Acute adverse reactions from gadolinium-based contrast agents used during magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to help improve the information seen on the images rarely occur, according to a study published in the February issue of the American Journal of Roentgenology.

AMA President, Dr Andrew Pesce, said good planning was a key to fulfilling New Year’s resolutions to quit smoking.
“Giving up smoking is a common New Year’s resolution, and with good planning smokers can increase their chances of successfully quitting smoking for ever,” Dr Pesce said.

For the first time, scientists have demonstrated that stem cells found in amniotic fluid meet an important test of potential to become specialized cell types, which suggests they may be useful for treating a wider array of diseases and conditions than scientists originally thought.

Laparoscopic surgery has been used in the treatment of intestinal disorders for close to 20 years, but its benefits have only recently begun to be extended to people with rectal cancer. In a prospective study of 103 patients who underwent straightforward or “hand-assisted” laparoscopic surgery for rectal cancer, a team of colon and rectal surgeons [...]

H. Lundbeck A/S strengthens its pipeline of pharmaceuticals in clinical development by initiating phase IIa clinical studies with the innovative project Lu AA24493 in order to evaluate safety and tolerability and to explore theoretical efficacy parameters of the drug in humans. Lundbeck expects to enrol 35-40 people suffering from Friedreich’s ataxia in this study.