Representatives of Allegheny General Hospital (AGH) and the Center for Organ Recovery and Education (CORE) announced today that a unique collaboration between the two organizations has earned AGH an invitation to join the Pulmonary Hypertension Breakthrough Initiative (PHBI), an exclusive American Heart Association funded consortium of 13 leading U.S. medical centers conducting research into [...]

Three Montreal hospitals are prepared to pay for screening programs to detect hearing problems in newborns, in the absence of any provincial program.
The simple screening test will be offered at the Montreal Children’s, Royal Victoria and Ste. Justine hospitals starting in November, administrators announced this week.
Quebec doesn’t have a hearing screening program for newborns, unlike [...]

 Sanofi-aventis
announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved
Apidra(R) (insulin glulisine [rDNA origin] injection) to improve glycemic
control in children (4 years and older) with diabetes mellitus.
The approval of Apidra(R) for pediatric use is based upon FDA review of
a 26-week, phase III, open-label, active control study of Apidra(R) in
comparison with insulin lispro, in 572 children [...]

 STUTTGART, GERMANY (UroToday.com) - The impact of microscopic versus macroscopic vascular invasion on metastasis-free survival was analyzed in 2,394 re-evaluated kidney cancer specimens from Graz (Austria).
Vascular invasion was present in 22.8% of all specimens (16.6% macroscopic and 6.2% microscopic). At an average follow-up of 85 months, 25.4% of all patients had developed metastases. 10-year [...]

WASHINGTON: Visual impairment is more
common in people with diabetes than those without the disease, according to a
new study.
“Diabetic retinopathy [damage to the retina caused by
diabetes], one of the most common microvascular complications of diabetes, is
considered to be one of the major causes of blindness and low vision,” the
researchers said.
It has been brought [...]

 MediQuest Therapeutics, Inc. received a Complete Response letter from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Division of Cardiovascular and Renal Products for its New Drug Application (NDA) 22-241 (covering Vascana® [MQX-503], a proposed topical therapy for Raynaud’s Disease). The application received priority review and the letter was received one day prior to the [...]

Millions of children around the world are marking the United Nations’ first Global Handwashing Day.

In India, cricket star Sachin Tendulkar will be leading the campaign that will see children across South Asia simultaneously washing their hands.

The UN says it wants to get over the message that this simple routine is one of the most effective [...]

 UK scientists studying women with a history of unexplained recurrent miscarriage found that the risk of a further miscarriage for obese women was
significantly higher than that of normal weight women. They recommended counselling should be given to pregnant women who are obese to help them understand
the benefit that weight loss may have on pregnancy [...]

 Anthera Pharmaceuticals
announced they have reached agreement with the U.S. Food and Drug
Administration (FDA) on a Phase 3 protocol for varespladib (A-002) in acute
coronary syndrome (ACS) under the FDA’s Special Protocol Assessment
procedure. At the same time, the company received Scientific Advice from
the European Medicines Agency (EMEA) on Anthera’s European development
strategy for varespladib. Guidance from both regulatory [...]

 Children and adolescents who abuse alcohol or are sexually active are more likely to take methamphetamines (MA), also known as ‘meth’ or ’speed’. Research published in the open access journal BMC Pediatrics reveals the risk factors associated with MA use, in both low-risk children (those who don’t take drugs) and high-risk children (those who have [...]