Blood
13 Nov 2007
New Anti-cancer Drug now Subsidised by the Government
A government committee has recently announced its addition of Velcade (bortezomib) to the Australian Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme. Velcade is a novel drug used to treat an aggressive blood cancer called multiple myeloma. Until recently this drug was at prices far beyond what the average Australian could afford. Now the public…
Blood
13 Nov 2007
New Hope for Patients with Myeloma as Velcade is Added to the PBS
An expensive drug for the treatment of advanced and progressive stages of multiple myeloma has become available on the Australian Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme from November 1st 2007. This is fantastic news for sufferers of this rare and debilitating haematological cancer, whom normally face a poor prognosis without treatment. Multiple myeloma…
Cancer
13 Nov 2007
Clinical Oncological Society of Australia Annual Scientific Meeting
The 34th COSA ASM promises a series of stimulating and exciting presentations from international and national experts covering the many disciplines of oncology research and clinical practice. The conference is held at the Adelaide Convention Centre on November 14-16, 2007. On Day 1, Wednesday November 14 Gene discovery could improve…
Children's health
09 Nov 2007
1.5 Million Children Could Be Saved
Despite global efforts to control it, diarrhoea is still one of the most common reasons for the high child mortality rates in many low and middle-income countries. This is according to a doctoral thesis, presented at the Swedish medical university Karolinska Institutet. One fifth of all the deaths amongst children…
Children's health
09 Nov 2007
China’s One-Child Policy Could Backfire on Its Elderly
China’s efforts to control population growth in the present may cause problems for the county’s senior citizens in the future. This prediction comes from a Saint Louis University School of Medicine researcher who spent a year in China studying its geriatric policies and practices. Joseph H. Flaherty, M.D., associate professor…
Children's health
09 Nov 2007
Reading the Leaves for Clues to Origin of Rare Epilepsy
For a century, scientists have known that Lafora disease is a progressive and deadly form of epilepsy caused by a buildup of carbohydrates in the brain. Although this type of epilepsy has been well described in patients, researchers have been at a loss to explain precisely why – on a…
Children's health
09 Nov 2007
Insect Genes Provide Clues to Help Beat the Heat
New findings from insect studies at Queen’s and U of T may help to protect our brains from extremely high fevers that sometimes trigger seizures, particularly in infants and small children. While the seizures themselves are generally harmless, a prolonged fever resulting from infection or heatstroke of over 108 degrees…
Children's health
09 Nov 2007
Children who Complete Intensive Early Childhood Program show Gains in Adulthood
By the time they reached adulthood, graduates of an intensive early childhood education program for poor children showed higher educational attainment, lower rates of serious crime and incarceration, and lower rates of depressive symptoms than did non-participants in the program, reported researchers in a study funded in part by the…
Children's health
09 Nov 2007
Proteins Involved in New Neurodegenerative Syndrome Identified
The interplay of two proteins that bind to messenger RNA, a molecule that mediates translation of the information encoded in genes into proteins, triggers the appearance of fragile X-associated tremor/ataxia syndrome (FTAX), a late-life disorder associated with the gene that causes fragile X syndrome in children, said researchers from Baylor…
