Category Biology/Biotechnology

Novel technique ‘Stuns’ Arthritis Pain in Shoulder and Hip

A novel outpatient procedure offers lasting pain relief for patients suffering from moderate to severe arthritis in their hip and shoulder joints, according to a study presented at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA). Researchers said the procedure could help reduce reliance on addictive opiates.

People with moderate to severe pain related to osteoarthritis face limited treatment options. Common approaches like injections of anesthetic and corticosteroids into the affected joints grow less effective as the arthritis progresses and worsens.

“Usually, over time patients become less responsive to these injections,” said Felix M. Gonzalez, M.D., from the Radiology Department at Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta, Georgia...

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Combo Pill alone and with Aspirin Lowers Heart Disease risk

Big study supports cheap combo pill to lower heart risks
This November 2020 photo provided by McMaster University shows 75mg aspirin pills, left, and Polycaps, pills from India-based Cadila Pharmaceuticals that contains one cholesterol and three blood pressure medicines, used in the International Polycap Study 3 (TIPS-3). On Friday, Nov. 13, 2020, researchers say the cheap, daily pill taken with low-dose aspirin can cut the risk of heart attacks, strokes and heart-related deaths by nearly one third. (Georgia Kirkos/McMaster University via AP)

A single, daily pill combining blood pressure and cholesterol medications, along with the addition of a daily dose of aspirin, reduced cardiovascular disease events in people at risk for heart disease, according to late-breaking research presented today in a late-breaking clinical trial presentation at ...

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Internal Clocks drive Beta Cell Regeneration

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Image of pancreatic islets showing proliferation markers (in red staining) in the nuclei (in blue) of insulin-producing-cells (in green).  © UNIGE/Dibner

Certain parts of our body, such as the skin or liver, can repair themselves after a damage. For the past 30 years, scientists have been investigating the regenerative potential of beta cells, pancreatic cells in charge of the production of insulin. Beta-cell population is indeed partially destroyed when diabetes occurs, and regenerating these cells represents an outstanding clinical challenge.

By studying diabetic mice, scientists from the University of Geneva (UNIGE) and the University Hospitals of Geneva (HUG, observed that this regeneration mechanism was under the influence of circadian rhythms — the molecular clocks regulatin...

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Gene Signature predicts whether Localized Prostate Cancer is likely to Spread

META-16 is correlated with MYC and RAS pathway activation and enriched in prostate cancer metastasis.

Researchers have identified a genetic signature in localized prostate cancer that can predict whether the cancer is likely to metastasize, early in the course of the disease and whether it will respond to anti-androgen therapy, a common treatment for advanced disease. The new gene signature may also be useful for evaluating responses to treatment and for developing new therapies to prevent or treat advanced prostate cancer.

“If we could know in advance which patients will develop metastases, we could start treatments earlier and treat the cancer more aggressively,” says the study’s senior author, Cory Abate-Shen, PhD, chair of the Department of Molecular Pharmacology and Therapeutic...

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