Scientists discover how a decades-old drug reduces the size of a heart attack
Scientists at the Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Cardiovasculares Carlos III (CNIC) have discovered a new mechanism of action of metoprolol, a drug that can reduce the damage produced during a heart attack if administered early. The team led by Dr. Borja Ibáñez, Clinical Research Director at the CNIC and cardiologist at the Fundación Jiménez Díaz University Hospital Health Research Institute (IIS-FJD), has identified the mechanism that explains why this drug is so beneficial: rapid administration of metoprolol during a heart attack directly inhibits the inflammatory action of neutrophils, a type of blood cell.
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Trial of new triple inhaler shows 20 percent reduction in COPD flare-ups
Flare-ups in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, the UK's fourth leading cause of death, can be reduced by 20% by a combined triple inhaler, according to the results of a trial of more than 2,000 people conducted by The University of Manchester. The study, published in the Lancet, contains the results of a year-long trial involving 2,691 patients.
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The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences urges Hungarian lawmakers to refrain from restricting scientific freedom
The Hungarian parliament is seeking new legislation that could endanger academic freedom and educational quality. It could also lead to the closure of one of the universities in Budapest. The leaders of The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences now make a public statement, urging the parliament not to restrict scientific freedom.
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More reliably predicting what will work
The translation of preclinical research findings into effective treatments continues to deliver unsatisfactory results. When experimental diagnostic and treatment approaches are applied in practice, many of them fail. What are the reasons behind this? A recent study by researchers from Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin and the Berlin Institute of Health (BIH) has shown that a more flexible approach to study design can significantly improve the efficiency of preclinical research.
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Anti-cancer drug gets a boost when combined with antirheumatic
Scientists at EPFL and NTU have discovered that combining an anticancer drug with an antirheumatic produces improved effects against tumors. The discovery opens a new path for drug-drug synergy. One of the goals in pharmacology is to increase the efficiency of drugs by minimizing their side effects. Recently, this effort has led to combining unrelated drugs to exploit their synergistic effects.
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LSTM reports on a new way of screening potential treatments for TB
Scientists from LSTM's Research Centre for Drugs and Diagnostics (RCDD) have described in a paper published today in Scientific Reports, a new way of screening potential treatments for Tuberculosis (TB) which may assist in the identification and prioritisation of new therapies which could potentially reduce the duration of current TB treatment. TB is a highly infectious disease, with one third of the world's population being latently infected and accounting for an estimated 1.5 million deaths in 2014.
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Alzheimer's disease linked to the metabolism of unsaturated fats
A new study published in PLOS Medicine's Special Issue on Dementia has found that the metabolism of omega-3 and omega-6 unsaturated fatty acids in the brain are associated with the progression of Alzheimer's disease. Alzheimer's disease is a neurodegenerative disorder, which causes impaired memory, executive function and language. It accounts for 60 - 80% of total dementia cases worldwide, with over 46 million people suffering from the disease worldwide.
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