http://phys.org/ en-us Phys.org internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Physics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. A common component in webcams may help drug makers and prescribers address a common side-effect of drugs called cardiotoxicity, an unhealthy change in the way the heart beats. Researchers at Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH) have used the basic webcam technology to create a tool to look at the effects of medications in real time on heart cells, called cardiomyocytes. These findings were published in the journal, Lab on a Chip on April 11, 2011. http://phys.org/news223650574.html Chemistry Tue, 03 May 2011 14:09:57 EST news223650574 (AP) -- Federal health experts say an experimental hepatitis C drug from Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. is a significant step forward in treating the virus, despite a high rate of rashes among patients taking the tablet. http://phys.org/news223223987.html Medicine & Health Thu, 28 Apr 2011 15:40:18 EST news223223987 (AP) -- Federal health officials say a highly anticipated hepatitis C drug from Vertex Pharmaceuticals successfully treats a clear majority of patients in less time than older medicines that have been used for 20 years. http://phys.org/news223035623.html Medicine & Health Tue, 26 Apr 2011 11:40:06 EST news223035623 Structural biologists at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) in collaboration with colleagues at Emory University have determined the molecular structure of a key portion, or subunit, of a receptor type commonly expressed in brain cells. The receptor is one of several NMDA (N-methyl-D-aspartate) receptor variants, and the subunit in question is that which specifically binds with excitatory neurotransmitters, most notably glutamate, the brain's most prevalent excitatory neurotransmitter. http://phys.org/news223035557.html Chemistry Tue, 26 Apr 2011 11:19:48 EST news223035557 A needle-in-the-haystack search through nearly 390,000 chemical compounds had led scientists to a substance that can sneak through the protective barrier surrounding the brain with effects promising for new drugs for Parkinson's and Huntington's disease. They report on the substance, which blocks formation of cholesterol in the brain, in the journal, ACS Chemical Biology. http://phys.org/news222513356.html Chemistry Wed, 20 Apr 2011 10:16:29 EST news222513356 (PhysOrg.com) -- A Purdue University biochemist has demonstrated a process using nanotechnology to better assess whether cancer drugs hit their targets, which may help reduce drug side effects. http://phys.org/news221206834.html Nanotechnology Tue, 05 Apr 2011 07:50:02 EST news221206834 Data presented at the International Liver Congress highlight the fact that new novel antiviral compounds for the treatment of hepatitis C virus (HCV) must be prescribed and monitored by experts and specialists to ensure resistance is minimised.1,2,3,4,5,6 http://phys.org/news220938368.html Medicine & Health Sat, 02 Apr 2011 04:46:51 EST news220938368 The United States should pay close attention to how the United Kingdom carries out plans to assess a new drug's worth using factors that go beyond clinical and cost effectiveness, according to researchers at the Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of Bioethics. http://phys.org/news220873615.html Medicine & Health Fri, 01 Apr 2011 10:47:37 EST news220873615 In what could be a potential breakthrough in the battle against AIDS and a major development in the rational design of new drugs, scientists have engineered a new protein that prevents the virus from entering cells. This protein is based on a naturally occurring protein in the body that protects cells from viruses, except the man-made version does not cause inflammation and other side effects at the dosages needed to inhibit AIDS. This discovery was published in the April 2011 issue of The FASEB Journal. http://phys.org/news220798587.html Biology Thu, 31 Mar 2011 13:57:26 EST news220798587 In what they described as the opening of a new era in the development of potentially life-saving new drugs, scientists today reported discovery of a way to tone down an overactive gene involved in colon cancer and block a key protein involved in asthma attacks. Those targets long had ranked among hundreds of thousands that many scientists considered to be "undruggable," meaning that efforts to reach them with conventional medicines were doomed to fail. http://phys.org/news220548852.html Medicine & Health Mon, 28 Mar 2011 16:34:32 EST news220548852 Researchers have described how the most common gene mutation found in acute myeloid leukaemia starts the process of cancer development and how it can cooperate with a well-defined group of other mutations to cause full-blown leukaemia. http://phys.org/news220449667.html Medicine & Health Sun, 27 Mar 2011 13:02:02 EST news220449667 For several decades, snake venoms have been used in pharmacology to make new drugs. But a French team of pharmacologists, clinicians, systematists and conservation biologists, headed by Nicolas Vidal of the Laboratory “Systématique, Adaptation, Evolution," have shown that such venoms are largely under-exploited. They decided to pool their efforts to make full use of these resources in pharmaceutical compounds and to safeguard threatened species. The results of this study are published this week in the journal Bioessays. http://phys.org/news220098497.html Biology Wed, 23 Mar 2011 11:37:33 EST news220098497 In the run up to World Malaria Day on the 25th April 2011, BioMed Central's open access journal Malaria Journal takes a long hard look at the development of natural compounds for use in the fight against malaria. http://phys.org/news219350003.html Medicine & Health Mon, 14 Mar 2011 19:33:35 EST news219350003 HP today announced an innovative drug research application for its inkjet technology that enables pharmaceutical companies to more efficiently develop better drugs through vastly more precise dispensing of dosages. http://phys.org/news219070691.html Medicine & Health Fri, 11 Mar 2011 12:58:25 EST news219070691 Scientists in Israel and California have developed an instrument for rapidly analyzing molecular interactions that take place viruses and the cells they infect. By helping to identify interactions between proteins made by viruses like HIV and hepatitis and proteins made by the human cells these viruses infect, the device may help scientists develop new ways of disrupting these interactions and find new drugs for treating those infections. http://phys.org/news218826855.html Chemistry Tue, 08 Mar 2011 17:40:03 EST news218826855 (AP) -- AIDS drugs turned Andrei from a sickly baby into an energetic toddler, who giggles as he goes sledding in his snow-covered backyard. But the health of the 2-year-old is again at risk - he is out of his medication. http://phys.org/news216997192.html Medicine & Health Tue, 15 Feb 2011 13:00:21 EST news216997192 (AP) -- Senior envoys from China and Taiwan signed an agreement Tuesday to cooperate in the development of new drugs, as the two economies continue to move closer. http://phys.org/news212127142.html Medicine & Health Tue, 21 Dec 2010 04:13:08 EST news212127142 A clinical trial that aims to speed up the study of new treatments for certain subtypes of breast cancer now has a designated study site at the Diane O'Connor Thompson Breast Center at the University of Colorado Hospital. http://phys.org/news209398985.html Medicine & Health Fri, 19 Nov 2010 14:23:15 EST news209398985 An experimental blood thinner called rivaroxaban is at least as good at preventing strokes as the old "war horse" warfarin, which has been used for decades in people with erratic heartbeats, researchers said Monday. The drug also sharply reduces the risk of major bleeding that is seen with warfarin. http://phys.org/news209232621.html Medicine & Health Wed, 17 Nov 2010 17:40:01 EST news209232621 One of the most frustrating problems faced by doctors who treat pancreatic cancer is the lack of effective therapeutic options. More than 38,000 people in the United States die of the disease each year, and new drugs and treatments are desperately needed. http://phys.org/news208172986.html Chemistry Fri, 05 Nov 2010 11:00:01 EST news208172986 A common infection in children, strep throat can lead to problems with a child's heart, joints or brain if left untreated. And when the brain is involved, motor and mental functioning may be compromised, leading to syndromes such as attention deficit disorder and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). http://phys.org/news206799444.html Medicine & Health Wed, 20 Oct 2010 13:17:39 EST news206799444 (PhysOrg.com) -- Tuberculosis fights off the toxic agents, acidity and oxidants, that our immune system sends to destroy it, which is why the maddeningly drug-resistant bacterium can survive in harsh conditions in our bodies for essentially as long as its human host lives, new research shows. http://phys.org/news206111014.html Biology Tue, 12 Oct 2010 14:03:58 EST news206111014 (PhysOrg.com) -- National Institutes of Health researchers have discovered a key step in how the dengue virus infects a cell. The discovery one day may lead to new drugs to prevent or treat the infection. http://phys.org/news206110646.html Medicine & Health Tue, 12 Oct 2010 13:58:05 EST news206110646 In a traditional Chinese medicine store in central Beijing, part of the Tongrentang chain founded 342 years ago, three white-coated workers follow traditions that stretch even further back in time. They sort and chop an exotic variety of herbs and roots for customers to take home and boil up. http://phys.org/news206011808.html Medicine & Health Mon, 11 Oct 2010 13:30:01 EST news206011808 (AP) -- Abbott Laboratories said Friday it will withdraw its diet pill Meridia in the U.S. and Canada, almost a year after studies showed the drug increases the risk of heart attack and stroke in patients with a history of heart disease. http://phys.org/news205763696.html Medicine & Health Fri, 08 Oct 2010 13:35:30 EST news205763696 It is time to phase out the use of codeine as a pain reliever because of its significant risks and ineffectiveness as an analgesic, states an editorial in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal). http://phys.org/news205414277.html Medicine & Health Mon, 04 Oct 2010 12:50:09 EST news205414277 While computer simulations of how the body metabolises drugs save both time and money, the best results when developing new drugs come from combining such simulations with laboratory experiments, reveals a researcher from the University of Gothenburg. http://phys.org/news205403615.html Chemistry Mon, 04 Oct 2010 09:33:57 EST news205403615 Drug companies have not only sponsored the science of a new condition known as female sexual dysfunction, they have helped to construct it, in order to build global markets for new drugs, reveals an article in this week's British Medical Journal. http://phys.org/news205093800.html Medicine & Health Thu, 30 Sep 2010 19:30:19 EST news205093800 The United States must focus on conserving the use of antibacterial drugs, or face a public health crisis from rapidly rising rates of antibiotic-resistant infections, according to an analysis out today. http://phys.org/news203053450.html Medicine & Health Tue, 07 Sep 2010 05:30:02 EST news203053450 New research accepted by the Journal of Molecular Recognition confirms that a revolutionary technology developed at Wake Forest University will slash years off the time it takes to develop drugs - bringing vital new treatments to patients much more quickly. http://phys.org/news198426204.html Medicine & Health Thu, 15 Jul 2010 15:50:03 EST news198426204