In 1994, the team of Tchernev and Petrova from Alexandrovska Hospital in Sofia examined a female patient with liver cirrhosis caused by chronic Hepatitis C virus (HCV). They were intrigued by the patient’s many extra-hepatic manifestations — vascular lesions on the lower limbs, acute pain in the joints, intense tingling of the fingers, and extreme labor-impairing fatigue. They were also intrigued by the presence of cryoglobulins in the patient’s blood.

A procedure called carotid artery stenting (CAS) has emerged as a minimally invasive alternative to surgery, called carotid endarterectomy (CEA), for patients with dangerous narrowing of the arteries supplying blood to the brain. However, questions remain about the best uses of this procedure - especially whether it is an appropriate alternative to surgery for “low-risk” patients, according to a special article in the January/February issue of Annals of Vascular Surgery.

A sense of personal control over sexual behaviors strongly influences Latina women’s decisions of when to first engage in sex, report researchers from the University of Chicago Medical Center in the November issue of the Journal of Adolescent Health.Greater sense of personal control over sexual behaviors appeared to be the strongest factor influencing delay.

The overall survival rate from cancer now is lower in older adolescents and young adults with cancer than in younger children, in part because of a lack of access to clinical trials nationally for the older age group, according to a study by pediatric oncologists at Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC.

The Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences at University Hospitals Case Medical Center and Case Western Reserve University has been awarded $110,000 in unrestricted funds by Research to Prevent Blindness, the world’s leading voluntary organization supporting eye research.Under the direction of Jonathan H. Lass, M.D., the department has received grants totaling in excess of $1.6 million over the past 11 years.

About 5,000 people around the world die from tuberculosis every day, but no effective new drugs have been developed to combat it in 40 years. Researchers at the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory at Florida State University hope to change that through research made possible by a $2-million grant from the National Institutes of Health.The award will make it possible for Timothy A.

ThromboGenics NV (Euronext Brussels: THR) and co-development partner BioInvent International AB (Nordic Exchange: BINV) announce that they have received approval from the regulatory authorities in Denmark to initiate a Phase I clinical trial of the novel anti-cancer agent TB-403. TB-403 is a monoclonal antibody that targets the angiogenic factor PlGF (placental growth factor).

“Bridging the unacceptable gap between what is recommended and what is achieved in daily practice regarding the prevention of cardiovascular disease” is how Prof Guy De Backer, Chairman of the CVD Prevention Committee of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC), summarises the aim of the European Summit on Cardiovascular Disease Prevention.

Modifying the immune system of a patient with heart failure reduces the patient’s risk of death and the need for hospitalization, according to research published in today’s edition of The Lancet. “Immune modulation therapy could provide physicians with a new way of treating large numbers of patients with heart failure,” said Dr. Guillermo Torre-Amione, principal investigator of the study and cardiologist at the Methodist DeBakey Heart Center in Houston.

Daiichi Sankyo, Inc., announced that the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Welchol(TM) (colesevelam HCl) to improve glycemic control (measured as hemoglobin A1C) in adults with type 2 diabetes mellitus in combination with metformin, sulfonylureas, or insulin, either alone or in combination with other anti-diabetic agents.