http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. Cinacalcet, a drug commonly given to patients with end stage kidney disease to help keep phosphorus and parathyroid blood levels within a target range and has few patient level clinical benefits and several adverse effects, suggesting that it should no longer be routinely prescribed, according to a study by international researchers published in this week's PLOS Medicine. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-routine-cinacalcet-stage-kidney-disease.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Tue, 30 Apr 2013 17:41:04 EST news286562436 Growth hormone therapy can help reverse growth problems in children with kidney failure, according to a study appearing in an upcoming issue of the Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology (CJASN). However, treatment increases bone turnover and interrupts the relationship between bone turnover and a blood marker of bone health, making it difficult for doctors to assess patients' bone health by blood tests alone. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-growth-hormone-reverses-problems-children.html Medical research Thu, 04 Apr 2013 17:52:02 EST news284316716 (HealthDay)—The effect of osteoporosis therapies (bisphosphonate drugs and intermittent parathyroid hormone [PTH]) on spinal fusion is unclear, according to a review published in the February issue of The Spine Journal. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-impact-osteoporosis-tx-spinal-fusion.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Fri, 01 Mar 2013 12:12:30 EST news281362334 U.S. government health regulators have halted Amgen's studies of its drug Sensipar after the death of a 14-year-old patient in a company trial. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-02-halts-amgen-teen-patient-death.html Medications Tue, 26 Feb 2013 16:19:56 EST news281117914 A new study from Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center is the first to report that high blood calcium levels might predict of ovarian cancer, the most fatal of the gynecologic cancers. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-high-blood-calcium-ovarian-cancer.html Cancer Wed, 23 Jan 2013 11:20:22 EST news278162409 Abnormalities of mineral metabolism worsen with progressive chronic kidney disease (CKD) and are linked with a higher risk for kidney failure among African Americans, according to a study appearing in an upcoming issue of the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology (JASN). The findings suggest that measuring mineral metabolites may be a useful way to determine a CKD patient's prognosis, and targeting mineral metabolites may help slow progression of the disease. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-problems-mineral-metabolism-linked-kidney.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Thu, 13 Dec 2012 17:30:47 EST news274642241 The patients have single short fingers (metacarpals) and toes (metatarsals) and can be restricted in growth due to a shortened skeleton. This hereditary disease is called brachydactyly type E (Greek for short fingers). Three years ago Dr. Philipp G. Maass from the research group of Professor Friedrich C. Luft at the Experimental and Clinical Research Center (ECRC), a joint cooperation between the Charité Medical Faculty and the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC) in Berlin-Buch, has discovered an epigenetic mechanism, which, when dysregulated, causes this condition. Now, together with Dr. Sylvia Bähring (ECRC) he was able to show how this epigenetic regulator functions and influences the development of the skeleton and the extremities. Also, he shed light on a new principle of gene regulation. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-gene-bone.html Genetics Mon, 05 Nov 2012 10:47:20 EST news271334832 A low calcium diet is associated with a higher risk of developing a common hormone condition in women, known as primary hyperparathyroidism, suggests a study published on BMJ website today. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-calcium-diet-linked-higher-hormone.html Health Thu, 18 Oct 2012 18:30:03 EST news269791287 Low levels of vitamin D and high levels of parathyroid hormone are associated with increased mortality in African American and Caucasian older adults, according to a new study accepted for publication in The Endocrine Society's Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism (JCEM). The study also indicates that the potential impact of remediating low vitamin D levels is greater in African Americans than Caucasians because vitamin D insufficiency is more common in African Americans. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-vitamin-d-mortality-older-adults.html Health Tue, 02 Oct 2012 00:00:01 EST news268332006 Drugs commonly prescribed to patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) may not be as strongly effective as once thought, and may cause unexpected harm to blood vessels, according to a study appearing in an upcoming issue of the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology (JASN). The findings indicate that additional studies on the drugs, called phosphate binders, are needed. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-safety-effectiveness-common-kidney-disease.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Thu, 19 Jul 2012 17:00:02 EST news261932206 Patients with a gland disorder that causes excessive calcium in their blood who also have vitamin D deficiency can safely receive vitamin D treatment without it raising their calcium levels, a new study has determined. The results with one-year follow-up will be presented Tuesday at The Endocrine Society's 94th Annual Meeting in Houston. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-06-vitamin-d-therapy-safe-patients.html Health Tue, 26 Jun 2012 13:37:56 EST news259936662 An investigational parathyroid hormone replacement effectively treated a rare disorder characterized by low calcium and high phosphate levels in the blood, a new study finds. The results will be presented at The Endocrine Society's 94th Annual Meeting in Houston. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-06-hormone-treatment-rare-disorder.html Health Mon, 25 Jun 2012 09:10:01 EST news259834179 Surgeons at the University of Illinois Hospital & Health Sciences System performed a rare living-donor parathyroid gland transplant to help a 22-year-old woman maintain normal calcium levels without the need for high-dose supplementation. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-rare-transplant-young-woman-forgo.html Surgery Wed, 14 Mar 2012 07:28:17 EST news250928870 Scientists have long known that calcium leaches from the bones both during lactation and in certain types of cancer. The driver behind these phenomena is a molecule called parathyroid hormone related protein (PTHrP), which is secreted by the mammary glands. The signal that regulates the secretion of PTHrP, and where this other unknown molecule exerts its influence, has remained a mystery. Now, in a new study using cells and tissues from mice, cows, and people, a team of researchers at the University of Cincinnati have identified this mystery molecule as serotonin, a neurotransmitter most often recognized for its role in happiness and well-being. The scientists also identified the specific receptor that serotonin acts on in mammary tissue. Understanding these two findings more deeply could lead to better ways to combat bone loss, potentially by using drugs that affect serotonin signaling. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-02-serotonin-large-role-bone-loss.html Medical research Tue, 21 Feb 2012 13:00:01 EST news249046859 Almost a year's treatment with a vitamin D compound did not alleviate key structural and functional cardiovascular abnormalities in patients with kidney disease and cardiac enlargement. In a paper in the February 15 Journal of the American Medical Association, an international research team reports that daily doses of a vitamin D compound did not reduce enlargement or improve impaired functioning of the heart's main pumping chamber. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-02-vitamin-d-treatment-cardiovascular-abnormalities.html Cardiology Tue, 14 Feb 2012 16:00:01 EST news248438180 Lithium is the most effective long-term therapy for bipolar disorder, protecting against both depression and mania and reducing the risk of suicide and short-term mortality. However, safety concerns have made its use controversial. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-01-lithium-treatment-weight-gain-hypothyroidism-hyperparathoidism.html Psychology & Psychiatry Thu, 19 Jan 2012 18:30:01 EST news246209570 Vitamin D may help prevent hormonal changes that can lead to bone loss among those being treated for HIV with the drug tenofovir, according to the results of a National Institutes of Health network study of adolescents with HIV. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-01-vitamin-d-bone-health-anti-hiv.html HIV & AIDS Wed, 11 Jan 2012 08:50:07 EST news245493244 Surgeons aged between 35 and 50 years provide the safest care compared with their younger or older colleagues, finds a study published in the British Medical Journal today. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-01-surgeons-aged-safest.html Other Tue, 10 Jan 2012 18:54:56 EST news245444084 A medication already approved to build bone mass in patients with osteoporosis also builds cartilage around joints and could potentially be repurposed to treat millions of people suffering from arthritis, according to orthopaedic research at the University of Rochester Medical Center. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-09-life-arthritic-joints.html Medical research Wed, 21 Sep 2011 14:00:02 EST news235828915 During thyroidectomy (surgery to remove the thyroid gland), the technique surgeons use to identify an important nerve appears to make a difference in terms of complications such as impairment of the parathyroid glands (which make a hormone that controls calcium levels), according to a report published Online First today by Archives of Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-08-nerve-identification-technique-thyroid-complications.html Other Mon, 15 Aug 2011 17:37:04 EST news232648598 The parathyroid glands – four small organs the size of grains of rice located at the back of the throat – glow with a natural fluorescence in the near infrared region of the spectrum. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-06-discovery-parathyroid-endocrine-surgery.html Medical research Mon, 20 Jun 2011 16:44:52 EST news227807034