A medicinal chemist who found a cure for the viral disease hepatitis C has received a prestigious award from the University of Edinburgh. Dr Michael J Sofia, who devised the drug sofosbuvir, is the winner of this year’s Cameron Prize for Therapeutics. Hepatitis C is an infectious disease that primarily affects the liver. Without intervention,…
After a sharp drop in out-of-pocket costs between 2010 and 2011, Medicare patients who use specialty biologic medications for rheumatoid arthritis have seen higher out-of-pocket spending for those same drugs because of gradual price increases, a new study in the Journal of the American Medical Association Open finds. Led by Vanderbilt University School of Medicine…
New Orleans, LA – A study conducted by a team of researchers at LSU Health New Orleans has shown for the first time that chronic exposure to inhaled nicotine alone increases blood pressure (hypertension), in both the body’s general circulation and in the lungs that can lead to pulmonary hypertension. The study also found that…
People with the genetic condition neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) are prone to developing tumors on nervous system tissue. A new study from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis has found that the development and growth of such tumors are driven by nearby noncancerous neurons and immune cells. The findings point to potential new…
JUPITER, Fla.–May 1, 2020–Many people with Parkinson’s disease eventually develop debilitating movements called dyskinesia, a side effect of their much-needed dopamine replacement medication. The mechanism underlying this unwanted side effect has been unknown, until now. An international collaboration led by Scripps Research, Florida has found a key cause, and with it, potentially, a new route…
Scientists have launched a new study which will help identify who is most at risk of contracting COVID-19 and why some people become more ill than others with the disease. The COVIDENCE UK study, led by Queen Mary University of London, opens today [Friday 1 May] and aims to recruit at least 12,000 people, aged…
Certain genetic changes, termed “pathogenic variants,” substantially increase risk for cardiovascular disease and cancer–the leading causes of death–but testing to identify individual carriers is not part of current clinical practice. Now a team led by investigators at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) determined that nearly 1% of the population carry such pathogenic variants. These individuals were…
SILVER SPRING, Md. – A study led by scientists at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research sheds new light on the body’s initial response to dengue virus (DENV) infection, describing the molecular diversity and specificity of the antibody response. These results, published in EBioMedicine, a journal published by The Lancet, identify a heretofore unappreciated…
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Thursday announced a national initiative to speed research into how the coronavirus was spreading around the country, bringing together at least 75 public health, academic and commercial institutions studying its genome. As the virus replicates, tiny mutations accumulate in its genetic code. Those differences help scientists trace…
CAIRO — Sudan’s new government has outlawed the practice of female genital mutilation, a move hailed as a major victory by women’s rights campaigners in a country where the often dangerous practice is widespread. The United Nations estimates that nearly nine in 10 Sudanese women have been subjected to the most invasive form of the…