Russia's continuing laser medicine advances
For the past 30 years, in the former USSR and Russia, laser medicine has been actively developed and regular annual conferences have opened new avenues for its use by the country's doctors.
Research
Research on insulin cancer risk rings alarm
Four different population-based studies, recently published in Diabetelogia, the journal of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD), examine a possible link between insulin glargine (brand name, Lantus) and cancer.
Embracing Excellence in Prostate, Bladder and Kidney Cancer
Barcelona, Spain 26-29 November
Molekularer Schalter für Herzschwäche entdeckt
Charité-Wissenschaftler beschreiben die Rolle des Proteins CTGF Wissenschaftler der Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin und des Max-Delbrück Centrums für molekulare Medizin (MDC) in Berlin Buch haben die Funktion des Proteins Connective Tissue Growth Factor (CTGF) im Herzen aufgeklärt.
Silenced genes as a warning sign of blood cancer
In the genetic material of cancer cells, important growth inhibitors are often switched off by chemical labels in the DNA. Scientists of the German Cancer Research Center and the Ohio State University, USA, discovered in mice that cancer-typical DNA labeling occurs long before the first symptoms of leukemia appear. A test for the genetic label might therefore help to detect a developing cancer at…
The AACC Annual Meeting & Clinical Lab Expo
The American Association for Clinical Chemistry (AACC) hosts its 2009 meeting in conjunction with the Canadian Society of Clinical Chemists. Along with this, a high European participation is on the cards. "We are pleased that so many peers from Europe join us each year, and that our European colleagues lead many of the important scientific sessions," said Barbara Goldsmith PhD, current AACC…
Public health puzzle - inequalities in health
In almost all of the industrialised countries, the general health status - as indicated for example by infant mortality, prevalence of disease, subjective health and life expectancy - has improved during the last four decades. At the same time, however, there is a proven close correlation between good and poor health and high and low socioeconomic status.
Hospital Universitari Vall d`Hebron to work with Roche technology
The Research Institute of the Hospital Universitari Vall d'Hebron (IR-HUVH) in Barcelona is the first Spanish health centre to acquire the Genome Sequencer FLX System from 454 Life Sciences, a Roche company. This new high-performance sequencing system improves the productivity and precision of genome sequencing at IR-HUVH.
Enhanced performance of Beckman Coulter's Analytical Ultracentrifuge
Newly designed centerpieces used in the Beckman Coulter XL-A and XL-I instruments - the only analytical ultracentrifuges on the market today - allow the systems to provide precise, repeatable measurement of pharmaceutical sample aggregation in pharmaceutical research and formulation laboratories.
Multiple Sclerosis: Benefactors in the Brain
The inflammatory process in the brain of multiple sclerosis patients is triggered by their own immune system. However, there is one type of immune cells that seems to fight against the destructive progress - and might be used for therapeutic purposes in future.
Euromedlab 2009
"In-vitro veritas", the slogan of the 18th European Congress of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine, which took place in June, underlined the significance of in vitro diagnostics for healthcare, and the presentations by 90 speakers, in 32 scientific sessions and 29 industry sponsored workshops, demonstrated the rich variety of developments.
Futures: HIV self-monitoring
HIV/AIDS has reached pandemic proportions. 35 million people are infected. Given the situation of hard pressed general practitioners (GPs) today, as well as geographical and other difficulties (as in Africa, for example), a new device that will enable HIV patients to monitor their own health and the effectiveness of treatments, without visiting their doctors so often, is indeed promising.
Research project @neurIST tackles cerebral aneurysms
When a cerebral aneurysm ruptures, mortality is high and survivors often suffer stroke-like long-term disabilities. However, some aneurysms remain stable and never rupture. Surgical and endovascular interventions are possible, but not without risk.
New therapy found to prevent heart failure
A landmark study has successfully demonstrated a 29 percent reduction in heart failure or death in patients with heart disease who received an implanted cardiac resynchronization therapy device with defibrillator (CRT-D) versus patients who received only an implanted cardiac defibrillator (ICD-only).
Influenza A (H1N1) update
WHO has been carefully monitoring the spread of influenza A (H1N1) and has now raised the alert level to level 6. Raising the alert to level 6 is a measure of geographical spread of the virus and not a measure of its severity. At this time, WHO considers the overall severity of the situation to be moderate.
Coolidge Award 2009
For the 16th year in a row, the innovation prize for radiological diagnostics was awarded by GE Healthcare at this year's Radiology Congress in Berlin. The prize comes with a research budget worth EUR 15,000 and is for young radiologists whose scientific work is opening up new horizons in the field of radiology.
Delivering leading edge diagnostic tools to developing markets
Basic diagnostic x-ray services are a key component of primary health care delivery. However, two-thirds of the world's population is without access to it, according to World Health Organization (WHO) estimates. The WHO further estimates that there is a need for one diagnostic imaging machine for every 50,000 people. The World Health Imaging Alliance announced that it has cemented key…
Protein cocktail directs production of new heart cells
A cocktail of proteins that triggers the production of new heart muscle cells has been discovered by Benoit G Bruneau and Jun Kakeuchi at the Gladstone Institute of Cardiovascular Disease, in San Francisco.
Urine test for kidney disease
Scientists have developed a new test for detecting kidney disease, according to a paper published online in April by Kidney International (www.nature.com/ki/). The technique will allow researchers and clinicians to identify kidney disease or injury within 15 minutes of testing in both rats and humans.
Austria's ground-breaking ion-therapy and research centre
Not long after the first earth was moved on a site in Wiener Neustadt (Vienna's Newtown), in the County of Lower Austria, and tests were carried out to ensure the long-term stability of a particle accelerator and weighty equipment in treatment and research facilities, we spoke with Professor Ramona Mayer, Medical Director at EBG MedAustron GmbH, about the firm's planning and future operation of…
Small yes, but Sweden and Denmark are big in pharma R&D firms
Among 2,552 European R&D projects (clinical phases I-III) conducted by small and mid-size biotechnology firms (under 600 employees), 64 are focused on diabetes, according to a large, detailed study carried out by Novumed Life Science Consulting.
Swine flu spreads
Swine flu has been confirmed in a number of countries and it is spreading from human to human, which could lead to what is referred to as a pandemic flu outbreak. Pandemic flu is different from ordinary flu because it's a new flu virus that appears in humans and spreads very quickly from person to person worldwide. On Wednesday, the World Health Organization raised the pandemic threat Level to 5…
Prostate Cancer Screening
To date, there is insufficient knowledge as to the cause of this disease, or how to prevent it. We asked some of our EH correspondents to report on measures taken in their countries to ensure that men are made more aware of this disease and whether screening services are provided for early prostate cancer detection.
Radiology at University Hospital Freiburg
Basic research and clinical patient care became separate disciplines in the 70s and 80s.
