General Medical News

A chemical that rid mice of malaria-causing parasites after a single oral dose may eventually become a new malaria drug if further tests in animals and people uphold the promise of early findings. The compound, NITD609, was developed by an international team of researchers including Elizabeth A. Winzeler, Ph.D., a grantee of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health.

On average, a lower blood pressure goal was no better than the standard blood pressure goal at slowing progression of kidney disease among African-Americans who had chronic kidney disease resulting from high blood pressure, according to results of the African-American Study of Kidney Disease and Hypertension (AASK), the largest and longest study of chronic kidney disease (CKD) in African-Americans. However, the blood pressure goal did benefit people who also had protein in the urine, which is a sign of kidney damage. The study, funded by the National Institutes of Health, appears in the Sept. 2 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

A molecular test designed to easily diagnose tuberculosis (TB) and detect a drug-resistant form of the bacterium that causes TB can provide much more specific, sensitive and rapid results than currently available TB diagnostics, according to a new study in the New England Journal of Medicine. In a test involving 1,730 patients with suspected drug-sensitive or multidrug-resistant pulmonary TB, the Xpert MTB/RIF TB test successfully identified 98 percent of all confirmed TB cases and 98 percent of patients with rifampin-resistant bacteria in less than two hours.

The National Institutes of Health announced today that it has awarded the first new grants under the Biomedical Research on the International Space Station (BioMed-ISS) initiative, a collaborative effort between NIH and NASA. Using a special microgravity environment that Earth-based laboratories cannot replicate, researchers will explore fundamental questions about important health issues, such as how bones and the immune system get weak.

Researchers at the National Institutes of Health and other institutions have found that exposure to lead in childhood may delay the onset of puberty in young girls, with higher doses increasing the chance for later maturation.

An international consortium today published a third-generation map of human genetic variation, called the HapMap, which includes data from an additional seven global populations, increasing the total number to 11 populations. The improved resolution will help researchers interpret current genome studies aimed at finding common and rarer genetic variants associated with complex diseases.

NewsScan #68 includes recently published NIDA-supported research on a variety of issues, including PTSD and marijuana use, how synapses are formed, the effect of family-based interventions on Hispanic youth, a new approach to developing pain relievers, the effect of constructive parenting behaviors, cocaine addiction treatment, how the genes in zebrafish advance knowledge of nicotine addiction and memories and nicotine use.

A new payment site within Pay.gov will make it easier for companies that license inventions owned by the National Institutes of Health and the Food and Drug Administration to make their royalty payments. Royalties are typically paid upfront for biological materials and over the term of a commercial patent license. The project is led by the Office of Technology Transfer and the Office of Financial Management at NIH.

Studies of the safety, effectiveness, and biological action of botanical products are major focuses for the five dietary supplement research centers selected to be jointly funded by the Office of Dietary Supplements (ODS) and the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM), two components of the National Institutes of Health. The NIH's National Cancer Institute is co-supporting two of the five centers.

Scientists from the National Institutes of Health and University of Chicago have found a promising treatment method that in laboratory mice reduces the severity of skin and soft-tissue damage caused by USA300, the leading cause of community-associated Staphylococcus aureus infections in the United States. By neutralizing a key toxin associated with the bacteria, they found they could greatly reduce the damaging effects of the infection on skin and soft tissue. Community strains of S. aureus cause infection in otherwise healthy people and are considered extremely virulent, as opposed to hospital strains that infect people who already are weakened by illness or surgery.

As the costs of medical education continue to rise, the National Institutes of Health Loan Repayment Programs (LRPs) serve as a lifeline for physician scientists who have high educational debt.

A baby died and three others became ill after a superbug resistant to common antibiotics hit a London hospital, it is revealed.

Professor Martin Cowie explains how a new drug "slows the pulse down and so helps to take the strain off the heart"

A pill costing less than £1.50 a day has the potential to save the lives of thousands of heart failure patients, research suggests.

Smoking cannabis from a pipe can provide pain relief for patients with damaged nerves, a small study suggests.

The system of digitising actors to create characters in films like Avatar is being used to measure human behaviour in real life.

Many hospitals across the UK are not doing enough to spot elderly people at risk from malnutrition, says a charity.

The coalition government confirms plans to scrap the NHS Direct helpline in England and replace it with an alternative service.

A test which could stop women labouring for hours in the hope of a "normal" birth only to end up with a Caesarean section has been developed in Sweden.

The government has confirmed it is planning to scrap the NHS Direct telephone service in England and replace it with a cheaper option.