A team of Russian scientists together with foreign colleagues found out that the venom of crab spider Heriaeus melloteei may be used as a basis for developing treatment against hypokalemic periodic paralysis. This disease is caused by genetic mutation that leads to the occurrence of the so-called ω-currents or leakage currents via voltage-gated ion channels Nav1.4 in skeletal muscles.
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Music intensifies effects of anti-hypertensive medication
In addition to remembering to take the medication prescribed by their cardiologists at the right times and going to the trouble of making healthy lifestyle changes, patients with high blood pressure (hypertension) can include a pleasing beneficial activity in routine treatment of the disease thanks to the discovery that listening to music significantly enhances the effect of anti-hypertensive drugs.
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Diabetes drug may not reduce risk of death
One class of drug used to treat type 2 diabetes may not reduce the risk of death when compared with placebo, suggests new findings. The research, led by scientists from Imperial College London and published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, studied three types of diabetes treatment: sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 (SGLT-2) inhibitors, glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) agonists, and dipeptidyl peptidase 4 (DPP-4) inhibitors.
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New class of drugs could help tackle treatment-resistant cancers
Researchers have discovered a new class of drug that has the potential to help cancer patients who no longer respond to existing therapies. The drug may not become available to patients for a number of years yet, but researchers believe that if clinical trials are successful, it could be used to tackle a variety of treatment-resistant cancers.
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Human drug trials are compromised by poor reporting of animal research
Poor animal study design and reporting thwarts the ethical review of proposed human drug trials, according to a study led by researchers at Hannover Medical School, Germany, in cooperation with researchers from McGill University, Canada. The study, publishing 5 April in the open access journal PLOS Biology, analyzed the descriptions of animal studies found in "investigator brochures" -
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'Coffee filter' helps make new cancer drug Z-endoxifen 1,000 times cheaper
Making drugs cheaper doesn't always require pricey investments. A joint initiative by researchers from Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e), the Dutch company Syncom BV and the Antoni van Leeuwenhoek hospital proves just that. What started out as a Bachelor project at TU/e laid the foundation for a much cheaper production of the promising cancer drug Z-endoxifen.
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Researchers propose key elements of antimicrobial stewardship for hospitals worldwide
Antimicrobial stewardship programs (ASPs) in hospitals play a vital role in managing the threat of antibiotic resistance. To be of maximum effectiveness, essential elements of ASP programs need to be identified and standardized. Previous efforts in identifying the key components of ASPs have been confined to high-income countries. In a study to be published in the journal Clinical Microbiology and Infection, researchers identify essential elements of ASPs that could be applicable to hospitals in both high-income and low-income countries.
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