Muara Teweh | Resource News

The Quintiles Transnational Corp. is teaming with DynPort Vaccine Co. LLC to establish and operate a phase 1 clinical trials unit to test infectious disease therapeutics in a seven-year federal contract worth an estimated $32.3 million.

Quintiles’ portion of the work will be conducted at its new 150-bed phase 1 trials unit in Overland Park, Kansas. That $48 million, 236,000-square-foot facility was dedicated in May 2007 and brought together 750 Quintiles employees previously employed at a phase 1 unit in Lenexa, Kansas, and operations related to later-phase trials at the former Marion Laboratories campus in south Kansas City.

The new facilityis one of Quintiles’ three phase 1 — or first-in-human — clinical trials units and its only one in North America. Quintiles is based in Durham. Read the rest

(HealthDay News) — A stomach bacterium called Helicobacter pylori may reduce a child’s risk of developing asthma by as much as 50 percent, a new study suggests.

H. pylori has been present in the human stomach probably since humans were humans. However, the germ began disappearing over the course of the 20th century with the introduction of antibiotics and cleaner water and homes, perhaps making children more susceptible to asthma, the study authors suggested.

“In our study we asked the question, is there any relationship between having H. pylori in the stomach and having asthma and other allergic disorders,” said lead researcher Dr. Martin J. Blaser, the Frederick H. King Professor of Internal Medicine and chairman of the department of medicine at the New York University Langone Medical Center in New York City.
Read the rest

PARIS (Thomson Financial) - Sanofi-Aventis and Johns Hopkins University’s school of medicine have signed a three-year collaboration agreement for research into respiratory and immuno-allergic diseases.

Sanofi and the school of medicine’s Division of Allergy and Clinical Immunology will work jointly to discover and develop new ways of treating respiratory disease, focusing in particular on severe asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, the French pharmaceutical company said in a statement.
Read the rest

A drug that was once used as an antihistamine by people with allergies in Russia offers new hope for Alzheimer’s patients, a study published today suggests.

The drug, dimebon, has so far been trialled on only 183 patients, but it led to significant improvement in the understanding and behaviour of patients with mild to moderate Alzheimer’s disease, according to the research published in the Lancet medical journal.

Treatments for Alzheimer’s are badly needed. Those that exist are controversial; arguments rage over whether or not Aricept and similar drugs work well enough to be worth their high cost.

The dimebon trial took place in Russia, where the drug has dropped out of use in allergy treatment as newer drugs have been discovered. The 183 patients from 11 different sites were randomly divided into two groups and given either dimebon three times a day or a placebo.
Read the rest

U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) this week canceled plans for a large clinical trial of an experimental vaccine to combat the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Anthony S. Fauci, director of the NIH’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said that   more research was needed on the government-developed vaccine known as PAVE (Partnership for AIDS Vaccine Evaluation) before it could be tested in 8,500 people infected with HIV, the virus that causes full-blown AIDS. The announcement comes 10 months after drug giant Merck & Co. canceled a trial of a similar vaccine after it was found ineffective at reducing the HIV load in volunteers’ blood.

Fauci said the trial of the newer vaccine was canceled because there was no indication that it would be any more promising than the earlier version; both used a relatively innocuous cold virus to deliver the drug.

(NAPSI)-Life has changed for Diana Hunt. No longer is she bundling up in long johns and socks before leaving her Tampa, Fla., home, even in the summer. No longer does she flee air-conditioned work conferences or important family outdoor activities and head for bed, exhausted and in pain.

That’s because it was only a few short years ago when doctors finally learned enough about her rare, debilitating condition to name it-Cryopyrin-Associated Periodic Syndromes, or CAPS. And earlier this year, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved a medication to treat it.

Like Diana, people suffering from CAPS often avoid professional, family and social events that might expose them to cooling temperatures. Any temperature change, no matter how subtle, can trigger severe rash, fever, chills, joint pain, eye redness or pain and fatigue, rendering those with the condition unable to participate in normal, daily activities.
Read the rest

By Dr. Carmelita Torres

Preparing for the birth of a child is one of the most exciting times in a woman’s life. But it also can be confusing as well-meaning friends and family offer pregnancy advice on everything from what to eat to how much weight to gain.

If you’ve got a baby on the way, you can increase your odds of a healthy pregnancy by following these steps to keep yourself (and your unborn baby) in top condition:

nGet all essential vitamins and minerals every day. Take a prenatal vitamin each day as directed by your obstetrician. Women require more iron and folic acid when pregnant, and sometimes it’s hard to get enough by eating alone. A prenatal vitamin ensures you’re getting all the nutrients you need. Read the rest

After three years in the making, Dancing Dingo, well known natural bath & body care specialists, are launching their first line of all natural baby products; Dingo Babyâ„¢. The new line is available on their website: www.dancingdingo.com/

The Dingo Babyâ„¢ line of luxury baby essentials includes a vitamin packed Baby Body Butter, Tear-free Shampoo and Baby Wash, Baby Massage Oil, Baby Face - Moisturizing Shea Stick, and Belly Butter for Mom in a light Lavender & Geranium essential oil blend.

‘Absolutely wonderful, wholesome and healing ingredients are all we use in our Dingo Babyâ„¢ products,’ states Kathleen Goodwin, owner of Dancing Dingo. ‘I have personally handpicked pure ingredients for their therapeutic properties and benefits to baby’s sensitive skin. Dingo has an ongoing commitment to developing high-quality, pure and healing products for both mom and baby.’
Read the rest

The Women who have low vitamin D levels during pregnancy are more likely to have babies who develop tooth enamel problems, which can lead to tooth decay, new Canadian research says.

Researchers from the University of Manitoba examined data from 135 babies between the ages of seven and 16 months. They found that 21.6 per cent of them had tooth enamel defects and 33.6 per cent had early childhood tooth decay.

Mothers of children with tooth decay had significantly lower vitamin D levels than mothers of children with healthy teeth.

As well, mothers of children who had enamel problems had slightly lower vitamin D levels during pregnancy than mothers of children without enamel problems.

The researchers found that having enamel defects significantly increased the risk of developing tooth decay. Read the rest

By Carrie Cassens
saukvalley.com

If you are currently pregnant, trying to get pregnant, would like to get pregnant in the future, or know someone who is pregnant (and would like to pass along some useful information), this article is for you.

Good nutrition is key to delivering a healthy baby. Paying special attention to your diet during pregnancy will not only benefit your baby, but will help you feel better throughout your pregnancy, help make delivery easier, and help you return to your pre-pregnancy weight.

Is it really eating for two?

If only it were true that you could double your intake of calories during pregnancy. In reality though, only 300 extra calories are needed during pregnancy. An increase of 300 calories isn’t much either. That amounts to 1 cup of skim milk and a slice of bread with 1 tablespoon of peanut butter. To top it off, the 300 additional calories per day aren’t needed until after the first trimester (the first 12 weeks during pregnancy). Read the rest

Vitamin D, also known as the “sunshine vitamin” because the body manufactures the vitamin after being exposed to sunshine, has a long list of health benefits. Recent research suggests that vitamin D may provide protection from osteoporosis, hypertension (high blood pressure), cancer, and several autoimmune diseases. But its primary function is to promote the body’s absorption of calcium, which is essential to the development of healthy bones and teeth. And new findings show vitamin D to be equally important to a baby’s teeth, even before they are born.

For their study, Canadian researchers at the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg and Victoria measured the vitamin D levels of 206 women in their second trimester of pregnancy. In comments to Reuters Health, Dr. Robert Schroth, lead researcher from the University, explained that the second trimester of pregnancy “is when primary teeth begin to develop and calcify.” They found only 21 (10.5 percent) to have adequate levels of the vitamin. These levels were consistent with the women’s intake of milk and prenatal vitamins. Read the rest

ScienceDaily — Men who come to the hospital with pneumonia generally are sicker than women and have a higher risk of dying over the next year, despite aggressive medical care, according to a study being presented May 20, at the 104th International Conference of the American Thoracic Society in Toronto.

“It is well known that women live longer than men. We have always assumed that these differences occur because men engage in riskier behaviors and have a greater burden of chronic diseases,” said Sachin Yende, M.D., study co-author and assistant professor in the Department of Critical Care Medicine, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. “Our study showed that men were more likely to die up to a year after pneumonia, despite adjusting for health behaviors and chronic conditions. Further, our findings indicate this may be linked to differences in immune response.” Read the rest

Shows that Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati are among the 10 worst metropolitan areas in America when it comes to women’s heart health.

The worst piece of news in the Heart Friendly Cities survey? Women in Cleveland and its suburbs have a higher body mass index - that’s a measure of how fat we are - than women in any other of America’s 200 major metropolitan areas.

We also have high rates of diabetes, high blood pressure and deaths from heart disease.

However, there are eight other cities worse off than we are when it comes to women’s heart health. And one of them is Pittsburgh.

The rankings were compiled for the American Heart Association by Sperling’s Best Places, which calculates the best places to live, work and retire in America.
Read the rest

Mercurynews The community leaders meeting Friday emphasized the need to “bootstrap” health care solutions rather than wait for state or federal action.

About 140 people attending a forum at the Cocoanut Grove organized by the Health Improvement Partnership of Santa Cruz County learned:

• Many more county children under 17 now have health insurance thanks to programs supported by public and private funds, with only 2 percent uninsured, compared to 10 percent statewide. That reduces the “hidden tax” paid by people with insurance to cover those without.

• About 43 percent of area adults have an “advance directive,” a document that allows people to explain what kind of care they want in a medical crisis. That compares to 36 percent statewide and 29 percent nationwide. End-of-life treatment is a factor driving up health care costs.

• About 46 percent of local physicians are using electronic medical Read the rest

ScienceDaily (May 19, 2008) — Researchers have developed what they believe is the first new mechanism in nearly 20 years for inhibiting a common target used to treat all HIV patients, which could eventually lead to a new class of AIDS drugs.

Researchers at the University of Michigan used computer models to develop the inhibiting compound, and then confirmed in the lab that the compound does indeed inhibit HIV protease, which is an established target for AIDS treatment. The protease is necessary to replicate the virus, says Heather Carlson, U-M professor of medicinal chemistry and principal investigator of the study.

Carlson stresses this is a preliminary step, but still significant.

“It’s very easy to make an inhibitor, (but) it’s very hard to make a drug,” said Carlson, who also has an appointment in chemistry. “This compound is too weak to work in the human body. The key is to find more compounds that will work by the same mechanism.” Read the rest