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Study Shows Even Moderately Elevated Cholesterol Level Boosts Dementia Risk
Elevated cholesterol levels in midlife - even levels considered only borderline elevated - significantly increase the risk of Alzheimer"s disease and vascular dementia later in life, according to a new study by researchers at Kaiser Permanente"s Division of Research and the University of Kuopio in Finland. The study appears in the journal Dementia & Geriatric Cognitive Disorders.

White House Retools Message As GOP Opposition, Public Opinion Push Back
"[T]he White House team is retooling its message and strategy, hoping a more modest approach will reinvigorate Obama"s signature domestic policy initiative and give him a first-year victory for Democrats to carry into the 2010 midterm elections," the Washington Post reports. An early focus on "fast, broad and bipartisan" reforms has given way to realities including a stiff Republican opposition, lack on consensus in his own party, and falling poll numbers. As a result, the administration and Democratic allies have missed a self-imposed August deadline, turned to harsher critiques of industry players and now appear open to both less-ambitious proposals, and procedural measures that could bypass GOP opposition to achieve a partisan reform bill (Connolly, 8/2).
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Poor Health Habits Discovered In Most Older Long-Term Cancer Survivors
A new study finds that most older long-term cancer survivors who are interested in diet and exercise actually have poor health habits. The study also reveals that those survivors who do exercise and watch their diet have improved physical health and quality of life. Published in the September 1, 2009 issue of Cancer, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society, the research indicates that greater efforts are needed to encourage elderly cancer survivors to live healthier lives.
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Cubist Pharmaceuticals Initiates Phase 2 Trial In Europe For Therapy To Reduce Blood Loss During Surgery In High Risk Patients

Cubist Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: CBST), a leading acute care therapeutics company, announced that it has begun dosing in the CONSERV™-2 clinical trial with ecallantide. CONSERV-2, being conducted in Europe, is a Phase 2 trial that will investigate ecallantide"s effect on surgical blood loss volume in cardiac surgery patients who are on cardiopulmonary bypass and are at a high risk of bleeding. The trial is expected to enroll 300 subjects. Ecallantide is a potent inhibitor of plasma kallikrein, and CONSERV-2 will evaluate the effects of plasma kallikrein inhibition in the trial population. Surgical environments, such as those involving the trial population, are associated with the activation of plasma kallikrein and subsequent activation of coagulation, fibrinolytic, and inflammatory cascades, which likely contribute to blood loss and blood transfusion requirements in the perioperative setting. "The dosing of patients in the CONSERV-2 trial represents another important milestone in the continued evaluation of ecallantide for the reduction of blood loss during on-pump cardiac surgery, an area of significant unmet medical need. We remain on track for a mid-2010 end-of-phase 2 meeting with the FDA, and we anticipate that the results of this trial and the ongoing CONSERV-1 trial will provide meaningful insights into the optimal design of subsequent Phase 3 trials," said Santosh Vetticaden, PhD, MD, Senior Vice President, Clinical Development and Chief Medical Officer. "This represents another important milestone for our growing pipeline of novel acute care therapeutics" said Steve Gilman, PhD, Chief Scientific Officer and Senior Vice President, Discovery and Nonclinical Development. In April 2008, Cubist announced an exclusive North American and European license and collaboration agreement with Dyax Corp. (NASDAQ: DYAX) for the development and commercialization of the intravenous formulation of ecallantide for surgical indications. The first indication being sought by Cubist for ecallantide is the reduction of blood loss during on-pump cardiac surgery. Cubist Pharmaceuticals, Inc.


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