Mouse study: New muscle-building agent beats all previous ones
The Johns Hopkins scientists who first created "mighty mice" have developed, with pharmaceutical company Wyeth and the biotechnology firm MetaMorphix, an agent that's more effective at increasing muscle mass in mice than a related potential treatment for muscular dystrophy now in clinical trials. The new agent is a version of a cellular docking point for the muscle-limiting protein myostat...Engineered heart tissue offers insights into irregular heartbeats, defibrillator failure
Engineers who have induced heart cells in culture to mimic the properties of the heart have used the tissue to gain new insight into the mechanisms that spawn irregular heart rhythms. Studies of the engineered cardiac tissue revealed that while electric shocks such as those delivered by defibrillators usually stopped aberrant waves, in some cases they cause them to accelerate and multiply. <p...For super-obese patients, duodenal switch beats gastric bypass
In the first large, single-institution series directly comparing weight-loss outcomes in super-obese patients, researchers from the University of Chicago found that a newer operation, the duodenal switch, produced substantially better weight-loss outcomes than the standard operation, the Roux-en-Y gastric bypass. In the October issue of the Annals of Surgery, the researchers report that t...Drug innovation beats marketing, patents and mergers
While Genentech had revenues of $4.6 b...Carlini beats drum for high-speed broadband
To Carlini, president of , moving from dial-up Internet service to DSL is like adding vinyl to the top of a stagecoach. Why bother when there is a <a href="ht...Simplicity beats complexity every time
In the context of my conversation with the developer, I said readers had no evident way to differentiate among the tabs of a...Letrozole Beats Tamoxifen in Breast Cancer Therapy
Novartis' Femara (letrozole), one of a new class of breast cancer drugs, worked better than standard therapy with tamoxifen in treating breast cancer in women// with advanced disease. Femara is a member of a new class of drugs called aromatase inhibitors, which work differently to prevent certain kinds of breast cancer than does tamoxifen. This new drug, Letrozole shrank tumors better...Nasal Spray Beats Antihistamine
Using a steroid nasal spray to quash allergy symptoms may work better than antihistamine pills. Researchers say that when used on an "as-needed'', rather than daily basis, the nasal spray fluticasone (Flonase) relieves// allergy symptoms such as runny nose, sneezing and congestion more effectively than the antihistamine loratadine (Claritin). Fluticasone is a corticosteroid preparatio...Skipped heartbeats should not be ignored
Heart beat has a basic rhythm in which it beats. The infrequent skipped heart beat is not serious, but when there is a sustained heart rhythm abnormality,// medical advice is immediately needed. Most people will have experienced so-called arrhythmias from time to time, in other words a missed heart beat, or a feeling of fluttering in the chest. Arrhythmias arise from a lack of co-ordinati...New Test To Detect Irregular Heartbeats
People with irregular heartbeats also known as atrial fibrillation run a higher risk of stroke than those with normal heart rhythm because the irregular beating // causes blood to pool, which can lead to a clot that breaks off and travels to the brain. A new test to monitor people for irregular heartbeats identifies problems missed by standard tests, find researchers. Investigators evalu...Identifying Irregular Heart Beats
About one quarter of people who reach age 40 can expect to develop an irregular heartbeat, report researchers according to a recent finding.// An irregular heartbeat -- or atrial fibrillation -- is a major risk factor for stroke. An atrial fibrillation causes the heart to quiver, which can lead to pooling and clotting of blood. If a blood clot breaks away and goes to the brain, a stroke...