Common heart drug repurposed to treat rare cancer in Europe
A drug that's commonly used to treat high blood pressure is being repurposed for a rare tissue cancer in Europe. The medication, named propranolol, was recently granted Orphan Drug Designation by the European Commission (EC). The designation signifies that the EC supports the use of a drug to treat patients because of its significant benefit to those living with a rare disease - in this case, soft tissue sarcoma.
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€29m research grant to assess risk posed by deadly lung infections
Experts have received €29 million (£24m) to investigate serious lung infections that particularly affect babies and older people. Diseases caused by respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) are estimated to affect more than 30 million children under five each year throughout the world. The virus also affects older people and those with weakened immune systems, including cancer patients and people with chronic lung diseases such as emphysema.
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Important bio-chemical produced on a large scale by E.coli
If you had a company that manufactured valuable ingredients for chemicals like detergens or paint, you would probably like to produce the ingredients in large quantities, sustainably, and at a low cost. That's what researchers from The Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Biosustainability - DTU Biosustain - at DTU can now do. The researchers have developed an E. coli cell line, which produces large quantities of the compound serine.
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Identifying children at risk of eating disorders is key to saving lives
Spotting eating disorder symptoms in children as young as nine years old will allow medics to intervene early and save lives, experts say. A team from Newcastle University has identified that girls and boys with more eating disorder symptoms at age nine also had a higher number of symptoms at age 12. A new study published in the academic journal, Appetite, reveals the need to treat eating disorder problems as early as possible to help prevent children developing the life-threatening illness.
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Not all Europeans receive the same care for Duchenne muscular dystrophy
Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), a progressive muscle disease affecting one in 3800-6300 live male births and leads to ambulatory loss, respiratory problems, cardiomyopathy, and early death of patients in their 20s or 30s. While incurable, multidisciplinary treatment can raise life expectancy into the fourth decade. However, in a survey across seven European countries, researchers found striking differences in access to appropriate care. There were significant inequities between different countries and different age groups, which would likely lead to different health outcomes.
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Finnish researchers correct Parkinson's motor symptoms in mice
A research group led by University of Helsinki Docent Timo Myöhänen has succeeded in correcting the motor symptoms associated with Parkinson's disease in mice. These results are promising in terms of treatment, since Parkinson's disease is practically always diagnosed only after motor symptoms appear.
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Benefits of daily aspirin outweigh risk to stomach
Stomach bleeds caused by aspirin are considerably less serious than the spontaneous bleeds that can occur in people not taking the drug, concludes a study led by Cardiff University. Published in the journal Public Library of Science, the extensive study of literature on aspirin reveals that while regular use of the drug increases the risk of stomach bleeds by about a half, there is no valid evidence that any of these bleeds are fatal.
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