Novartis $2 million gene therapy for rare disorder is world's most expensive drug

Novartis $2 million gene therapy for rare disorder is world's most expensive drug Swiss drugmaker Novartis on Friday won U.S. approval for its gene therapy Zolgensma for spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), the leading genetic cause of death in infants, and priced the one-time treatment at a record $2.125 million.The Food and Drug Administration approved Zolgensma for children...

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Gut enzymes convert donor blood to much-needed universal type O

TORONTO — Canadian researchers believe they have found the means to convert any type of blood into universally usable group O with enzymes found in the human gut — a finding that could expand the pool of potential blood donors and make blood-matching easier and safer. For transfusions to be safe, blood from a donor —...

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Boys should be given HPV jab, says vaccine committee. Here’s what happens next.

It’s nearly a decade since the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine was first introduced in the UK to help protect against the virus that causes most cases of cervical cancer. But until now, it has only been routinely offered to girls.Today, the Joint Committee for Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) recommended that adolescent boys should now also receive the vaccine.When...

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ACP Recommends Less-Intensive HbA1c Target for T2D No proof of benefit for targets below 7%, new guidelines say

New type 2 diabetes guidelines from the American College of Physicians (ACP) recommend less-intensive blood sugar control for most patients, with a glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) target between 7% and 8%. "Studies have not consistently shown that intensive glycemic control to HbA1c levels below 7% reduces clinical microvascular events, such as loss or impairment of vision,...

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Novel Therapeutic Advances for Management of Diabetes Mellitus

Diabetes mellitus (DM) has become one of the most challenging health problems in the 21st century. It is a serious public health problem globally, but the good news is that various advances are being made in prevention, detection, and treatment of diabetes. Though prevention is always better than cure, yet sometimes prevention is not possible and the cure seems to take...

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FIRST PATIENT IN THE WORLD BRIDGED TO A SUCCESSFUL HEART TRANSPLANT VIA A TOTAL ARTIFICIAL HEART.

A petite 44-year-old woman has become the first patient in the world to be bridged to a successful heart transplant, that is, to go from needing a transplant to receiving one, with an experimental Total Artificial Heart designed for smaller patients.  The UCLA patient received a successful heart transplant at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, thanks to the smaller...

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THE TOP TEN HEALTH INNOVATIONS OF 2014.

A great year for health innovations with exciting discoveries, verification, validations and breakthroughs.  The big disease areas are still cancer, heart disease, diabetes and Alzheimer’s, however, it’s the methodology of detection, imaging, and the descriptive diagnostics that have been innovated this year.  In some cases these disciplines and techniques bleed...

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Sensitive Blood Test May Help Rule Out Heart Attack

WEDNESDAY Oct. 7, 2015, 2015 — A new, highly sensitive blood test may help doctors quickly rule out heart attack for almost two-thirds of people who seek emergency room treatment for chest pain, a new study suggests. Researchers said their findings could potentially reduce unnecessary hospital admissions and substantially lower health-care costs. “Until now, there...

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Insight into cancer resistance in elephants could aid human treatment !!!!

They are the largest land animals in the world, weighing up to 14,000 pounds and standing up to 4 meters tall. Given their size, elephants should be highly susceptible to cancer – they have at least 100 times more cells than humans – but they rarely develop the disease. In a new study, researchers shed light on the mechanisms behind elephants’ resistance to cancer –...

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