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Terumo Heart, Inc. Reaches Clinical Milestone As The 100th Patient Worldwide Receives The DuraHeart(TM) Left Ventricular Assist System
Terumo Heart Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Terumo Corporation, announced reaching a critical milestone in the worldwide expansion of its DuraHeart(TM) Left-Ventricular Assist System (LVAS) as the 100th patient was treated by Latif Arusoglu, MD and Michiel Morshuis, MD, cardiothoracic surgeons at the Clinic for Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, Heart and Diabetes Center NRW, University Hospital of the Ruhr-University of Bochum in Bad Oeynhausen, Germany.
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MicroRNAs Help Control HIV Life Cycle
Scientists at Burnham Institute for Medical Research (Burnham) have discovered that specific microRNAs (non-coding RNAs that interfere with gene expression) reduce HIV replication and infectivity in human T-cells. In particular, miR29 plays a key role in controlling the HIV life cycle. The study suggests that HIV may have co-opted this cellular defense mechanism to help the virus hide from the immune system and antiviral drugs. The research was published today in the journal Molecular Cell.
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Prostate Tumor Growth May Be Slowed By Carbohydrate Restriction
Restricting carbohydrates, regardless of weight loss, appears to slow the growth of prostate tumors, according to an animal study being published this week by researchers in the Duke Prostate Center.
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Sedatives May Increase Suicide Risk In Older Patients

Sleeping tablets have been associated with a four-fold increase in suicide risk in the elderly. Researchers writing in the open access journal BMC Geriatrics have shown that, even after adjusting for the presence of psychiatric conditions, sedatives and hypnotics were both associated with an increased risk of suicide. Anders Carlsten and Margda Waern from Gothenburg University carried out a case control study to determine whether specific types of psychoactive drugs were associated with suicide risk in later life. According to Carlsten, "Sedative treatment was associated with an almost fourteen-fold increase of suicide risk in the crude analyses and remained an independent risk factor for suicide even after adjustment for the presence of mental disorders. Having a current prescription for a hypnotic was associated with a four-fold increase in suicide risk in the adjusted model". The researchers speculate that the drugs may raise suicide risk by triggering aggressive or impulsive behavior, or by providing the means for people to take an overdose. They also point out the possibility that these drugs may merely be markers for some other factor related to suicide risk, such as somatic illness, functional disability, alcohol use disorder, interpersonal problems, lack of social network or sleep disturbance. Carlsten said, "Persons with these problems might be more likely to seek health care and perhaps more likely to receive prescriptions for psychotropic drugs. However, given the extremely high prescription rates for these drugs, a careful evaluation of the suicide risk should always precede prescribing a sedative or hypnotic to an elderly individual". Reference: Are sedatives and hypnotics associated with increased suicide risk in the elderly? Anders Carlsten and Margda Waern BMC Geriatrics (in press) http://www.biomedcentral.com/bmcgeriatr/ Graeme Baldwin BioMed Central


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