Category: Regulations
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University Spin-Off Begins Trial of Stem Cell ALS Treatment
A technology developed at Tel Aviv University in Israel and licensed to a spin-off company invokes the potential of bone-marrow stem cells as treatment for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. A clinical trial, now in Israel and later in the U.S., to test the discovery is recruiting participants. The technology…
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Medication Poisoning of Young Children Rising Sharply
An analysis by researchers at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center shows the number of young children hospitalized from a potentially toxic dose of medication has risen markedly in recent years. The findings by Randall Bond and colleagues from Cincinnati Children’s appear online in the Journal of Pediatrics. Bond and his team reviewed more than 453,000…
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Research-Based Healthy Eating Plate Unveiled
Nutritionists at Harvard University’s School of Public Health have released the Healthy Eating Plate, a visual guide for eating a healthy meal that the developers say is based only on the science and not the interests of growers or industry. Eric Rimm, a professor of epidemiology and nutrition at the school says, “We want people…
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Review: Reminder Packaging Can Help Medication Adherence
A review of studies conducted in the past few years shows instruction reminders on medication packaging helps some patients more closely follow those instructions. The review, led by health sciences professor Kamal Mahtani of Oxford University in the U.K., appears in the current issue of The Cochrane Library (paid subscription required). The analysis by Mahtani…
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Cardiac Device Infections Linked to Higher Costs, Mortality
A team of academic and industry researchers have found an association between infections from cardiovascular implantable electronic devices (CIEDs) and increases in mortality and hospital care costs. The findings from this study appear online in the journal Archives of Internal Medicine (paid subscription required). The researchers, led by Muhammad Sohail, from the Mayo Clinic College…
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Non-Native Insects Costing Local Governments, Homeowners
Scientists from U.S. and Canadian universities and the U.S. Forest Service built a statistical model to compute the cost of damage caused by invasive tree-feeding insects that are inadvertently imported to the U.S. The team from the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis (NCEAS) at University of California in Santa Barbara published their findings…
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Study: Inexpensive Controls Cut Hospital Infections
Researchers at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill find that an inexpensive set of infection control measures could save patient lives and cut health care costs by preventing hospital infections. The findings appear in the September 2011 issue of the journal Health Affairs (paid subscription required). The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimate…
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CE Mark Approved for Migraine Implant Therapy
St. Jude Medical in St. Paul, Minnesota says it received the European CE Mark approval for its implanted neurostimulation device for patients with chronic migraines. The CE marking (an acronym for the French “Conformite Europeenne”) certifies that a product has met EU health, safety, and environmental requirements for consumer safety. The company’s Genesis system for…
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Magnetic Fields Help Purify Hybrid Nanoparticles
Chemistry, physics, and materials scientists at Pennsylvania State University have invented a new system using magnetism to purify hybrid nanoparticles, a development with implications for drug delivery, medical imaging, and related fields. The findings of Mary Elizabeth Williams, Raymond E. Schaak, and their colleagues at Penn State appear online in the journal Agewandte Chemie (paid…
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Insomnia Costs U.S. Employers Billions in Lost Productivity
Researchers from universities, hospitals, and companies in the U.S. and Europe calculated the lost productivity of Americans suffering from insomnia at an annual cost of $63.2 billion to employers. Their findings from the study, funded by the pharmaceutical company Merck, appear in the 1 September issue of the journal Sleep (paid subscription required). The team…