Research News

New findings from a pre-specified analysis of DELIVER Phase III trial data show that AstraZeneca’s Farxiga (dapagliflozin) improved symptom burden and health-related quality of life in patients with heart failure (HF) and mildly reduced or preserved ejection fraction (EF) compared with placebo1. The results were presented today at the American Heart Association (AHA) Scientific Sessions 2022 in Chicago, Illinois, US, and are currently in press in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

Pioneering artificial intelligence (AI) which automatically diagnoses lung diseases – such as tuberculosis and pneumonia – could ease winter pressures on hospitals, University of the West of Scotland researchers believe.

Tuberculosis and pneumonia – potentially serious infections which mainly affect the lungs – often require a combination of different diagnostic tests – such as CT scans, blood tests, X-rays, and ultrasounds. These tests can be expensive, with often lengthy waiting times for results.

In patients meeting the eligibility requirements for the DAPA-CKD trial, dapagliflozin is likely to be a cost effective treatment within the UK, German, and Spanish health care systems, as per new research.

Cancer cells have a series of features that allow the immune system to identify and attack them. However, these same cells create an environment that blocks immune cells and protects the tumour. This means that immune cells cannot reach the cancer cells to remove them. The scientific community has been working for years to increase the effectiveness of the immune system against cancer by using vaccines based on dead tumour cells.

The unreasonable use of antibiotics has pushed bacteria to develop resistance mechanisms to this type of treatment. This phenomenon, known as antibiotic resistance, is now considered by the WHO as one of the greatest threats to health. The lack of treatment against multi-resistant bacteria could bring us back to a time when millions of people died of pneumonia or salmonella. The bacteriumKlebsiella pneumoniae, which is very common in hospitals and particularly virulent, is one of the pathogens against which our weapons are becoming blunt.

A new test has been developed in Turku, Finland, that helps in separating heart attack patients from those whose cardiac troponin values are elevated due to renal insufficiency. Blood sample tests for cardiac troponins are an important cornerstone in the diagnostics of heart attack, but the result may be elevated also due to other transient or chronic conditions, such as renal insufficiency, atrial fibrillation or strenuous physical exercise.

Pancreatic cancer could be identified in patients up to three years earlier than current diagnoses, new research suggests. Weight loss and increasing blood glucose levels are early indicators of pancreatic cancer and could lead to a more timely diagnosis, helping to improve survival rates.

A comprehensive review and meta-analysis of published research confirm that young adults (40 years old and younger) have a slightly elevated risk for myocarditis or pericarditis after mRNA COVID-19 vaccination. The analysis is reported in a new study in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, published by Elsevier.

A study by researchers at the Biomedical Institute of Seville (IBIS) and the University of Seville, in collaboration with the Danish Cancer Society, revealed that inhibiting RNA synthesis after radiation therapy facilitates the death of tumour cells. The study has been published in the prestigious journal Nature Communications.