Jerry McGrath, a gastroenterologist at the Health Sciences Centre in the province’s capital, has called on Newfoundland and Labrador to establish a comprehensive colon cancer screening program. He said, “There’s going to need to be more access to colonoscopy because ultimately if people have a positive test on a screening [stool] test they’re going to need to have a colonoscopy done to examine the bowel and, you know, the wait lists are simply too long at present in this province to have a colonoscopy done.” According to Canadian Cancer Society, more than 400 new cases of colorectal cancer are diagnosed in the province annually, and every year colorectal cancer kills about 200 people in Newfoundland and Labrador.

UCLA researchers have discovered that a specific type of medication used to treat cardiovascular conditions such as hypertension, angina and abnormal heart rhythms may also decrease the risk of developing Parkinson’s disease. Researchers found that a specific sub-class of dihydropyridine cardiovascular medications was associated with a 26 to 30 percent decrease in the risk of Parkinson’s. The findings appear in an upcoming print edition of the journal Annals of Neurology and are currently available online.

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Testing a patient’s cardiac respiratory stress response (RSR) can quickly and accurately detect the presence of significant coronary artery disease (S-CAD), according to new research published in the current issue of Cardiovascular Revascularization Medicine. The results found patients with S-CAD had a significantly lower RSR compared to patients without (6.7% vs. 17.4%, respectively) suggesting RSR is a strong indicator for the disease.

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A Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) study has found that relatively young men with longstanding HIV infection and minimal cardiac risk factors had significantly more coronary atherosclerotic plaques – some involving serious arterial blockage – than did uninfected men with similar cardiovascular risk. The investigation appearing in the January 2010 issue of the journal AIDS is the first to use CT angiography to identify coronary artery plaques in HIV-infected participants.

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Researchers at National Jewish Health have discovered that a naturally occurring lipid in the lung can prevent RSV infection and inhibit spread of the virus after an infection is established. RSV is the major cause of hospitalization for children in the first two years of life, and is increasingly recognized as a dangerous pathogen in adults with chronic lung diseases, the elderly, and immunocompromised individuals. Currently, there is no effective vaccine for the virus.

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Some methods of minimally invasive biopsy for breast cancer are nearly as accurate as surgical biopsy but have much less risk of harms, according to a new report funded by HHS’ Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). The report, prepared by the ECRI Institute’s Evidence-based Practice Center under contract to AHRQ’s Effective Health Care Program, compares traditional surgical biopsies with various types of “core needle biopsies.”

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The Cedars-Sinai Center for Weight Loss has received re-accreditation as a Bariatric Surgery Center of Excellence from the American College of Surgeons. This is a nationally-recognized acknowledgement of the high quality of care provided at Cedars-Sinai to patients who have bariatric surgery – such as lap-band, gastric sleeve or gastric bypass. More than 550 patients each year receive bariatric surgery procedures at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, more than any other program in Southern California.

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NeuroVasx, Inc. has announced that the first procedure in Spain utilizing its cPAX Aneurysm Treatment System was performed in Madrid. cPAX received CE Mark earlier this year. The cPAX System is a minimally invasive device for the embolization of cerebral aneurysms, abnormal bulges or sacs in the wall of an artery in the brain. If ruptured, aneurysms can result in massive intracranial bleeding and often lead to death.

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Glenmark Pharmaceuticals is confident of outlicensing at least one of its new chemical entities (NCEs) under development before the end of this financial year. Glenmark has six molecules under development. Its Crofelemer, an anti-diarrheal molecule under development, is now in Phase-III of clinical trials, with plans for a launch in developing countries by next year. Eli Lilly, which had in-licensed an osteoarthritis and pain molecule from Glenmark, also had suspended further development in October 2008.

CordLife, Asia-Pacific’s largest network of stem cell banks, which gave Calcutta its first full umbilical cord blood tissue processing and storage facility near Joka, has announced the launch of “the most advanced umbilical cord banking technology in India”. This technology has the ability to isolate two cell types to help hasten the healing of general and diabetic foot ulcers or repair injured tissues and organs, according to stem cell therapy experts.