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- FDA Panel Recommends First Non-Drug Asthma Treatment
- California Gives $230 Million for Stem Cell Research
- IBM Drops Employee Co-Pay for Primary Care Visits
- High-Fiber Foods May Protect Against Inflammatory Diseases: Study
- Immune-Suppressing Drugs May Boost Bladder Cancer Risk
- Scientists Discover Rodent's Anti-Cancer Secret
Here are some of the latest health and medical news developments, compiled by editors of HealthDay:
FDA Panel Recommends First Non-Drug Asthma Treatment
A new technology from a small California-based company should be approved as the first non-drug treatment for asthma, a U.S. Food and Drug Administration advisory panel recommended Wednesday.
Asthmatx's Alair System employs bronchial thermoplasty, which uses radiofrequency wave-generated heat to burn away lung tissue that impairs breathing and causes wheezing and coughing spasms, the Associated Press reported.
The radiofrequency waves are delivered via a catheter controlled by a respiratory specialist. The procedure, performed over three sessions of a half hour each, is appropriate only for adult patients with severe asthma that doesn't respond to drug treatment.
The FDA panel voted six to one to recommend approval of the new system under certain conditions, including long-term safety monitoring of patients, the AP reported. The FDA usually follows the advice of its advisory panels.
The Alair System is already approved in Europe. If the FDA does approve the system, it may be available in the United States in the first half of 2010.
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California Gives $230 Million for Stem Cell Research
Embryonic stem cells are the focus of only four of 14 projects that received $230 million in grants from California's stem cell research program. The other projects use less controversial adult stem cells or conventional drugs designed to kill cancer stem cells, which are believed to give rise to tumors.
Wednesday's announcement about the funding to state universities and companies is seen as tacit acknowledgement that it will be a long time before the full potential of human embryonic stem cells in treating human diseases is achieved, The New York Times reported.
Recipients of the grants are supposed to have a therapy ready for initial human testing within four years.
People don't care about what type of stem cells are used as long as researchers find treatments for diseases such as cancer and AIDS, according to officials of the 10-year, $3 billion program that was launched by California in 2004, The Times reported.
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IBM Drops Employee Co-Pay for Primary Care Visits
In what's seen as a highly unusual move, IBM says it will stop requiring employees to shell out a $20 co-payment when they see a primary care physician.
The company says the decision will save costs by encouraging employees to be seen and treated by primary care physicians sooner, thus reducing the likelihood of later expensive visits to emergency departments and specialists, the Wall Street Journal reported.
The policy change "is designed to encourage people to get fixed early. .... We'd rather diagnose a situation and deal with it quickly as opposed to it becoming chronic," said Randy MacDonald, senior vice president for human resources.
IBM's decision is "very unusual," said Helen Darling, president of the National Business Group on Health, a trade group representing large employers. "The number of employers who cover primary-physician visits without a co-pay is miniscule," she told the Wall Street Journal.
IBM is one of the largest employers in the United States, and its actions sometimes begin new trends.
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High-Fiber Foods May Protect Against Inflammatory Diseases: Study
A high-fiber diet may boost the immune system and help prevent inflammatory diseases such as asthma, diabetes and arthritis, say Australian researchers and their colleagues.
In the gut, high-fiber foods are converted by bacteria into short chain fatty acids, which are known to ease some inflammatory diseases in the bowel. This new study identified a molecule that binds to short chain fatty acids and also functions as an anti-inflammatory, Agence France Presse reported.
The study appears in the journal Nature.
"The important point about our work is that we provide the molecular explanation that links fiber in the diet to the microorganisms in our gut to the effect on the immune response," Professor Charles Mackay told AFP.
"We believe that changes in diet, associated with Western lifestyles, contribute to the increasing incidences of asthma, type 1 diabetes and other auto-immune diseases," he said. "Now we have a new molecular mechanism that might explain how diet is affecting our immune systems."
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Immune-Suppressing Drugs May Boost Bladder Cancer Risk
People who take immune-suppressing glucocorticoid drugs may be at increased risk for bladder cancer, according to a U.S. study.
Glucocorticoids are used to prevent organ rejection in transplant patients and to treat diseases such as asthma and rheumatoid arthritis.
Dartmouth Medical School researchers examined the long-term use of glucocorticoids by 786 bladder cancer patients and 1,083 controls, United Press International reported.
The finding that glucocorticoids may increase bladder cancer risk "might indicate the need for closer monitoring of individuals who regularly take glucocorticoids," epidemiologist Margaret Karagas and colleagues said in a news release.
The study was published in the British Journal of Cancer.
Previous studies found an association between glucocorticoids and increased risk of lymphoma and skin cancer, UPI reported.
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Scientists Discover Rodent's Anti-Cancer Secret
New insight into how the only animal known to be cancer-free defends itself against tumor development could lead to a way to stop cancer in humans before it starts, say U.S. researchers.
They found that cells in the naked mole rat, also known as the sand puppy, express a gene called p16 that stops the uncontrolled cell growth that leads to cancer, United Press International reported.
"We think we've found the reason these mole rats don't get cancer, and it's a bit of a surprise," said study leader Vera Gorbunova, an associate professor at the University of Rochester. "It's very early to speculate about the implications, but if the effect of p16 can be simulated in humans we might have a way to halt cancer before it starts."
The study appears in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Copyright © 2009 ScoutNews LLC. All rights reserved.
Published on: 10/29/2009
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