December 2015

While obese children tend to have more muscles, the excess body fat may compromise other functions in their bodies, such as bone growth, says a study.

In a first, researchers have shown that a drug that boosts activity in the brain's "garbage disposal" system can decrease levels of toxic proteins associated with Alzheimer's disease and other neurodegenerative disorders.

Researchers have shown that the anaesthetic ketamine, also known as "Special K" and often abused as a recreational drug, could be used to treat depression arising out of chronic overeating and stress.

The All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) has inked an MoU with the National Buildings Constructions Corporation Ltd (NBCC) to build the second phase of the existing trauma centre of the institution.

AstraZeneca  announced that the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) of the European Medicines Agency (EMA) has adopted a positive opinion recommending the marketing authorisation of lesinurad 200mg tablets. Lesinurad, in combination with a xanthine oxidase inhibitor (XOI), is recommended for the adjunctive treatment of hyperuricaemia in adult gout patients (with or without tophi) who have not achieved target serum uric acid levels (sUA) with an adequate dose of a XOI alone.

Cipla Ltd, a Rs. 10,880 crore plus fifth largest pharma company in India, has launched generic drug ledipasvir-sofosbuvir in India under the brand name Hepcvir-L. Hepcvir- L, the first once-a-day, fixed-dose oral combination therapy that has been approved for chronic hepatitis C genotype 1 patients.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved a new indication for the LifeVest wearable cardioverter defibrillator. The LifeVest is approved for certain children who are at risk for sudden cardiac arrest, but are not candidates for an implantable defibrillator due to certain medical conditions or lack of parental consent. The LifeVest defibrillator is manufactured by the ZOLL Manufacturing Corporation based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.