Month: March 2014

(Reuters) – Idera Pharmaceuticals Inc said its lead experimental drug for the most common form of psoriasis was found to be safe and well tolerated by patients after 12 weeks of treatment in a mid-stage trial. Idera said the drug, codenamed IMO-8400, reduced the severity of skin lesions in patients with plaque psoriasis, compared with a placebo. Idera said data from the study would support the drug’s development as a treatment for rare autoimmune diseases and B-cell lymphoma, a type of blood cancer, with certain genetic mutations. The data provides some validation of the drug’s mechanism both for future B-cell lymphoma studies and for the potential of Idera’s other drug, IMO-9200, Piper Jaffray analyst Edward Tenthoff wrote in a note.

By Ronnie Cohen NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Dr. Guillaume Charpentier believes a smartphone app he is testing on people with diabetes in France works best when it alerts doctors that frustrated patients need help managing their disease. The Diabeo mobile phone program, which recommends insulin dosages, helped people with type 1 diabetes lower their blood-sugar levels in a six-month study. Now a new analysis of the data shows the app markedly improved glucose levels among patients who used it relatively infrequently, raising red flags for their healthcare providers who then intervened. “What the electronic system is not able to do is the magic of the doctor – to give motivational support to the patient, to encourage the patient to do what the patient does not want to do,” Charpentier told Reuters Health.

By Solarina Ho TORONTO (Reuters) – Bombardier Inc said on Thursday it had spilled 10,000 liters (2,642 gallons) of kerosene in February at its Mirabel plant outside of Montreal in Quebec, but failed to report the accident with environment officials immediately. "Everyone was focused on the decontamination and the process for filing the paper work did not happen immediately," spokeswoman Haley Dunne told Reuters.

Being married makes for a healthy heart, while being divorced or widowed is linked to higher rates of cardiovascular disease, according to a study of 3.5 million people released Friday. The study is the largest of its kind to show how heart health is linked to marital status, and was presented at the American College of Cardiology conference. "These findings certainly shouldn't drive people to get married, but it's important to know that decisions regarding who one is with, why, and why not may have important implications for vascular health," said lead author Carlos Alviar, cardiology fellow at New York University Langone Medical Center. People who were divorced had a higher likelihood of any vascular disease, abdominal aortic aneurysm, coronary artery disease and cerebrovascular disease when compared to single people, according to the study.

"The intake of natural fats, especially foods high in omega-3 fatty acids, are … We can actually change our gene expressions with the foods we eat." …

And despite the conventional wisdom that eating frequent small meals wins for weight loss, the researchers concluded that nothing works as well as …

CONAKRY, Guinea (AP) — Health officials in the West African nation of Guinea say they’re now treating four cases of Ebola in the capital.