Company releases 36-week phase III data for Contrave demonstrating continuing weight loss

A privately held clinical-stage neuroscience company developing novel strategic approaches to the treatment of obesity, today announced that ExcaliaTM, a combination of two centrally-acting medications intended to provide and sustain clinically important weight loss, demonstrated significant weight loss in a six month, double-blind, phase IIa clinical study. The magnitude of weight reduction exceeded that seen with placebo. The findings showed that patients completing the blinded 24-week phase lost on average 9.2% of their weight from baseline using Excalia compared to an average of 0.4% weight loss from baseline for patients using placebo. The study results further demonstrate that weight loss continued through an additional 24 week open-label period achieving an average weight loss of 12% from baseline by 48 weeks. These top line phase IIa data for Excalia were presented at the annual meeting of the North American Association for the Study of Obesity (NAASO) in Boston. more  

Social support improves mental health after a traumatic health care intervention

A case-control study of more than 2300 Italians has found a significant association between high bread consumption and renal cell carcinoma. Eating a lot of pasta and rice may also raise the risk, while eating many vegetables may lower the risk. more

Adolescent but not adult hamsters are more aggressive on low dose of fluoxetine

New research offers tantalizing clues as to why some teenagers taking common anti-depressants may become more aggressive or kill themselves. The research is published in the October Behavioral Neuroscience, which is published by the American Psychological Association (APA). more  

Friendly bacteria in alcoholic milkshake could fight food allergies

Feeding babies alcoholic milk may help to protect against some food allergies. Kefir, a traditional fermented drink, is consumed in Eastern Europe as a health food, and is often used to wean babies, as it is easily digested. Food allergy prevalence is especially high in children under the age of three, with around 5-8% of infants at risk. Currently the only treatment is avoidance of the problematic food. more

Antibiotic gives hope to patients with IBS  

A new study found that patients reported greater global improvements in irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) symptoms and less bloating after taking rifaximin than patients taking a placebo. The randomized, double-blind study is the first to demonstrate a sustained benefit of antibiotics for IBS symptoms after treatment is stopped. more

Discovery of post-stimulus activated release implies new mechanisms for dopamine release  

The neurotransmitter dopamine continues to be released for nearly an hour after neurons are stimulated, suggesting the existence of secondary mechanisms that allow for sustained availability of dopamine in different regions of the brain including areas critical for memory consolidation, drug induced plasticity and maintaining active networks during working memory. more

Prototype just-in-time medical device enables untrained bystanders to save lives

Human factors/ergonomics (HF/E) researchers at the University of Utah have created a prototype device that could make it possible for anyone – even those with no emergency medical training – to perform life-saving actions for victims of sudden cardiac arrest. The just-in-time support, or JITS, device provides bystanders with guidance and information on how to administer CPR and assess the state and needs of the victim. The researchers will present their work at the HFES 50th Annual Meeting at the Hilton San Francisco Hotel on Wednesday, October 18. The meeting dates are October 16–20, 2006. more