six new species of Dracula ants from the Malagasy region have been discovered by scientists at the California Academy of Sciences. The discoveries, by postdoctoral fellow Masashi Yoshimura from Japan and curator of entomology Brian L. Fisher, represent a completely new twist in the typically rigid caste system of ants, where anatomy is typically destiny. The study was published in the open access journal ZooKeys. "The genus Mystrium is the most mysterious group within the bizarre Dracula ants," said Yoshimura. Mystrium species have unique features such as long, spatulate ...

(WASHINGTON, March 31, 2014) – New research further illuminates the heart-healthy benefits of the Mediterranean diet, tying the eating plan to lower levels of platelets and white blood cells, two markers of inflammation. Inflammation has an association with greater risk of heart attack and stroke. Study, results are published online today in Blood, the Journal of the American Society of Hematology (ASH). The Mediterranean diet, characterized by generous servings of foods such as greens, whole grains, fish, and olive oil, has long been hailed as a heart-healthy eating ...

A team of scientists from the Cancer Science Institute of Singapore (CSI Singapore) at the National University of Singapore and National University Cancer Institute Singapore (NCIS), and their collaborators from the Cedars-Sinai Medical Centre, UCLA School of Medicine, demonstrated that a number of novel genetic defects are able to induce oesophageal cancer. The research group, led by Professor H. Phillip Koeffler, Senior Principal Investigator at CSI Singapore and Deputy Director of NCIS, has conducted a successful comprehensive genomic study of oesophageal squamous ...