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Inviragen Researching Vaccines To Protect Against Pandemic And Seasonal Influenza Viruses
Based on its ongoing avian influenza vaccine research, Inviragen is designing vaccines to protect against multiple influenza strains, including seasonal influenza and the recently emerged H1N1 influenza strain. The H1N1 influenza virus has caused nearly 30,000 cases worldwide in 74 countries leading to 144 deaths. In contrast, while no H5N1 avian influenza strain capable of human-to-human transmission has yet emerged, the high mortality of the virus represents a threat for future epidemics. In addition, conventional seasonal influenza continues to impact public health, causing an estimated 250,000 deaths worldwide every year. Inviragen will leverage its success in designing avian influenza vaccines to identify vaccine candidates that protect against pandemic and seasonal influenza viruses.
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Remuda Ranch Programs For Eating And Anxiety Disorders Reports Need For Increasing Awareness Of Eating Disorders In Males
As many as five to ten million males in the U.S. struggle quietly with an eating disorder because they"re ashamed to admit they have the illness, reports Remuda Ranch Programs for Eating and Anxiety Disorders. Healthcare professionals, family members and close friends often are unaware of the high-risk behaviors in males that may signify an eating disorder. Therefore, effective intervention is often not available to the male population.
News of the day
Number Of Black Organ Donors Increases In Michigan, Many Blacks Still Reluctant To Donate Organs
Although the number of blacks who are registered as organ donors in Michigan has increased in the last 15 years, many are still reluctant to be organ donors, the Detroit News reports. According to Remonia Chapman, director of Gift of Life Michigan"s minority organ tissue transplant education program, many blacks are hesitant to participate with the organ donor registry because they have inadequate access to health care.Chapman said that increased awareness and education about organ donation and the diseases that lead to the need for donated organs, as well as partnerships with minority donors, black ministers and community groups, have encouraged more blacks to be organ donors. In the last 15 years, the percentage of black Michigan residents who are registered organ donors has increased from 10.8% to 21%, with overall minority registration at 24%. Chapman noted that about 41.3% of people on Michigan"s transplant waiting list and about 46% of people in need of a kidney are minorities.According to the News, minority donors are the best matches for minority organ recipients because the genetic profiles of the donor and recipient will have more similarities. Chapman added that the best matches for kidney recipients are donors from the recipient"s family or from the recipient"s ethnic group if a family donor is not available (Stolarz, Detroit News, 5/19).
Diagnostics

NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia Implants 100th Heart Valve Replacement Without Open-Heart Surgery

Over the last four years, heart specialists at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center have implanted an innovative aortic heart valve replacement using a catheter-based approach that does not require open-heart surgery in a total of 100 patients -- the most of any U.S. medical center to date. Open-heart surgery can require a two- to three-month recovery period, compared to only a few days for the transcatheter approach. The procedures were conducted as part of multiple clinical research studies of the Edwards SAPIEN transcatheter heart valve. Currently ongoing is the PARTNER (Placement of AoRTic traNscathetER valves) trial, a Phase 3 multicenter study led by national co-principal investigators Dr. Martin Leon and Dr. Craig Smith and focused on the treatment of patients who are at high risk or not suitable for open-heart valve replacement surgery. The SAPIEN heart valve, made of bovine pericardial tissue leaflets hand-sewn onto a metal frame, is implanted via one of two catheter-based methods -- either navigated to the heart from the femoral artery in the patient"s leg, or through a small incision between the ribs and into the left ventricle. It is then positioned inside the patient"s existing valve, using a balloon to deploy the frame, which holds the valve replacement in place. Both procedures are performed on a beating heart, without the need for cardiopulmonary bypass and its associated risks. "This breakthrough technology could save the lives of thousands of patients with heart valve disease who have no other therapeutic options," says Dr. Leon, the study"s national co-principal investigator, associate director of the Cardiovascular Interventional Therapy (CIVT) Program at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital and Columbia University Medical Center, and professor of medicine at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. Annually, some 200,000 people in the U.S. need a new heart valve, but nearly half of them do not receive a new valve for a variety of reasons. "This study may show that transcatheter valve replacement is a safe and effective alternative to open surgery, which remains the "gold standard" for most patients," says Dr. Smith, study co-principal investigator, interim surgeon-in-chief and chief of cardiothoracic surgery at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center, and acting Chairman of the Department of Surgery and the Calvin F. Barber Professor of Surgery at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. The transcatheter valve procedures take about 90 minutes, compared with four to six hours for open-heart surgery. In open-heart surgery, the surgeon cuts through the breastbone, stops the heart, removes the valve and replaces it. The PARTNER trial is a prospective randomized study with two separate treatment arms. In the surgical arm, patients are randomized to receive either the Edwards SAPIEN transcatheter heart valve or an Edwards surgical valve via open-heart surgery. In the non-surgical, medical management arm, patients considered to be non-operative are randomized to receive either the Edwards SAPIEN transcatheter heart valve or appropriate medical therapy. The PARTNER trial is designed for patients with severe aortic stenosis -- a narrowing of the valve that restricts blood flow from the heart -- who are not good candidates for surgery due to age or other concurrent health factors. The PARTNER trial is also available at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center"s Ronald O. Perelman Heart Institute, led by Dr. Karl H. Krieger (vice chairman of cardiovascular surgery at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center and the Philip Geier Professor of Cardiothoracic Surgery at Weill Cornell Medical College) and Dr. Shing-Chiu Wong (director of cardiac catheterization laboratories at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center and professor of medicine at Weill Cornell Medical College). The Edwards SAPIEN transcatheter heart valve is manufactured by Edwards Lifesciences of Irvine, Calif., which is also funding the study. Jennifer Homa New York- Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center


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