FDA Alerts Health Care Providers to Risk of Suicidal Thoughts and Behavior with Antiepileptic Medications

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today issued new info to health care professionals to wide-awake them about an increased risk of suicidal thoughts and behaviors (suicidality) in patients who take drugs called antiepileptics to treat epilepsy, bipolar disorder, migraine headaches, and other conditions. Read more

Novel vaccine concept developed by scientists at the Wistar Institute

Protein from herpes virus serves as potent vaccine enhancer

Creating vaccines to protect people against viral diseases like AIDS, cervical cancer and infectious hepatitis is a delicate balancing act: If the immune system’s response to the vaccine is too strong, toxic side effects can kill the patient. If it’s not strong enough, the virus will spread faster than the immune system can kill it.

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Researchers uncover more about how poxviruses evade the immune system

Findings by SLU, UAB teams could lead to new drugs targeting inflammatory and immune disorders
Scientists at Saint Louis University and the University of Alabama at Birmingham have uncovered important new information about a key protein that allows viruses such as smallpox to replicate and wreak havoc on the immune system.

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The HLA-DRB1 gene and premature death in rheumatoid arthritis

Gene linked to increased risk of developing inflammatory arthritis may also increase patients’ risk of dying from cardiovascular disease
People with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), an inflammatory autoimmune disease, tend to die younger and, largely from cardiovascular disease (CVD). One explanation for this increasingly recognized fact is that inflammation promotes atherosclerosis. A marker of inflammation, elevation of the C-reactive protein (CRP) level has been shown to predict CVD in the general population. However, other highly inflammatory diseases—Crohn’s, for example—do not carry the same high risk of premature death from heart disease.

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Severe hypertension: ‘Silent killer’ still on the loose

High blood pressure may be one of the top killers in the country, but you’d never know it by the way we’re behaving, say scientists attending the annual congress of the Society for Critical Care Medicine (SCCM).

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Lungs’ Mast Cells Could Provide New Treatment Target for Asthma, Other Respiratory Disease

The Cells Release Renin, an Enzyme That Helps Spur Bronchoconstriction, Weill Cornell Study Finds

An enzyme released by mast cells in the lungs appears to play a key role in the tightening of airways that is a hallmark of asthma — pointing to a potential new target for treatment against the illness.

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New therapy effectively treats deep vein thrombosis

A novel treatment for blood clots in the legs appears to be safe and effective, according to a pilot study published in the February issue of Radiology. The study found that injecting or “lacing” the clot with a fiber-binding thrombolytic agent effectively treats deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and reduces the risk of subsequent recurrence or bleeding.

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Severe asthma may be a different form of the disease

A multi-center research project to investigate severe asthma has found a key physiological difference between severe and non-severe forms of the disease, a finding that could help explain why those with severe asthma do not respond well to treatment.

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Breakdown of kidney’s ability to clean its own filters likely causes disease

The kidney actively cleans its most selective filter to keep it from clogging with blood proteins, scientists from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis reveal in a new study.

Researchers showed that breakdown of this self-cleaning feature can make kidneys more vulnerable to dysfunction and disease.

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Cystic Fibrosis Foundation reports upward trend for key health outcomes

New patient data posted online shows improvements across care center network

The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation reported today that key indicators of health for people with cystic fibrosis — including lung function and nutritional status — are rising nationwide across its accredited care center network.

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