Elan to Pay $200 Million to Develop Alzheimer's Drug Sept. 27 (Bloomberg) -- Elan Corp., the maker of the Tysabri multiple sclerosis treatment, will pay as much as $200 million to add an experimental treatment to its Alzheimer's disease program.

Transition Therapeutics Inc., based in Toronto, will get $7.5 million this year and the same amount next year from Elan for a drug known as AZD-103, in addition to milestone payments that may reach $185 million, the Dublin-based drugmaker said today. The drug is in the earliest stage of human research.

Elan is already working with Wyeth to develop two experimental compounds for Alzheimer's disease, a progressive brain disorder that affects about 20 million people worldwide. The company is also developing drugs for Parkinson's and Crohn's diseases after reintroducing Tysabri in recent months.....

Water in the Brain Hints at Early Cognitive Decline IRVINE, Calif., Sept. 26 -- Early signs of Alzheimer's disease may show up in subtle changes in the diffusion of water in key brain structures, as revealed by MRI, researchers here suggested.

In a small study, patients with mild cognitive impairment were found to have elevations in apparent diffusion coefficient in brain areas governing memory when compared with control patients, and reported Min-Ying Su, Ph.D., of the University of California at Irvine, and colleagues, in the October issue of Radiology.

These elevations correlated with worse memory performance scores, the investigators added.

"Our methods may enable earlier diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease, allowing earlier intervention to slow down disease......... progression," they said.

Teva sees 15 drug applications from 2009-2015 - washingtonpost.com.......At a meeting for analysts and investors in New York, the Israel-based company touted its stable of experimental medicines that include potential therapies for multiple sclerosis, lupus, Alzheimer's disease and cancer.....

National Survey Shows Women Overlook Common Warning Signs Associated With Poor Blood Sugar Management, Raising the Risk for Diabetes and Heart Disease - MORE Forbes.com
For women, excess weight in the mid-section, frequent fatigue and carbohydrate cravings may be the warning signs of something more serious. A new survey commissioned by the not-for-profit National Women's Health Resource Center (NWHRC) showed that 75 percent of women ages 40-65 who had not been diagnosed with, but had a family history of diabetes or heart disease, reported that they experienced these symptoms. However, nearly one-third (32%) of all women surveyed did not know they could be signs of impaired insulin function, a key risk factor for type 2 diabetes and heart disease. The most common symptoms experienced were excess weight in the mid-section (62%), frequent fatigue (36%) and carbohydrate cravings (30%).

"When women who don't have diabetes hear the word 'insulin' they tune out because they think it doesn't apply to them. It is critical for women to look at these common symptoms as a wake up call and understand that insulin health is important for all of us," said Audrey Sheppard, President and CEO of NWHRC, the leading independent health information source for women. "Our goal is to educate women about the important role blood sugar plays in preventing disease and how simple physical and dietary changes can help improve their overall health....."

A large study concludes widely used hormone therapy for prostate cancer survivors increases their risk of developing heart disease and diabetes.
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Study author Dr. Nancy Keating of the Harvard Medical School cautions: “Patients and physicians need to be aware of the elevated risk as they make treatment decisions.”

An estimated 234,000 American men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer this year. Because of new screening techniques, many of them will be diagnosed with cancer limited to the prostate or to the prostate and its immediate region. Such early disease is treated primarily with surgery alone or with radiation therapy.

An increasing number of these men are also put on hormone therapy to reduce the risk of the disease coming back or spreading in the case some cancer cells escaped initial treatment. Hormone therapy (androgen suppression or GnRH agonist therapy) stops the body’s production the sex hormone testosterone which prostate cancer uses to grow.

Most patients with advanced disease are prescribed hormone therapy to slow down their cancer’s growth. Because men with more advanced disease have benefited from hormone therapy, many men with early disease treated with radiation are also given a two to three year course of androgen suppression therapy.

“Men with prostate cancer have high five-year survival rates, but they also have higher rates of non-cancer mortality than healthy men,” Dr. Keating said in urging a more cautious approach to prescribing hormone therapy to men with early stage prostate cancer.

Dr, Keating and colleagues examined the treatments given 73,000 prostate cancer patients aged 66 or older diagnosed with early stage disease.....

Stem cells show little heart-attack aid - MORE
Giving heart attack survivors stem cells from their own bone marrow did little to repair their damaged hearts, according to the three best studies to date of this controversial therapy.

The modest results suggest more study is needed — and, some scientists say, demonstrate the need to lift political limits on using cells from embryos, which offer more promise for turning into heart-repairing tissue.....

Study Identifies Potential New Marker For Heart Failure Diagnosis, Prognosis....Harvard- Mass General Hospital...MORE
A collaborative study by researchers from Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and the University Hospital of Maastricht, The Netherlands, has identified a new candidate biomarker for heart failure with the potential of further improving the challenging task of diagnosing and predicting outcomes for patients with symptoms of heart failure, primarily shortness of breath. In the September 19 Journal of the American College of Cardiology, the investigators report that elevated blood levels of galectin-3, an inflammatory protein, can help diagnose heart failure and identify patients at risk of dying within 60 days. Another potential marker, apelin, did not prove to be useful.

"Heart failure is one of the most difficult diagnoses to make accurately, since it has numerous, varied symptoms, and signs that indicate heart failure are hard to detect," says James Januzzi Jr., MD, of the MGH Cardiology Division, the paper's co-lead author and principal investigator of the 2005 PRIDE Study, from which the data for the current report was generated. "It also is notoriously difficult to identify those heart failure patients at the highest risk of death, so biomarker screening to assist with prognostication has been studied and increasingly implemented over the past several years."

BAYLOR UNIVERSITY:
Researchers offer advice regarding nutritional supplements...MORE
If you're curious about the dizzying array of nutritional supplements available, you're not alone. Annual sales in the category top $4 billion.

Eating a healthy diet will typically supply sufficient nutrients, but if you decide to try a product, consult with your doctor and pharmacist. Supplements can be overkill if you're already taking a multivitamin. They also can cause allergic reactions and interact with medications.

"Most people think that if they get a substance over the counter, it's all right to take," notes Rudy Nelson Lea Jr., MD, a family medicine physician on the medical staff at Baylor Medical Center at Garland. "But if you're taking prescription medicine at the same time, it's often not all right."
Following are some of the most common supplements and their benefits and potential dangers.
Calcium
- Proposed benefit: Osteoporosis prevention
- Beware: Calcium carbonate, found in Citracal, should be taken with food. Calcium citrate, the form of calcium found in Os-Cal, is absorbed differently by the body and can be taken on an empty stomach. If in doubt, check the label or ask your health care provider, advises Julie A. Allen, PharMD, RPh, pharmacy director at Baylor Garland.
Echinacea
- Proposed benefit: Treatment of respiratory infections such as the common cold. "Proponents suggest that it increases the response of white blood cells-the cells in the body that fight off infections," Dr. Lea said.
- Beware: People who are on medication that suppresses the immune system should avoid echinacea.
Iron
- Proposed benefit: Treatment of low blood iron or anemia by helping the body make red blood cells.
- Beware: Iron may affect the results of certain medical tests. Possible side effects include bloody diarrhea, constipation and fever.
Omega-3 fatty acids
- Proposed benefit: Enhanced cardiovascular health, brain function and immunity. For patients with elevated triglycerides, Dr. Lea recommends one gram in the form of fish oil capsules with each meal.
- Beware: A high intake could cause excessive bleeding-supplementing should be stopped two weeks before and after surgery.
Vitamin B complex.......